Upon Berlin’s original 1973 release, rock scribe Larry Sloman described it in Rolling Stone as the Sgt Pepper of the 70s. When that quote sprang from posters emblazoned on subway walls and bus stops, Lou Reed was apoplectic. He didn’t want people thinking he’d created a psych throwback following Transformer’s glam-pop success the previous year.
Of course, Sloman didn’t mean that.
