Lou Reed- Street Hassle

Lou Reed had it tough after leaving the Velvet Underground- how do you follow up some of the best rock and roll ever recorded? Instead of playing it straight, he got weird, glamming it up with Bowie on Transformer and inventing noise rock on Metal Machine Music. In 1978, he released Street Hassle. The album is flawed, sure, but Lou never really made masterpieces. He's as broken and dirty as his characters, all used up and ready for more. Here, especially on the title track, he's doing what he does best: finding beauty in the tragic, the absurd, and rocking the shit out of it. And speaking of that title track, that little beatnik rap thrown in at the end is delivered by none other than Mr. Bruce Springsteen. The song itself is epic enough, one of Reed's best, but The Boss really sets it over the edge. Check it.