Lou Reed’s eighteenth studio album Ecstasy, released in April 2000, was a concept album about Reed's personal experiences with marriage and relationships and was his final solo-rock album. The cover photography by Stefan Sagmeister, features Reed masturbating behind a curtain to express the feeling of unashamed ecstasy. The record was well received by fans and critics alike, with the Village Voice’s Robert Christgau writing, "If his solo career produced a masterwork on the scale of whatever VU album you prefer, this de facto farewell is it." The Ecstasy Tour began in New York on 31st March 2000 and took in shows in the US, Canada, Europe, Asia and Australia. On 24th April, Lou and band played at the Philipshalle, in D?sseldorf, Germany, where they put on an extraordinary show which was recorded for both FM radio broadcast and for TV transmission. Featuring the majority of the new album plus a smattering of cuts from previous records, with only a one-cut nod to the Velvet Underground, and the same number of what most casual fans would consider a solo-classic, it was clear that Reed was so proud of his recent work that he was standing by it almost alone throughout his first tour of the new millennium. Previously unreleased, this superb recording is now available on vinyl (Volumes 1 and 2) for the first time, and is sure to prove a delight for fans of the great man around the globe
