Since the 1960s, New York art rocker Lou Reed has pushed the envelope of contemporary music with candid songs about sex, drug addiction and depression. While he was the lead vocalist of the Velvet Underground, a band that heavily influenced the burgeoning punk scene in New York with songs like "Heroin, "Venus in Furs" and "All Tomorrow's Parties," he became a part of pop artist Andy Warhol's famed Factory scene. Following Reed's departure from the Velvet Underground in 1970, he released a forgettable solo record, but with David Bowie's production help, he returned in 1972 with a powerful second album, Transformer, which included the hit single "Walk on the Wild Side." Though many of his records have failed to receive acclaim, his influence on the contemporary music scene is difficult to deny, though some maintain that the music he created with the Velvet Underground (who were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996) remains his best.

Reviews

• Coney Island Baby
• Animal Serenade
• Transformer
• The Raven

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