Lou Reed-Rock´n´Roll Animal (1974)

In 1972, David Bowie entered Lou Reed's career and became one of his greatest influences. The British singer encouraged Reed to emphasize the ambiguous and provocative nature of his lyrics and performances, characteristics typical of the Andy Warhol factory, from which Reed himself emerged. If, until then, the New York musician had been one of the pioneers in highlighting the negative and unsettling aspects of youth subculture, with Bowie's arrival, he gradually transformed into an androgynous figure, appearing on stage with black eye and lip paint and wearing black velvet suits adorned with faux sequins. Already on his album "Transformer" (1972), he deliberately introduced the themes of homosexuality and cross-dressing, with which Reed had previously maintained a distance through irony and theatricality, but which he suddenly seemed to embrace. Bowie and Mick Ronson's collaboration on production, in addition to their participation in the album's recording, gave a great boost, coherence, and balance to a work that contained captivating songs like "Walk On The Wild Side", "Vicious", "Make Up", and "Satellite Of Love". Thanks to this LP, Lou Reed finally became a rock star; however, his consolidation at the top was cut short by his next work, "Berlin" (1973), which was produced by Bob Ezrin and featured an anthology of musicians, including Steve Winwood, Michael Brecker, Aynsley Dunbar, Steve Hunter, Dick Wagner, and Jack Bruce, among others. However, this album was scorned by the press and lost public interest, undoubtedly due to its strange music, which alternated intense orchestral passages with uneven acoustic guitar and rock sounds, prompting comparisons to the Velvet Underground's first album. Disgusted by that poor reception, Lou Reed formed a powerful and forceful rock band, which included guitarists Wagner and Hunter, plus bassist Prakash John, drummer Pentti Glan, and keyboardist Ray Colcord, and would release the vigorous and immersive live albums “Rock´n´Roll Animal” (1974) and “Lou Reed Live” (1975) in which he reviewed his classic songs in an almost hard rock style; “Sweet Jane”, “Heroin”, “Lady Day”, “Vicious” or “Walk On The Wild Side”, both albums, memorable sonic documents of the best period, at the same time the most turbulent of the American musician.