Velvet Underground & Nico(the album): Classic or not that Classic ?

"White Light/White Heat" is an absolute dud btw.

Have you ever considered that that might not be what's important to Geir?

"Feel? What is this 'feel'?"

I thought since the songs doesn't seem very harmonically interesting there might be some emotional attachment. (perhaps he's a bondage freak??)

Anyway, I haven't used the word classic yet on this thread, so if I may: CLASSIC CLASSIC CLASSIC!

In the context of the album, it is.

It is impossible for me to describe what I like about a song without naming the two most important elements of all music regardless of genre.

Geir = dud

Because you're using them as a crutch?

I always find this fascinating, when discussing art. People who really, truly believe that certain elements are "more important" than all others, that this is absolutely and universally true, and that everyone should accept it as common knowledge.

Why, Geir?

Prove that "melody and harmony" are the "two most important elements of all music regardless of genre."

Spencer and Jhn Drnle far-freaking out on VU-J&MC link, though I am surprised by non-representing-indies shockah! on alternate thread, spec. that Yo La Tengo has not surfaced yet on that VU/no VU thread.

Amateurist with visual coup, 10 points.

VU& Nico = total paradigm-fuckery, therefore classic, but not as album-o-tastic as the 3rd. Or the double live, which was my intro.

exactly.

exactly.

also, far-freaking out on VU-J&MC link. Is that sarcastic? I've always thought the link was well understood, I was just commenting on their and MBV's screech-teristics...

Classic. Obviously. Impervious to any and all debunking exercises.

WLWH can still surprise me when I listen and no matter how much I like the songwriting on the 3rd I somehow don't connect. Loaded on the other hand remains a source of constant delight. It took me longer to like than the others, but the melodies sunk deeper. Its the only album that isn't outdone by Lou and Cale solo stuff.

i.e. Sabotage/Live > WL / WH (tho the first thing i've done everytime i've moved is blast sister ray in my new room), and Growing Up In Public (or, okay if you wanna be conventional, Berlin) > s/t, and Songs For The Rainy Season > Live 1969, and Street Hassle > VU & Nico, and for that matter Ecstacy > Walk On The Wild Side: The Best of Lou Reed.

gotcha

what don't you like about it?

They are the most typical act. However, I do for instance have mixed feelings about The White Album. I also have mixed feelings about part of the recent New Accoustic Movement (considering I feel like there are some nice songs - which is the most important thing anyway, but it is generally too mellow and underproduced)

Not too mention Frank Zappa, who was sometimes musically great, sometimes funny and sometimes just downright awful and unlistenable.

which?

"I simply cannot make love to Jews anymore"

Yeah i remember that statement. I would like to be a witness of their arguments back then.

which?

Next three after "Chelsea Girl"

I think the "Hate in 67" stuff was a little overstated. I think Jackson Browne said something about Lou and Sterling occasionally playing live on her solo gigs in NYC at the time.

Lou hates everybody so it's not that big a deal really

I thought the story was that Lou and Sterl offered to give her backing tapes for her to sing over.

I did have "Drama of Exile", and for some reason the Martin Hannett version of "All Tomorrows Parties"

I thought the story was that Lou and Sterl offered to give her backing tapes for her to sing over.

Well, yeah they did do that. But IIRC, what Browne said was that sometimes he'd accompany her so she wouldn't have to use the tapes, and that every once in while Lou and Sterling would come down and sit in.

Big of them

Well, yeah they did do that. But IIRC, what Browne said was that sometimes he'd accompany her so she wouldn't have to use the tapes, and that every once in while Lou and Sterling would come down and sit in

Ugh, well that is high and mighty of them. I hope they came and sat down more than her using the tapes.

I don't want to devolve in a discussion about sexism in rock and roll, and I know I need to listen to the other albums but Nico did provide something to the group. Her voice wasn't pretty but the music wasn't pretty so it worked out. I'm just a big defender of the "singer as interpreter" being as much of an aritst as "the singer-songwriter."

i think nico gave as good as she got, really. not like she was a naive flower child or something.

That's why I liked the album. It had both a male and female voice interpreting the songs, and both gave it equally in performance.

has everyone seen this? 45th anniversary version of the Velvets and Nico?

DISC ONE.

THE VELVET UNDERGROUND & NICO V6-5008 (stereo version)

Originally issued as Verve V6-5008, March 1967.

1. SUNDAY MORNING 2.54

2. I’M WAITING FOR THE MAN 4.37

3. FEMME FATALE 2.37

4. VENUS IN FURS 5.10

5. RUN RUN RUN 4.20

6. ALL TOMORROW’S PARTIES 5.58

7. HEROIN 7.10

8. THERE SHE GOES AGAIN 2.38

9. I’LL BE YOUR MIRROR 2.12

10. THE BLACK ANGEL’S DEATH SONG 3.12

11. EUROPEAN SON 7.46

ALTERNATE VERSIONS:

12 . ALL TOMORROW’S PARTIES (alternate single voice version) 5.58

13. EUROPEAN SON (alternate version) 9.06

14. HEROIN (alternate version) 6.15

15. ALL TOMORROW’S PARTIES (alternate instrumental mix) 5.58

16. I’LL BE YOUR MIRROR (alternate mix) 2.16

DISC TWO.

THE VELVET UNDERGROUND & NICO V-5008 (mono version)

Originally issued as Verve V-5008, March 1967.

1. SUNDAY MORNING 2.55

2. I’M WAITING FOR THE MAN 4.46

3. FEMME FATALE 2.38

4. VENUS IN FURS 5.13

5. RUN RUN RUN 4.24

6. ALL TOMORROW’S PARTIES 5.59

7. HEROIN 7.14

8. THERE SHE GOES AGAIN 2.41

9. I’LL BE YOUR MIRROR 2.14

10. THE BLACK ANGEL’S DEATH SONG 3.12

11. EUROPEAN SON 7.57

THE SINGLES:

12. ALL TOMORROW’S PARTIES 2.49

13. I’LL BE YOUR MIRROR (alternate ending) 2.17

Mono single, issued as Verve VK-10427, July 1966.

14. SUNDAY MORNING (alternate mix) 2.56

15. FEMME FATALE 2.37

Mono single, Verve VK-10466, released December 1966.

DISC THREE.

NICO: CHELSEA GIRL

Originally issued as Verve V6-5032, October 1967.

1. THE FAIREST OF THE SEASONS 4.10

2. THESE DAYS 3.34

3. LITTLE SISTER 4.27

4. WINTER SONG 3.20

5. IT WAS A PLEASURE THEN 8.06

6. CHELSEA GIRLS 7.27

7. I’LL KEEP IT WITH MINE 3.21

8. SOMEWHERE THERE’S A FEATHER 2.20

9. WRAP YOUR TROUBLES IN DREAMS 5.10

10. EULOGY TO LENNY BRUCE 3.46

DISC FOUR / DISC TWO DELUXE EDITION.

SCEPTER STUDIOS SESSIONS:

Acetate cut on April 25, 1966

1. EUROPEAN SON (alternate version) 9.03 *

2. THE BLACK ANGEL'S DEATH SONG (alternate mix) 3.18 *

3. ALL TOMORROW'S PARTIES (alternate version) 5.57 *

4. I'LL BE YOUR MIRROR (alternate version) 2.11 **

5. HEROIN (alternate version) 6.17 *

6. FEMME FATALE 2.36 (alternate mix) **

7. VENUS IN FURS (alternate version) 4.39 **

8. WAITING FOR THE MAN (alternate version) 4.15 **

9. RUN RUN RUN 4.23 (alternate mix) **

* from tape / ** from acetate

THE FACTORY REHEARSALS:

January 1966 rehearsal, previously unreleased.

10. WALK ALONE 3.28

11. CRACKING UP / VENUS IN FURS 3.52

12. MISS JOANIE LEE 11.49

13. HEROIN 6.17

14. THERE SHE GOES AGAIN (with NICO) 2.09

15. THERE SHE GOES AGAIN 2.56

DISC FIVE.

LIVE AT VALLEYDALE BALLROOM, COLUMBUS, OHIO:

1. MELODY LAUGHTER 28.26

2. FEMME FATALE 2.37

3. VENUS IN FURS 4.45

4. THE BLACK ANGEL’S DEATH SONG 4.49

5. ALL TOMORROW’S PARTIES 5.03

(Lou Reed)

DISC SIX.

LIVE AT VALLEYDALE BALLROOM, COLUMBUS, OHIO:

1. WAITING FOR THE MAN 4.50

2. HEROIN 6.42

3. RUN RUN RUN 8.43

4. THE NOTHING SONG 27.56

some talk over here: VU and Nico - remastered again?

this is in the write-up for wl/wh in spin's new 100 alternative albums of the 60s list

Let the record show that The Velvet Underground & Nico was the best Velvet Underground record of the 1990s. The entire decade was mapped out there. It opens with a faux-naïve avant-pop breakthrough ("Sunday Morning") as its "Smells Like Teen Spirit"; and closes with a repetition-into-soup hammer party ("European Son") as its "Rockafeller Skank." The guitar-based tunelessness born on that album was a badge of honor if you were Calvin, or a weapon if you were Thurston, or a plaything if you were Kurdt. And dopesick, leather-licking, plain-brown-wrapper lyrics were the perfect transgression for a decade that gave us Marilyn Manson, The Chronic, and Butt Trumpet.

worst endorsement for this album ... ever. i think?

[i'm liking that list overall though -- http://www.spin.com/articles/best-100-albums-1960s-sixties-alternative-list

worst endorsement for this album ... ever. i think?
Is it written by that kid who took over the Village Voice?

no, it's whiney! i actually sort of appreciate him trying to write something different about this record, but ... wtf?

Hadn't known the Velvets were in Whiney's wheelhouse.

haha, well, he's definitely coming at them from a unique perspective here...

actually i thought that was sort of the conventional wisdom -- that this album sort of defined the entire alternative diaspora.

huge lol someone wrote that in 2013 or 20anything, assumed it was something from at some point in the 90s when giving a fuck about the 90s would've made some sense. weird they're struggling to reach that youth demo.

(xp)
True but this idea was merely a vague will-o'-the-wisp until Whiney fleshed it out.

its really mainly the "Rockafeller Skank" reference that baffles me. and lol butt trumpet. that band is really having its moment in the sun thanks to spin. can a reunion be far off?

[i'm liking that list overall though -- http://www.spin.com/articles/best-100-albums-1960s-sixties-alternative-list

No Bill Dixon, no credibility.

well they've got conquistador on there, so he's almost included. i mean, i could quibble with the "alternative" nature of plenty of this, but life is too short. some cool records! and plenty i haven't heard.

Ha, it's Unit Structures actually -- I was on the lookout for Conquistador. But yeah, the bottom half of the list is a fair amount of stuff I'd never heard of.

huge lol someone wrote that in 2013 or 20anything, assumed it was something from at some point in the 90s when giving a fuck about the 90s would've made some sense. weird they're struggling to reach that youth demo.

― balls, Thursday, March 28, 2013 5:41 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

thing is its really a setup to the second bit which explains why white light is the album that rules the 00s-10s, anticipating the rise of noisy dance-rock skronk sounds, etc. I think the argument doesn't really hold water fully, but its provocative and entertaining.

the real entry on vu + nico is kogan talking about the lyrical precision in waiting for the man.

rock still hasn't caught up to the guitar solo on WL/WH.

erm, heard her call my name that is.

lol at one of the two comments on the front page:

Natalie 56 minutes ago

Two words: JEFFERSON AIRPLANE

thing is its really a setup to the second bit which explains why white light is the album that rules the 00s-10s
So does this mean we are now in the Third Album/"Candy Says" decade?

Whiney Says

God it's absolutely maudlin outside

erm, heard her call my name that is.

And that never caught up to the solo on "Anyway Anyhow Anywhere."

If Robert Quine were still with us and, even more unlikely, was an ilx poster, he would probably say that neither had caught up to a Link Wray record or something like that.

True. And none have yet caught up with this (posted by Dr. X O'Skeleton in the Bo Diddley thread):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=IEfz9VfFOKQ

Not everyone bought a Velvet Underground album, but everyone who did has a different opinion about what hasn't been caught up with yet.

--Bob Marley

Booker T=The Gift=Incubation

only 50 ppl bought a butt trumpet CD but every person that did went out and stuck a trumpet in their butt

--kurt vonnegutt

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-05-29/velvet-underground-settles-warhol-suit-over-banana-design.html

phew.

this album: it used to be my least favorite velvets album (beside squeeze, which doesn't count) but then about two years ago something happened and now it is my favorite velvet underground album. i wonder if there is anything new to say about it. i like bands where there are two main vocalists with very distinct styles who alternate on who sings lead. this is less common than it should be... i wish keith richards sung lead more often just to mix things up.

my favorite beatles song is "a day in the life" mostly because john's part and paul's parts are so different.

They could work it out for sure...

Such a mediocre album compared to MMM ana Lulu

good interview w/ norman dolph (producer of most of the banana album): http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/nov13/articles/classic-tracks-1113.htm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrsDi3f-Dpw

wow, the space where Scepter Studios where most of VU & Nico was recorded is currently vacant and up for rent. Would be a fun place for a nightclub, residence, or even an office....

also never knew the ground floor directly below Scepter later became Studio 54