Velvet Underground: Where should I start?

BarryCreed

ok, so I recently saw a bunch of auld lads in a VU tribute band, and not being too familiar with much of their music, I was impressed with what I heard. So, where should I start if I want to check out some more?

A best of..? But, which one, there seems to be a few different ones out..

an essential album?

cheers..

sink

'The Velvet Undergournd and Nico' would be their best imo. I bought a box set called 'Peel Slowly and See' a good few years back that featured four of their albums and a load of extras. It's the only thing of theirs I bought as it covers pretty much everything.

Orizio

'The Velvet Underground And Nico' is obviously the best place to start. 'White Light/White Heat' seems to be seen as thier best after that, but its rather less immediate and demands patience. Haven't listened to 'Loaded' and 'Velvet Undergound' enough to pass judgement on them.

anti-venom

The Velvet Underground and Nico is essential. It contains one of the most beautiful songs they ever recorded - Venus in Furs - an absolute classic.

I'd also recommend you check out the Live at Max's Kansas City album too. A great live recording of the band at their very best.

chris d

one of the most beautiful laid back albums i've ever heard.

John

I would steer clear of a best of as they offer a very skewed view of this amazing band. Ideally, I'd recommend the Peel Slowly and See box as it covers pretty much everything and then some but as you don't know if you'd be into them enough to listen to five discs of albums and demos you might want to start with a stand alone album. The four main albums all have their charms and I'd be hard pushed to decide which one I prefer out of the first two but here's a short synopsis and opinion on each of them.

The Velvet Underground & Nico: The famous peelable banana cover. This is a classic and rightly so. Each song is a killer, very little repetition in terms of style yet it all hangs together beautifully. From the opening gentleness of "Sunday Morning" through the highs and lows to the end where "The Black Angels Death Song" and "European Son" tear your ears a new listening hole, this is by far and away one of the most important rock albums ever. Yes Nico's voice is not a traditional rock singer's voice but she suits these songs so well. The guitars sound incredible, the drumming is pounding (and played by a tiny woman) and John Cale's viola is the icing on the cake. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

White Light/White Heat: Another varied bunch of song styles but this is an altogether darker trip than the debut. The band were going through a heavy amphetamine phase and it's reflected in the heaviness of this album. The title track starts things off at a speedy pace (see what I did there?) and a far more experimental approach is taken with the likes of "The Gift" (a story set to a grinding, dying blues riff), "Lady Godiva's Operation" (recreating the sounds and feelings of surgery through a rock song) and "I Heard Her Call My Name" (the most ****ed up and unreal guitar solo you'll hear, certainly from the 60s). Finishes off with the spectacular "Sister Ray"; 17 minutes of the four band members trying to drown each other out while pounding out a riff over and over again (but varying and augmenting it as they go). HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

The Velvet Underground: Yet another shift in sound and tone. John Cale had left the band at this stage and Doug Yule was drafted in to replace him. Yule sings on some of the songs and overall the album is, as chris d mentions above, beautiful and laid back. There's still the odd moment of madness ("The Murder Mystery") but there are so many gorgeous pop songs here like "Candy Says" and "Pale Blue Eyes". There are two mixes of this available (the standard release has one mix and the Peel Slowly box has a different one done by Lou Reed which accentuates all his parts :roll:). HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Loaded: This is Lou Reed's final stint with VU (the others plowed on after his departure but nothing great came of it. Doug Yule released another album under the VU name but this has essentially vanished as it is no way as good as VU proper) and it is the poppiest of the lot. That being said, this is pop from an era when pop was actually good. It again has some great songs like "Sweet Jane" and "New Age" but very little in the way of experimentation (which was mainly Cale's influence). It is probably the weakest of the four but even so, it kicks the pants off most bands best work. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Wishbone Ash

anti-venom wrote: »

The Velvet Underground and Nico is essential. It contains one of the most beautiful songs they ever recorded - Venus in Furs - an absolute classic.

+1

anti-venom wrote:

I'd also recommend you check out the Live at Max's Kansas City album too. A great live recording of the band at their very best.

"Excuse me, can I have a Pernod. Get me a Pernod" :rolleyes:

Dudess

Seriously OP, The Velvet Underground & Nico is astounding - get it!

eclectichoney

Can't go wrong with the first or the third albums...

grumpytrousers

Aye - the Banana album's a good 'un. All of it, but (and i'm a sucker for this) it's the immediacy of it that's quite astounding. I bought it not knowing what to expect and thinking 'this is gonna be hard work' but the first three songs blew me away. That's not to take away from the rest of it, but the opening triple whammy of 'Sunday morning', 'Waiting for the man' and 'Femme Fatale' is just mind-blowing.

Album should be cheap too...

John

For people who already like VU and haven't got it, can I recommend the 3CD bootleg box The Quine Tapes. A bit rough in terms of recording quality, all post-Cale and wonderful nonetheless. Different versions of many, many different songs. Some nice (and radically different) versions of "Sister Ray" too.

BarryCreed

cool. I'll try and pick up some cheap copies of these albums (I think they have em on sale at the mo...)

richard.power

Did you know that "The Velvet Underground and Nico" was recorded and produced in 4 days?

I reckon Axel Rose could learn a thing or two from the VU!!

DadaKopf

I'm with john. Just get Peel Slowly and See. You get their full range from po-faced tunesmithery, to art-noise, to slow-death post-Cale era.

White Light/White Heat is my favourite.

stovelid

My favorites in order of preference would be:

Banana
VU
White Light, White Heat.

As someone said, I always found Loaded a bit patchy, but Who Loves the Sun is one of my favourite VU songs. Obviously Rock N Roll and Sweet Jane on that album are classics too.

pwd

yep vu&n is brilliant.
loaded is a bit dull alright. sweet jane is a great song. But there's some live recording of it I heard that knocks the socks off the studio version. Dunno what album the live recording I'm thinking of is on though.