Lou Reed disproved the adage that there are no second acts in American lives. The New Yorker revolutionised rock 'n' roll with The Velvet Underground; his subsequent solo career was a process of perpetual reinvention. He dealt slashing, sneering glam rock on 1972's “Vicious” and created a sepia-toned portrait of his hometown's mean streets on “Walk on the Wild Side”. Proving his literary mettle, “Street Hassle" wraps bleak storytelling in minimalist cello and little more. Finally sober, he confronted the horrors of addiction on 1981's “Waves of Fear”, a harrowing hard rock maelstrom.