As you may have heard by now, Lou Reed has died at age 71 of liver disease. (He had a liver transplant earlier this year.) This is a huge loss for rock and roll, and I am still trying to adjust to the idea of a world without Reed, whose music has been part of my life since I first heard Velvet Underground & Nico way back when.

The five-disc Peel Slowly and See contains all of the Underground’s best music, though you also need 1969 Live. Then there are Reed’s numerous solo albums. Everyone has his/her favorites; mine include Lou Reed, Transformer, Coney Island Baby, and Street Hassle, though most of the rest were gems as well.

At least we still have all this music. But a world without Lou Reed is going to take some getting used to. Rest in peace, Lou.