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Velvet Underground

razor

By razor,
in GF - General Forum

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razor Grand Master

razor

Posted
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Just been revisiting White Light/White Heat and the third album as I bought the 45th anniversary re-releases with extras.

 

I had forgotten how immense Sister Ray is.  A 17-minute atonal exploration of prostitution, sexual deviancy, murder and drug addiction, repeated and repeated over a growing and churning dirge.  And yet a thing of power and beauty.

 

Temptation Inside Your Heart and the early recording of Beginning To See The Light (is that a tuba I hear....?!) amongst the extras on White Light/White Heat are worth the admission price alone.

 

Obviously the third album when little Doug came on board is much more accessible.  Crammed full of classics.

 

Jesus, Pale Blue Eyes, What Goes On...ah, ALL of them.

 

I love The Velvet Underground.

 

I've seen Lou Reed a couple of times, and I saw Velvet Underground at Glastonbury (95?) when Cale sang All Tomorrow's Parties - incredible.

 

They deserve their own thread on this forum.

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Boss Grand Master

Boss

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Love his stuff with Robert Quine in the 80's like The Blue Mask, but White Light White Heat is a masterpiece. Never forget the first album i ever bought myself with my own hard earned money was Velvet underground and Nico when i was 15. Didn't have a clue who they were, read a book in the library on alternative music and the author rated every album out of 5, and there were only five or six 5 star records in the whole book. I don't remember all of them, i know Doolittle was one by the Pixies, the other two i remember were Fun House by the Stooges and Velvet Underground and Nico. Anyway i bought that big banana album because it was the only one i could find in Borders in Speke.

 

I remember they had the headphones there so you could listen to albums before buying, put it on Heroin as the book mentioned that track as a standout and as it descended into pure noise at the end with Cale's Viola i knew this is the album for me. Great record, great band. 

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mattyq Grand Master

mattyq

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Love his stuff with Robert Quine in the 80's like The Blue Mask, but White Light White Heat is a masterpiece. Never forget the first album i ever bought myself with my own hard earned money was Velvet underground and Nico when i was 15. Didn't have a clue who they were, read a book in the library on alternative music and the author rated every album out of 5, and there were only five or six 5 star records in the whole book. I don't remember all of them, i know Doolittle was one by the Pixies, the other two i remember were Fun House by the Stooges and Velvet Underground and Nico. Anyway i bought that big banana album because it was the only one i could find in Borders in Speke.

 

I remember they had the headphones there so you could listen to albums before buying, put it on Heroin as the book mentioned that track as a standout and as it descended into pure noise at the end with Cale's Viola i knew this is the album for me. Great record, great band. 

One of my all time favourites. Love the intro, the way it builds up and then Lou Reeds vocals segue in

Great stuff

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffr0opfm6I4

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razor Grand Master

razor

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Loaded is a great album.  Accessible in a way that White Light/White Heat isn't (bar Here She Comes Now).

 

I was reading Mick Wall's Lou Reed book recently and it was interesting the way he spoke about Lou's battle between his desire for recognition and his refusal to compromise (fuelled by Cale who had studied under Cage and loved the idea of free form atonal drone).

 

When he fired off Cale he was able to explore his more tuneful side (Sunday Morning had been a reluctant late addition to the first album).

 

I do love his tuneful stuff, but I also love the uncompromising stuff, too.

 

I first got into Lou Reed when I was 14 and it took me a while to discover The Velvet Underground (we didn't have recommendation software in those days that would have put me onto Stooges, Iggy Pop, Television, Lou Reed, Velvet Underground etc if I'd played "China Girl" on Youtube!).

 

I sometimes wonder if I'd have loved the Velvet Underground if they'd looked like Keane.

 

It was the pale faces and dark leather, sneers and sunglasses, coupled with the anti-West Coast message that I just loved.  I'd already got into the Doors, Hendrix etc, but these were the antithesis of that.  Flowers in your hair?  More like a knife through your ribs.

 

But, for the uninitiated, a more accessible way in to the world of the Velvet Underground:

 

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AngryOfTuebrook Grand Master

AngryOfTuebrook

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One of my all time favourites. Love the intro, the way it builds up and then Lou Reeds vocals segue in

Great stuff

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffr0opfm6I4

That's the perfect response to people who claim that "Perfect Day" is a heavily-coded song about heroin.

 

"If Lou Reed had wanted to write a song about heroin, he would have.  In fact, he did.  And he called it 'Heroin' ".

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