Lou Reed: Metal Machine Mystic

With forewords by Thurston Moore and Ulrich Krieger, Lou Reed: Metal Machine Mystic looks at one of rock’s most confounding artists through his most extreme and misunderstood work, the 1975 double album Metal Machine Music.

Released in 1975, this vocal-free, relentlessly abrasive record was first dismissed as an avant-garde prank, career suicide, or both. Over the past half-century, it has found a growing audience and become a touchstone for listeners drawn to its challenge and mystery.

Drawing on extensive research and exclusive interviews with more than sixty friends, collaborators and admirers, David Holzer presents Lou Reed as a spiritual seeker influenced by Alice Bailey and esoteric practice, with a deep belief in inner spirit.

Structured in four near-equal parts, like the album itself, this is the first book to treat Metal Machine Music as the key to understanding its creation, purpose, aftermath and remarkable rehabilitation.