New Sensations

New Sensations is the thirteenth solo studio album by American musician Lou Reed, released in April 1984 by RCA Records. John Jansen and Reed produced the album. New Sensations peaked at No. 56 on the U.S. Billboard 200 and at No. 92 on the UK Albums Chart. This marked the first time that Reed charted within the US Top 100 since 1978's Street Hassle, and the first time that Reed had charted in the UK altogether since 1976's Coney Island Baby. Three singles were released from the album: "I Love You, Suzanne", "My Red Joystick" and "High in the City", with "I Love You, Suzanne" being the only single to chart, peaking at No. 78 on the UK Singles Chart. "I Love You, Suzanne" did, however, receive light rotation on MTV.

This article is about Lou Reed's album. For the film studio, see New Sensations (studio).
New Sensations
Studio album by
Lou Reed
ReleasedApril 1984
StudioSkyline Studios, New York City
Genre
Length42:24
LabelRCA Records
Producer
Lou Reed chronology
Live in Italy
(1984)		 New Sensations
(1984)		 City Lights
(1985)
Singles from New Sensations
  1. "I Love You, Suzanne"
    Released: 1984
  2. "My Red Joystick"
    Released: 1984
  3. "High in the City [Dutch-only release]"
    Released: 1984

Robert Quine's involvement

Guitarist Robert Quine, who had played on Reed's previous two albums, The Blue Mask and Legendary Hearts, had had a falling-out with Reed during the recording sessions, so Reed opted to play most of guitar parts on the album himself, with the exceptions being "My Red Joystick" and "My Friend George", which feature Fernando Saunders providing rhythm guitar. Years after the album's release, Fernando Saunders claimed that one of the issues during recording was that Robert Quine had personally composed the "guitar riff" for "I Love You, Suzanne" in the studio while the band was rehearsing. Upon hearing Quine's riff, Reed had written the lyrics to the song, but he had failed to give Quine a co-writing credit for the song in the album credits, thus cutting Quine out of royalties which added further strain to their relationship.[1] Despite their falling out, Quine later joined Reed for the world tour in support of the album.

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Chicago Tribune[3]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[4]
Pitchfork5.8/10[5]
Rolling Stone[6]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[7]
Spin Alternative Record Guide8/10[8]
The Village VoiceA[9]

Upon release, New Sensations received favourable reviews from music critics. Writing for The Village Voice, music journalist Robert Christgau gave the album an A, and stated that "Instead of straining fruitlessly to top himself, Reed has settled into a pattern as satisfying as what he had going with the Velvets, though by definition it isn't as epochal. The music is simple and inevitable, and even the sarcastic songs are good sarcastic songs"[9] In Rolling Stone, Kurt Loder called it "a long-overdue delight that's all the more exciting for being completely unexpected."[6]

In a retrospective review for AllMusic, critic Mark Deming wrote of the album, "New Sensations showed that Reed had a lot more warmth and humanity than he was given credit for, and made clear that he could "write happy" when he felt like, with all the impact of his "serious" material."[2]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Lou Reed.

Side one
No.TitleLength
1."I Love You, Suzanne"3:19
2."Endlessly Jealous"3:57
3."My Red Joystick"3:36
4."Turn to Me"4:22
5."New Sensations"5:42
Side two
No.TitleLength
6."Doin' the Things That We Want To"3:55
7."What Becomes a Legend Most"3:37
8."Fly into the Sun"3:04
9."My Friend George"3:51
10."High in the City"3:27
11."Down at the Arcade"3:40
Total length:42:24

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the New Sensations liner notes.[10]

Production

Charts
Chart (1984) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[11] 56
US Billboard 200[12] 56
UK Albums Chart[13] 92

See also

References
  1. Sounes, Howard (2015-10-22). Notes from the Velvet Underground: The Life of Lou Reed. ISBN 9781473508958.
  2. Deming, Mark. "New Sensations – Lou Reed". AllMusic. Retrieved July 29, 2013.
  3. Kot, Greg (January 12, 1992). "Lou Reed's Recordings: 25 Years Of Path-breaking Music". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved July 29, 2013.
  4. Larkin, Colin (2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-85712-595-8.
  5. Harvell, Jess (January 15, 2010). "Lou Reed: Legendary Hearts / New Sensations". Pitchfork. Retrieved July 29, 2013.
  6. Loder, Kurt (June 7, 1984). "Lou Reed: New Sensations". Rolling Stone. New York. Archived from the original on March 1, 2009. Retrieved August 23, 2016.
  7. Hull, Tom (2004). "Lou Reed". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 684–85. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  8. Weisbard, Eric; Marks, Craig, eds. (1995). Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. ISBN 0-679-75574-8.
  9. Christgau, Robert (July 24, 1984). "Christgau's Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. New York. Retrieved July 29, 2013.
  10. New Sensations (CD booklet). Lou Reed. RCA Records. 1984.CS1 maint: others (link)
  11. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 249. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  12. "Lou Reed > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 2010-09-02.
  13. "Lou Reed". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2010-09-02.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.