 Lou Reed is one of the most prominent figures in rock 'n' roll history, both as the frontman of the revolutionary group the Velvet Underground, and as a solo artist. Unlike virtually every other musician from the late 1960s, Reed has managed to constantly update his sound while remaining true to his artistic vision; only David Bowie (a long-time admirer of Reed's work) and Neil Young have managed to retain the same popularity and inventiveness as Reed. Reed moved to New York City and became a professional pop songwriter for Pickwick Records. Reed quickly became dissatisfied with his job's creative limitations, and along with a co-worker, composer John Cale, left Pickwick to start an avant-garde rock band. The duo recruited Reed's friends Sterling Morrison and Maureen Tucker and eventually settled on the name the Velvet Underground. In the summer of 1970 Lou Reed abruptly quit the Velvet Underground, just as the group was finally beginning to earn some minor popularity thanks to their radio single "Sweet Jane." Reed returned to his parents' house for a few months, where he wrote material for his eponymous solo debut, released in 1971. Eager to win over a U.S. following, Reed released 1974's Sally Can't Dance, an overproduced pop-metal album which indeed reached the U.S. Top 10. 1980's Growing Up in Public, which documented Reed's feelings on middle age, was surpassed by his 1982 tour-de-force The Blue Mask, recorded with guitarist Robert Quine and bassist Fernando Saunders, both of whom also appeared on the highly acclaimed follow-ups Legendary Hearts (1983) and New Sensations (1984). The political Mistrial (1986) was a disappointment, and its attempt to incorporate drum machines didn't help matters, but Reed was able to recover with his 1989 well-received "comeback" album, New York. Reed returned to solo work with his latest effort, Set the Twilight Reeling, which came out in 1996. In 1998, a live album, Perfect Night: Live in London was released on Reprise, followed by Ecstasy in 2000. In 2003, Reed returned with one of the most ambitious works of his career. The Raven, simply put, is a two-hour excursion into the obsessive world of Edgar Allan Poe as filtered through Reed's eclectic sensibility.
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