"...Lou Reed recorded plenty of pretentious crapola in his long and storied career, and when he wasn’t attempting to impress with his literary/artistic bona fides he was just as likely to wing it in a manner that let it be known that he thought of his audience as dogshit. But occasionally he got it right, and Coney Island Baby is definitely one of those times. It exhibited his humor and his generosity of spirit and love of life, and in short revealed the best of Reed, one who took off his armor of bluster and bullshit bravado long enough to let us see the man behind the blue mask, and I’m grateful I have it to hear when times are hard, as they so often are, in this circus and sewer of a world."

- The Vinyl District