Lou Reed - New Sensations

Like a lot of established serious musicians from the 60s and 70s, the eighties was an awkward decade for Lou Reed.  New Sensations, released in 1984 opens with one of the cheesiest, poppiest songs Lou Reed has ever written, I Love You Suzanne.  The 'boppiest' song he ever wrote, it has the unforgettable refrain: "Do what you wanna do, do what you can, do what you wanna do say I love you Suzanne".  Indeed.  It's fair to say on this album, Lou Reed fully embraced 80s pop.  And so they follow, Endlessly Jealous, My Red Joystick, throwaway tunes with throwaway lyrics.  The Stones-y riffs of Turn to Me are an improvement, the track sounds like a dry run for 1989's acclaimed New York album. 

It's left to the title track to provide the strongest moment.   A slinky, sparse groove with the merest of guitar touches, it describes a motorcycle trip accompanied by music that appears to evoke the feeling of being on such an adventure. 

Elsewhere, Doin' the Things We Want To is fairly decent 80s punch the air rock, even incorporating a saxophone without it jarring.  Fly Into the Sun and My Friend George are fairly mellow guitar rock, all clipped guitar chords and rolling basslines.  High in the City is pretty close to self-parody with cheesy brass and Down at the Arcade at least has a bit growl to its guitars. 

So overall an interesting but not essential Lou Reed album.  That cover art (above) is kind of hilarious though.