1. brent

   9

   This would've been a 10 but it is bloated (like this review). The brilliance of Lou Reed is he coulda stripped it down to 6 songs and pulled it off. It's a reward to the faithful, and he'll do it again someday. How often does it come, fans? Coney Island Baby? Street Hassle? Blue Mask? Berlin? New York? Who else would follow decades blindly adoring some records, liking a little of some records, not ever playing some (London, Raven) except Lou fans? Ecstasy is the awesome sonic marriage of his writing and words, his reckless musical ear, his passion, and his guitar playing. Baton Rouge is staggering in verse and strum. Rock Minuet is crafted so terrifying in shit guitar and homicidal prose. Possum rules. It's 18 minutes of dirge and filth that owes nothing to anybody. Turning Time Around is the honest, gripping love song we've been waiting for since "Think It Over." Big Sky ends with 5 minutes of crotch-satisfying feedback between he and Mike Rathke that soars and soars and makes Billy Corgan's/Pumpkins experiments like "Drown" seem like amateur hour. What do you do at retirement age? You've out-punked punk (VU, Street Hassle), out-gothed goth (Bells, Berlin), you've out heavy-metaled them all (r'n'r animal, MMM), and now you just want that clean mainline to the heart....hmmm...release a staggering amount of original material on one album that will keep the critics dumbfounded and perplexed and tongue-tied? An aging cult artist whose only love seems to be craft and creativity and guitar music?Hats off to you brother. This is your Citizen Kane. That you never gave the world another rocknroll animal or walk on the wild side or new york makes me admire you more.… Expand

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2. MarkW.

   9

   Underrated, classic.

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3. JamesL.

   6

   As usual, Lou seems inspired on about half the cuts while the rest seems to be filler.

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