The Velvet Underground

Up next on the Chopping Block is a band that I have been putting off for quite some time. When you get bugged by certain people (you all know who you are btw) and you have a sort of eclectic awakening, you start expanding your mind. The band on the Chopping Block is The Velvet Underground and with that, let’s take a look……………….

The Velvet Underground & Nico- I must admit, this one took me a couple times to really get into. Once you open your mind and ears, it’s really quite good and it’s not really what I was expecting. To be honest I don’t really know what I was expecting as I am not the biggest fan of Lou Reed. However, I can see why this is considered to be such an influential album. The album tackles subject matter like prostitution, drug use, sadomasochism and urban life, which does explain why it didn’t chart well. I can see how this album would be considered the first art punk album, as well as influencing and helping create many of the punk sub genres. Overall, it’s not bad. I don’t think I would go revisit it anytime soon, but I can appreciate it for what it is. I’ll give it 9/10.

Standouts: I’m Waiting For The Man, There She Goes Again, European Son

White Light/White Heat- this album is well I feel like it does capture the energy of the first album, there just seems to be a lot more distortion and noise. I guess if you want to know where shoegaze or noise rock came from, then this is probably a good album to listen to. Now, I’m sure (in sarcastic tone) the reason why this album didn’t chart was because it had nothing to do with the fact that the subject matter is drugs, amphetamines, drag queens, and sex. No I’m sure that had nothing to do with it at all. All kidding aside though this is another one of those albums that had a huge impact on a lot of other bands you can tell that they were inspired by albums like this. I’ll give this album 9/10.

Standouts: Lady Godiva’s Operation, Temptation Inside Your Heart, Stephanie Says

The Velvet Underground- I guess from a subject matter standpoint, this album is definitely a departure. Whereas the last two records talked about things like sex drugs, and the horrors of it, this one is more about love, religion, and loneliness. Musically the songs are softer, and I feel like they went for a more straightforward approach. It seems like they relied less on distortion and being kind of out there and just wanted to be less experimental. Either way this one’s a little slow for my taste, but I’ll give it 8/10.

Standouts: Beginning To See The Light, What Goes On, After Hours

Loaded- I feel like on this album they wanted to go for more accessible songs. I mean, yes this album is probably their most upbeat sounding one yet, but it kind of feels forced. Not to say the songs aren’t good in fact it’s a good album, but what made them so unique isn’t really on here. An interesting fact about this album is that this would be the final record before they effectively dissolved. I guess if you want to start with a more rock sounding album from this band, this would be the one. I’ll give this 8/10.

Standouts: Who Loves The Sun, Rock & Roll, Cool It Down

Squeeze- an interesting thing about this album is that the only person that’s credited is Doug Yule which I guess would make the previous record the last true Velvet Underground album. In spite of all that it’s actually a pretty good record. I’m not sure if people would count this album as a Velvet Underground record but I don’t think it’s half bad. It’s definitely got that 70s rock but also very blues sounding. Some may not want to count this as part of the catalogue, but to me if it’s released under the band’s name, then it counts. Overall, it’s not bad and you can definitely tell that there’s something missing and I’ll give it 7.5/10

Standouts: Crash, Wordless, Mean Old Man

You can absolutely tell that this band influenced so many other bands (especially ones that I am a fan of) and to me, I would almost put them right up there with the Beatles. Now will I go back and revisit these records anytime soon? Probably not however this is a very important band, especially for rock music. They may have only had really four true records, but all of them are influential. I mean the amount of sub genres that were born because of bands like this is practically endless.

Final Grade: A

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