An intense journey into toxic relationships balanced with gorgeous arrangements and dark humour: Lou Reed’s conceptual Berlin features A-list Cast and Bob Ezrin production. Like the records he made with his first band, Berlin finds Lou Reed decades ahead of the times. Though dismissed upon its original release in 1973, the former Velvet Underground member’s third solo effort ultimately landed on Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time and remains one of his most lauded works. Addressing mature issues in stark fashion, the rock opera blends autobiographical reality, poetic license, and ambitious arrangements to tell the story of a couple’s toxic relationship and its fallout. Produced by Bob Ezrin and featuring an array of ace musicians, Berlin is an emotionally harrowing and sonically eclectic journey into the many of the worst tendencies of the human condition.

Sourced from the original master tapes, housed in a Stoughton jacket, and pressed at Fidelity Record Pressing, Mobile Fidelity’s numbered-edition 180g LP of Berlin presents the landmark recording in audiophile quality for the first time. The scope, balance, and reach of Ezrin’s explosive production comes to the fore. As does the ample spaciousness and separation that help give the songs breathing room even when the music builds to an orchestral pitch.