Listening to the New Lou Reed CD NYC man, it becomes evident that this package was put together with a great deal of thought and love (Lou chose the songs, the sequencing, and the versions). It's amazing to hear the growth and evolution of Lou Reed's career through the decades and every song here is an absolute gem. What's more amazing though, is the package itself. The liner notes and comments from Lou on the songs are an intriguing read and a must have for any Lou, Velvet U, or glam fan. Also the photos are mesmerizing. An essential collection and highly recomemended for any serious fan of rock n' roll, not just Lou Reed.

Considering how far across the spectrum Lou has gone over a 40 year period, the songs manage to interweave nicely, and is not a conventional "greatest hits" by any stretch to be called "Ultimate" or "Essential". But it's typical of Reed to confuse, confound, frustrate, and upset critics and fans...

He wrote these songs and sequenced them in order to a way that he was satisfied with listening to as an album in its own right versus a chronological "hits" package, pulled the masters and gave a short commentary of each song in the booklet (including revealing that the epic "Street Hassle" cut features an uncredited Bruce Springsteen and Patti Smith on part of the song).

He chose to go with the edited "Sweet Jane" versus the found extended version or the 70s radio classic from "Rock and Roll Animal". The VU songs at times go with the original recordings, and others (I'll Be Your Mirror, White Light White Heat and Heroin) go with his solo versions in concert.

In the notes he felt a lot of the songs took years to catch on, and gave "Perfect Day" as an example, even though he prefers "Hangin' Around" as a favorite. He includes cuts from "Live In Italy" and "Take No Prisoners", although leaves hits like "I Love You Suzanne" off.

For an intro it's essential. But most people would be better off with the original CDs these came off of.

We never sufficiently appreciated the magnitude of artistry and influence of Andy Warhol until we saw an entire museum of his work in Pittsburgh several years back. Likewise, we never fully appreciated those very same things in, coincidentally, this former protégé of Warhol's until we listened to this retrospective of nearly 40 years worth of his best work. What becomes unavoidably obvious when listening to this remarkable music is that Reed is simply one of the most important artists in the brief history of Rock & Roll. It is hard to imagine that there would have been punk rock or glam rock or heavy metal rock without him (and the other members of The Velvet Underground) laying the foundation. We dare say that even the antecedents of rap music are evident in both Reed's speak-sing delivery as well as his stark, unvarnished, urban subject matter. This record also reminds us of the breadth of his musical interests, the majesty of his words, and the prodigious power of the bands he has worked with, particularly in evidence on the live material. Of course we also get the occasional reminder here of the dissonance and overkill that we so disliked in some of his most experimental, push-the-envelope stuff. Mostly though, we are overwhelmed by the power of this great artist and are giddily reminded that 'Walk on the Wild Side' is one of the best $%#* songs ever made.

I like this alot. A lot of classics and some lesser known stuff. Some live, some studio. A good mix. Someone else mentioned they preferred the studio Velvet version of "Heroin" and I have to agree. At least maybe have the live and the studio version both included. The insert write up was nice and pretty informative as well. Check this out if you are a Lou Reed or Velvet Underground fan or want a good starting point to see if you will like his/their other stuff.

First off, this album is terrific and is a must own for any Lou Reed fan. I'm not usually a fan of greatest hits albums, because I find that they are largely comprised of the "lighter" and more "radio friendly" songs that don't really capture the soul of an artist and are definitely not representative of their body of work. This album is different. Lou not only picked the songs that were to be included on the album, all of which are fantastic, he created the sequence in which to listen to them. This gives the listener an opportunity to interperet how they feel Lou's career evolved, while also providing a glimpse of how Lou Reed himself actually feels about the development of his music. For people who are not interested in this type of analyzation, the album is still great, it's filled with dark, funny, witty, depressing, catchy, and unique songs that epitomize the Lou Reed fans around the world have come to know and love