Magic and Loss

{{quote box|quote=It's my dream album, because everything finally came together to where the album is finally fully realized. I got it to do what I wanted it to do, commercial thoughts never entered into it, so I'm just stunned.|source=—Lou Reed, explaining his satisfaction with the album.{{cite book|last=Johnstone|first=Nick|title=Lou Reed 'Talking'|date=April 7, 2010|publisher=Omnibus Press|location=London, United Kingdom|page=89}}|align=left|width=40%|fontsize=85%|bgcolor=#FFFFF0|quoted=2}}Magic and Loss was originally intended to be primarily about themes of magic after hearing stories about magicians in Mexico. However, when tragedy struck during the writing process, Reed expanded the album's focus to themes of loss and death as well.{{cite book|last=Reed|first=Lou|title=Pass Thru Fire: The Collected Lyrics|date=December 9, 2008|publisher=Da Capo Press|location=Cambridge, Massachusetts|isbn=978-0-306-81630-7|page=XXIII}} Inspired in part by the illnesses and eventual deaths of two close friends, Magic and Loss was written for songwriter Doc Pomus, who had given Reed his start in the music business some 25 years earlier,{{cite web|title=World Cafe Remembers Lou Reed|url=https://www.npr.org/blogs/world-cafe/2013/10/28/241432792/world-cafe-remembers-lou-reed|work=NPR|accessdate=March 3, 2014|date=October 29, 2013}} and a woman Reed has identified as "Rita", popularly assumed to be Rotten Rita, who along with Reed was a familiar figure at Andy Warhol's studio, the Factory, in the mid-to-late '60s.{{cite magazine|last=Greenman|first=Ben|title=A Clipper Ship of Lou Reed Songs|url=https://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/culture/2013/10/a-clipper-ship-of-lou-reed-songs.html|magazine=The New Yorker|publisher=Condé Nast|accessdate=March 3, 2014|date=October 28, 2013}} Photographs of Pomus and a woman's face can be seen at the center of the lyric booklet included with the CD release.{{cite AV media notes|title=Magic and Loss|year=1992|type=CD Booklet|publisher=Sire Records|location=Los Angeles}}

Jazz singer Little Jimmy Scott performs backing vocals on track 3, "Power and Glory". Reed's live performance of the album filmed on March 18, 1992, at Pinewood Studios in London, England, was released on VHS and LaserDisc.{{cite web|title=Lou Reed – La Edad de Oro (Pignon-095)|url=http://www.collectorsmusicreviews.com/reed-lou/lou-reed-la-edad-de-oro-pignon-095/|work=Collectors Music Reviews|accessdate=March 2, 2014|date=October 18, 2011}}

The single "What's Good"/"The Thesis", released in March, was Reed's second number-one hit (after "Dirty Blvd.") on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart,{{cite web|last=Molanphy|first=Chris|title=Embrace and Repel: Lou Reed's Chart History|url=https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/123-lou-reeds-chart-history/|work=Pitchfork Media|accessdate=March 2, 2014|date=November 1, 2013|archive-date=March 8, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140308114152/http://pitchfork.com/thepitch/123-lou-reeds-chart-history/|url-status=dead}} occupying the top spot for 3 weeks. The 12" version of the release contained Reed's reading of "Harry's Circumcision" and "A Dream". A longer version of "What's Good" was previously released on the 1991 soundtrack album to the Wim Wenders film Until the End of the World.{{cite web|last=DiGravina|first=Tim|title=Until the End of the World - Original Soundtrack|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/until-the-end-of-the-world-mw0000265386|work=AllMusic|publisher=All Media Network|accessdate=March 2, 2014}}

{{Music ratings

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1score = {{Rating|3|5}}{{cite web|last=Deming|first=Mark|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/magic-and-loss-mw0000264753|title=Magic and Loss – Lou Reed|website=AllMusic|accessdate=July 29, 2013}}

| rev2 = Chicago Tribune

| rev2score = {{Rating|4|4}}{{cite news|last=Kot|first=Greg|author-link=Greg Kot|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1992/01/12/lou-reeds-recordings-25-years-of-path-breaking-music/|title=Lou Reed's Recordings: 25 Years Of Path-breaking Music|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|date=January 12, 1992|access-date=July 29, 2013}}

| rev3 = The Encyclopedia of Popular Music

| rev3score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite book|title=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music|publisher=Omnibus Press|edition=5th concise|year=2011|last=Larkin|first=Colin|author-link=Colin Larkin (writer)|isbn=978-0-85712-595-8}}

| rev4 = Entertainment Weekly

| rev4score = B−{{cite magazine|last=Zacharek|first=Stephanie|url=https://www.ew.com/article/1992/01/17/magic-and-loss|title=Magic and Loss|magazine=Entertainment Weekly|location=New York|date=January 17, 1992|accessdate=July 29, 2013}}

| rev5 = NME

| rev5score = 10/10{{cite journal|last=Barker|first=Emily|url=https://www.nme.com/photos/21-1990s-albums-nme-has-given-10-10/333719#/photo/13|title=21 1990s Albums NME Has Given 10/10|journal=NME|location=London|accessdate=July 29, 2013}}

| rev6 = Orlando Sentinel

| rev6score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite news|last=Gettelman|first=Parry|url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/1992/01/24/lou-reed-6/|title=Lou Reed|newspaper=Orlando Sentinel|date=January 24, 1992|access-date=April 7, 2017}}

| rev7 = Q

| rev7score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite journal|title=Lou Reed: Magic and Loss|journal=Q|issue=65|location=London|date=February 1992|page=87}}

| rev8 = Rolling Stone

| rev8score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite magazine|last=Fricke|first=David|author-link=David Fricke|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/artists/loureed/albums/album/98639/review/5942856/magic_and_loss|title=Lou Reed: Magic And Loss|magazine=Rolling Stone|location=New York|date=January 23, 1992|accessdate=September 3, 2011|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090503083627/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/loureed/albums/album/98639/review/5942856/magic_and_loss|archivedate=May 3, 2009 }}

| rev9 = The Rolling Stone Album Guide

| rev9score = {{Rating|3|5}}{{cite book|last=Hull|first=Tom|chapter=Lou Reed|title=The New Rolling Stone Album Guide|edition=4th|year=2004|editor1-last=Brackett|editor1-first=Nathan|editor2-last=Hoard|editor2-first=Christian|publisher=Simon & Schuster|isbn=0-7432-0169-8|pages=[https://archive.org/details/newrollingstonea00brac/page/684 684–85]}}

| rev10 = Select

| rev10score = 5/5{{cite magazine|last=Cavanagh|first=David|title=Lou Reed: Magic and Loss|magazine=Select|issue=20|location=London|date=February 1992|page=66}}

}}

Magic and Loss was voted the 16th best album of the year in The Village Voice{{'}}s annual Pazz & Jop critics poll for 1992. Robert Christgau, the poll's creator, disapproved of the voters' support of an album he felt was a "failed concept" marred by Reed's uninteresting views on death.{{cite news|last=Christgau|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|date=March 2, 1993|url=http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/pnj/pj92.php|title=Pazz & Jop 1992: Between a Rock and a Hard Place|newspaper=The Village Voice|location=New York|accessdate=July 29, 2013}} In a positive review, Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune said that the album shows "a great rocker at the peak of his powers: Striking tunes, gripping lyrics, honest emotion stripped of melodrama."

All tracks written by Lou Reed, except where noted.

Side one

1. "Dorita - The Spirit" – 1:07
2. "What's Good - The Thesis" – 3:22
3. "Power and Glory - The Situation" (Lou Reed, Mike Rathke) – 4:23
4. "Magician - Internally" – 6:23
5. "Sword of Damocles - Externally" – 3:42
6. "Goodby Mass - In a Chapel Bodily Termination" – 4:25
7. "Cremation - Ashes to Ashes" – 2:54
8. "Dreamin' - Escape" (Reed, Rathke) – 5:07

Side two

1. "No Chance - Regret" – 3:15
2. "Warrior King - Revenge" – 4:27
3. "Harry's Circumcision - Reverie Gone Astray" – 5:28
4. "Gassed and Stoked - Loss" (Reed, Rathke) – 4:18
5. "Power and Glory, Part II - Magic - Transformation" (Reed, Rathke) – 2:57
6. "Magic and Loss - The Summation" (Reed, Rathke) – 6:39

Credits are adapted from the Magic and Loss liner notes.{{cite AV media notes|title=Magic and Loss|others=Lou Reed|year=1992|publisher=Sire Records|type=CD booklet}}

Musicians

• Lou Reed – vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar
• Mike Rathke – guitar
• Rob Wasserman – bass guitar
• Michael Blair – drums, percussion, backing vocals
• Roger Moutenot – backing vocals
• Little Jimmy Scott – backing vocals on "Power and Glory – The Situation"

Artwork

• Spencer Drate, Judith Salavetz, Sylvia Reed – album design
• Louis Jammes – photography

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Category:Lou Reed albums

Category:1992 albums

Category:Albums produced by Lou Reed

Category:1990s concept albums

Category:Sire Records albums