surprised this didn't chart like even a tiny bit.....I can imagine this being pumped out of a car stereo in 1972,,,,,. "when things get bad....I just turn my music louder"
Caleb Quaye was a member of Elton John’s band from 1975-1977 as the second guitarist. He had also played on Elton’s first few singles and his 1969 debut album Empty Sky.
a few times i went record shopping to buy a lou reed album and came home with something else. i didn't like the cover of this 1st one (still don't) probably came home with Cale's "vintage violence" instead. Bought the lou cd a year or so ago in a charity shop for 50p, perhaps i'll play it one day.........perhaps. Other lou albums i didn't buy because of the cover art Sally Can't Dance, Coney Island Baby, Growing up in public, Blue Mask
I bought this album in the 70’s after discovering VU and also hearing Walk on The Wild Side on the radio. I think I bought Berlin first followed by this debut album. Both are original UK pressings. I love this album the songs are strong. I actually like the way it sounds. I’m gonna play it later today. I don’t know why this got such bad reviews it’s one of his better albums.
Many mainstream Australian households had bought Transformer during 1973 and it was at one of those households I first heard it with the elders giggling over Candy, finally buying it in '75. The following year was almost bookended by two Lou albums - Berlin at the start (soon followed by Sally) and the self titled at the end. Whilst the charms of Transformer are obvious, I find the previous album more to my taste - the almost demo-like quality of the sound and simple but effective instrumentation works well and doesn't seem to have dated. It's the one I play the most. If I could take only one Lou album this would be it. To coin a phrase that Elvis was soon to borrow, his aim was true. I Love You was the first honest love song I was aware of (...at least for now....). Lisa Says took on more depth within weeks when I met two young women one with a home-made tape one side being most of the Andy Warhol 2LP compilation, the other side part of 1969 and Lisa suggested it would be very clear if one's tongue entered another's ear...... Interesting time to be learning. It must have been a significant time for me, the antipodean summer of 76/77 ; other than the aforementioned, there was also Chelsea Girl, Plastic Ono Band, Dark Side, Satanic Majesties, Arrival and Low that all competed for deeper understanding. I must get around to hearing it correctly mastered - I wonder how the crispness will be received.
Unfortunately, there's no correlation between Reed's work and the cover art in terms of quality. I think you've perhaps missed one very good album and one quite entertaining album in that list, just due to the cover.
That's pretty insightful - it sounds like Lou just trusted the instincts of those he hired. Quite a change from the workshopping of the Loaded sessions. It's certainly an under-rated album IMO, and I'd even go as far to say it's a great album to get someone into Lou Reed - it's absolutelyone of his most 'pop' and accessible.
It's weird this. Because in some ways it's the classic Lou Reed 'rock music meets literature' record. Something he seems to have always wanted to achieve – and it's right there in this first solo album, without any of the earnest tight-ass'd seriousness of some of the later 'literary' works.
20 Terrible Debut Albums by Great Artists quoted: Lou Reed, ‘Lou Reed’ (1972) Anticipation for Lou Reed's debut solo LP was quite high in early 1972. As the leader of the Velvet Underground, he'd written some of the most brilliantly twisted songs of the previous decade. And now, after a long hibernation, he was beginning the next phase of his career. Unfortunately, he didn't arrive at the London recording sessions with many new songs, and wound up simply regurgitating old VU tunes like "I Can't Stand It," "Ride into the Sun" and "Lisa Says." Producer Richard Robinson teamed him up with Yes members Rick Wakeman and Steve Howe, and their radically different musical styles simply didn't mesh. The resulting album was limp and wildly disappointing, and it stalled out a pathetic Number 189 on the Billboard 200. "There's just too many things wrong with [the album]," Reed says shortly after it came out. "I'm aware of all the things that are missing and all the things that shouldn't have been there." His solo career seemed dead on arrival, but at this exact same time, David Bowie, a Velvet Underground superfan, was finally getting mainstream recognition, and he was determined to use his talents and newfound fame to shine a light on his idol. A few months later, they began work on Transformer. As soon as "Walk on the Wild Side" hit radio that November, Reed's solo debut was already a footnote in rock history. Andy Greene rolling stones take is pretty much the typical one you see. lou I get. artists only see the flaws
Yeah, sometimes I really do think Lou's at his best when he drops any notion of being "literary", and delves intothe world of pop. Some of my very favourite Lou tracks are actually just 'big dumb pop'.
I do think the guitarists have a too heavy-handed approach on some songs. Like Howe (I presume) who has a chops workout on Ride Into The Sun that almost sinks the song. And the drummer adds clever, funky syncopation that's also not a good fit for such a simple song. But then again, Lou told them to "jam", so it's not their fault. Richard Robison seems to have had very little to do with the production. He was like a nominal producer, allowing Lou to produce this debut and also Street Hassle himself.
It's workmanlike compared to the VU versions, and the sound is lousy... not much to love here, for me
So many things wrong here within that review. I hate the word 'regurgitating', for starters. A prissy trite attitude that has persisted to this day in some quarters. Also, Lou's own mistake in thinking 'There's just too many things wrong with [the album]' as a result of some negative reactions. It wasn't true and I wonder whether if that hadn't happened at that point, we might have got a very different Lou Reed and Lou Reed solo career through the 70s.
I know the guitar isn't great, but I prefer it to those guys working out on Berlin. Much easier to ignore for one thing.
There's a good balance and luckily he found it a few times . Actually some the pop songs often have very witty lyrics, so I could not call them 'big dumb pop'.
I heard it before I was aware of the VU versions....early 80's. Live 1969 hadn't quite come out....never mind it did! 1974, I guess I hadn't gotten it. VU hadn't though, I guess I have a different appreciation. The sound is bad .....I think I just turned the treble up....and the bass
When Lou's first solo album came out, I was eleven. I never heard it until the 1980s. Transformer was the first Lou Reed record to pierce my world. In fact in the 1980s, it took a lot of searching to actually track this album down. Growing Up In Public was easier to find than Lou's first album (at least in my experience). "Wild Child" is the one that sticks out for me. And definitely Lou's biggest nod to Bob Dylan's influence on phrasing.
I dunno, Lou can be witty AND 'big dumb pop' at the same time every now and then.. take "Hooky Wooky" for example
when it's 1972 and you're thirteen years old with enough money to buy one album a month but you want 5 the cover art becomes a consideration. Why would some labels spend a fortune on just the cover if it wasn't important.
Often seems like "Loaded Part II" which is fine, as that's my favorite VU album. Both Loaded and the S/T are underrated imo.
One of the few Reed seventies albums I don't have. So I will be very interested to check out what folks have to say. When I get time I would love to participate. Forgive me if I am behind. A guy very worthy of a closer look
