Lou Reed's Metal Machine Music belongs in that weird pantheon of albums, like Trout Mask Replica and Skip Spence's Oar, that are heard about more than they are actually heard. At the time of its initial release in 1975, it was widely and almost immediately recognized and dismissed as a joke, punk cut-up Reed pulling a fast one on his label and getting them, on the heels of his huge pop success with "Walk on the Wild Side," to shell out for a record that was so unlistenable it would alienate the casual music fans who were doot-doot-dooting along with the "colored girls" in between back-to-back blocks of Uriah Heep and the J. Geils Band. You can almost imagine a gaunt Reed sucking on a cigarette and snidely chuckling, "Can you believe I actually got them to pay for this piece of shit?"

A funny thing, though: in the years since its release, Metal Machine Music has actually grown in stature. It's become a touchstone for bands like Sonic Youth and Nine Inch Nails, has been placed at the forefront of the fuck-you New York No Wave scene, and has been classified alongside musique concrete composers like Stockhausen. It's even been… read more »