91. The Velvet Underground - The Velvet Underground & Nico

Artist: The Velvet Underground
Album: The Velvet Underground & Nico
Year: 1967

The Velvet Underground were one of the first truly important "alternative" bands. Punk, glam, drone rock, and most other forms of alternative rock music started, in some sense, with this album. Lou Reed, John Cale, Sterling Morrison, and Maureen Tucker, with some help from German model Nico on vocals and some funding from notorious pop artist Andy Warhol, crafted an album quite unlike anything that had come before. Lord knows it's been emulated a thousand times over since.

This is an album I've listened to many times over the years. I always like it while I'm listening to it, but it isn't an album I ever seem to obsess over. It's an undeniably strong set of songs, covering a wide variety of styles. There are Dylan-esque garage rockers like "I'm Waiting for the Man" and "Run Run Run." There are pretty pop songs like "I'll Be Your Mirror" and "Sunday Morning." There are more experimental, noisier tracks like "Venus in Furs" and "Heroin" that navigate the album into more uncharted territory. You can tell that The Velvet Underground was certainly not following any kind of blueprint in the studio. This is groundbreaking stuff. It's uncompromising in its subject matter--sex & drugs on overt display rather than veiled.

I think the aspect of this album that doesn't quite grab me is the aloofness/detachment that the band seems to display, particularly on the songs that Nico is afforded the leading vocals. Her deep, oddly affected tenor is cold and somewhat distancing to me on this album. Perhaps that's an intentional part of the aesthetic here, but it just doesn't grab me: I prefer Nico's Chelsea Girl performance over this one here. Lou Reed is a little less sterile sounding but not exactly what I'd call energetic.

I don't know. I hate to be critical on this one. The songs are great. There are some fascinatingly pretty moments here ("Sunday Morning") and some equally fascinating noisy bits (especially the ultra-intense "Heroin"). Sometimes it's pretty and noisy all in one, like "Venus in Furs" and "Black Angel's Death Song." It's wildly influential. I can hear Dinosaur Jr., Belle & Sebastian, Roxy Music, Pavement, The Cure, Jesus & Mary Chain, The Strokes--all sorts of disparate bands who were themselves significantly influential, all of whom are among my favorites. It's just that this VU album doesn't really connect with me the way some of those other bands do. But to rate this anything less than absolutely indispensable would be criminal.

Rating: Indispensable