Lou Reed - Berlin (Full Album) 1973

1. Berlin 0:00
2. Lady Day 3:24
3. Men of Good Fortune 7:03
4. Caroline Says I 11:42
5. How Do You Think it Feels 15:39
6. Oh, Jim 19:22
7. Caroline Says II 24:36
8. The Kids 28:50
9. The Bed 36:45
10. Sad Song 42:36

YouTube uploader WallFlowerofMusic writes this about his contribution:

Lou Reed left The Velvet Underground in 1970, taking any semblance of a band with him. John Cale was long gone, Sterling Morrison was far more focused in his academic studies, and Maureen Tucker was on pregnant leave. Doug Yule was carelessly left to carry the rest of the band for another year before the legend ended completely.

Lou Reed moved back in with his parents, and for a time, it seemed like he had left the music industry permanently. That is, until his debut solo album "Lou Reed". Suddenly, he was writing songs and recording once again.

Lou Reed's solo material was radically different from anything we had seen previously from The Velvet Underground, the one exception being the "Loaded" album. He decided to go in a far more poppy and commercial direction. "Transformer", his second album, was a monumental success and the hit single "Walk on the Wild Side" became his most famous song.

It was now 1973. Lou Reed had a hit single and had collaborated with the likes of David Bowie. Would his third album follow "Transformer" to the dot, or would he take it in a completely direction? Hearing the title track of the album, it was clear Lou Reed wanted to try something he'd never done before, and he certainly did. He brought in an entire orchestra. What we have here is one of the best concept albums you are likely to ever hear. Certainly one of my favorites.

To quote Wikipedia: "The album is a tragic rock opera about a doomed couple, and addresses themes of drug use, prostitution, depression, domestic violence, and suicide." The dark lyrics and subject matter can certainly attest to that.

"Berlin" was previously released on Lou's debut album. Here, it has become the central point of the album and the setting. Very somber take, here. I could go into depth with every individual song, but that would take far too long...

This album was Lou's first solo critical and commercial failure, the likes of which would go unprecedented until 1975's "Metal Machine Music". I certainly don't know why, and I'm not too sure many other people do, either. Nevertheless, Lou Reed was very disillusioned by the negative feedback. Few songs off the album would be played live subsequently; the album would not be played in full until 2007.