The music world lost one of its most diverse and influential voices on Sunday when Lou Reed died Sunday at the age of 71.
According to his publicist, Reed died of an illness related to a liver transplant he had earlier this year.
A founding member of alternative rock band The Velvet Underground, Reed left a unique impact on rock music that had not been matched by any other artist at the time of his death.
With albums like 1972’s “Transformer” and 1975’s “Metal Machine Music,” Reed explored an area of rock that few had dared to touch.
Images of drug use (“Heroin”) and obsession (“Satellite of Love”) dominated much of Reed’s earliest lyrics. Anecdotes about the dark New York City underworld cemented Reed as a quiet observer of all things human.
In addition to his dark and morose writing subjects, Reed created a sound that was uniquely his.
To fully realize his legacy, one must understand how new and eye-opening Reed’s music was at the time of its creation.
In 1967, The Velvet Underground and Nico’s self-titled debut album revolutionized the world of art rock.
Produced by art legend Andy Warhol and Tom Wilson, the album featured fan favorites like “I’m Waiting for the Man” and “European Son.”
Blending a loud, semi-tuned electric guitar and a fuzzy blur of bass and drums, The Velvet Underground set itself apart among other bands at the time.
No one had thought to write of such dark subjects like prostitution, heroin use and sadomasochism.
Tying these subjects together with innovative and strange guitar sounds made The Velvet Underground the first great art-rock band.
Following his 1967 magnum opus, Reed penned other Velvet Underground hits like “White Light, White Heat,” “Pale Blue Eyes” and “Sweet Jane.”
To say The Velvet Underground were popular, however, couldn’t have been farther from the truth.
According to the Los Angeles Times, the Velvet Underground’s debut album sold only 30,000 copies from 1967 to 1972.
Following the band’s breakup in 1970, Reed went on to have a semi-popular solo career with albums like “Berlin” and “New York.”
His second solo album, “Transformer,” gained notoriety for its finely-penned tunes and innovative production work from David Bowie and Mick Ronson.
Songs like “Perfect Day” and “Vicious” helped the album to gain mass popularity among rock fans.
In all, Reed released 22 studio albums and sold millions of records in the 40-plus years of his career.
In addition to traveling around the globe to tour his music, Reed visited Cal State Long Beach in 2012 to talk about his “Metal Machine Music” album.
Even though he never had the same number of hits like fellow glam-rock artists David Bowie and Roxy Music, Reed’s impact was no less significant.
As the rock music world recovers from his death, some of his most recognizable lyrics can apply to what most people are feeling.
“Thought of you as my mountaintop / thought of you as my peak / thought of you as everything / I’ve had but couldn’t keep / Linger on, your pale blue eyes / Linger on.”
Shane Newell is a junior journalism major and the opinions editor at the Daily 49er.