New York
by Lou Reed
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Lou Reed bestography
New York is ranked 3rd best out of 38 albums by Lou Reed on BestEverAlbums.com.
The best album by Lou Reed is Transformer which is ranked number 146 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 9,263.
(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).
Listen to New York on YouTube
New York track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 81 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
New York rankings
Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings). Click to see how the rankings are calculated (Last updated: 20 minutes ago)
| Year | Source | Chart | Rank | Rank Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 |  Tamthebam | Top 100 Music Albums of 1989 | 21/100 | 4 |
| 2026 | Jantje | Top 100 Greatest Music Albums | 34/100 | 66 |
| 2026 | Sumbody | Top 41 Music Albums of the 1980s | 29/41 | 6 |
| 2026 | Finky | Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s | 92/100 | 2 |
| 2026 | Foxforce5 | Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s | 63/100 | 8 |
| 2026 |  MadhattanJack | Top 74 Music Albums of 1989 | 42/74 | 2 |
| 2026 | Skerns | Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s | 32/100 | 14 |
| 2026 | matterhornrider | Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s | 96/100 | 1 |
| 2026 | blueandthemoon | Top 33 Music Albums of 1989 | 14/33 | 3 |
| 2026 | lanadeleswift | Top 39 Music Albums of 1989 | 6/39 | 4 |
| Total Charts: The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. | 396 | |||
| Total Rank Score: The total rank score. | 2,447 | |||
New York collection
Showing latest 20 members who have this album in their collection | Show all 224 members
New York ratings
Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AVwhere:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.
Showing latest 3 ratings for this album. | Show all 451 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 24 hours ago | alidunc | 1 | 100/100 |
| ! | 07/07/2026 12:46 |  Taka | 1,089 | 80/100 |
| ! | 06/15/2026 00:23 | classicjoe | 507 | 78/100 |
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 3% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 77.3/100, a mean average of 76.5/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 77.5/100. The standard deviation for this album is 14.2.
New York favourites
Showing latest 10 members who have added this album as a favourite | Show all 64 members
New York forum mentions
BestEverAlbums 09/12/2026 08:00 in Chart of the day (#5433): By Johnnyo BestEverAlbums 04/17/2025 20:00 in Album of the day (#5233): New York by Lou ReedNew York comments
Top Comments First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
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Yeah full of social commentary and often great lyrics - at his best when he's delivering a story and introducing interesting mis-fit characters. Stand out songs for me are the first three songs plus Last Great American Whale. However there are a couple of songs I don't like - There Is No Time and Good Evening Mr Waldheim, and I actively hate the jazzy Beginnings Of Great Adventure. But there is enough good stuff here to interest you and most of the tracks he delivers superbly with the New York drawl (even Good Evening Mr Waldheim is well delivered, just not too keen on it musically nor lyrically though) (Edited)
Lou Reed's not quite love letter to New York. This is a stunning record as Reed rants about unscrupulous landlords, pollution, and, AIDS, and that's just three. Lou touches on about everything here and is on top form throughout. There are some fantastic songs including, dirty Blvd ., strawman, and, Halloween parade. Along with, transformer, and, Berlin, new york, is an essential Lou Reed album. Brilliant.
'New York' is Lou Reed's masterpiece. It is a mournful lament to his own city. Reed approached this musically, by quoting the roots of American popular music, from folk to jazz to gospel to blues to country. With 'New York' Reed is the archetypal laconic urban preacher. Key track: There Is No Time.
teague TOP 100 COMMENTER 06/28/2020 19:22 | #254680 | TOP COMMENT
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New York is Lou Reed’s return to form after pursuing new wave (yes, new wave) during the mid 80s. I do miss the production of Transformer and Berlin, but the songwriting is the real pull of his albums, and it’s great here. (Edited)
sssvnnn 07/06/2016 18:38 | #170700 | TOP COMMENT
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I simply love that album, I think it´s more than just good songs, it´s a way of looking at the world in an intelligent and passionate manner.
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