In the late 70s, Lou Reed and John Cale were considered more than just important artists, they were also figureheads for the underground punk movement that quickly exploded all around the world. As such, you would think that their albums from this period would reflect their relevance, but alas, they simply do not.

Lou Reed released albums at a steady pace, but not one of them seemed to convey much in terms of thought, arrangement or implementation. He sounds like he was on auto-pilot, a wastrel dropping scattershot lyrics over grossly under-arranged rhythm parts. As for John Cale, he was mostly AWOL throughout the late ‘70s, which explains why we cannot adequately represent him. Despite his lazy work, contemporary critiques seemed to give Reed a pass, perhaps afraid that maybe they’d been missing something, or did not want to be dressed down by the abrasively vulgar Reed. Time has shown the wiser, though, and most everything from this era has since been neglected by the commercial marketplace. Since there is little if anything that could be considered crucial listening, we condense a long time period into a small space here. 

Rock and Roll Heart- Lou Reed

Chicken Shit – John Cale   

Street Hassle – Lou Reed

Satellite of Love (live) – Lou Reed 

The Bells – Lou Reed

Mercenaries (Ready for War) – John Cale

Chorale – John Cale