If
Legendary Hearts seemed like a disappointment in 1983, that was largely because the year before
Lou Reed had released
The Blue Mask, one of the finest albums of his career, and
Legendary Hearts just wasn't quite as good. But pull it off the shelf today, give it a listen, and
Legendary Hearts easily shuts down nearly anything
Reed released in the 1970s; if it's a less obvious masterpiece than
The Blue Mask, it makes clear that
Reed was once again in firm command of his strengths, and making the most of them in the studio. Guitarist
Robert Quine and bassist
Fernando Saunders were both back on board from
The Blue Mask, and they reaffirmed their status as the linchpins of the strongest band of
Reed's solo career, and drummer
Fred Maher rocked harder (and with fewer frills) than
Doane Perry. The bracing cross-talk of
Reed's and
Quine's guitars had lost nothing in the year separating the two albums, and if
Reed didn't seem to be aiming quite as high as a songwriter this time out, most of the tracks were every bit as intelligent and soul-searching as
The Blue Mask's lineup; if there were a few moments of comic relief, like "Don't Talk to Me About Work" and "Pow Wow," no one could argue that
Reed hadn't earned a few laughs after songs like "Make Up Mind," "The Last Shot," and "Betrayed." On
Legendary Hearts,
Reed was writing great songs, playing them with enthusiasm and imagination, and singing them with all his heart and soul, and if it wasn't his best album, it was more than good enough to confirm that the brilliance of
The Blue Mask was no fluke, and that
Reed had reestablished himself as one of the most important artists in American rock. ~ Mark Deming