Michaelangelo Matos : Impossible to remember past 50 years of music without Lou Reed . He says glam , punk and all the rock in his debt ; Stones , U2 , REM among those bands . Yet Reed was the first rock star that was n't actually a star . His music varied , with topics such as S & M , hard drugs ; his audience alienated , he says . Matos : Rock was Reed 's poetry , and he became integral to NYC 's rock scene .
Michaelangelo Matos : Impossible to remember past 50 years of music without Lou Reed . He says glam , punk and all the rock in his debt ; Stones , U2 , REM among those bands . His music varied , with topics such as S & M , hard drugs ; his audience alienated , he says . Matos : Rock was Reed 's poetry , and he became integral to NYC 's rock scene .