i read that they were set aside but not sent.

the thing was that the company did everything so that it didn't seem like their fault, like, for example, they had their promos set to go but didn't fill the shipping orders or marked them as if they were returned from the radio stations and journos.

if the record company had told lou "fuck off, we're not sending any promos!", they would have breached their contract, lou would have been able to walk away (a no no because they were expecting him to deliver coney island baby, which the label felt would be a huge hit) from his contract and be able to sue the label for said breach. all out sabotage never happens with big labels because of this, things are done more subtle.

of course the album was released eventually.

maybe the A&R guy did not much appreciate Lou Reed's lackluster slobber-knobber? and now he spends his nights thinking about Lou deep throatin' Laurie Anderson's 4 inch clitoris?

This album is tied with Berlin and White Light/White Heat for my favorite Reed work.

I honestly don't see how anyone could be into Sonic Youth and not appreciate it, given how influential it was on the noise part of their guitar sound.

Lou chose to play the post-modern hand perfectly by creating a powerful serious art statement that he knew most of the critics and listening world would take as shit, so he claimed he was fucking around and making shit. Now I'm sure he chuckles everytime somebody claims it was all a joke, because it really wasn't. Talk about the last laugh.

There's a copy of the vinyl double LP in the library at KAOS FM in Olympia that I used to love to play when I djed there, because there appeared to be a literal bite taken out of one of the records. So I'd just start it an inch further in.