Retro | ||||
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Compilation album by | ||||
Released | March 12, 1989 | |||
Genre | Rock | |||
Length | 1:11:14 | |||
Label | RCA | |||
Lou Reed chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [1] |
Retro is a compilation album by American rock musician Lou Reed, released on March 12, 1989 in the United Kingdom by RCA Records.
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Australia (ARIA) [2] | Gold | 35,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
Lewis Allan Reed was an American musician, singer, songwriter, and poet. He was the guitarist, singer, and principal songwriter for the rock band the Velvet Underground and had a solo career that spanned five decades. Although not commercially successful during its existence, the Velvet Underground became regarded as one of the most influential bands in the history of underground and alternative rock music. Reed's distinctive deadpan voice, poetic and transgressive lyrics, and experimental guitar playing were trademarks throughout his long career.
The Velvet Underground is the third album by American rock band the Velvet Underground. Released in March 1969 on MGM Records, it was their first record with Doug Yule who replaced previous member John Cale. Recorded in 1968 at TTG Studios in Los Angeles, California, the album's sound—consisting largely of ballads and straightforward rock songs—marked a notable shift in style from the band's previous recordings. Singer Lou Reed intentionally did this as a result of their abrasive previous album White Light/White Heat. Reed wanted other band members to sing on the album; Yule contributed lead vocals to some tracks and closing track "After Hours" is sung by drummer Moe Tucker.
White Light/White Heat is the second studio album by American rock band the Velvet Underground. Released on January 30, 1968, on Verve Records, it was the band's last studio recording with multi-instrumentalist and founding member John Cale. Recorded after Reed fired Andy Warhol, who had produced their debut album The Velvet Underground & Nico, they hired Steve Sesnick as a manager and hired producer Tom Wilson who had worked on the band's debut. White Light/White Heat was engineered by Gary Kellgren.
Loaded is the fourth studio album by American rock band The Velvet Underground, released in November 1970 by Atlantic Records' subsidiary label Cotillion. Despite having a number of singles originate from it, the album itself failed to chart.
Bootleg Series Volume 1: The Quine Tapes is a triple live album by The Velvet Underground. It was released on October 16, 2001, by Polydor, the record label overseeing the band's UMG back catalogue. It was recorded by Robert Quine, a fan of the band who would later become an influential guitarist, playing with Richard Hell, Lou Reed, and Lloyd Cole.
Holmes Sterling Morrison Jr. was an American guitarist, best known as one of the founding members of the rock group the Velvet Underground, usually playing electric guitar, occasionally bass guitar, and singing backing vocals.
Transformer is the second solo studio album by American recording artist Lou Reed. Produced by David Bowie and Mick Ronson, the album was released in November 1972 by RCA Records. It is considered an influential landmark of the glam rock genre, anchored by Reed's most successful single, "Walk on the Wild Side", which touched on then-controversial topics of sexual orientation, gender identity, prostitution, and drug use. Though Reed's self-titled debut solo album had been unsuccessful, Bowie had been an early fan of Reed's former band The Velvet Underground, and used his own fame to promote Reed, who had not yet achieved mainstream success.
Douglas Alan Yule is an American musician and singer, most notable for being a member of the Velvet Underground from 1968 to 1973.
The Very Best of The Velvet Underground is a compilation album by The Velvet Underground. It was released in Europe on March 31, 2003, by Polydor, the record label that oversees the band's Universal Music Group back catalog.
Tubeway Army is the debut album by Tubeway Army, released in 1978. Its initial limited-edition run of 5,000 sold out but did not chart. When reissued in mid-1979, following the success of the follow-up Replicas (1979), the more commonly known cover art featuring a stylised portrait of Gary Numan was introduced. This release made No. 14 in the UK album charts.
Rock and Roll Diary: 1967–1980 is a compilation album by Lou Reed. It was released by Arista Records in 1980 as a double album split between tracks by the Velvet Underground and tracks by Reed, attempting to demonstrate the arc of his songwriting over the first fifteen years of his career.
American Poet is an album of an early solo concert by American rock musician Lou Reed, recorded live at the Calderone Concert Hall, Hempstead, New York, on Boxing Day 1972 during the Transformer tour. The backing band are the Tots. It features material from The Velvet Underground's first album, The Velvet Underground & Nico, and Reed's first two 1972 solo albums, debut Lou Reed and Transformer. The version of "Berlin" is the arrangement from that debut album. American Poet was released in 2001. It had previously been released as a bootleg recording.
NYC Man is a 2-CD anthology of Lou Reed's work. All songs of this career spanning collection were chosen, sequenced and remastered by Lou Reed himself.
"Sunday Morning" is a song by the Velvet Underground. It is the opening track on their 1967 debut album The Velvet Underground & Nico. It was also released as a single in 1966. The song is written in the key of F major.
"Venus in Furs" is a song by the Velvet Underground, written by Lou Reed and originally released on the 1967 album The Velvet Underground & Nico. Inspired by the book of the same name by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, the song includes sexual themes of sadomasochism, bondage and submission.
The Best of Lou Reed & The Velvet Underground is a compilation of some of Lou Reed's and some of The Velvet Underground's songs. It was released in 1995, but not in the U.S.
The Velvet Underground was an American rock band formed in New York City in 1964. The original line-up consisted of singer/guitarist Lou Reed, multi-instrumentalist John Cale, guitarist Sterling Morrison, and drummer Angus MacLise. MacLise was replaced by Moe Tucker in 1965, who played on most of the band's recordings. Their integration of rock and the avant-garde achieved little commercial success during the group's existence, but they are now recognized as one of the most influential bands in rock, underground, experimental, and alternative music. The group's provocative subject matter, musical experiments, and often nihilistic attitudes also proved influential in the development of punk rock and new wave music.
Heaven & Hell – A Tribute to the Velvet Underground is a series of tribute albums released by Imaginary Records in the UK dedicated to American rock band the Velvet Underground. While not technically part of the series, Imaginary Records also released another tribute album to the Velvet Underground, called Fifteen Minutes which is in fact merely a compilation of fourteen tracks from the three Heaven & Hell albums. In 2009 Ozit-Morpheus Records re-released this compilation under the title Unpiecing The Jigsaw - A Tribute To The Velvet Underground which appended two live tracks by Nico to the third disc, and - on a fourth disc - a lengthy interview with Lou Reed called "47 Minutes In Depth With Lou Reed".
"Rock & Roll" is a song by the Velvet Underground, originally appearing on their 1970 album Loaded. The song was written by the Velvets' then-leader Lou Reed, who continued to incorporate the song into his own live performances years later as a solo artist.
"What Goes On" is a song by the Velvet Underground. It was the only single released from their 1969 eponymous third album.