All right dammit, I'm on a Lou Reed Kick. Vote for your favorite album and please discuss!

Question:
Favorite Lou Reed (solo) album?

Choices:
Lou Reed
Transformer
Berlin
Sally Can't Dance
Metal Machine Music
Coney Island Baby
Rock & Roll Heart
Street Hassle
The Bells
Growing Up In Public
The Blue Mask
Legendary Hearts
New Sensations
Mistrial
New York
Magic & Loss
Set the Twilight Reeling
Ecstasy
The Raven

 

I hear the crickets chirping, MJ, so I'll jump in. I really go through phases with Lou's solo albums. For a long time, I thought Transformer was really the only one worth a damn, but the last few years, I've grown much more appreciative of his solo career. There's actually still a lot of his solo albums I haven't heard, so I'm actually more interested to hear what other people think are Lou's crowning achievements.

I still like Transformer quite a bit, and a year or so ago I really got into Street Hassle. The Blue Mask and his collaboration with John Cale, Songs For Drella are other faves.

Lately, I've been getting into 1976's Coney Island Baby.

However, I still call shenanigans when someone tells me they actually like Metal Machine Music.

Its a toss up between Berlin and The Blue Mask.

I've listened to or owned nearly everything he has released, and these are the 2 I keep returning to.

On these babies the song-writing is well thought out; I find that he has a tendency to do stuff which sounds like a first draft.
The arrangements on Berlin are resonant with the lyrical and musical conceits; romanticism, failure of imagination, decadence.

The Blue Mask packs a wallop unlike anything else he has done, save maybe some songs off New York, something of a spiritual successor. Great guitar work on this one too.

Actually my favourite post VU Reed work is Songs for Drella, not a solo job of course, but i think far and away his best outside of the Velvets.

When I bought New York back in 1989-- a couple years out of high school. I sort of had an idea of who Lou Reed was but I'd never really delved into his work. "Walk on the Wild Side" was a staple of classic rock radio in our area (is it still?), and REM's Dead Letter Office had spurred me into buying a Velvet Underground compilation. I'll admit, I was all about new music at the time, and I didn't listen to that VU tape (yes, I mean cassette) very much. New York with it's tales of Aids victims, junkies and the homeless was an absolute revelation. It was so damn real. I was borderline obsessed with it, and it still ranks as my favorite Lou Reed album. After talking to a record store employee, the next thing I bought by the Rock & Roll Animal, was Transformer. I absolutely hated it, and I did so for years. When that VU Box set came out in the mid-90s, I splurged. That's when it all started to make sense. I slowly worked my way through that box, and then on to LR's (and John Cale's, but that's another topic) solo stuff. As I said in the other thread, I think his catalog is pretty damn consistent through 1989 (Mistrial might be the exception).

Oh and, I too love the Cale/Reed collaboration Songs For Drella.

As an aside...its' so cool hearing people's stories of how they got into particular artists!