"Berlin" is all about darkness and decadence, though not the kind Lou Reed explored on "Transformer", his previous release. Rather than continuing with that disc's celebration of camp fruitery, "Berlin" takes a major turn onto seriously grim sidestreets littered with broken souls. A conceptual meditation on feelings most of us would rather not acknowledge, "Berlin" is a bitter narrative about the cruelty people can inflict on each other in the supposedly safe confines of a relationship.

The most amazing thing about "Berlin", however, isn't the subject matter, it's the music. Producer Bob Ezrin assembled an array of the era's most talented musicians (including Steve Winwood, Jack Bruce, Aynsley Dunbar and Tony Levin) and embroidered the album with lush, breathtaking string and wind orchestrations. The music and lyrics offset each other in stark contrast, much the same way a German expressionist film utilizes black and white.

Throughout, Reed delivers his trademark off-key vocals with a more pronounced sense of detachment than is usual even for him; on "Berlin" he's not so much an impartial observer, but a willing accomplice to the proceedings who angrily refuses to do anything about the destiny unfolding before him.

"Berlin" has been blasted as the ultimate downer of Reed's career -- quite an accomplishment, given the breadth of his depressive catalogue. Which is fair enough, for the faint of heart. For the rest of us, "Berlin" is a groundbreaking masterpiece.


an absolute masterpiece   August 16, 2004
PSM/Bokor (United States)
13 out of 14 found this review helpful

I am a Lou Reed fan. Generally, I've always preferred his live performances, CD and DVD. However, without question, this album is a masterpiece.

Make no mistake, this is a top ten album of all time.

The emotional content of this album is unparalleled. The orchestration, the music, and the lyrics are virtually unrivaled.

I read another review which made reference to Pink Floyd's, " The Wall." I love that album; I love Pink Floyd; painful to say, " The Wall" pales in comparison to this album. I have to be honest; " Berlin" is an incredible piece of work.

Lou Reed bares it all; " Berlin" is unadulterated. It's deceptively simple; it's raw and easily accesssible. Maybe, " simple" is not correct. " Berlin" is just void of any pretense and bullcrap.

It/life just is: pain and suffering intermixed with beauty.

I've said enough.

I absolutely applaud this piece of work.


You'll Either Love it, or Hate It   December 8, 2001
Brian D. Rubendall (Oakton, VA)
15 out of 17 found this review helpful

Lou Reed's "Berlin" is perhaps the drakest album of a career full of less than happy music. It is a song cycle about a drug addicted couple (Jim and Caroline) and their slow chemical destruction. It is also one of Reed's most theatrical pieces of rock music, and whether you like it or not will largely depend on whether you like the style in which it was recorded.

The album starts slowly, and really doesn't get rolling until the fourth song, "Caroline Says," an excellent rocking number. The next cut, "How Do You Think it Feels?" is one of the best songs of Reed's career. From there, the story REALLY gets ugly, and the most harrowing moment is and the end of the song "The Kids," in which Reed sings the line, "They're taking my children away," while the sounds of kids crying and screaming "Mommy!" fill the background. By the time you get to mournful but beautiful "Sad Song" at the end, you are exhausted.

Overall, "Berlin" is one of Reed's best solo albums, but you don't want to put in on if you're feeling suicidal.


warning: keep away from the suicidal   December 17, 2005
dandurand (detroit)
8 out of 8 found this review helpful

Lou Reed's "Berlin" is perhaps the darkest album ever made. That said, it is a masterpiece. The subject matter is unremittingly bleak but the lyrics are startling in both their empathy and detachment. In "The Kids" Reed sings, "They're Taking Her Children Away", and it is about just that, chronicalling the disintegrating life of a single mother, "Caroline Says Pt 1" tells the tale of an uberbitch and the man who licks her boots, while "Caroline Says Pt 2" (same Caroline?) offers the contrast of a beaten and abused speed freak at the end of her rope. The utter apotheosis of despair is realized with "The Bed", in which a man takes us on a mordantly matter-of-fact tour of the apartment in which his wife, and the mother of his children lived, loved and killed herself. It is absolutely unapproachable as a hymn of resigned desolation. "This is the room where she took the razor...and I said, Oh, what a feeling." The orchestration of "Berlin" is likewise stunning, ranging from full-on horns and strings ("Caroline Pt 1") to bare acoustic minimalism ("The Bed"). All in all there is nothing in music I can compare Lou Reed's "Berlin" to. It is perfect in its despair, but not for the clinically depressed.