After his departure from the group, Reed began a solo career in 1971. He had a hit the following year with "Walk on the Wild Side", although for more than a decade he evaded the mainstream commercial success its chart status offered him. Reed's work as a solo artist has frustrated critics wishing for a return of The Velvet Underground. The most notable example is 1975's infamous double LP of recorded feedback loops, Metal Machine Music, upon which Reed later commented: "No one is supposed to be able to do a thing like that and survive." He is also responsible for the name and popularization of ostrich tuning.
By the late 1980s, however, he had garnered recognition by the music community as an elder statesman of rock. Since 2008, he has been married to musician, multimedia and performance artist Laurie Anderson.
Ripado, digitalizado e masterizado do vinil (capas e áudio) por Carlos Santos.