Transformer by Lou Reed

Transformer, Lou Reed's second solo album, came out on RCA on November 8, 1972, and it exists because David Bowie was a fan. Reed's first solo record had gone nowhere, but Bowie had loved the Velvet Underground and threw his own fame behind their old leader, producing Transformer with Mick Ronson at Trident Studios.

The result is glam rock with a sly, streetwise smirk. "Walk on the Wild Side" strolls through sexuality, gender, prostitution and drugs, subjects that still made people squirm, and it became the biggest single Reed ever had. "Perfect Day" is woozy and tender with a shadow creeping in at the edges, "Satellite of Love" floats, and "Vicious" slashes. Reed sounds amused, detached and utterly at home, and the album has since come to be seen as a landmark of the whole glitter era.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.