Music

Transformer: Lou Reed’s transgressive masterpiece at 50

Tony Clayton-Lea talks with two Irish musicians for whom Lou Reed’s 1972 album has had a pivotal influence: Gavin Friday and Keeley Moss

Lou Reed: his 1972 album Transformer remains a transgressive, coded and seditious pop/rock masterpiece that continues to influence many artists

Released 50 years ago last month, Transformer may be considered a crucial influence on glam rock. But the songs on Lou Reed’s second solo album also held an inner reserve of secrecy, grittiness and self-expression that genre normally barely hinted at. While music acts like the Sweet, Slade and T Rex wore the make-up and glitter, Reed’s fingernails were caked with dirt, rather than smeared with varnish.

Transformer remains a transgressive, coded and seditious pop/rock ...