Magic and loss

The Velvets first album,The Velvet Underground and Nico,released in 1967,struck a dissonant note among the flower power-ed offerings of contemporaries,not so much challenging the musical conventions of the time as upending them. Their dark,minimalist,avant-garde sound matched Reeds spare lyrics,anticipating glam,punk and alternative rock. A purveyor of lifes wild side,Reed chronicled New Yorks demimonde,putting the experiences of transvestites,drug-users and prostitutes to tune even as he became the epitome of the transgressive,hard-living rock star. The album that cemented his reputation as a solo artist,Transformer 1972,produced by Reed fanboy David Bowie,captured Reeds contradictions: harsh,noisy guitar Walk on the Wild Side and lush melodies Perfect Day no less vicious in their tenderness.

Ree2d made a career out of defying expectations,confounding fans and critics. The second of the Velvets four albums,for instance,was the corrosive White Light/ White Heat 1968,while his final turn with the band,Loaded 1970,contained the strummy Oh! Sweet Nuthin and Sweet Jane alongside the deceptively peppy pop-strains of Who Loves the Sun. The operatic Berlin was followed by the brutal sonic experiment that was Metal Machine Man. To confront his catalogue is to find an artist grappling with individual expression,and producing some of the most compelling music of the last few decades.

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