Growing Up in Public was a transitional album for Lou Reed; it was his last set with his long-running road band (dominated by keyboardist Michael Fonfara), and while the fleshed-out arrangements are of a piece with Reed's work on Rock & Roll Heart and The Bells, the lyrics of the best songs anticipate the directly personal, emotionally naked songwriting that marked the two extraordinary albums that would follow, The Blue Mask and Legendary Hearts.
"How Do You Speak to an Angel," "My Old Man," and "Standing on Ceremony" deal with Reed's family issues with a direct force he hadn't summoned since "Kill Your Sons" (we'll leave it to others to debate their accuracy), and "So Alone" and "Keep Away" both offer a trenchant but heart-rending look at modern relationships.
And "The Power of Positive Drinking" is amusing, but rather surprising coming from a guy who would give up alcohol and drugs a year after this was released.
Growing Up in Public didn't get much notice on its initial release, but all these years later it sounds like a dry run for what was to be the most creatively fruitful period of Lou Reed's solo career.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | My Old ManMichael Fonfara, Lou Reed | Lou Reed | Play | 03:14 | 7 MB | 0 MB |
| 2 | Keep AwayMichael Fonfara, Lou Reed | Lou Reed | Play | 03:32 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 3 | Growing up in PublicMichael Fonfara, Lou Reed | Lou Reed | Play | 03:02 | 6 MB | 0 MB |
| 4 | Standing on CeremonyMichael Fonfara, Lou Reed | Lou Reed | Play | 03:31 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 5 | So AloneMichael Fonfara, Lou Reed | Lou Reed | Play | 04:10 | 9 MB | 0 MB |
| 6 | Love Is Here to StayMichael Fonfara, Lou Reed | Lou Reed | Play | 03:11 | 7 MB | 0 MB |
| 7 | The Power of Positive DrinkingMichael Fonfara, Lou Reed | Lou Reed | Play | 02:14 | 5 MB | 0 MB |
| 8 | SmilesMichael Fonfara, Lou Reed | Lou Reed | Play | 02:44 | 6 MB | 0 MB |
| 9 | Think It OverMichael Fonfara, Lou Reed | Lou Reed | Play | 03:25 | 7 MB | 0 MB |
| 10 | Teach the Gifted ChildrenMichael Fonfara, Lou Reed | Lou Reed | Play | 03:25 | 7 MB | 0 MB |
| 11 | How Do You Speak To An Angel | Lou Reed | Play | 04:09 | 9 MB | 0 MB |
| 36 mins | 84 MB | |||||
| 0 mins | 0 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ellard Boles | Bass, Vocals (Background) |
| 2 | Ellard Bowles | Bass, Guitar, Synthesizer, Vocals |
| 3 | Steve Catania | Mixing |
| 4 | Elliott Federman | Mastering |
| 5 | Michael Fonfara | Composer, Guitar, Keyboards, Mixing, Producer |
| 6 | Howard Fritzson | Design |
| 7 | Timothy Greenfield-Sanders | Liner Notes |
| 8 | Chuck Hammer | Guitar, Synthesizer |
| 9 | Mike Hartry | Digital Transfers |
| 10 | Stuart Heinrich | Guitar, Vocals, Vocals (Background) |
| 11 | Jeremy Holiday | Production Coordination |
| 12 | Lou Reed | Composer, Guitar, Keyboards, Mixing, Primary Artist, Producer, Vocals |
| 13 | Mick Rock | Photography |
| 14 | Rob Santos | Reissue Producer |
| 15 | Corky Stasiak | Engineer, Mixing |
| 16 | Steve Strauss | Production Assistant |
| 17 | Michael Suchorsky | Drums |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |