Track Listing

1. Vicious
2. Andy's Chest
3. Perfect Day
4. Hangin' Around
5. Walk On The Wild Side
6. Make Up
7. Satellite Of Love
8. Wagon Wheel
9. New York Telephone Conversation
10. I'm So Free
11. Goodnight Ladies
12. Hangin' Round
13. Perfect Day
14. Transformer Radio Spot

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1434 in Music
• Released on: 2003-01-13
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Original recording remastered, Import
• Dimensions: .22 pounds

CD Description
After a tepid solo debut, Lou Reed's post-Velvet Underground standing looked dicey. Fortunately, David Bowie and his guitarist Mick Ronson stepped in to help Reed craft one of thebest albums of his career. TRANSFORMER built on the stripped-down, quirky pop of LOADED-era VU, infusing it with the androgynous, cheeky glitz of the glam era (the bleached-out black-and-white cover photo of Reed in eye makeup is a giveaway), not to mention a fair bit of Ronson's guitar muscle. Much to everyone's credit, however, the album's stylish flair never eclipses Reed's excellent songcraft or acerbic wit. [paragraph here] TRANSFORMER's sense of chic fun is infectious,and is heightened by Reed's character sketches of Andy Warhol's entourage and the glitterati of New York. "New York Telephone Conversation" demonstrates his biting satire, as do "Hangin' Round", a Ronson-assisted rocker, and "Goodnight Ladies", a music hall send-up. But TRANSFORMER's highlights aresome of Reed's best-ever songs: the soaring ditty "Satellite of Love", for instance, the cutting "Vicious", the romantic, yet chillingly melancholic "Perfect Day", and the slice of pop perfection that is "Walk On The Wild Side", complete with shuffling groove, sliding bass, instantly memorable vocal back-ups, and Reed's deadpan talk-singing. Ever the experimentalist, Reed would have difficulty matching the magic formula of this album again. As a result, TRANSFORMER remains one of the infallible standouts in his discography.

Customer Reviews

Evocative musical theatre
On this legendary album, Reed celebrates Andy Warhol and his 15-minutes of fame stars in a glamrock style, influenced by David Bowie. This new edition includes two extra tracks, acoustic versions of Hanging Round and Perfect Day. The informative insert includes illustrations and an essay on the history of Reed and the significance of this album.

Transformer is a type of decadent cabaret comparable to Bowie's Alladin Sane, but it is less bleak and much more colourful and engaging. Reed proved himself to be a master of many styles, from the compelling rock of Walk On The Wild Side through the tender and tuneful pop of Satellite Of Love to the oneiric Perfect Day, a haunting poetic excursion.

Other highlights include the edgy rocker Vicious with its hypnotic melody and sarcastic/ironic lyrics (an attitude that would soon infuse punk and new wave), the quirky New York Telephone Conversation, the energetic Hanging Round and the stately Goodnight Ladies. The songs are highly descriptive of a time, a place and a mindset, and the music is powerful in places and very elegant.

The stylistic variety renders Transformer compelling throughout while not detracting from the cohesion, making it a great piece of musical theatre. Devoted followers would agree that it does not reveal the complete Reed, as he has been so prolific and his oeuvre encompasses a much larger spectrum. But as a document of the middle seventies, it remains superb, an essential album for all serious rock fans.

A Musical Genius on Top Form
Truly a brilliant, brilliant album. On first listen this blew me away with the tremendously cool (yet often gritty and dark) lyrical prowess of Lou Reed, and the laid-back, confident mix of funky, jazzy, bluesy and often punk influences. This is a must have for anyone's record collection - an amazing album - if you haven't heard any Lou Reed before I'd recommend this. Certainly if you enjoy this it's a must that you then explore his work with the Velvet Underground, which is equally original and equally immense.

A big, big recommendation to get this album coming from this reviewer!

Lou Reed's most commercial LP is a classic
Co-Produced by David Bowie and with a Stella line up of musicians including the awesome guitar of Mick Ronson and the master multi-instrumentalist Herbie Flowers Lou Reed's chronicle of gay life in New York is a classic from the opening riff of 'Vicious' to the Flowers arranged cabaret of 'Goodnight Ladies'.

Needing a boost after the failure of his patchy 'Lou Reed' debut for RCA Reed agreed to allow Bowie to co-produce with guitarist extraordinaire and current Spider, Mick Ronson (this edition of the CD allows you to see how the team turned Reeds rough masters into polished classics with the addition of the acoustic demo versions of 'Hangin' Round' and 'Perfect Day')and what a meeting of minds it was.

Each of the eleven original tracks is a stunner the stand outs being the Herbie Flowers bass dominated 'Walk On The Wild Side' (the title was stolen from the Nelson Algren's novel but the lyrics were about the Factory Set), Reed is quoted as saying that this song was so edited in the States that only the 'Doo, Doo Doo's were left)), the simply orchestrated and beautiful 'Perfect Day', the chugging mettle that is the angst ridden 'Vicious', the joyful menace that is Hangin' Round' and the fabulously camp 'Satellite Of Love'.

If you already have a copy of this album buy it for the extra tracks, if you don't have it, start your Lou Reed collection here.