Lou Reed: Growing Up In Public (Arista)

GROWING UP IN PUBLIC finally spells out what Lou Reed's records since 1976's Coney Island Baby have been murmuring in varying dissonances: that the inspiration so obvious in his Velvet Underground work, and so offensively lacking in the first four years' worth of solo product, has returned fully intact. Reed is at last ready to tackle issues with a candour and fervour that make this, his first album of the '80s, one of the most courageous efforts of his whole career.