Product Details
Artist : The Velvet Underground
Binding : Audio CD
EAN : 0731453125025
Label : Verve
Number of Discs : 1
Product Group : Music
Release Date : 2008-03-17
UPC : 731453125025
ASIN : B000002G7C
Track Listings for
Disc-1
1. Sunday Morning
2. I'm Waiting For The Man
3. Femme Fatale
4. Venus in Furs
5. Run Run Run
6. All Tomorrow's Parties
7. Heroin
8. There She Goes Again
9. I'll Be Your Mirror
10. The Black Angel's Death Song
11. European Sun
Customers who bought this goods also bought.
Editorial Reviews
From Amazon.co.uk
When the Velvets recorded this debut, they were best known as the protégés of Andy Warhol (who designed the sleeve), and as a grating, combustible live band. Fuelled by drummer Moe Tucker's no-nonsense wham and John Cale's howling viola, some of the straight-up rock & roll and arty noise extravaganzas here bear that out. But before Lou Reed was singing about sadomasochism and drug deals and writing lyrics inspired by his favourite poets, he was a pop songwriter and this album has some of his prettiest tunes, mostly sung by Nico, the German dark angel who left the band after this disc. Even the sordid rockers are underscored by graceful pop tricks, like the two-chord flutter at the centre of the classic "Heroin". --Douglas Wolk
Amazon.com essential recording
When the Velvets recorded this debut, they were best known as the protégés of Andy Warhol (who designed the sleeve), and as a grating, combustive live band. Fueled by drummer Moe Tucker's no-nonsense wham and John Cale's howling viola, some of the straight-up rock & roll and arty noise extravaganzas here bear that out. But before Lou Reed was singing about sadomasochism and drug deals and writing lyrics inspired by his favorite poets, he was a pop songwriter, and this album has some of his prettiest tunes, mostly sung by Nico, the German dark angel who left the band after this disc. Even the sordid rockers are underscored by graceful pop tricks, like the two-chord flutter at the center of the classic "Heroin." --Douglas Wolk
Un Essentiel amazon.fr
Peu de groupes peuvent se vanter d'avoir été aussi ignorés de leur vivant et autant adulés après leur disparition. C'est que, comme l'explique Elliott Murphy : "Les gens qui ont vu le Velvet Underground sont rares mais ils ont tous formé un groupe." Eh oui, sans ce célèbre album à banane, pas de R.E.M., pas de Television, pas de Jonathan Richman, pas de Pastels, pas de Jesus & Mary Chain, pas de krautrock, enfin bref, pas grand-chose. Car même ceux qui ne l'ont pas vu subissent l'influence incontournable du Velvet. Alto électrique, texte sado-maso ou junkie, rock modal et répétitif, la blonde glaciale au micro, la petite boulotte à la batterie tribale, les solos à cinq notes dont deux fausses : ils ont inventé tout ce que le rock a de moins prévisible. Pas de blues scolaire, pas de ballades flower-power, pas de poses macho. Sous le patronage bienveillant d'Andy Warhol, concepteur de la pochette, Lou Reed, Sterling Morrison, Nico, John Cale et Moe Tucker ont introduit l'anticonformisme dans le rock. Merci à eux. --Hubert Deshouse
Customer Reviews
The band that just doesn't get it. (2007-06-26)  So, here's the deal. What I assume the Velvet Underground was trying to accomplish with this album was to bring elements of dissonance and atonality that were strong in jazz and classical musical at the time into a rock setting. As someone who studied atonal music in depth, I totally applaud the effort to bring this kind of music into this rock setting but the band doesn't seem to have any idea whatsoever as to what that kind of music is about. Atonality is more than just random notes that sound dissonant. Dissonance in atonal music is there to create textures that could not otherwise be achieved in tonal music. VE just seems to think that it will make them look cool to the hipsters and the stoners. There is no texture here. There is only noise which ultimately leads nowhere. Take 'Heroin' for example. This song seems to be the most widely celebrated song from the album. It is also one of the most dissonant. The screechy viola and endless feedback which bring the song to a close could have been an incredible idea if it were executed by musicians who had a clue as to how to play that kind of music. To me this sounds like a bunch of people who bought Ornette Coleman's wonderful Free Jazz album, thought it was cool and thought 'let's try to do that. We Don't know how to play our instruments, but it's all random anyway.' NO! To paraphrase jazz saxophonist Dave Leibman, being able to play atonally comes not from not knowing how to play, but having an INCREDIBLY high amount of knowledge and skill. These guys have neither.So, forget about this album and pick up some Schoenberg, Bartok, Ornette Coleman or Dave Leibman music instead. These will give you a better sense as to what art music is really about.
The underground Sgt. Pepper (2007-04-14)  The "Banana" album came out the same year as The Beatles' landmark record, considered the most influential rock album of all time. I would rank the first Velvets album a close second.While PEPPER would sell millions mere weeks after release and relaunch the Beatles' career, the Banana album barely charted and wouldn't sell in decent amounts until the band's catalogue was reissued in the mid-80s. Why? The album was too raw for 1967 audiences who were weaned on sweet two-minute pop songs, and was way ahead of its time. What does count here is influence: someone once quipped that the hundred or so people who bought Velvet records each started a band. (e.g. REM, Bowie, Nirvana) The Banana album sounds fully-born -- it sounds like nothing before, from no recording you can point to and say that it influenced this music. The reason comes down to Lou Reed's deadpan New York street lyrics, John Cale's eerie viola, Nico's Euro vocals, and the no-nonsense yet reliable rhythmn section of Sterling Morrison and Moe Tucker. This is only record where these elements come together. Reed's lyrics, especially, shatter barriers as they address drug dealing (Waiting for the Man), junkies (Heroin) and S&M (Venus in Furs). The latter song is a standout: no one has ever *sounded* like that. Venus in Furs is dark, hypnotic and powerful. On Heroin, no one had ever sung about taking drugs with such detail (and rarely since then). The dynamics of the song, rising quietly and slowly, matches the sensation of junk hitting your brain, as the lyrics describe. The song is the perfect fusion of Reed's lyrics, Cale's screeching viola, and Tucker's solid drumming. Her drumming further propels Reed's witty tale of scoring in Harlem in Waiting For the Man. Her 4-on-4 drumming mimic a train chugging down a track, and she deserves credit for contributing to the Velvets overall sound.A lot is made of the sex and drug songs, so I also highlight the softer tunes. I'll be Your Mirror and Femme Fatale are two often-covered ballads delicately sung by Nico and nicely performed by the band. Her German accent lends a sweet exoticism to the album. Sunday Morning, the most melodic song, opens the album, and is an infectious, dreamy tune, the closest thing to psychedelia the Velvets would ever record.True, the Banana is not to everyone's taste, and some find the songs redundant and the subject matter repugnant. But anyone who hears this record reacts strongly either way. Those who adore this record (like me) stand by it. Try it. You just might be amazed.
all myth...little music (2004-07-12)  most supporters of the VU seem impressed that this record has songs about bondage and drugs on it with a cover by Andy Warhol. so what? the question is, are the songs any good? not really. Sunday Morning is a sweet pop song. Waiting for the Man is repetitious with a threadbare tune and is only notable for being about a heroin dealer. who cares...the song isn't any good regardless what it's about. All Tomorrow's Parties has an intersting atmosphere bouyed by a strange piano phrase but it just plays that figure over and over. that song really needs a bridge. it gets very tedious. the last two songs are just a bunch of noise. this record is wildly overrated. any CCR lp of the time has better written songs without the pretentious Warhol/drug/pop art connection. bands like REM and U2 cite this album as a major influence on them which isn't surprising because those bands have basically been making the same records musically for the last 20 years with only changes in production, not improvement or variation in songwriting. take away all the sordid drug and bondage ideas and VU is just an album of so-so tunes.
This album beat the crap out of me. And I love it. (2004-07-02) This didn't take long to grow on me. Beginning with the paranoically sugary track "Sunday Morning" and eerie malayse of malevolence begins to beset and dog the listener, and starts to percolate instantly with the jarring, driving "Waiting For The Man", which of course, is about the seedy dealings of the drug market. The dead-on cleverness with which the more sinister elements of the human condition are rendered in this album, makes me shake with glee whenever I listen to it. It is an unusual mix of the solemn mysticality of Nico's magnificent voice, and the daunting nasality of Lou Reed's nightmarish balladry, telling tales of drug dealings, sadomasochism, and abstract descriptions in "Black Angel's Death Song" that are so menacing, one begins to cringe somewhat.But that's the beauty of it.It bounces from one scenario to the next, with Nico's three songs like hazy oases to cling to, and eventually dissolves into the gloriously maddening cacophany of "European Son". The perverse passion that makes up this album has branded it into my soul forever. It in no way sounds dated. Songs like "Venus in Furs" and "All Tomorrow's Parties", and of course the infamous description of the prison of "Heroin" addiction should engrain themselves in anyone. In addition to this album, by the way, do check out Nico's work. She is so often overlooked as some kind of bane to this album, when in truth her brilliance was such that it had to overflow into a solo career. Just start here, and let it engulf you with atmosphere.
Undeniable Art Rock Genius Album! (2004-06-21) Totally an incredible listen every time. From the first sunny sounds of "Sunday Morning" to the crashing intro to "I'm Waiting For the Man, " the songs are arranged in a way that lulls you in subtle pop splendor, and then thrills you with a chunk of ferocious rock. There is no room to get bored, only total intense satisfaction. "Femme Fatale" is one of my favorite songs ever. The great Nico coyly identifying "here she comes...you better watch your step. She's going to break your heart in two...it's true." She's just a little tease, indeed. Her vocal work on this album is just amazing. The contrast between her and Lou Reed is genius. "I'll Be Your Mirror" is one of the sweetest love songs I have ever heard. It has a such an original and sweet perspective, and is so melancholy in the hands of Nico, whose voice really is so distinctive, warm and charmingly amateur all at once. It really is a pitty that her work with the Velvet Underground pretty much ended with this album. I can only imagine how the Velvet's history may have been different had she stuck around for subsequent releases. "I'm Waiting For My Man" is probably my favorite singular song on the album. The low-key guitar approach is pure Lou Reed, and I love the imagery he brings to life about New York, and trying to meet up with his dealer. "He's never early...he's always late. First thing you learn is that you always gotta wait..." Amazing stuff, and Mo Tucker keeps it all together with her electrifying drum assault. The song that most people identify as one of the most important contributions to rock history would have to be "Heroin," Reed's droning anthemic ode to the gift's and perils of the drug he so treasured. It is frightening, pretty, soft and loud, and totally poignant. The beginning of "Euroean Son" is one of my favorite openings to a song ever, with its thick rhythmic bass line, and then the double guitar assault of Lou Reed and Sterling Morrison, which thrusts the song into a riotous noise-piece. The one song I wish was included in the original album, which was recorded in the same sessions is "It Was A Pleasure Then," sung by Nico and written by Reed, Cale and Nico. It is one of my favorite songs. It is so beautiful, with the main elements being Nico's amazing voice (which has more range in this song than any other), Cale's plugged in viola, and a quietly strumming guitar that slowly builds throughout, filling the song with amazing bits of feedback in parts. It is one of those songs that gives you goosebumps with every listen. Genius! I only wish I had been born 20 years earlier, so I could have experienced their live performances around the time of this release. I am sure it was like witnessing something from another planet! Anyway, this album has payed for itself millions of times-over in my collection. Just a truly amazing album, full of some of the most original music in rock. And more relevant today than ever...
Look for similar items by category
Related Link
Powered by Amazon Web Services + Amazon Associates.
|
![]](http://resource.hanamoku.com/img/hanamoku_ca/00bar_top_right.gif){kind=small}
![]](http://resource.hanamoku.com/img/hanamoku_ca/00bar_bottom_right.gif){kind=small}
Goods, Product Information
