New York was my first introduction to Lou Reed. Sometime in the mid 90s when I was about seventeen or eighteen my dad suggested that I listen to it, saying “If you like Bob Dylan then you might like this album.”
My dad was right. Lyrically I would put New York on par with any Dylan record. Set mainly to a late period Velvet Underground sounding backdrop (though there is a lounge jazz sort of song that somehow doesn’t feel too out of place) its full with stories set in New York City and takes swipes at many public figures and highlights many political issues.
“Americans don't care too much for beauty, they'll shit in a river, dump battery acid in a stream. They'll watch dead rats wash up on the beach and complain if they can't swim.”
From New York I went on to Velvet Underground albums then back to the solo records. Some of his solo stuff I wish I hadn’t bought like Sally Can’t Dance and Berlin (I know Berlin is supposed to be one of Reed’s finest albums but I find it extremely dull), and some I still regularly listen too like Street Hassle and Transformer.
But in my opinion New York is Lou Reed’s finest Moment.
