Lou Reed ended up enduring quite a critical beating for albums like Metal Machine Music and Lulu, his experiment with Metallica. So we take a look back at some of the highlights of the founding Velvet Underground frontman’s solo career, just to even things out a bit. From his influential but yes, challenging Metal Machine Music to the iconic "Walk on the Wild Side" and beyond, fans turned off by some of Reed's more complex work should visit – or revisit – our list of the Top 10 Lou Reed Songs to remind themselves of just how great the man was.

  • 10

    "Metal Machine Music, Part 1"

    From 'Metal Machine Music' (1975)

    There’s no other way to put it: Metal Machine Music is a dare. Released in 1975, people still consider it either a sick joke, the fulfillment of a contractual obligation or the embryonic beginnings of the avant genre of music known as noise rock. No matter which you pick, it definitely challenges the listener, with 64 minutes of formless feedback spanning "Part 1" through "Part 4." Easy listening, it ain't, but worth noting simply for being so influential.

  • 9

    "Dirty Blvd."

    From 'New York' (1989)

    New York was a masterful return to the three-chord simplicity of the Velvet Underground, spending four weeks at the top of the newly created Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. "Dirty Blvd.," the album's most dazzling pop nugget, was also one of the best Lou Reed songs ever. Later, it was part of a four-song set Reed performed with David Bowie during the latter's 50th birthday bash in 1997.

  • 8

    "Street Hassle"

    From 'Street Hassle' (1978)

    "Street Hassle" is an 11-minute rock opera broken into three separate and distinct parts: "Waltzing Matilda," "Street Hassle" and "Slipaway." Essentially a William S. Burroughs-like stream-of-consciousness monologue set to rock music with orchestral backing, it features an uncredited spoken-word section from none other than Bruce Springsteen.

  • 7

    "Vicious"

    From 'Transformer' (1972)

    "Vicious" kicks off Reed's second solo album Transformer with 2:58 seconds of spiky, slightly glam-ish pop that takes the Velvet blueprint to its inevitable conclusion. In fact, the song is considered to date back to the VU days, as artist/producer Andy Warhol was credited with coming up with the line "you hit me with a flower" when he challenged Reed to write a song about a vicious person.

  • 6

    "Caroline Says (II)"

    From 'Berlin' (1973)

    "Caroline Says (II)" is a rewrite of the Velvet Underground's "Stephanie Says," which was originally recorded in 1968 but only appeared on bootlegs until finally surfacing in remixed form on the 1985 outtakes compilation, VU. That makes "Caroline" technically the first of the two to come out.

  • 5

    "Coney Island Baby"

    From 'Coney Island Baby' (1975)

    Lyrically, Reed really puts himself out there on "Coney Island Baby," probably the most tender and emotionally revealing ballad he's ever recorded. A bonus-track version of the song featured on the album's 30th-anniversary deluxe edition reissue was recorded with Doug Yule, who joined the Velvets in 1968 following the departure of founding member John Cale.

  • 4

    "Perfect Day"

    From 'Transformer' (1972)

    "Perfect Day" paints a picture of a surprisingly normal day of simple pleasures: visiting the zoo, going to the cinema, a walk in the park. Perhaps a little too normal? Some fans interpret the tune, clearly one of the best Lou Reed ever, as a veiled heroin reference. Others note that Reed's never been shy about about explicitly mentioning drugs and consider it an earnest love song. When it had a second life on the Trainspotting soundtrack, "Perfect Day" became both: an earnest love song about drugs.

  • 3

    "Sweet Jane"

    From 'Rock n Roll Animal' (1974)

    Originally a Velvet Underground tune, Reed reworks "Sweet Jane" on his live album Rock n Roll Animal, adding a noodling, Grateful Dead-like intro jam that runs three minutes before kicking into those familiar three chords. Sure, maybe it's cheating to put a Velvets song on this list, but the line between the band and his solo work is so blurred that it actually makes sense. In the end, that's really not cheating at all.

  • 2

    "Satellite of Love"

    From 'Transformer' (1972)

    The second single from Transformer is another solo Reed song that he originally played with the Velvet Underground. He even originally recorded "Satellite of Love" for the band's Loaded album, although it didn't surface as a VU track until the 1995 exhaustive box set, Peel Slowly and SeeDavid Bowie, who produced Transformer, also sings some soaring backing vocals on this track.

  • 1

    "Walk on the Wild Side"

    From 'Transformer' (1972)

    Really, is there any other way to walk when you’re strolling with Lou Reed? "Wild Side" documents the seedy underbelly of New York life in the '70s, touching on subjects like narcotics, male hookers and oral sex. Not exactly mainstream subjects here, but somehow this tune still managed to hustle its way onto the Top 20 and became the definitive solo Reed cut in the process. Doo do doo, doo do doo, doo do doo ...

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