Lou Reed - Berlin

Eternally perverse, Reed responded to having a pop hit with Transformer by making a massive bummer of an album, built around reworked versions of a couple of older songs. Berlin is psychologically grueling and unremittingly dark (scariest moment: "The Kids," which ends with a very long tape of children screaming in terror), but the savage contrasts of its sound have gotten more impressive with time. The big production flourishes hit like a hangover, Reed's voice sounds like he's trying to stave off emotional involvement with his lyrics because it would hurt too much, and the multi-layered textures of "Oh Jim" surge and recede like details of a nightmare. The album takes strength to hear, and rewards it. --Douglas Wolk

     

• RCA - 435500 (France) LP
• RCA International - INTS 5150 (Netherlands) LP
• RCA Victor - RS 1002 (UK) LP
• Legacy - 88697001041
• RCA International - NL 84388 (Europe) LP
• RCA Victor - APL1-0207 (US) LP
• RCA - YL 43605 (Italy) LP
• RCA Victor - AYL1-4388 (US) LP
• RCA Victor - APL1-9057 (Spain) LP
• RCA - APL1-0207 (Germany) LP
• RCA - APLI-0207/D INJ. (Italy) LP

Images from Vinyl Releases of Berlin

Tracks

• A1)   Berlin
• A2)   Lady Day
• A3)   Men Of Good Fortune
• A4)   Caroline Says I
• A5)   How Do You Think It Feels
• B1)   Oh, Jim
• B2)   Caroline Says II
• B3)   The Bed
• B4)   The Kids
• B5)   Sad Song

Track listing above is from RCA - 435500 (France) LP

Check out more vinyl records by Lou Reed