Lou Reed 1989-2011

In this, the second of two volumes on Lou Reed, we will see the phoenix-like rebirth of his career occur in terms of both critical and public resurrection and redemption. Starting in 1989, Lou Reed would release a trio of stunning LPs that would finally give him the respect and success that he felt had so eluded him for most of his career. Having finally gained such a long-deserved, lofty position among the critics and fans, he would spend the duration of his life and career both bitterly shunning and cagily embracing his new-found elder status of 'artistic outlier/punk progenitor.' In this, the second half of his career, Lou Reed would revise, and subsequently rebuff, old musical alliances and allegiances, forge new ground both within and without music, and as is typical for Lou, struggle against and lash out at the very things he wished to achieve for himself, both personally and professionally. We will also observe the puzzling and at times erratic final decade of Lou's artistic life, which due to a lack of new personal material, produced a plethora of live albums, avant-garde experiments, and oddly paired collaborations, resulting in his final release a collaboration with a globally- successful band that still baffles and disgruntles listeners to this day. Despite having bid farewell to his wild days, the years of 1989 to 2011 were by no means fruitless for Lou Reed. His voice, his vision, and his guitar playing, truly, his own personal Magic and Loss, are very much the passionate and untamed forces that they were throughout his entire life, and his works of this time display that clearly, time after time.

Ethan Roy is a professor of English Composition at Hudson Valley Community College in Troy, NY. A deep-dish music geek since pre-natal status, at 16 years of age, he dropped out of high school in order to secure full-time employment at what was the best record store in his community, thus affording him a real education of true merit and value. He has played and recorded with various bands over the years and occasionally makes instrumental electronic nonsense under the name, Moon Risk 7. His first tattoo was the image from the front cover of Lou Reed's The Blue Mask LP.