Set the Twilight Reeling [Import, CD]

On my review of 2000's ECSTASY, I had hope that his marriage to his wife Sylvia was still intact inspite of the marital discord Lou seemed to be portraying on the album. That was the review that made it into my college newspaper (God help me!) & I realize I was mistaken. Lou has since taken up with fellow musician Laurie Anderson & SET THE TWILIGHT REELING was a lot like his musical love letter to her. While some would claim Lou's periodic journeys into unabashed melody are forced & unconvincing (1976's CONEY ISLAND BABY & 1984's NEW SENSATIONS are often the subject of this criticism, although I love them both), for TWILIGHT, Lou seemed to have gotten it right. Even for someone who fell for the darker side of Lou's output first, I have no objection to saying the album is one of Lou's best later albums.

Make no mistake, Lou is in love, for songs like "NYC Man", "Trade-In", "Hang On To Your Emotions" & the title track are clearly coming from a man whose heart has been stolen. Some may think the songs are a little too mushy by Lou Reed standards, but I think they're quite sweet, and it's refreshing to see a rather dark, introspective artist like Lou feel happy for once. Even less romantic songs like "Egg Cream" & "Hookywooky" are infectiously catchy, and if popular music hadn't been (and still is) in a state of youth fever, these songs could bring Lou back to the charts (he was never a regular in the first place).

But even on a light affair like TWILIGHT, the old curmudgeonly Lou makes an appearance. "Sex With Your Parents" is a postively vicious & wickedly funny indictment of conservative politics, which for a recently-turned liberal like me now rings truer than before. Shockingly, this song was dared to be released as a single, which I'm sure in the Clinton era would only have received such a luxury. Today, a song like this would never make it onto a DJ's playlist.

Lou's former Velvet Underground bandmate Sterling Morrison passed away at the time of TWILIGHT, and Lou gives him a touching tribute on "Finish Line". The atmosphere of the song is dark enough to have found its way onto MAGIC & LOSS, but it's clear that Lou is celebrating life rather than mourning death, similar to his album-length tribute to mentor Andy Warhol, 1990's SONGS FOR DRELLA.

While SET THE TWILIGHT REELING has been given a cool reception by most reviewers, they're probably so much more accustomed to Lou Reed's bleaker material that they can't conceive of the fact a man like him can be upbeat. Reed's last "nice" album NEW SENSATIONS was mired in 1980s electronics that, while endearing, was still from a time when Lou was shooting more for the charts than listeners' hearts. It's great to see Lou finally find the love of his life, and hopefully he'll return to such a bright sound like TWILIGHT again, even after he went back to the darkness for 2000's ECSTASY & 2003's THE RAVEN. I'm sure it will happen, for even at 61, Lou Reed is one veteran artist not keen to retire to the oldies circuit so soon.