Book Review Lou Reed- A Life

This 519 page biography of Lou Reed written by Anthony DeCurtis was detailed and a great read. The book focused heavily on Reed's albums. In doing this, we get the backstory of what's going on in Reed's life at the time, the environment of the times, and the reaction of his work. 

I learned a fair bit about Reed. He liked modern electronics. He can write a pop song. Reed is known for avant garde work, but he got his start writing pop songs for the Pickwick label. This was a small record company looking to cash in on whatever was the fad at the time. He could write pop songs for the Velvet Underground, but they didn't have the money to fully flush out the songs. 

He could be as difficult as his reputation said. I learned a lot about his early years and his time with Velvet Underground. 

I looked up some of his old work based on this book. The author makes each song and album sound like a masterwork so I had to know what I missed out on. 

DeCurtis broke down each album almost song by song, I don't know all these songs, but if you're a fan you'd like this. Because of this book, I'm going to find some old songs and check out more.

Five Stars