Search - Lou Reed :: NYC Man: Greatest Hits

40 years of tunes on one disc

James Simon | New York, NY USA | 04/20/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"A daunting task to consider: how do you profile 40 years of a man's work who's always releasing new material on to a single disc? The obvious answer is you don't. That's why there's a more comprehensive two disc version of this. However, it's hard not to fault them for trying, and this single version makes a good argument. This contains pretty much all the "desert island" essentials with very good clean sound. The basic Velvet Underground stuff is here with Sweet Jane and Waiting For The Man, thought the live version of White Light is not quite up to par with the studio version. The solo RCA days are represented decently with Walk On The Wild Side, Perfect Day, Satellite Of Love, and the overlooked Berlin. There's even a few tracks from his recent albums on Sire with Dirty Blvd and NYC Man. The main gripe is the need for these silly remixes. Lou Reed and techno do not mix. Didn't the producers of this album get it? While filling up the CD with worthless remixes, it would have been better served with more classic Lou. Isn't what the CD is supposed to be about? Beginning To See The Light, Pale Blue Eyes, even I Love You Suzanne would have been welcomed. But if your attention span is short and you just need the good stuff, this will suffice."