Notes & Personnel Info |  | Personnel: Lou Reed (vocals, guitar, acoustic guitar, keyboards); Lou Reed; Steve Hyden, Dennis Ferrante, Elizabeth Marsh (vocals); Jon Peirson (trombone); Allan MacMillan (piano, keyboards); Allan Macmillan (piano); Tony Levin , Jack Bruce (bass instrument); Gene Martynec (vocals, guitar, acoustic guitar, keyboards, synthesizer); Dick Wagner (vocals, guitar, electric guitar, background vocals); Steve Hunter (guitar, electric guitar); Michael Brecker (saxophone, tenor saxophone); Randy Brecker (trumpet); Jon Pierson (trombone, bass trombone); Bob Ezrin (piano, Mellotron, drums); Blue Weaver (piano, keyboards); Steve Winwood (harmonium, organ, keyboards); Aynsley Dunbar, B.J. Wilson (drums). | | Liner Note Author: Michael Hill. | | Recording information: Morgan Studios, London, England. | | Photographer: St.Jivago de Sanges. | | Arrangers: Bob Ezrin; Allan MacMillan. | | After the success of his glam-rockish TRANSFORMER, the expectation was that Lou Reed would plow deeper into commercial territory. As usual, Reed delighted in confounding expectations. BERLIN is a song cycle that uses the decadence of its namesake and some Brecht/Weill-esque orchestrations to tell a story of two psychically damaged people and their doomed relationship. (Aided by Berlin producer Bob Ezrin, Pink Floyd would attempt a similar feat several years later on THE WALL). | | Far from the rock-star poses of TRANSFORMER, BERLIN is lyrically and musically frank and blunt. The arrangements move from sophisticated, arch orchestration to naked-sounding acoustic sparseness, but the words are uniformly unflinching in their depiction of violence, addiction, and desperation. Not for the faint of heart, BERLIN is a harrowing journey through the aforementioned tribulations, and one of Reed's most unusual, demanding, but ultimately rewarding albums. |
Producer: Bob Ezrin |
Engineer: Robin Black; Peter Flanagan; Robin Black; Peter Flanagan |
Musical Guests | | Steve Winwood | | Michael Brecker | | Randy Brecker |
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| Q (5/92, p.103)
- 5 Stars - Indispensable - "...a melancholy masterpiece...places Reed's dry narrative in sophisticated settings..."The Wire (6/00, p.37)
- "...Fascinating....Detailing a couple's breakup, a woman's breakdown and her eventual suicide.....succeeding despite itself..." NME (Magazine)
(9/18/93, p.19)
- Ranked #33 among The Greatest Albums Of The '70s. NME (Magazine)
(8/12/00, p.29)
- Ranked #28 in The NME "Top 30 Heartbreak Albums" - "...Heartbreak. Heroin. Dubonnet on ice. Reed poured all this badness into this bitter and twisted masterpiece..." |
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