Transformer (studio album) by Lou Reed
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Lou Reed bestography
Transformer is ranked as the best album by Lou Reed.
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Transformer track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 84 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.
Transformer rankings
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Transformer ratings

where:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
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Showing latest 5 ratings for this album. | Show all 1,528 ratings for this album.
Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
---|---|---|---|---|
30/100 ![]() | 11 hours ago | Proto | ![]() | 36/100 |
85/100 ![]() | 5 days ago | Toffuey | ![]() | 79/100 |
75/100 ![]() | 03/26/2025 01:53 | TastyandTemptin | ![]() | 72/100 |
95/100 ![]() | 03/25/2025 22:10 | Fabien67 | ![]() | 77/100 |
75/100 ![]() | 03/21/2025 21:40 | Elauqsapid | ![]() | 64/100 |
Rating metrics:
Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)
This album is rated in the top 1% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 83.4/100, a mean average of 82.4/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 83.4/100. The standard deviation for this album is 13.1.
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There is some filler on this record but when Lou Reed gets it right it is simply phenomenal on this release. The three classics that are Perfect Day, Walk On The Wild Side and Satellite Of Love are outstanding with all of them still sounding just as fresh and exciting today. The production across the whole of the album is fantastic and this makes it easy to keep revisiting it countless times. Lou Reed's song writing is genius and it is tough to listen to this album and not dig deeper into some of his songs and explore their meanings and stories. His vocal is one of my favourites in music history and this is possibly the best he has sounded on any of his albums. However, there is those weaker tracks which are mediocre or good and for most people I can see why it might make this record feel like a bit of a drag especially nearer the end. Despite this, I love these deep cuts as I just enjoy Reed in this style of music as I think it suits him brilliantly. Overall, this record is a lot fun that also has a large amount of quality backing it up with one of the most important people in music history leading the line demonstrating how versatile and incredible he is.
I've heard people say really positive things about this record and Lou too, but I didn't get into it with any expectations. I like that the album has really vivid storytelling and also some of the lines/melodies remind me of newer songs, which shows what influence he had. My favourite tracks have to be Vicious, Perfect Day, Make Up, Satellite of Love and New York Telephone Conversation. My least favourite tracks are probably Andy's Chest and unfortunately the last two tracks that make the albums finish not so interesting as I thought it would be considering how cool the middle part was. It didn't blew me away apart from the songs mentioned, but I got to admit it sounds loose, it's funny and really light on the ears, has good stories also. I'd give it a 7,5 / 10, but it gave me a different experience, because I don't listen to his type of music a lot.

Lou Reed veio forte em sua carreira solo já desbravando e criando o glam rock. Genial.
Solid album
Massive Lou Reed album which introduced him to many people with the big hit "Walk on the Wild Side". Lots of variety here and Perfect Day is also a classic.
Fantastic production on this one. Oerfect Day is wonderful abd Walk On The Wild Side has an amazing tune, Satellite Of Love is really good too. Experimental and catchy at the same time.
Buen disco
Lou Reeds best album for me. Really well produced by David Bowie. All tracks are very good, with a few standout perfect songs like perfect day, walk on the wildside and satellite of love. Some funny wacky songs which are still a great listen thanks to great production.
see what sticks to the wall not much. exception the magnificent Walk on the Wild side

Lou’s second album would be his solo peak both critically and commercially with a collection of iconic tunes that still echo today some 50 years hence
Personally I prefer ‘Transformers’ successor - 1973’s bleak and harrowing ‘Berlin’ however I can understand why this one is ranked as high as it is ( 126 on the BEA overall album chart)
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