Magic and Loss

Last updated
Magic and Loss
Magic and Loss (Lou Reed) album cover.jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedJanuary 14, 1992
RecordedApril 1–27, 1991
StudioThe Magic Shop, New York City
Genre Rock
Length58:27
Label Sire
Producer Lou Reed, Mike Rathke
Lou Reed chronology
Songs for Drella
(1990)
Magic and Loss
(1992)
Between Thought and Expression: The Lou Reed Anthology
(1992)

Magic and Loss is the sixteenth solo studio album by American rock musician Lou Reed, released on January 14, 1992, by Sire Records. A concept album, it was Reed's highest-charting album on the UK Albums Chart, peaking at No. 6. [1]

Contents

Background

It's my dream album, because everything finally came together to where the album is finally fully realized. I got it to do what I wanted it to do, commercial thoughts never entered into it, so I'm just stunned.

Lou Reed, explaining his satisfaction with the album. [2]

Magic and Loss was originally intended to be primarily about themes of magic after hearing stories about magicians in Mexico. However, when tragedy struck during the writing process, Reed expanded the album's focus to themes of loss and death as well. [3] Inspired in part by the illnesses and eventual deaths of two close friends, Magic and Loss was written for songwriter Doc Pomus, who had given Reed his start in the music business some 25 years earlier, [4] and a woman Reed has identified as "Rita", popularly assumed to be Rotten Rita, who along with Reed was a familiar figure at Andy Warhol's studio, the Factory, in the mid-to-late '60s. [5] Photographs of Pomus and a woman's face can be seen at the center of the lyric booklet included with the CD release. [6]

Jazz singer Little Jimmy Scott performs backing vocals on track 3, "Power and Glory". Reed's live performance of the album filmed on March 18, 1992, at Pinewood Studios in London, England, was released on VHS and LaserDisc. [7]

The single "What's Good"/"The Thesis", released in March, was Reed's second number-one hit (after "Dirty Blvd.") on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart, [8] occupying the top spot for 3 weeks. The 12" version of the release contained Reed's reading of "Harry's Circumcision" and "A Dream". A longer version of "What's Good" was previously released on the 1991 soundtrack album to the Wim Wenders film Until the End of the World . [9]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [10]
Chicago Tribune Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [11]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [12]
Entertainment Weekly B− [13]
NME 10/10 [14]
Orlando Sentinel Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [15]
Q Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [16]
Rolling Stone Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [17]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [18]
Select 5/5 [19]

Magic and Loss was voted the 16th best album of the year in The Village Voice 's annual Pazz & Jop critics poll for 1992. Robert Christgau, the poll's creator, disapproved of the voters' support of an album he felt was a "failed concept" marred by Reed's uninteresting views on death. [20] In a positive review, Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune said that the album shows "a great rocker at the peak of his powers: Striking tunes, gripping lyrics, honest emotion stripped of melodrama." [11]

Track listing

All tracks written by Lou Reed, except where noted.

Side one

  1. "Dorita - The Spirit" – 1:07
  2. "What's Good - The Thesis" – 3:22
  3. "Power and Glory - The Situation" (Lou Reed, Mike Rathke) – 4:23
  4. "Magician - Internally" – 6:23
  5. "Sword of Damocles - Externally" – 3:42
  6. "Goodby Mass - In a Chapel Bodily Termination" – 4:25
  7. "Cremation - Ashes to Ashes" – 2:54
  8. "Dreamin' - Escape" (Reed, Rathke) – 5:07

Side two

  1. "No Chance - Regret" – 3:15
  2. "Warrior King - Revenge" – 4:27
  3. "Harry's Circumcision - Reverie Gone Astray" – 5:28
  4. "Gassed and Stoked - Loss" (Reed, Rathke) – 4:18
  5. "Power and Glory, Part II - Magic - Transformation" (Reed, Rathke) – 2:57
  6. "Magic and Loss - The Summation" (Reed, Rathke) – 6:39

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the Magic and Loss liner notes. [21]

Musicians

Artwork

Charts

Chart performance for Magic and Loss
Chart (1992)Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA) [22] 56
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) [23] 9
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [24] 11
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [25] 17
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) [26] 20
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista) [27] 10
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [28] 9
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [29] 10
UK Albums (OCC) [30] 6
US Billboard 200 [31] 80

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