I own all of Lou Reed's albums, but this is my favorite and most played. While I love his tough guy persona exhibited on so many previous great albums, I feel he literally "grew-up" on this one. It's more personal and reflective than usual. He tackles adult themes with wit, charm, and his most dazzling lyrics ever. I'm not kidding. Try this on for size, from the opening song "How Do You Speak To An Angel":

"A son who is cursed with a harridan mother
Or a weak simpering father at best
Is raised to play out the timeless classical motives
Of filial love and incest"

Or this, from the brilliant title track:

"Some people are into sadistic pleasures
They whet your desires and drool in your ears
They're quasi-effeminate characters in love with oral gratification
They edify your integrities so they can play on your fears"

Not exactly moon/June rhymes, huh? While some of the songs are simpler in nature, most exhibit this kind of intelligent wordplay that's advanced even by Lou's normal high standards.

Before you think it all sounds pretentious - let me assure you it isn't. Along with his tribute album to Andy Warhol (the John Cale collaboration "Songs for Drella"), this is his most heartfelt recording.

Moreover, this thing rocks every bit as good as "Transformer", and he's still singing his songs - as opposed to "talking" them, which he started doing with the "New York" album and continues to do to this day. There's not a bad song here. I want to mention it also contains "The Power of Positive Drinking" - possibly the funniest thing he's ever written, and certainly among the best by anyone on this topic.

Like Graham Parker's "Struck by Lightning" CD, which announced the arrival of Parker growing up and contemplating adult themes - this is Lou's belated "coming of age" album. I can't recommend it highly enough.

I'm not sure why there are so many negative reviews of this album, but I have to disagree with all of the negative ones. This is a great Lou Reed album. I would actually give it 4 1/2 stars but since that's not an option I chose five to counter all the negative ratings and help bring this one up a bit. It's full of great Lou Reed lyrics and the songs are amazing jazzy/rock arrangements that fit the lyrics perfectly and are full of memorable melodies. So, if you like Lou Reed don't hesitate to pick up this one. The only reason I can think that people would give it negative reviews is that they want Lou Reed to make the same album musically on every album he makes. The songs and lyrics are infectious and the lyrics aren't just mindless pop drivel but are for the most part a lot of deep introspecting on Reed's life and life in general. So find this one, you won't regret it.

I used to think this was Lou's worst album, until I decided to listen to it "one last time" before I traded it away. Suddenly, it sounded GOOD. VERY good! Lou's vocals sounded sincere, the music wasn't as bland as I remembered it being, and I decided not to trade it after all! The cover has such a cool pic of Lou on it, too! Probably his best album cover. This isn't as good an album as "Rock n Roll Heart" or "Street Hassle" or "Blue Mask" or "The Bells", all from around the same era, but it's a worthwhile Lou Reed album and worth having. 3 1/2 stars!!!

Not one of the critics' favourites, Growing Up In Public is a very literate Lou Reed album. The music tends towards mainstream radio rock, yet it contains great songs like the title track, Love Is Here To Stay and the very catchy Power Of Positive Drinking with its bouncy beat.

My other favorites include How Do You Speak To An Angel, My Old Man and Teach The Gifted Children with its poetic lyrics. The subject matter deals with relationships and the album has more of a warm, human feel than the decadence Reed is best appreciated for.

The style is not dissimilar to Legendary Hearts or New Sensations and the song quality is far above Mistrial. By any other standard than Reed's own, this is a good rock album that has stood the test of time very well. It's a must for fans.

The first thing you need to do is forget this is "Lou Reed" -- whatever that means to each one of us. The endless rehashing of his career basically means he changes a lot. Get it? Good.
This is a shocking record, on its own. Upbeat, playful music backing fast-paced, near monotone vocals of highly personal lyrics. It's different, and you shouldn't buy it unless you're lucky enough to hear some samples/downloads, or perhaps create some "stations" on Pandora.com with songs from this CD even though I have no idea if they'll have them.
So why go to all that trouble? If you're a man who can remember what it's like to grow up, this is a great work. I hate "teach the gifted children" while "so alone" "love is here to stay" and "think it over" are barely tolerable. But the rest of this is really, really good: I used the word "shocking" earlier because it can really hit you at the core.
It's notable that the cheapest price for this on Amazon is $11.95, and that'll get you a used LP, folks. Sellers are asking far more for the CDs, and they wouldn't be if they couldn't get it. This CD is out of print (hence, not for everyone) but you can measure the intensity of devotion to Growing Up in Public by the asking price. Hope you can get a good listen somewhere...sorry, my LP's not for sale. "Smiles" (a great song from this LP/CD)!