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The Blue Mask
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| The Blue Mask | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | February 1982[1] | |||
| Recorded | October 1981 | |||
| Studio | RCA, New York City | |||
| Genre | Rock | |||
| Length | 41:00 | |||
| Label | RCA Victor | |||
| Producer |
| |||
| Lou Reed chronology | ||||
| ||||
The Blue Mask is the eleventh solo studio album by the American rock musician Lou Reed, released in February 1982, by RCA Records. Reed had returned to the label after having left Arista Records. The album was released around Reed's 40th birthday, and covers topics of marriage and settling down,[1] alongside themes of violence, paranoia, and alcoholism.
Production and recording
[edit]Reed and Robert Quine's guitars were mixed separately in the right and left stereo channels respectively. To differentiate his guitar's sound from Reed's, Quine used D tuning, playing each song as if it was one major second higher. For example, "Heavenly Arms" is in G major, so Quine used fingerings for A major to play the song.
Quine, who years earlier followed the Velvet Underground across the country and taped several of their early shows (they were later released as Bootleg Series Volume 1: The Quine Tapes), made for a suitable complement to Reed. Quine also toured in support of the album and can be seen on the recorded The Bottom Line show titled A Night with Lou Reed (1983). Quine later described the album as, "a record that I'm particularly proud of. We had never played together before going into the studio. There were no rehearsals and most of it was done in one or two takes. I like all the things that I've done with Lou but that will always be special for me."[2] Quine and Reed share the distinction of being named to Rolling Stone's Top 100 Guitarists of All-Time List.
Fernando Saunders, who subsequently became a longtime Reed collaborator, plays bass guitar and adds backing vocals (most noticeably, a falsetto refrain in the outro to "Heavenly Arms") to this album and can also be seen in A Night with Lou Reed. Saunders later said, "it was like a dream come true. Lou wanted me to play the things no one would ever let me play, the things I would sit in my bedroom and play. Suddenly I was glad I hadn't quit music for my uncle's insurance company."[3]
The album contains no instrumental overdubs with the exception of Reed's guitar on "My House", but all vocals were overdubbed with the exception of "The Heroine". The drummer for the album was studio musician Doane Perry, who later joined Jethro Tull.
The album cover was designed by Reed's then wife, Sylvia, and features a blue version of a photograph by Mick Rock from the cover art of 1972's Transformer.
In 2000, a remastered version of The Blue Mask was released.
Critical reception
[edit]| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [4] |
| Chicago Tribune | [5] |
| Christgau's Record Guide | A[6] |
| The Encyclopedia of Popular Music |  [7] |
| Pitchfork | 9.2/10[8] |
| Rolling Stone | [9] |
| (The New) Rolling Stone Album Guide | [10] |
| Spin | [11] |
| Spin Alternative Record Guide | 9/10[12] |
Robert Palmer of The New York Times hailed it as the year's "most outstanding rock album," writing that Reed had finally matched the "hard, thoughtful, unflinching songs" of the Velvet Underground's groundbreaking debut from 1967. He also praised the musicianship, particularly Reed and Quine's guitar work, writing that they "interact with a sort of empathy and lucidity one expects from a seasoned jazz combo and the music always reaches out to invite the listener in, even at its most intensely personal level."[13]
Robert Christgau of The Village Voice initially gave The Blue Mask an A+ rating: "Never has Lou sounded more Ginsbergian, more let-it-all-hang-out than on this, his most controlled, plainspoken, deeply felt, and uninhibited album...he sounds glad to be alive, so that horror and pain become occasions for courage and eloquence as well as bitterness and sarcasm." Christgau also praised the musicianship, writing that "Reed's voice - precise, conversational, stirring whether offhand or inspirational - sings his love of language itself, with Fernando Saunders's bass articulating his tenderness and the guitars of Robert Quine and Reed himself fleshing out the terrible beauty he's borne."[14]
In The Boston Phoenix, Ariel Swartley wrote that "What Reed has done (it sounds simple to lay things out this way, the album's anything but) is to expose rock ‘n’ roll’s intellectual affinities without spoiling its immediacy. He’s solved, or at least brought evidence to bear on, a variety of post-punk problems: how to say complicated things in inarticulate-sounding voices; how to achieve the sustained revelation of confessional writing while escaping the claustrophobic confines of personality; how to reconcile inspiration with craft. All this, too, in a lean, guitar-dominated song cycle that has the luminous intensity of a Hejira or an Astral Weeks.[15]
Ira Robbins of Trouser Press praised the album as "a triumphant success" with "some of Reed's strongest writing in years. The portraits he paints are miserable characters living outside society; it's not clear whether or not they're fictional."[16]
NME said, "What made The Blue Mask Lou Reed’s watershed album was his choice of musicians, a new wave super-set of them – Fernando Saunders on bass, Doane Perry on drums, and the legendary Robert Quine on guitar.[17]
Alternately, Barney Hoskyns criticized the album for a "smarmy self-satisfaction that said: 'I may have been a bit of a jerk when I strutted around on stage with a needle in my arm, but I am now a bona fide Artist and you will treat me as such.'"[18]
The Blue Mask would later place fifth in The Village Voice's annual Pazz & Jop critics poll.[19]
In a retrospective appraisal, Jess Harvell of Pitchfork praised Quine's "virtuoso blend of post-Reed skronk and speed-folkie melodicism" and wrote that "The Blue Mask is still the one to slot alongside Transformer and Street Hassle. The album realigned Reed with the punk and new/no wave movements he helped sire, and it was helped into the canon by Reed's strongest (and most heart-wrenching) batch of songs in years."[20]
Track listing
[edit]All songs written by Lou Reed.
Side one
- "My House" – 5:25
- "Women" – 4:57
- "Underneath the Bottle" – 2:33
- "The Gun" – 3:41
- "The Blue Mask" – 5:06
Side two
- "Average Guy" – 3:12
- "The Heroine" – 3:06
- "Waves of Fear" – 4:11
- "The Day John Kennedy Died" – 4:08
- "Heavenly Arms" – 4:47
Personnel
[edit]Musicians
- Lou Reed – guitar, vocals
- Robert Quine – guitar
- Fernando Saunders – bass guitar, backing vocals
- Doane Perry – drums
Technical
- Sean Fullan – recording engineer, co-producer
Charts
[edit]| Chart (1982) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[21] | 28 |
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[22] | 52 |
| French Albums (SNEP)[23] | 15 |
| Italian Albums (Musica e Dischi)[24] | 24 |
| New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[25] | 35 |
| Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[26] | 17 |
| US Billboard 200[27] | 169 |
References
[edit]- ^ a b Sheffield, Rob (February 24, 1982). "Happy 30th Birthday to 'The Blue Mask,' Lou Reed's Solo Masterpiece | Rob Sheffield". Rolling Stone. Retrieved August 16, 2013.
- ^ Richard Kirk. "Robert Quine: Red Red Quine". Rock's Backpages.(Subscription required.)
- ^ Rob Tannenbaum. "Fernando Saunders' Lead Bass". Rock's Backpages.(Subscription required.)
- ^ Deming, Mark. "The Blue Mask – Lou Reed". AllMusic. Retrieved July 29, 2013.
- ^ Kot, Greg (January 12, 1992). "Lou Reed's Recordings: 25 Years Of Path-breaking Music". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved July 29, 2013.
- ^ Christgau, Robert (1990). "Lou Reed: The Blue Mask". Christgau's Record Guide: The '80s. Pantheon Books. ISBN 0-679-73015-X. Retrieved July 29, 2013.
- ^ Larkin, Colin (2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-85712-595-8.
- ^ Brooks, Dan (April 28, 2024). "Lou Reed: The Blue Mask Album Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved April 28, 2024.
- ^ Carson, Tom (April 15, 1982). "Lou Reed: The Blue Mask". Rolling Stone. New York. Archived from the original on February 18, 2009. Retrieved August 23, 2016.
- ^ Hull, Tom (2004). "Lou Reed". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). (The New) Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 684–85. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
- ^ Marchese, David (November 2009). "Discography: Lou Reed". Spin. 24 (11). New York: 67. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
- ^ Weisbard, Eric; Marks, Craig, eds. (1995). Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. ISBN 0-679-75574-8.
- ^ Palmer, Robert (December 22, 1982). "The Pop Life". The New York Times. New York. Retrieved February 14, 2021.
- ^ Christgau, Robert (March 9, 1982). "Christgau's Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. New York. Retrieved February 14, 2021.
- ^ Swartley, Ariel (April 6, 1982). "Lou Reed: Rapture in the night". The Boston Phoenix. Retrieved August 14, 2024.
- ^ Robbins, Ira; Fleischmann, Mark. "Lou Reed". Trouser Press. Retrieved February 14, 2021.
- ^ Cynthia Rose. "Lou Reed: Legendary Hearts (RCA)". Rock's Backpages.(Subscription required.)
- ^ Barney Hoskyns. "Cool Hand Lou: The Transformations of Lou Reed". Rock's Backpages.(Subscription required.)
- ^ "The 1982 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll". The Village Voice. February 22, 1983. Archived from the original on August 10, 2020. Retrieved November 12, 2020.
- ^ Harvell, Jess (January 15, 2010). "Lou Reed: Legendary Hearts / New Sensations Album Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved December 23, 2019.
- ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Lou Reed – The Blue Mask" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved June 2, 2022.
- ^ "Offizielle Deutsche Charts - Offizielle Deutsche Charts". www.offiziellecharts.de. Retrieved February 27, 2022.
- ^ "Tous les Albums classés par Artiste". www.infodisc.fr. Archived from the original on January 26, 2016. Retrieved January 7, 2011.
- ^ "Classifiche". Musica e dischi (in Italian). Retrieved June 2, 2022. Set "Tipo" on "Album". Then, with "Lou Reed" in "Artista", click "cerca"
- ^ "charts.org.nz - Lou Reed - The Blue Mask". charts.nz. Retrieved February 27, 2022.
- ^ "swedishcharts.com - Lou Reed - The Blue Mask". swedishcharts.com. Retrieved February 27, 2022.
- ^ "Lou Reed Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved April 28, 2024.
External links
[edit]- The Blue Mask at Discogs (list of releases)
The Blue Mask
View on Grokipediafrom Grokipedia
The Blue Mask is the eleventh solo studio album by American rock musician Lou Reed, released on February 23, 1982, by RCA Records.[1]
Produced by Lou Reed and engineer Sean Fullan, the album was recorded at RCA Studios in New York City during October 1981, featuring a minimalist rock lineup that emphasized raw guitar interplay.[2][3]
Key personnel included Lou Reed on vocals and guitar (mixed to the right stereo channel), Robert Quine on lead guitar (mixed to the left channel, using D tuning for a distinctive tone), Fernando Saunders on bass and backing vocals, and Doane Perry on drums, with minimal overdubs to preserve a live, unpolished feel—except for Reed's additional guitar on the opening track "My House" and all vocals except "The Heroine."[4][5]
The ten-track album, running approximately 41 minutes, explores deeply personal themes of sobriety, paranoia, redemption, and introspection, drawing from Reed's recent experiences in rehabilitation and his marriage to Sylvia Morales, whose influence is evident in songs like the tender "Women" and the reflective "Heavenly Arms."[6][7]
Standout tracks include the title song "The Blue Mask," a haunting depiction of psychological torment; "Waves of Fear," chronicling drug withdrawal with intense, bending guitar riffs; and "The Day John Kennedy Died," a narrative ballad blending historical reflection with emotional vulnerability.[5][4]
Critically acclaimed upon release and in retrospect, The Blue Mask is widely regarded as one of Reed's finest solo efforts and a pivotal comeback following a commercially uneven 1970s, praised for its artistic maturity, sonic clarity, and Quine's innovative contributions that revitalized Reed's sound.[6][1]
Background
Personal context
In 1980, Lou Reed married Sylvia Morales on Valentine's Day in a private ceremony at his New York apartment, an event that ushered in a phase of domestic stability following a decade marked by personal upheaval, including turbulent relationships and substance dependencies.[8][9] This union provided Reed with emotional grounding, contrasting sharply with his earlier chaotic lifestyle during the 1970s, when heroin and amphetamine use had intensified amid professional pressures and the dissolution of prior partnerships.[10][11] Around the same period, Reed attained sobriety from heroin addiction, a pivotal shift that occurred shortly after his marriage and extended into 1981, as he joined Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous while retreating from public excesses.[11][9] This recovery from long-standing substance abuse, which had plagued him since the Velvet Underground era, allowed for clearer introspection and a departure from the self-destructive patterns of his youth.[10] As Reed neared his 40th birthday on March 2, 1982, these changes prompted deep reflections on aging, commitment, and distancing himself from the rock-and-roll indulgences of his past, including the gritty New York scene that defined his early career.[1] To symbolize this transition, he and Morales relocated to a home in Blairstown, New Jersey, embracing a quieter suburban existence away from the city's frenetic energy.[12][13] This sobriety subtly informed the album's lyrical maturity, emphasizing personal renewal over prior themes of excess.[6]Conception and influences
Following his tumultuous solo career in the late 1970s, marked by experimental and abrasive releases such as Metal Machine Music (1975), Lou Reed sought to craft a more introspective album with The Blue Mask, one that reflected his emerging sense of domestic stability and personal renewal.[14] The project marked a deliberate shift toward raw emotional honesty, drawing from Reed's recent marriage to Sylvia Morales and his path to sobriety, which informed themes of settling down amid lingering shadows of past excesses.[15] A pivotal influence came from Reed's recruitment of guitarist Robert Quine, whose punk-infused style added a sharp, urgent edge to the album's sound. Quine, formerly of Richard Hell and the Voidoids, had long admired Reed's Velvet Underground era, particularly the hypnotic intensity of tracks like "Sister Ray" from White Light/White Heat (1968), which he credited with transforming his approach to music.[16] Reed's wife Sylvia facilitated their introduction via a lunch meeting, leading Quine to join the project and encouraging Reed to reclaim his guitar-playing roots for a more direct, live-wire aesthetic.[17] To achieve this vision, Reed assembled a lean core quartet—himself on guitar and vocals, Quine on lead guitar, Fernando Saunders on bass, and Doane Perry on drums—eschewing the orchestral overproduction of earlier efforts like Growing Up in Public (1980) in favor of a stripped-down, band-centric approach that prioritized immediacy and interplay.[18] This configuration allowed for improvisation without overdubs, capturing a punk-like directness while evoking the raw energy of Reed's formative influences, resulting in an album that balanced confessional vulnerability with muscular rock drive.[19]Production
Recording process
The recording of The Blue Mask took place in October 1981 at RCA Studios in New York City.[2] The sessions were produced by Lou Reed and engineer Sean Fullan, who emphasized capturing the band's live performances in the studio to retain the raw energy and authenticity of the music.[20] With the core band of Reed on vocals and rhythm guitar, Robert Quine on lead guitar, Fernando Saunders on bass, and Doane Perry on drums, the approach involved minimal preparation, relying on rough demos rather than extensive rehearsals to foster spontaneity.[21] A key directive from Reed was to avoid overdubs on instruments, with the album containing no instrumental overdubs except for Reed's additional guitar on the opening track "My House", allowing first takes to stand in order to preserve the immediacy of the performances.[1][4] Quine's stream-of-consciousness improvisations often introduced tension and unpredictability, pushing the sessions into intense, sometimes anarchic territory as the band navigated unfamiliar material without safety nets like punch-ins or click tracks.[21] These elements contributed to occasional friction, particularly during the capture of Quine's solos, which clashed with the wall of sound from Reed's rhythm work. Mixing was handled swiftly at the same facility, prioritizing a stark separation of Reed's rhythm guitar in the right channel and Quine's lead in the left to highlight their dynamic contrast, resulting in a deliberately unpolished rock aesthetic that underscored the album's visceral quality.[4] The final masters were prepared at Sterling Sound in New York.[2]Personnel
Lou Reed served as the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, primary songwriter, and co-producer on The Blue Mask, where he provided the album's confessional lyrics and steered its overall vision toward introspective rock.[4][6] Robert Quine played lead guitar, delivering angular, punk-inspired solos that imparted an edgy texture to the album, informed by his post-punk roots with Richard Hell and the Voidoids.[22][1][18] Fernando Saunders contributed bass guitar and backing vocals, lending melodic support and warmth to the arrangements while also participating in some creative decisions.[6][4] Doane Perry handled drums, supplying straightforward, propulsive rhythms that anchored the band's raw intensity.[18][23][14] Sean Fullan acted as recording engineer and co-producer, overseeing the technical capture of the album's live-in-the-studio sound with minimal effects for an unpolished feel.[4][22]Music and lyrics
Style and instrumentation
The Blue Mask is characterized by its art rock foundation, infused with post-punk edge and subtle jazz elements derived from bassist Fernando Saunders' melodic and improvisational approach.[6][24] The album's sparse arrangements create a tense interplay between Lou Reed's deadpan, reverb-laden vocals and Robert Quine's dissonant, feedback-heavy guitar lines, emphasizing raw emotional undercurrents over dense layering.[18][6] Instrumentation revolves around a minimalist rock setup: Reed's rhythm guitar delivers a steady, pulsing foundation, while Quine's lead guitar injects abrasive, atonal bursts through panned stereo channels for spatial dissonance; Fernando Saunders' bass provides sharp, midrange-driven propulsion with jazz-inflected fills; and Doane Perry's drums maintain a taut, live-wire drive without embellishment.[6][18][24] Notably absent are keyboards or synthesizers, underscoring a back-to-basics ethos that prioritizes organic band interplay.[1] The production captures live-band dynamics with minimal overdubs, fostering an intimate yet uneasy atmosphere through vocal reverb and strategic feedback squalls that heighten moments of release.[18] Tracks average around four minutes, enabling concise verse-chorus frameworks that escalate into explosive solos, as exemplified by the riff-driven tension in "The Gun."[25][18]Themes
The Blue Mask explores themes of domestic redemption and personal renewal, particularly through the lens of Reed's marriage to Sylvia Morales. The album's opening track, "My House," serves as a poignant love letter to this home life, celebrating the stability of his New Jersey residence and the comforts of writing, motorcycling, and companionship amid a "lucky life."[6] Central to the album is Reed's confrontation with inner demons, including paranoia and violence, which manifest in visceral depictions of psychological turmoil. In "Waves of Fear," Reed vividly captures the terror of panic attacks and withdrawal, with lines like "Waves of fear / I'm too scared to leave" evoking the raw agony of confronting addiction's grip. Similarly, "The Gun" delves into aggression and menace, portraying a figure wielding a nine-millimeter Browning as a symbol of destructive impulses, underscoring Reed's meditation on violence as both external threat and internal pathology.[6][18][26] Alcoholism and the path to recovery form another key motif, reflecting Reed's own journey toward sobriety following years of struggle. "Underneath the Bottle" references the rhythms of a 12-step program, with lyrics such as "Seven days make a week / On two of them I sleep" highlighting the exhaustion and incremental progress of overcoming dependency.[6] The album extends beyond personal introspection to broader societal reflections, intertwining individual anxiety with historical trauma. "The Day John Kennedy Died" recounts Reed's recollection of the 1963 assassination, evoking a pervasive sense of helplessness and national shock that mirrors his own emotional disorientation.[1] Overall, The Blue Mask conveys a tone of vulnerability and tentative hope, marking a departure from Reed's earlier cynicism toward a more redemptive outlook shaped by sobriety and domesticity. Tracks like "Heavenly Arms," an unabashed love song to Morales, offer spiritual resolution and contentment, emphasizing transcendence through personal connection.[6][27][1]Release
Commercial performance
The Blue Mask was released on February 23, 1982, by RCA Records in LP format, with initial distribution in the United States and internationally.[14] The album achieved modest commercial success, peaking at number 169 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart after debuting at number 181.[28] It fared better in Europe, reaching number 28 on the Dutch Albums Chart, where it spent six weeks in total; number 17 on the Swedish Albums Chart, spending six weeks; and number 15 on the French Albums Chart, where it spent 42 weeks.[29] It also peaked at number 35 on the New Zealand Albums Chart for three weeks.[30] In France, the album has sold 207,700 copies as of 2018, reflecting sustained interest among Reed's dedicated audience.[31] No major singles were released from the album.Promotion and artwork
The album cover for The Blue Mask features a blue-tinted profile photograph of Lou Reed, adapted from Mick Rock's iconic image originally used on the cover of Reed's 1972 album Transformer. The design was created by Sylvia Reed, the artist's wife at the time, who handled artwork for several of his releases during this period.[4][8] RCA Records supported the album's release with targeted advertising in key music publications, including full-page ads in Billboard and Rolling Stone that highlighted Reed's return to form after a challenging stretch in the late 1970s, framing the record as a personal and artistic rebirth tied to his sobriety and marriage. Promotional materials, such as press kits containing an eight-page biography, publicity photos, and posters, underscored themes of growth and stability in Reed's life, distributed to media outlets and radio stations to build anticipation. Additionally, RCA issued a special promotional interview LP featuring Reed responding to pre-scripted questions from disc jockeys, designed to facilitate radio interviews and emphasize the album's introspective qualities.[32][1][33][34] The album's packaging consisted of a standard gatefold LP sleeve, with inner spread liner notes penned by Reed himself, in which he acknowledged the collaborative contributions of the recording band, including guitarist Robert Quine, bassist Fernando Saunders, and drummer Doane Perry, crediting their input for the record's raw energy and cohesion.[2]Critical reception
Initial reviews
Upon its release in February 1982, The Blue Mask received widespread critical acclaim, marking a significant turnaround in Lou Reed's solo career following a decade of uneven output. Rolling Stone awarded the album a perfect five-star rating, lauding its raw honesty and the jagged, expressive guitar contributions of Robert Quine, which provided an ideal counterpoint to Reed's introspective vocals; critic Tom Carson described it as Reed's strongest solo effort since Transformer in 1972, emphasizing its gritty authenticity over previous glam excesses.[27] Robert Christgau of The Village Voice gave the album an A grade in his Consumer Guide, praising its Ginsbergian honesty: "Never has Lou sounded more let-it-all-hang-out." The album's confessional depth and personal themes further solidified its praise, as evidenced by its number five ranking in The Village Voice's inaugural Pazz & Jop Critics Poll for 1982, where it stood out amid Reed's mixed 1970s reception and reflected a broad consensus among American critics for its emotional intensity.[35][36] The New York Times' Robert Palmer described the album as "stark, harrowing, and ultimately uplifting rock-and-roll," noting its unflinching subject matter—such as addiction and recovery—posed a raw intensity that distinguished it from more accessible fare.[37] Overall, the initial response formed a positive consensus, with an approximate average rating of 4 out of 5 stars across major publications, positioning The Blue Mask as a redemptive high point that reaffirmed Reed's artistic relevance after years of commercial and critical inconsistency.[7]Retrospective assessments
In the decades since its 1982 release, The Blue Mask has been widely reevaluated by critics as a pivotal comeback album in Lou Reed's solo catalog, often hailed as one of his finest achievements for its raw emotional depth and artistic renewal. Pitchfork's 2024 retrospective review rated it 9.2 out of 10, portraying it as a "strangely alluring comeback that made good on the promise of a lasting rock'n'roll icon" and a "redemption story" that confronts Reed's personal struggles with sobriety and vulnerability through painfully honest lyrics.[6] The album's stripped-down production and introspective themes, exemplified in tracks like "My House" and "Waves of Fear," are credited with restoring Reed's credibility after years of erratic output, marking a return to the unflinching authenticity of his Velvet Underground era.[6] Rolling Stone has similarly positioned The Blue Mask among Reed's essential albums, commending its fusion of punk's raw energy with mature, poetic lyricism that explores domestic life, paranoia, and recovery in a visceral manner.[38] AllMusic awards it 4.5 out of 5 stars, emphasizing its enduring influence on alternative rock through Reed's collaboration with guitarist Robert Quine, whose jagged style helped bridge post-punk experimentation with singer-songwriter intimacy.[39] Following Reed's death in 2013, tributes and obituaries frequently highlighted the album as a career high point; for instance, the official Lou Reed website described it as "excellent" and his strongest work since Transformer, underscoring its role in revealing a more settled, reflective side of the artist.[40] Academic and biographical analyses further underscore the album's autobiographical significance, viewing it as Reed's most personal statement on marriage, addiction, and midlife introspection. In Will Hermes' 2023 biography Lou Reed: The King of New York, it is analyzed as a key document of Reed's transformation during his marriage to Sylvia Morales, blending confessional storytelling with rock urgency.[41] Aggregator sites reflect this high regard, with Rate Your Music users assigning an average score of 3.61 out of 5 based on over 3,500 ratings, consistently placing it among Reed's top solo efforts.[42]Track listing
Side one
Side one of The Blue Mask features five tracks that open the album with a mix of personal reflection and intensity. The side runs for a total of approximately 21:20 on the original vinyl release.[4]- "My House" – 5:21[4]
- "Women" – 4:55[4]
- "Underneath the Bottle" – 2:27[4]
- "The Gun" – 3:37[4]
- "The Blue Mask" – 5:00[4]
Side two
Side two of the original vinyl release of The Blue Mask features five tracks that explore personal introspection and everyday struggles, maintaining the album's raw, unadorned production style.- "Average Guy" – 3:10[4]
- "The Heroine" – 3:00[4]
- "Waves of Fear" – 4:10[4]
- "The Day John Kennedy Died" – 4:05[4]
- "Heavenly Arms" – 4:45[4]