New York. Lou Reed

Last week New York received a 3 cd re-issue with demo's, live recordings, etc. You know the works. Reading an old interview with a grumpy Reed today, I started to wonder how long ago it was since I played New York? There's a good chance that it was in the 1990s somewhere and other solo work by Reed? Even The Velvet Underground will have been a while.

Lou Reed died in 2013. That makes it seven years. His last album was the ill-fated 'Lulu' album with Metallica. Let's call it "different". There have been no albums released with songs lying around, as far as I'm aware. This was it it seemed.

So, I got New York out of my wall of records and put it on today. There's only one response possible, it simply blew me away. It is as good as I remembered it to be. No, it is even better, as i wasn't waiting for the up tempo songs to hit me, like I did at the time. The songs in between hit me just as hard or surprised me like the jazzy 'Beginning Of A Great Adventure'.

But let me recap first. Lou Reed came into my life with 'Walk On The Wild Side' and 'Vicious'. Staying with a friend from my earliest youth, who after moving had totally outgrown me at the time five years later, I heard 'Berlin'. I couldn't listen to it longer than a few minutes. I still can't, really. Although I do hear how good it is. My first Lou Reed album was 'Coney Island Baby'. Still one of my favourites. Next up was 'The Blue Mask' and the albums that followed, but each one seemed to be less good than the previous one, until I gave up in the mid 80s.

By then I had discovered The Velvet Underground. I loved 'The Velvet Underground' and 'VU'. By then his first two solo albums were in my possession for years of course, just like 'Lou Reed Live', another favourite.

So come 1989 and Lou Reed had been written off, just like nearly all my 60s originating heroes. 'Steel Wheels', 'Flowers In The Dirt', 'Freedom', 'Oh Mercy', all were released in 1989 and New York.

So what makes the album so good? That starts with the songs. Lou Reed simply is in a great form. There's not a weak song on the album. Even the song I always skipped in 1989, 'Dime Store Mystery' sound so good in 2020. The sound is so extremely direct. The music is in my face. Also there's nothing distracting from the songs. Guitars, bass, drums is all there is and nothing else is needed. The extra's as a whole comprise of background vocals by Dion DiMucci on 'Dirty Blvd' and Mo Tucker playing percussion on two songs instead of Fred Maher. This is only the beginning of the story. I start with noting the intricate way the guitars of Lou Reed and Mike Rathke interact. In the songs influences from 30 years of rock are woven, giving the songs different flavours. The Velvet Underground is there, jazz, rock and roll and Lou's take on classic rock. The lyrics tell stories of New York. In one song Trump, "the president, who lost his head" and Rudy Giuliani are mentioned, in one song!! from 1989, 'Sick Of You'. Lou as Nostradamus? One of that great under-cooled songs on New York.

When a song on New York rocks out, it truly does. Nothing is held back, except that the songs are still bare of any excess. There are no subtleties left that can be found on the rest of the album. The songs in between, like 'Good Evening Mr. Waldheim', have surprisingly good melodies. No one is safe for Lou Reed's vile pen here. "Common ground" is a term he seriously discusses here and who belongs and does or should not? A song that again is so acute in 2020 "or is it true that no ground is common enough for me and you?". To me it sounds like the world in 2020, where social media is dividing whole groups with no common ground left or so it seems, except of course there is, if only we would meet and talk. So have we not learned anything since 1989? Even forgot lessons learned?

It is just another of the reason why New York really got to me. Most likely more than 31 years ago. It means different things to me now, I notice. A beautiful, small song like 'Xmas In February', with the upright bass played by Rob Wasserman, stands out, just like 'Strawman' rocks out, with the dry pounding sound of drummer Fred Maher getting a special spot.

To think that I may never have played this album again had it not been for the re-release, that I will not listen to most likely, I'm not a musical librarian I have found out.  I have listened again and it has enriched my life immediately. This truly is a five star record alright.

Wo.

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