New York (album)

Untitled

New York is a 1989 album by Lou Reed. It was received very warmly as a return to the style of The Velvet Underground - founded by Reed in the 1960s. Velvet drummer Maureen Tucker played on the album.

"Dirty Blvd." was a #1 hit on the newly created Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart for four weeks.

Background and lyrics

Reed's straightforward, rock and roll sound on this album was unusual for the time and along with other releases such as Graham Parker's The Mona Lisa's Sister presaged a back-to-basics turn in mainstream rock music. On the other hand, the lyrics through the 14 songs are profuse and carefully woven, making New York Reed's most overtly conceptual album since the early 1970s. His polemical liner notes direct the listener to hear the 57-minute album in one sitting, "as though it were a book or a movie." The lyrics vent anger at many public figures in the news at the time. Reed mentions by name the Virgin Mary, the NRA, Rudy Giuliani, "the President", the "Statue of Bigotry", Buddha, Mike Tyson, Bernard Goetz, Mr. Waldheim, "the Pontiff", Jesse Jackson, Hendrix, Swaggart, and Morton Downey.

Track listing

All tracks written by Lou Reed except as indicated.

1. "Romeo Had Juliette" – 3:09
2. "Halloween Parade" – 3:33
3. "Dirty Blvd." – 3:29
4. "Endless Cycle" – 4:01
5. "There Is No Time" – 3:45
6. "Last Great American Whale" – 3:42
7. "Beginning of a Great Adventure" (Reed, Mike Rathke) – 4:57
8. "Busload of Faith" – 4:50
9. "Sick of You" – 3:25
10. "Hold On" – 3:24
11. "Good Evening Mr. Waldheim" – 4:35
12. "Xmas in February" – 2:55
13. "Strawman" – 5:54
14. "Dime Store Mystery" – 5:01

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic
Robert Christgau	(A-)
Rolling Stone

In 1989, Rolling Stone ranked it the 19th best album of the 1980s. Mark Deming wrote in his allmusic.com review that "New York is a masterpiece of literate, adult rock & roll, and the finest album of Reed's solo career." In 2006, Q magazine placed the album at #26 in its list of "40 Best Albums of the '80s".

Charts

Year	Chart	Position
1989	Billboard 200	40
1989	UK Albums Chart	14

Personnel

• Lou Reed – vocals, guitar, background vocals

Additional musicians

• Mike Rathke – guitar
• Rob Wasserman – Clevinger electric upright six-string bass
• Fred Maher – drums, Fender bass
• Maureen Tucker – percussion
• Jeffrey Lesser – background vocals
• Dion DiMucci – background vocals