Berlin
by Lou Reed
- Type: Album
- Released: October聽5,聽1973
- Label: RCA Victor
- Country: United States
- Length: 49:20
- Community rating: 4.53/5 from 9 ratings
Album Notes & Community Reviews
Lou Reed's 'Berlin' is a harrowing rock opera detailing the destructive relationship of a couple through bleak narratives of drug addiction, domestic violence, and suicide. Guided by producer Bob Ezrin, the album eschews rock convention for a grandiose, theatrical sound, utilizing orchestral arrangements and a cast of elite session musicians to score Reed's emotionally stark vocal performance. A critical and commercial failure upon release, the album's unflinching subject matter and ambitious production have earned it a modern reputation as a challenging but essential masterpiece in Reed's catalog.
Genres
Descriptors: theatrical, tragic, orchestral, conceptual, narrative
Tracklist
- Berlin (03:24)
- Lady Day (03:40)
- Men of Good Fortune (04:37)
- Caroline Says I (03:57)
- How Do You Think It Feels (03:41)
- Oh Jim (05:12)
- Caroline Says II (04:13)
- The Kids (07:50)
- The Bed (05:51)
- Sad Song (06:55)
Credits
- Lou Reed - vocals, acoustic guitar, choir
- Bob Ezrin - piano, mellotron, arrangement, producer, choir
- Steve Winwood - hammond organ, harmonium
- Steve Hunter - electric guitar
- Dick Wagner - electric guitar, backing vocals, choir
- Jack Bruce - bass guitar
- Aynsley Dunbar - drums
- Michael Brecker - tenor saxophone
- Randy Brecker - trumpet
- Tony Levin - bass guitar on "the kids"
- B. J. Wilson - drums on "lady day" & "the kids"
- Allan Macmillan - piano on "berlin", arrangement
- Gene Martynec - acoustic guitar, synthesizer and vocal arrangement on "the bed", bass guitar on "lady day"
- Jon Pierson - bass trombone
- Blue Weaver - piano on "men of good fortune"
- Steve Hyden - choir
- Elizabeth March - choir
- The London Philharmonic Orchestra
- Jim Reeves - engineer
- Pacific Eye & Ear - album cover concept and design