By Jove, they ALL matter!

Shocked when I heard this. RIP Lou. One of my all time favorites.

I was looking at this year's R&R HoF nominees and there are no less than 5 -- Peter Gabriel, Nirvana, the Replacements, Yes, and Kiss -- who have were significantly influenced, directly or indirectly, by Reed/VU. That's in one single HoF class. There are certain artists who cast a shadow far out of proportion to the commercial success of their body of work. Lou Reed was one such artist -- perhaps the epitome of such an artist.

By all accounts, he was kind of an asshole, but so are most of the truly gifted creative types.

Still no word on why he died?

Not that I've heard.

Liver disease. The disease had progressed so much that not even a transplant helped.

Oh, there you go.

From what I understand, it was more a case of he suffered no BS from people, and wasn't afraid to tell you how he felt. That, and he used his attitude as a shield for the same reason. Some people call that being cranky, or an asshole, and take umbrage with it. Regardless, I've also read entirely too many stories in the last two days of how equally nice and giving he could be, too.

“Heroin, be the death of me
Heroin, it’s my wife and it’s my life.”

He was a New Yorker. Being gruff, cranky, and an asshole is the way they show you that they care.

Do you not like Loaded? I like that one as much as any of the others. Heck, even those two 80's rarities albums IMO are indispensible. I mean, geez, "Foggy Notion" and "I Can't Stand It" might even be my favorite two songs they released and they didn't officially come out until the 80's. Insane.

He was Lou. He was New York.

Who Loves the Sun always ruined that album for me. But it has indispensable songs like Sweet Jane, Rock and Roll, New Age, and Oh! Sweet Nuthin. It's just not Sister Ray or Venus in Furs.

I agree with you on VU and Another View. Outstanding stuff.

I have to admit that I don't have any VU or LR material in my catalog. I've certainly listened to both artists over the years, but never delved in. As I am older now, I can clearly see how incredibly influential Lou has been. Many of the artists that I became a fan of in my teenage years owe their existence to him. Very sad to hear of his passing. I will be buying a LOT of Reed material in the coming weeks...

You know what album is really excellent but no one ever talks about? Growing Up in Public. Great production, angsty songs, good stuff all around.

No doubt your avatar was heavily influenced by him

RIP Lou, one of my favorites with or without VU. I don't care too much about him being influential, I just like his music, almost all of it.

Rock Minuet

Paralyzed by hatred and a piss ugly soul
If he murdered his father, he thought he'd become whole
While listening at night to an old radio
Where they danced to the rock minuet

In the gay bars in the back of the bar
He consummated hatred on a cold sawdust floor
While the jukebox played backbeats, he sniffed coke off a jar
While they danced to a rock minuet

School was a waste, he was meant for the street
But school was the only way, the army could be beat
The two whores sucked his nipples 'til he came on their feet
As they danced to the rock minuet

He dreamt that his father was sunk to his knees
His leather belt tied so tight that it was hard to breathe
And the studs from his jacket were as cold as a breeze
As he danced to a rock minuet

He pictured the bedroom where he heard the first cry
His mother on all fours, ah, with his father behind
And her yell hurt so much, he had wished he'd gone blind
And rocked to a rock minuet

In the back of the warehouse were a couple of guys
They had tied someone up and sewn up their eyes
And he got so excited he came on his thighs
When they danced to the rock minuet

On avenue b, someone cruised him one night
He took him in an alley and then pulled a knife
And thought of his father, as he cut his windpipe
And finally danced to the rock minuet

In the curse of the alley, the thrill of the street
On the bitter cold docks where the outlaws all meet
In euphoria drug in euphoria heat
You could dance to the rock minuet

In the thrill of the needle and anonymous sex
You could dance to the rock minuet

So when you dance hard, slow dancing
When you dance hard, slow dancing
When you dance hard, slow dancing
When you dance to the rock minuet

Absolutely.

I've just removed an interchange that threatened to take things in an unwelcome direction and am re-posting here something from the DOs and DONTs thread:

Does this mean I can't remind people that this exists?

I listened to Metal Machine Music on Sunday night. It holds up. Doesn't sound dated at all, and the songwriting is just as good as it was when the album was first released.

Granted and good point...

Let me clarify my views on VU / Lou Reed.

The first three VU albums are epochal masterpieces. Reed is clearly the main driver of those albums and deserves the credit. Speaking for myself, "White Light / White Heat" in particular is up there with Love's "Forever Changes", The Who's "Sell Out" and Van Morrison's "Astral Weeks" as my personal favorite album of the mid-late sixties.

"Loaded" and "VU" are maybe a half step lower but still amazing albums. The edge goes to "Loaded" because "Sweet Jane" and "Rock and Roll" can't be denied.

It's his solo career that I just don't care for. I like some of his stuff. Granted, his "classics" like "Transformer", "The Blue Mask" or "New York" have some great moments... but they're nowhere near as good as the VU stuff. None of them are even my favorite post-VU solo album (probably John Cale's "Paris 1919").

Reed reminds me a bit of Iggy Pop, he demonstrably needed a great band to support him and possibly rein in his impulses. Iggy also made some great (arguably classic) solo music but it never quite captured the magic of The Stooges. Likewise, Reed lost a step or two when VU broke up.

I listened to Transformer and Berlin the other night. I have to say that Transformer has to be one of my least favorite Lou Reed albums. Weird that they were released so close to one another.

To comment on Hiro11's post, I think it's pretty unfair to judge Lou's solo career by holding it up to VU, one of those lightning in a bottle moments.

I saw Lou Reed in 2000 on the Ecstasy tour. It was one of the loudest concerts I ever saw. Lou would go into these almost trance-like solos that were just incredible. The idea that he needed a band or John Cale to prop him up is laughable. I think Lou did like working with Fernando Saunders though as that distinctive fretless sound was present from The Blue Mask on.

And for the record, The Blue Mask is fucking brilliant. All of it. The title song is horrifying.

John Cale definitely had the best solo career. Maureen Tucker's solo stuff is really good too, just very unpretentious blue collar rock music. I saw her live a couple times years ago when she still went on mini tours.