Album title: The Velvet Underground and Nico
Artiste: The Velvet Underground and Nico
Nationality: American
Label: Verve
Year: 1967
Grade: B
Previous Experience of this Artiste: “Venus in furs”, that's about it. And some Lou Reed solo material.
Landmark value: Well as I say above it has a very high landmark value, given the contribution it made to the subgenre, but again I feel it's more on the psychedelic side of things than the progressive. Can't be denied it broke down many boundaries though.
Tracklisting: Sunday morning/ I'm waiting for the man/ Femme fatale/ Venus in furs/ Run run run/ All tomorrow's parties/ Heroin/ There she goes again/ I'll be your mirror/ The black angel's death song/ European son
Comments: First track's a bit tame, given what I had expected: bit dreamy, sixties pop really. Things up a little with
I'm waiting for the man as Lou Reed takes over vocals solo and the sound crystallises a bit more, harder guitar, edgier lyrics. Beginning to see it now. Distorted, manic piano at the end really adds to the song. Hmm, but then we're back to that dreamy sound again for
Femme fatale. Very laidback and seems a little empty. I mentioned I knew
Venus in furs, so no surprises here, then we're on to
Run run run, the first uptempo song on the album. Kind of like a fast blues with a bit of southern boogie, pretty infectious rhythm really.
All tomorrow's parties slows down the tempo again, and it's Nico at the mike again, with a dark psychedelic sort of feel. Sounds like sitar there. Is it? No, it isn't.
As if they haven't made it plain enough that they're singing about drugs on the album, the next one is called
Heroin, so there can be no doubt. Another kind of laidback, relaxed sort of song with some nice guitar. It speeds up but then drops back again. Great vocal from Reed, really more like speaking poetry than singing. Lots of feedback guitar; at one point it totally drowns out Reed's voice, which I assume is intended to make a statement. Almost the longest track on the album, just beaten out of that place by the closer. This is balanced out by the three tracks inbetween being no more than three minutes long each.
Don't see anything terribly great about
There she goes --- standard sixties rock song, could hear The Kinks or The Animals singing this. Nothing special. Back to dreamy pop then for
I'll be your mirror with Nico back on vocals.
The Black angel's death song is good though: sort of a bluegrass idea in it, screeching viola from Cale as well as hissing into the microphone all creates a rather unsettling atmosphere. The final track then is
European son with a really nice bassline and again it's reasonably uptempo compared to most of the rest of the album. It's also, as mentioned, the longest track, just shy of eight minutes. There are more sound effects here, like things rolling on the floor, barrels maybe, and crashing breaking glass. Actually no: I read now that it's Cale hitting a stack of plates with a metal chair that made the sounds. Of course it is.
Well, it's a weird end to a much less weird album than I had thought it would be. Good enough, but somehow not the powerhouse gamechanger I had expected to hear. I guess, as they say, you had to be there.
Favourite track(s): I'm waiting for the man, Venus in furs, Run run run, The black angel's death song
Least favourite track(s): European son, There she goes, Femme fatale
Overall impression: Not what I was expecting at all. I thought it would be wilder, sort of punkish, more experimental. Pretty pleasant really, all things considered. I'm certainly not denying this album its place in musical history, and I can see the progressive rock tinges in it, but they're tinges only, and if this is one of the ancestors of prog rock, then it's the drunk old uncle with terretts whom everyone tries to avoid at the Christmas dinner, lest he corner you and start going on about how music was in his day.
Personal Rating: 
Legacy Rating: 
Final Rating: 