Velvet Underground

I had to bump this.

I recently discovered The Velvet Underground (a few months ago). I was familiar with the name, but had no idea what they sounded like.
I got Velvet Underground & Nico first (as does everyone i think, and i really loved Sunday Morning, Venus in Furs and Heroin on the first listen. There's something about the whole arabience Venus in Furs creates that's decandence and lust and desire and deviance in person.
And I think Heroin is a song that's really moved by it's lyrics, i love how it's very slow and mellow at times, and then speeRAB up (like Lou Reed shot up) and gets freaking manic. The end with all the distortion is also brilliant...ah, "i guess i just don't know".
Sunday Morning is just pretty good, nothing to say about that...
More recently i gave a listen to White Light/Heat, and i really liked the opening track and The Gift. I mean...It's about a bloke that decided he'd mail himself to his ex-girlfriend(?), and the got his head cut open...i don't know what to call this..."childish horror?". I don't know, i just really like it.
This seems like a gem of a band, they were definitely ahead of their time, and i feel they pioneered the whole noise-oriented music scene that came years later.
 
& Nico is now one of my favorite albums; I revoke this statement... Although I stand by the bit about WL/WH being better.
 
I take it then by saying "VU & Nico is brilliant" that you mean the album and not the actual singer? Ha.

I have to respectfully disagree as well though. Even if you don't like her voice, it should be appreciated. Like Janis Joplin, I think she had a beautiful voice that went very well with her music. But I bet hearing her speak all the time in that voice got grating after a while. Despite that being said, her voice is appreciated by the masses. Ya feel me?
 
Why would it be intentional? I understand VU created art, but I don't understand how screeching of the "viola" is supposed to tie in with everything else. I understand that Heroin's overall beat is suppose to simulate the use of heroin. I love the artistic feel of VU, but that song is... messed up.
 
I don't think it was a deliberate attempt at popularity, more to do with Yule adding his more than considerable input with some pretty decent bass lines.
Yule brought a more conventional approach to the songs format (poppy) than previous.
Don't dismiss this album!
In my opinion, 'Loaded' is grossly under rated.
In fact it's my favourite VU album of them all.
 
The Velvet Underground are an amazing band. The Velvet Underground & Nico is one of those albums that makes you feel cool purely because you own it.

White Light/White Heat is my favorite VU album hanRAB down. An absolute sonic assault from start to finish.

The eponymous third album is unbelievable. An album that has "Candy Says", "Pale Blue Eyes" and Mo Tucker singing "After Hours" is fine with me...

Loaded has, for my money, two of the greatest pop songs ever written in "Sweet Jane" and "Rock & Roll".

After Lou Reed left the band, their live act was still really tight. The band of Doug Yule, Mo Tucker, Walter Powers and Willy Alexander got some of the best reviews of any incarnation of the band.

Squeeze is also a great album, chock full of good rock 'n' roll. Even though it's only a Velvets album by name (Doug Yule was the only Velvet to play on the album), its release on CD is long overdue. I couldn't care less if they release it as a VU album or as Doug Yule's first solo album. I just want a good quality digital remaster of the material.

HanRAB down one of the best banRAB of all time.
 
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