Transformer

Lou Reed’s 1972 debut solo album arrived on RCA as glam rock’s most unflinching statement—raw, sexually explicit, and stripped of the Velvet Underground’s experimental indulgence. “Walk on the Wild Side” became a radio hit despite its subject matter, but the album’s true power lies in its lean production and Reed’s deadpan vocal delivery across tales of street life and desire. Glam here means decadence without pretense, New York grit filtered through androgynous swagger.