Amazon.com: Eternally perverse, Reed responded to having a pop hit with Transformer by making a massive bummer of an album, built around reworked versions of a couple of older songs. Berlin is psychologically grueling and unremittingly dark (scariest moment: "The Kids," which ends with a very long tape of children screaming in terror), but the savage contrasts of its sound have gotten more impressive with time. The big production flourishes hit like a hangover, Reed's voice sounds like he's trying to stave off emotional involvement with his lyrics because it would hurt too much, and the multi-layered textures of "Oh Jim" surge and recede like details of a nightmare. The album takes strength to hear, and rewards it. --Douglas Wolk
Lester Bangs was dead on ...when he said this was 'the most gargantuan, maggoty slab of rancor that has ever been recorded'. Reed, even with his best moments with the Velvet Underground, doesn't match up to this self-pitying disaster. If you want to see Reed at his most fragmented and self-loathing, look no further. This is the breakdown album.
Lou Reed's "Sgt Pepper" A "concept album" to be sure. But some of Reed's best work. Melodic and deep. When I first bought the LP years ago and listened to it, a friend commented, "This is Lou Reed's 'Sgt. Pepper'." I coudln't have put it better. It has the "Reed" feeling, and tells a story. A sad story, indeed. Just listen to the orchestration of "Sad Song" and not be moved by the climax. A gem.
Thankfully I Don't "Get" It! Being a fan of multiple genres, artists, styles I always keep an open mind when listening to things the first time. Having got this on loan from the library, what resonated was how how glad I was I didn't actually pay for this dreadful album. The writing, singing and playing is uninspired, formulaic and displays little talent. Reading the various reviews causes me to wonder how someone could give this five stars, or four or three...Thankfully I don't "get" it. Not having smoked, drank or ingested some other type of substance likely had something to do with that. That is the only way I could conceive getting anything out of this and might explain others getting any pleasures out this subpar effort. People, there is so much better music out there than to waste your time on this!
Berlin I've spent the last five years of my life hearing from others that this album is a depressing, disturbing masterpiece. I finally bought it, and this is truly Lou Reed's finest hour. As is often pointed out about this album, the lyrics are brilliant. Reed tells stories with an eye for dirt and mire that few others come close to possessing. It's a thrilling read as well as a great listen. As a consequence, though, the music behind the words is usually overlooked. I've never read a review of Berlin that made a point of how truly remarkable the music is. Some of these songs are absolutely astounding in their musical crafting. The chord progressions still sound fresh, the guitar parts are simple but perfect, and the melodies are the work of a master craftsman. Truly a brilliant album, in every sense.
I like Lou Reed but this Rock Opera Sucks. Very bad lyrics, bad music and no flow at all make this a terrible album. The other listeners have to be blind (and deaf) followers of Lou Reed or get stoned when they listen to this album. Fingers on a chalkboard. That's what I hate about album reviews is that even if an album sucks fans will try to stick up for there idol and never rate them in a true manner.
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