10 Amazing Artists With Terrible Debut Albums
8. Lou Reed - Lou Reed (1972)
Coming off the back of the success of The Velvet Underground and their hugely influential album 1967's The Velvet Underground & Nico, singer Lou Reed's highly anticipated self-titled debut was a huge disappointment upon release in 1972.
Backed by a band of famous session musicians - including Rick Wakeman and Steve Howe from Yes - the main reason this debut was doomed was the fact that Reed entered the studio sessions with next to no completed songs or ideas. This meant that most of the tracks on the album are rejected Velvet Underground songs that were left off the group's albums due to not being deemed good enough.
Reed's solo debut was released in April 1972 and failed to gain much attention, reaching only 189 on the Billboard Hot 100 in Lou's native USA, receiving unfavourable reviews from critics who mostly criticised its clean and safe production and songwriting compared to that of The Velvet Underground.
Thankfully for fans, David Bowie was on hand to help and, along with guitarist Mick Ronson, would co-produce Lou's next effort, 1972's Transformer. This was Lou's solo breakthrough classic album which contained his most famous song, Walk On The Wild Side.