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The Velvet Underground & Nico

The Velvet Underground

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iTunes Review

Joy wasn't the first emotion most people thought of when it came to the Velvet Underground, but Loaded put it front and center. One of the things it's loaded with, in fact, is bubblegum "ba-ba-ba-ba's (first cut, "Who Loves the Sun"). Working within a mix of acoustic and electric guitars, Lou Reed sings many of his numbers as if hopping up and down on a mattress. Among them are definitive versions of the new "Sweet Jane" and "Rock & Roll." In addition to those songs' celebrations, he turns hippiedom's rustic mysticism on its ear with "Train Round the Bend" ("I miss the city streets and the neon lights") and stomps as hard as Godzilla through the statement of pride that is "Head Held High." Though less excitable, Doug Yule makes the most of the quieter "New Age" and "Oh! Sweet Nuthin'" - the latter one of the most ecstatic guitar workouts in Velvet annals. What a swansong.

Customer Reviews

Genuinely essential

If you've not had the pleasure of hearing the Banana Album up until now, then don't waste any more time reading this review - download it NOW! This is as important as music gets, and the tracks will repay a lifetime of listening. Old and jaded as I am, I still get a thrill when I hear the opening of Waiting for the Man, Heroin, Venus in Furs - or indeed any of these fine songs. You'll find superb trashy guitars and what is possibly the only cool viola in the history of rock. The grime and squalor of NY's underside is balanced by the beauty and delicacy of Sunday Morning and I'll Be Your Mirror -and by Nico's haunting vocals. Trust me - you need this album.

This was where it began

This is THE album to own. It sounds different today. It was so different when it came out. Lyrics that captured a world most of us only flirt with. Music that captured the beast and the beauty. Read these words only so you listen to Reed’s words and the Velvets music. It was never the same after this.

The most influential album ever made, but that doesn't mean it's quality isn't just as striking.

VU&N is always considered THE influential album. How it defined alternative rock, help shaped punk, and pretty much created indie rock. But unfortunetaly, it's influential factor often overshadows the quality of this record by a long shot. This album has is incredibly diverse (the album's strongest factor), with the wonderful laid back Sunday Morning, the punk-before-punk-was-even-here I'm Waiting for the Man, and the definite track, the slow burning, powerful Heroin. Now unlike most classic albums, VU&N does have numerous drawbacks for aren't hard to spot: Lou Reed sounds like he's bored, and to be frank, can't sing (not that its a necessarily bad thing). Nico's songs are indeed the weaker tracks, I mean just imagine Reed doing Femme Fatale, it would be a huge improvement. The album seems to only touch on one topic: drugs. Although this isn't exactly a negative to most, it sort annoyed me a little how the excellent song writing isn't used to it's full potential. And finally, the album isn't as consistent as it should've been. The last few tracks take a huge step back from the epics, the rockers and the laidbacks of the first two thirds of the album. But the good thing is most of the tracks are so fascinating, you completly forgive the album's faults. I mean seriously, this isn't me sucking up, but I'm Waiting for the Man is just insane. It contains one of the funkiest riffs I've ever heard in my life, a great story with a black humour feel (which is quite hard to do in music), and an extremly catchy hook, despite it's complexity. It rocks in so many factors. And Heroine is probably in my top 10 songs of all time. An epic progressive rock track, that also carries a huge disturbing aura to it. The character portrayed in the song reveals how he is falling for Heroin as though it's his lover, and eventually it takes over his life, literally. Heartbreaking, and about as haunting as music can get. And the huge experimentation of the album adds to the fact that this band was so brave, never mind their explicit drug content in their lyrics. They took risks in certain songs, and although they gave up could-have-been tracks simply for an expermient sound, it all the more helps appreciate the album. VU&N is utterly mindblowing, and it's huge influence doesn't detract the fact that this album is one hell of an experience. The highlights include Heroin, I'm Waiting for the Man, and my current favourite Venus in Furs. Buy it, and be sucked in.

Biography

Formed: 1964 in New York, NY

Genre: Rock

Years Active: '60s, '70s, '90s

Few rock groups can claim to have broken so much new territory, and maintain such consistent brilliance on record, as the Velvet Underground during their brief lifespan. It was the group's lot to be ahead of, or at least out of step with, their time. The mid- to late '60s was an era of explosive growth and experimentation in rock, but the Velvets' innovations — which blended the energy of rock with the sonic adventurism of the avant-garde, and introduced a new degree of social realism and sexual...
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