release date: Feb. 20, 1996
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,44]
producer: Lou Reed
label: Warner Bros. - nationality: USA
Track highlights: 2. "NYC Man" - 4. "Trade In" - 5. "Hang on to Your Emotions" - 8. "The Proposition" - 11. "Set the Twilight Reeling"
17th studio album by Lou Reed following his longest hiatus in between albums, as it's four years since Magic and Loss. The album is clearly more rock and pop / rock-crafted than the previous three albums that followed New York (1989).
Here, Lou seems determined to make a rock & roll album, but the songs don't come out as the obviously interesting or melodic compositions. To me, this is undoubtedly Lou Reed, but like one is accustomed to, the man doesn't make a lot of great releases in a row, and it appears to be time for a minor miss.
I must grant him, though, that the album has aged better than it sounded to me back in '96, when I wouldn't have handed it more than 3 stars. I think, it's for a mature audience. It's full of emotional songs, dwelling at important things in life that may seem minor at a first glance.
Laurie Anderson, whom he married in 2008, sings backing vocals on track #5.
[ allmusic.com 3 / 5, Rolling Stone 4 / 5 stars ]
