Legendary Hearts


Legendary Hearts is the twelfth solo studio album by American musician Lou Reed, released in March 1983 by RCA Records. Reed self-produced the album, and dedicated it to his then-wife, Sylvia, who was credited with the cover concept. Due to tensions with Reed, most of Robert Quine's guitar parts were mixed down or removed entirely.
Legendary Hearts peaked at No. 159 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart. Two singles were released from the album: "Don't Talk to Me About Work" and "Martial Law", both of which failed to chart. Two music videos were produced for the album: "Legendary Hearts" and "Don't Talk to Me About Work".

Recording

Quine later said of his work with Reed, "The atmosphere was really uptight- it's impossible to be friends with him. When I got the final mix, I was really freaked out. He pretty much mixed me off the record. I was in Ohio and took it out in the driveway and smashed the tape into pieces. I have cassettes of the rough mix of the record and it was a really good record but he made it all muddy and murky."

Critical reception

Upon release, Legendary Hearts received favourable reviews from music critics. Writing for The Village Voice, music journalist Robert Christgau gave the album an A, and stated that "If The Blue Mask was a tonic, the follow-up's a long drink of water, trading impact and intensity for the stated goal of this phase of Reed's music: continuity, making do, the long haul."
In a retrospective review for AllMusic, critic Mark Deming wrote of the album, "On Legendary Hearts, Reed was writing great songs, playing them with enthusiasm and imagination, and singing them with all his heart and soul, and if it wasn't his best album, it was more than good enough to confirm that the brilliance of The Blue Mask was no fluke, and that Reed had reestablished himself as one of the most important artists in American rock." NME agreed it was, "possibly the purest, most fluid and spiritual musical unity you’ll hear in rock and roll for some time to come – with Reed’s cleansed, declamatory vocals well up front".

Track listing

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the Legendary Hearts liner notes.
Production