Album of the Day

Among Lou Reed's greatest solo albums, NEW YORK was intended to be experienced in a single sitting as though it were a book or a movie, and its literate lyrics certainly reward such focus. Beyond the state-of-the-nation reportage that sees Lou lashing out at public figures including Kurt Waldheim, Rudy Giuliani and Jimmy Swaggart, the Sire collection is filled with songs about love, loss and survival that transcend its 1989 release date - “Romeo Had Juliette,” “Dirty Blvd.” and “Busload Of Faith,” to name but a few. Though less dense, the music is just as impressive, with Mike Rathke's guitar a fine counterpoint to Reed's (former Velvet Underground bandmate Moe Tucker and '50s rock icon Dion DiMiucci also make appearances). This is the album that made Lou Reed the poet laureate of NEW YORK, and we'll give it another spin now on what would have been the man's 78th birthday.