Lou Reed staring from the cover of this album like Frankenstein in mascara gives us a feeling we are going to be in for a rough ride of the heavy metal kind. Nothing could be further from the truth. David Bowie was brought in to produce the album, adding a glam-rock feel to Reed's tougher street smart sound. This, along with a strong set of songs, would give Reed his greatest commercial success with Transformer and also give him his lone Top 20 hit in "Walk on the Wild Side."
One of the great things about this album is how the music is so sweet and somewhat like show tunes and the lyrics are so subtly deviant and oh so clever. Take for example the song vicious. Here are a few selected lines from that song:
"You hit me with a flower
You do it every hour
Ohh, baby you're so vicious"
But Lou Reed does not stop there as he brings up the lyric a notch or two a few lines later.
"Hey, why don't you swallow razor blades
You must think I'm some kinda gay blade
But baby, you're so vicious"
One of my favorite songs is Perfect Day. And it is a love song (if a some what twisted one) with a swelling chorus
"Oh it's such a perfect day,
I'm glad I spent it with you.
Oh such a perfect day,
You just keep me hanging on,
You just keep me hanging on."
On the surface it seems so wholesome but the perfect day includes drinking sangria in the park as well as the wonderfully twisted line
"You made me forget myself.
I thought I was someone else,
Someone good."
It is an incredible album well worth owning and savoring.
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