Lou Reed - New York

3CD/DVD/2LP 30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition of Lou Reed's Sire Records debut!

Features remastered sound, unreleased studio, live tracks, plus DVD debut of "The New York Album" concert video!

Packaged in a 12" x 12" hardcover book w/ liner notes written by music journalist David Fricke

Also includes essays from archivist Don Fleming

Produced for release by Laurie Anderson, Don Fleming, Bill Ingot, Jason Stern, and Hal Willner

The career of Lou Reed defied capsule summarization. Like David Bowie (whom Reed directly inspired in many ways), he made over his image many times, mutating from theatrical glam rocker to strung-out junkie to avant-garde noiseman to straight rock & roller to your average guy. Few would deny Reed's immense importance and considerable achievements. As has often been written, he expanded the vocabulary of rock 'n' roll lyrics into the previously forbidden territory of kinky sex, drug use (and abuse), decadence, transvestites, homosexuality, and suicidal depression.

As has been pointed out less often, he remained committed to using rock 'n' roll as a forum for literary, mature expression throughout his artistic life.

Reed's 1989 album New York captures Reed in exceptional form and is packed with incredible songs such as "Busload Of Faith," "Halloween Parade" and "Dirty Blvd." The entire album has been remastered for the first time ever for this massive deluxe edition. The second disc presents unreleased live versions from the Lou Reed Archive of every album track compiled from multiple performances. To avoid duplication, none of these live tracks were taken from the set's accompanying DVD.

The third disc showcases unreleased early versions of several album tracks from the Lou Reed Archive, including "Last Great American Whale," "Sick Of You" and "Dirty Blvd." Also featured is the non-LP track "The Room," as well as live versions of "Sweet Jane," a song Reed originally recorded with The Velvet Underground, and "Walk On The Wild Side," from his second solo album, Transformer (1972.)

This set also includes "The New York Album," a concert video that was originally released in 1990 on VHS and Laserdisc. It has never been available on DVD, until now. It features Reed performing the entire New York album live in Montreal at the Theatre St. Denis. The DVD concludes with an audio-only interview with Reed.

CD 1: 2020 Remaster

1. Romeo Had Juliette

2. Halloween Parade

3. Dirty Blvd.

4. Endless Cycle

5. There Is No Time

6. Last Great American Whale

7. Beginning of a Great Adventure

8. Busload of Faith

9. Sick of You

10. Hold On

11. Good Evening Mr. Waldeheim

12. Xmas in February

13. Strawman

14. Dime Store Mystery

CD 2

1. Romeo Had Juliette (Live at the Warner Theatre, Washington, DC, 3/14/1989)

2. Halloween Parade (Live at Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, Baltimore, MD, 3/16/1989)

3. Dirty Blvd. (Live at Wembley Arena, London, UK, 7/14/1989)

4. Endless Cycle (Live at the Warner Theatre, Washington, DC, 3/14/1989)

5. There Is No Time (Live at The Mosque, Richmond, VA, 8/8/1989)

6. Last Great American Whale (Live at The Mosque, Richmond, VA, 8/8/1989)

7. Beginning of a Great Adventure (Live at Wembley Arena, London, UK, 7/4/1989)

8. Busload of Faith (Live at the Falconer Theatre, Copenhagen, Denmark, 6/9/1989)

9. Sick of You (Live at the Tower Theatre, Upper Darby, PA, 3/17/1989)

10. Hold On (Live at the Mosque, Richmond, VA, 8/8/1989)

11. Good Evening Mr. Waldheim (Live at Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, Baltimore, MD, 3/16/1989)

12. Xmas in February (Live at Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, Baltimore, MD, 3/16/1989)

13. Strawman (Live at Wembley Arena, London, UK, 7/4/1989)

14. Dime Store Mystery (Live at the Mosque, Richmond, VA, 8/8/1989)

CD 3

1. Romeo Had Juliette (7inch Version)

2. Dirty Blvd. (Work Tape)

3. Dirty Blvd. (Rough Mix)

4. Endless Cycle (Work Tape)

5. Last Great American Whale (Work Tape)

6. Beginning of a Great Adventure (Rough Mix)

7. Busload of Faith (Acoustic Version)

8. Sick of You (Work Tape)

9. Sick of You (Rough Mix)

10. Hold On (Rough Mix)

11. Strawman (Rough Mix)

12. The Room (Non-Album Track)

13. Sweet Jane (Live Encore at The Mosque, Richmond, VA, 8/8/1989)

14. Walk on the Wild Side (Live Encore at The Mosque, Richmond, VA, 8/8/1989)

DVD

Live at Theatre St. Denis, Montreal, Canada

1. Romeo Had Juliette (Live at Theatre St. Denis, Montreal, Canada, 8/13/1989)

2. Halloween Parade (Live at Theatre St. Denis, Montreal, Canada, 8/13/1989)

3. Dirty Blvd. (Live at Theatre St. Denis, Montreal, Canada, 8/13/1989)

4. Endless Cycle (Live at Theatre St. Denis, Montreal, Canada, 8/13/1989)

5. There Is No Time (Live at Theatre St. Denis, Montreal, Canada, 8/13/1989)

6. Last Great American Whale (Live at Theatre St. Denis, Montreal, Canada, 8/13/1989)

7. Beginning Of A Great Adventure (Live at Theatre St. Denis, Montreal, Canada, 8/13/1989)

8. Busload Of Faith (Live at Theatre St. Denis, Montreal, Canada, 8/13/1989)

9. Sick Of You (Live at Theatre St. Denis, Montreal, Canada, 8/13/1989)

10. Hold On (Live at Theatre St. Denis, Montreal, Canada, 8/13/1989)

11. Good Evening Mr. Waldheim (Live at Theatre St. Denis, Montreal, Canada, 8/13/1989)

12. Xmas In February (Live at Theatre St. Denis, Montreal, Canada, 8/13/1989)

13. Strawman (Live at Theatre St. Denis, Montreal, Canada, 8/13/1989)

14. Dime Store Mystery (Live at Theatre St. Denis, Montreal, Canada, 8/13/1989)

Audio only: A Conversation With Lou Reed

New York Vinyl LP: 2020 Remaster

LP 1

1. Romeo Had Juliette

2. Halloween Parade

3. Dirty Blvd.

4. Endless Cycle

5. There Is No Time

6. Last Great American Whale

7. Beginning of a Great Adventure

LP 2

1. Busload of Faith

2. Sick of You

3. Hold On

4. Good Evening Mr. Waldeheim

5. Xmas in February

6. Strawman

7. Dime Store Mystery

Customer Reviews (4.50 Stars) 2 person(s) rated this product.

Slack jawed! posted on 12/11/2020 5 Stars Reviewer: Gordon Johnson I really only had an interest in the vinyl yet I found the CD's the go to when I opened this set. Insightful, brilliant, simply Lou Reed! The vinyl which I have owned since issue and still played is epic to say the least while fitting so much audio across just two sides was always going to make this a listening challenge. Here we get the audio across two records and boy does this thing rock! The remaster brings us what we have yearned for all of these years. Buy it, play it. This is no time for words, this IS the time for cranking the volume.

Extraordinary Vinyl posted on 12/07/2021 4 Stars Reviewer: Brian This review is only for the 2 vinyl disks that make up the New York album. The 14 songs from the album are split up into two disks, each with seven songs. Each record is 180 grams and spins at 33 1/3 RPM. Initially, I gave this album 5 stars, but now I must rectify that review. I've never heard this album sound this good. Which was true when I first heard this, thinking in my mind that the original record was not as good. Well, the version I had may, or may not, have been the original. Since then, I heard of a pressing by Alsdorf, out of Germany. That's the pressing to get, and you can still get it on discogs for less than $100. The Alsdorf pressing has the strongest punch and the sharpest sonic image. For example, on this Rhino version, Lou's voice is sharply focused in the center, but it's a little softer focus than what can be had on the Alsdorf pressing. Further, the overall production of this Rhino version is just a tad less vivid than the Alsdorf one.

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