Details
Track Listing
1. Berlin
2. Lady Day
3. Men of Good Fortune
4. Caroline Says (I)
5. How Do You Think It Feels
6. Oh, Jim
7. Caroline Says (II)
8. Kids, The
9. Bed, The
10. Sad Song
Album Notes
Personnel include: Lou Reed (vocals, acoustic guitar); Gene Martynec (acoustic guitar, synthesizer); Dick Wagner (electric guitar, background vocals); Steve Hunter (electric guitar); Michael Brecker (tenor saxophone); Randy Brecker (trumpet); Jon Pierson (bass trombone); Bob Ezrin (piano, Mellotron); Blue Weaver, Allan Macmillan (piano); Steve Winwood (harmonium, organ); Tony Levin , Jack Bruce (bass instrument); Aynsley Dunbar, B.J. Wilson (drums).
Liner Note Author: Michael Hill.
Recording information: Morgan Studios, North London, United Kingdom.
After the success of his glam-rockish TRANSFORMER, the expectation was that Lou Reed would plow deeper into commercial territory. As usual, Reed delighted in confounding expectations. BERLIN is a song cycle that uses the decadence of its namesake and some Brecht/Weill-esque orchestrations to tell a story of two psychically damaged people and their doomed relationship. (Aided by Berlin producer Bob Ezrin, Pink Floyd would attempt a similar feat several years later on THE WALL).
Far from the rock-star poses of TRANSFORMER, BERLIN is lyrically and musically frank and blunt. The arrangements move from sophisticated, arch orchestration to naked-sounding acoustic sparseness, but the words are uniformly unflinching in their depiction of violence, addiction, and desperation. Not for the faint of heart, BERLIN is a harrowing journey through the aforementioned tribulations, and one of Reed's most unusual, demanding, but ultimately rewarding albums.
Industry Reviews
Ranked #28 in The NME Top 30 Heartbreak Albums - ...Heartbreak. Heroin. Dubonnet on ice. Reed poured all this badness into this bitter and twisted masterpiece...
NME (08/12/2000)
...Fascinating....Detailing a couple's breakup, a woman's breakdown and her eventual suicide.....succeeding despite itself...
The Wire (06/01/2000)
5 Stars - Indispensable - ...a melancholy masterpiece...places Reed's dry narrative in sophisticated settings...
Q (05/01/1992)
Ranked #33 among The Greatest Albums Of The '70s.
NME (09/18/1993)
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