| The Definitive Collection | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Compilation album by | ||||
| Released | August 24, 1999 | |||
| Recorded | 1972–1998 | |||
| Genre | Rock | |||
| Length | 75:15 | |||
| Label | Arista/RCA/BMG | |||
| Lou Reed chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [1] |
The Definitive Collection is Arista's 1999 Lou Reed collection, [2] complete with an appropriately decadent cover photo by Mick Rock from the mid-1970s[ citation needed ].
Lewis Allan Reed was an American musician and songwriter. 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 came to be 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.
Transformer is the second solo studio album by American recording artist Lou Reed. Produced by David Bowie and Mick Ronson, the album was released on November 8, 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 controversial topics of sexual orientation, gender identity, prostitution and drug use. Although 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 fame to promote Reed, who had not yet achieved mainstream success.
Street Hassle is the eighth solo studio album by American rock musician Lou Reed, released in February 1978 by Arista Records. Richard Robinson and Reed produced the album. It is the first commercially released pop album to employ binaural recording technology. Street Hassle combines live concert tapes and studio recordings.
Another View is an outtakes compilation album by the Velvet Underground. It was released in 1986 by Verve Records and is composed of material recorded between 1967 and 1969.
Chuck Hammer is an American guitarist and soundtrack composer, known for textural guitar work with Lou Reed, David Bowie, and Guitarchitecture. As an artist, Hammer is best known for his Guitarchitecture recordings, though he is also widely regarded as a leading New York City based soundtrack composer, having scored approximately 300 documentary films. He is currently developing a series of improvisational textural guitar recordings.
New Sensations is the thirteenth solo studio album by American rock musician Lou Reed, released in April 1984 by RCA Records. John Jansen and Reed produced the album. New Sensations peaked at No. 56 on the U.S. Billboard 200 and at No. 92 on the UK Albums Chart. This marked the first time that Reed charted within the US Top 100 since his eighth solo studio album Street Hassle (1978), and the first time that Reed had charted in the UK since his sixth solo studio album Coney Island Baby (1976). Three singles were released from the album: "I Love You, Suzanne", "My Red Joystick" and "High in the City", with "I Love You, Suzanne" being the only single to chart, peaking at No. 78 on the UK Singles Chart. The music video for "I Love You, Suzanne" did, however, receive light rotation on MTV.
The Bells is the ninth solo studio album by American rock musician Lou Reed, released in May 1979 by Arista Records. It was recorded in binaural sound at Delta Studios in Wilster, West Germany. Production was handled by Reed with Michael Fonfara serving as executive producer. Three out of nine songs on the album are the product of a short-lived writing partnership between Reed and Nils Lofgren. More of the team's work appeared on Nils' solo studio album Nils, released the same year. Lofgren released his version of "Stupid Man" as "Driftin' Man" on Break Away Angel (2001). Lofgren resurrected five songs he wrote with Reed in the late 70s on Blue with Lou (2019).
"The Loneliest Guy" is a song written by David Bowie in 2003 for his album Reality. It's a slow-tempo minimalistic piece in which, according to James E. Perone, "Bowie's character also lives in denial: in spite of the shards of glass that he finds near his windows, the solitary life he lives, and 'all the pages that have turned,' he expresses the belief that he is not 'the loneliest guy' in the world, but, rather, 'the luckiest guy'." The biographer also writes: "The slow, solemn pace of the piece, the long phrases sung with a slowly pulsing vibrato suggest a profound sadness."
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.
Live: Take No Prisoners is a 1978 live album by American musician Lou Reed, recorded during May 1978 at The Bottom Line in New York.
Animal Serenade is a live album by American rock musician Lou Reed, recorded in Los Angeles at the Wiltern Theatre in 2003 after The Raven. The show features a drummer-less band. In addition, Anohni, of Antony and the Johnsons fame, contributes background vocals throughout and sings the lead on "Set the Twilight Reeling" and "Candy Says".
Between Thought and Expression: The Lou Reed Anthology is a box set by Lou Reed. This 1992 release covers the first 20 years of his solo career, including the unreleased studio tracks "Downtown Dirt," an early version of "Leave Me Alone", Francis Scott Key's "America " from the 1980 Growing Up in Public sessions and an edited excerpt from the Metal Machine Music album. Additionally there are previously unreleased live tracks: "Heroin" from 1976 featuring jazz trumpeter Don Cherry, "Here Comes the Bride" from 1978, and "Voices of Freedom" from the Amnesty International tour A Conspiracy of Hope. The set also featured the 1975 B-side "Nowhere at All" and "Little Sister" from the soundtrack to the 1983 film Get Crazy.
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.
City Lights - Classic Performances by Lou Reed is a compilation album by Lou Reed.
The Very Best of Lou Reed is a compilation album by American rock musician Lou Reed, released in 1999 by Camden Deluxe.
3-CD compilation of Lou Reed's work from his eponymous debut in 1972 to Mistrial in 1986, excluding his 1976–1980 Arista label albums: Rock and Roll Heart, Street Hassle, The Bells and Growing Up in Public.
"Street Hassle" is a song recorded by American rock musician Lou Reed for his 1978 studio album of the same name. It is 10 minutes and 56 seconds long and divided into three distinct sections: "Waltzing Matilda," "Street Hassle," and "Slipaway." Part one, "Waltzing Matilda," describes a woman picking up and paying a male prostitute. In Part Two, "Street Hassle," a drug dealer speaks at length about the death of a woman in his apartment to her companion. Part Three, "Slipaway," contains a brief, uncredited, spoken word section by Bruce Springsteen referencing his song Born to Run and a dirge sung by Reed about love and death. It was recorded in E major.
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.
"Vicious" is a song written by Lou Reed, released as a single in 1973 and originally featured on Transformer, Reed's second post-Velvet Underground solo album.
"I Love You, Suzanne" is a song written and recorded by American musician Lou Reed, released as both a 7" and 12" single from his thirteenth solo studio album, New Sensations (1984). The lead and only single to chart from the album, it peaked at No. 78 on the UK Singles Chart. The music video for "I Love You, Suzanne" received light rotation on MTV.
