[zombieDave]

Hi folks. They're waaaay before my time, but I've been hearing stuff on the Boston alt-folk college station that's really great. I know it was Lou Reed and was it a girl named Nico (Neco, Nicolle)???

Anyway, even a good greatest hits pkg would do, I just don't know where to begin. This Head-Fi hobby also makes me add this disclaimer - SQ does matter!!! (because on headphones bad stuff sounds really bad!!!) - so you can (if you would) mention the SQ of what you recommend. Thanks! [size=small]zD[/size]

 

[stewgriff]

There's two different phases of Velvet Underground. The first era with John Cale (debut, White Heat), which was all weirded out with the help of Andy Warhol and Nico, and a more poppy, traditional phase (Velvet Underground, Loaded) after 1969 when Cale left. It's your call...

I've only listened to their debut, and I was kinda bored with it to be honest. Some great ideas and songs, but a lot of it is dated atmospheric avantgarde (not that that's necessarily bad), and making a song about heroin isn't shocking anymore (the song itself is great). Nico's voice also takes some getting used to. The SQ is pretty good for this era; it's not Pink Floyd crystal clear, but it could certainly be worse.

 

[Voltron]

The Velvet Underground & Nico, Loaded and The Velvet Underground are all great albums and at least the first two have multiple "deluxe" editions recently that have lots of takes and other stuff on them in addition to the real original release.

 

[zombieDave]

Thanks, folks. Hopefully, the "good" CD store in the Boston-area will have those extended versions.

 

[VicAjax]

VU only have four proper studio albums (all five-star ratings) and a couple of posthumous live and b-sides albums, so it's not too daunting a discography.

having said that, every studio album has its own feel and style... looking at them in order, you could sort of parallel them with heroin and the junkie lifestyle:

Velvet Underground & Nico
their first album, and the one i'd recommend you start with.
it's the early, fleeting innocence, the anticipitation of the needle, the excitement of the fix and the rush as it begins to flow through your veins.

White Light/White Heat
heroin with a fat snort of speed. the confusion and chaos of a hardcore junkie on a binge, with shards of lucidity and beauty peaking out brilliantly from the din. probably my favorite VU album, but not the easiest.

Velvet Underground
the amphetamine has worn off, but the lethargic, dim ripples of the heroin remain. the Velvet's most soothing, beautiful album, but there's a veil of junkie apathy that colors it all. by the end, you can hear the urgency of an addict who's starting to feel the itch for his next fix creeping to the surface. very easy album to listen to... pick this one up 2nd.

Loaded
the junkie trying to play it straight. it's the music of a veteran addict, who thinks he can mingle in normal society without being found out. but even as he's so proud of himself for carrying on a cogent conversation without revealing the high he's on... he can't totally suppress that rambling, frenetic energy of the drugs addling his brain. the poppiest album. my least favorite, but still great.


that's pretty silly, i know. hell, it's early and i thought i'd have some fun.

 

[markl]

Start with Loaded and get the 2CD remastered version. The xtras aren't that interesting, but the sound quality is excellent.

 

[gratefulshrink]

I can't add much more to what Vic already said, other than their live performances add another dimension to the legacy they left behind. Unfortunately (read: major bummer), the SQ mostly sucked for live stuff, and the best releases really are just quasi-bootleg recordings. There was the double-LP live recording, which is on two separate CDs (and may be out of print by now), which is a must-have -- probably the best SQ we will ever have of them in concert.

The second point I will make is that Lou Reed, IMO, was entering his creative peak just when VU fell apart in 1970. So, just after that, we have his infamous Rock n Roll Animal album, and then the ultra-depressing Berlin album. There also was a live show from 1972 (now officially released) with great versions of Sweet Jane and Heroin many other VU classics. I think it's titled American Poet. Certainly solo Lou Reed is not synonymous with VU, but his eraly 70's work is a ggod extension, and great music in it's own right.

My final point is that the VU are constantly under-rated as being extremely influential on rock music. Bands such as Dream Syndicate, Galaxie 500, Luna, and Yo La Tengo owe a tremendous debt to them.

 

[88Chris]

just buy the "peel slowly and see" box. you should be able to find a used copy for around $45. it comes with all the albums, plus some extra stuff. really really great stuff. and, in my opinion, the 2cd version of loaded isn't all that great. the sound may be better, but it has the extended versions of "sweet jane" and "rock & roll" on it. which just kinda messes me up after so many years of listening to the edits.

 

[eyeresist]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gratefulshrink /img/forum/go_quote.gif The second point I will make is that Lou Reed, IMO, was entering his creative peak just when VU fell apart in 1970. So, just after that, we have his infamous Rock n Roll Animal album, and then the ultra-depressing Berlin album. There also was a live show from 1972 (now officially released) with great versions of Sweet Jane and Heroin many other VU classics. I think it's titled American Poet. Certainly solo Lou Reed is not synonymous with VU, but his eraly 70's work is a ggod extension, and great music in it's own right.

I can't believe you didn't mention his classic Transformer album!

 

[gratefulshrink]

Quote:

Originally Posted by eyeresist /img/forum/go_quote.gif I can't believe you didn't mention his classic Transformer album!

Ooooops....thanks -- that was the one I was thinking of....Rock N Roll Animal
was a live album.

Better than Rock N Roll Animal was the set from 1972, released under the title American Poet:

"Finally, this is an official release of the December 26, 1972, performance of Reed on a New York radio show, which had been floating around on numerous bootlegs for many years. The sound is at least as good as it's been on any of those bootlegs. As for the music, it's inarguably among the finest of Reed's solo work, released or unreleased. The set's split evenly between the Velvet Underground classics and highlights from Reed's early solo albums, with backing by the Tots, the group of unknown musicians who played with him in concert during the period. The fidelity is very good, Reed's singing is great, and the band plays in a raw and urgent manner that Reed should have employed on his solo albums, but didn't. The Velvet Underground songs are well-done and considerably different from the originals, and the versions of solo classics like "Vicious," "Walk on the Wild Side," "I'm So Free," "Berlin," and "Satellite of Love" slay the studio takes to shreds. If you're looking for one interesting bonus that doesn't seem to have made it onto many of the prior bootleg releases of this material, there's a brief interview with Reed in which the naïve-sounding DJ asks him where Doug Yule is. "Dead, I hope," Reed deadpans, to sincere gasps of shock from the audience. For those who take their Reed seriously, that one moment might actually make this CD worthy of purchase, even if they already have the music on bootleg. This is essential for Reed fanatics, though it's unfortunate that the liner notes are poorly written and poorly proofread, with no details about the show itself, instead offering a general history of his activities in the early '70s."

 

[dehory]

Quote:

Originally Posted by VicAjax /img/forum/go_quote.gif VU only have four proper studio albums (all five-star ratings) and a couple of posthumous live and b-sides albums, so it's not too daunting a discography. having said that, every studio album has its own feel and style... looking at them in order, you could sort of parallel them with heroin and the junkie lifestyle: Velvet Underground & Nico their first album, and the one i'd recommend you start with. it's the early, fleeting innocence, the anticipitation of the needle, the excitement of the fix and the rush as it begins to flow through your veins. White Light/White Heat heroin with a fat snort of speed. the confusion and chaos of a hardcore junkie on a binge, with shards of lucidity and beauty peaking out brilliantly from the din. probably my favorite VU album, but not the easiest. Velvet Underground the amphetamine has worn off, but the lethargic, dim ripples of the heroin remain. the Velvet's most soothing, beautiful album, but there's a veil of junkie apathy that colors it all. by the end, you can hear the urgency of an addict who's starting to feel the itch for his next fix creeping to the surface. very easy album to listen to... pick this one up 2nd. Loaded the junkie trying to play it straight. it's the music of a veteran addict, who thinks he can mingle in normal society without being found out. but even as he's so proud of himself for carrying on a cogent conversation without revealing the high he's on... he can't totally suppress that rambling, frenetic energy of the drugs addling his brain. the poppiest album. my least favorite, but still great. that's pretty silly, i know. hell, it's early and i thought i'd have some fun.

Great post. That's absolutely spot on.

 

[zombieDave]

Thanks, all.

 

[Tele]

Jane's Addiction does a great cover of VU's Rock 'n Roll.