a weird record, sure, but nevertheless, a fine one undeservedly ignored by VU enthusiasts. it's not VU gone MOR, or Doug Yule expropriating a brand for his own gain. Yule does a fine job here and doesn't get enough credit - Cale and Reed were geniuses of course, but they also had egos the size of Texas and Yule drove the album forward and left a fantastic record, one that stands up to previous work. seriously.
any album that starts with the trio of "Who Loves The Sun", "Sweet Jane" and "Rock & Roll" cannot be anything but great. "I Found A Reason" is also perhaps the finest thing VU ever recorded in my opinion and showed what could have been if Reed and Yule could have worked more harmoniously.
this is the first velvet underground album i heard
havent listened to it in ages though, maybe i shall again soon
have you heard the 'legendary guitar amp tapes'
no, but it sounds amazing
i'll get downloading it tomorrow/today.
Aye
I love it too. It took me a good few weeks to get past the first three tracks.
this is a wonderful album
yeah
i actually find the album amazing and am shocked that more people don't like it or dismiss it among the other vu albums.
my ex said that "hold your head high" sounded like the stones a bit. i said that's what i find genius about this album, it's a perfect rock/pop album that was practically created off the formula/template laid down by the beatles/stones et al.
my personal favorite off the album is lonesome cowboy bill.
It is a fantastic record
Truly ace. Doesn't sound much like their other stuff, but it's still wonderful. Lonesome Cowboy Bill is a great song.
I never admit it but it's my favorite VU
I think Yule only did what he did cause the Velvets were too jaded and distracted and pregnant to really care what was going on. Lou didn't like Yule's mix and other things (which he rectified when the album was reissued in cd form). Speaking of which "Fully Loaded special edition" is a gold mine and must have for VU and or Lou fans- although there doesn't seem to be
many Lou fans on DiS.
Cheers for Loaded
Mega Cheers for Fully Loaded special edition (I think it is specially priced too)
I think if you took a poll
you'd find more thumbs up for VU than just about any other band. Whether or not they deserve it is another thing. I love 'em but still think they're a bit overrated.
That said, when me and my buddy mutilate the classics in the barn we always include a number of VU songs. When we used to do drugs we did a 40 minute version of Sweet Jane we thought sounded great at the time. When we played it back the next day it was actually boring after 2 minutes. Which actually sorta sums up how I lost 15 years of my life...but y'know it sounded pretty sweet at the time, eh.
hugely underrated record
Basically Lou Reed had had enough with the record company and thought "if you want hits, i'll give you fucking hits"
totally
rad.
the latter Velvets
are very very good. "Sweet Jane" and "Rock N Roll" are great great pop songs, has a lovely flow to the record. But Im still too much of a John Cale 66-67/8 Velvets guy.
this is my favourite VU
record. i guess i like the pop-ness. of it. it's really really underrated.
First of their records i bought.
Oh Sweet Nuthin' is the best thing they ever recorded.
New Age is stupidly good too.
My favourite alternates regularly (usually I/III/IV albums though).
^
Oh Sweet Nuthin' is indeed a masterpiece. Forgetting about the VU & Nico, this is certainly the album with the most interesting story behind it. Makes it an altogether more rewarding listen i think.
I like this a lot...
I like the way that, just as you think a song is going to fade, it kicks back in with another hook.
New Age
is my favourite VU song
I love this album so much