Critics' Choice 1989

1. Lou Reed New York [Sire]
Uncle Lou had been floundering in the doldrums of so-so albums for a good ten years at least, but New York was a stunning return to form. Structured like a longform poem, film or lost Hubert Selby novel, it drew a bead on his hometown in the late 80s, resulting in a stream of killer one-liners (“You need a busload of faith to get by”), fabulist yarns (‘The Last Great American Whale’) and sardonic slice of life vignettes (‘Dirty Boulevard’). One step away from a spoken word album set to crunching guitar, bass and drums backing, this is debatably Lou’s finest hour.
2. Fatima Mansions – Valhalla Avenue [Kitchenware]
3. Lou Reed – Magic And Loss [Sire]
4. Arrested Development – 3 Years, 5 Months And 2 Days [Cooltempo]
5. Lemonheads – It’s A Shame About Ray [Atlantic]