Day 70: Lou Reed – Transformer

Album cover courtesy of RCA Victor

I’m still tired today. I think I might be coming down with something. I’m still doing my writing, though — the rule that I made with myself is that unless I’m in the hospital that day, I’ll at the very least give it a bash. Because I’m not feeling quite right I wanted to listen to something familiar. I decided to go for Lou Reed’s Transformer, an album which despite the name unfortunately has nothing to do with robots in disguise.

I used to listen to him and the Velvet Underground a lot more when I was younger, I don’t do much of that these days. I think I read a little bit about his relationships and was off him for a while, but I think I’m implementing a rule where I can separate the art from the artist a little bit more after the artist is dead.

Released in 1972, Transformer consists of songs that Reed wrote while he was with the Velvet Underground. He left the band in 1970 and moved back home to his parents, taking a job as a typist at his dad’s tax accounting firm. He released his debut solo record Lou Reed in early 1972, which wasn’t a commercial or critical success. It peaked at 189 in the Billboard 200.

Transformer was released less than a year later, in November 1972 The song "Walk on the Wild Side" was released as a single and became a massive hit, which helped propel Lou Reed into mainstream fame and boosted sales for the album. The record features a softer version of glam rock, with Reed’s signature laser-sharp songwriting performed with a touch of ironic detachment. The album is beautifully arranged, the sound is so full but pared back and almost minimal, at least compared to his work with the Velvet Underground.

It still holds up, after all these years. Most of it would sound fresh if it was released today. “Perfect Day” is such a gorgeous song, it’s clearly an all-time classic. Some people interpret it as being about heroin, I just see it as a straightforward love song about being happy sharing a mundane day with someone who makes your life worth living. This, and probably my favourite love song “I’ll Be Your Mirror”, shows that Lou Reed can write the most beautiful songs about love. And then you remember he did a semi-autobiographical concept album about domestic violence and suddenly it's less romantic. But, you know, other than that.

Transformer is phenomenal, there’s no way around it. “Satellite of Love” is somewhere pretty high on my list of favourite things to listen to of all time. I’d expect nothing less from an album produced by David Bowie and Mick Ronson. It’s a 9/10.