And Nico (Dlx Ed)

The reissue starts with the album in stereo. After that, there are a few NICO solo tracks. NICO is great, and I love NICO, but her work needs to be appriciated on its own. This would be like reissuing an album by the Who and adding Pete Townsend solo tracks.

After the NICO tracks, the Mono Singles begin. After the mono singles, the mono album composes the second disc. Listening to the album in mono is kind of neat, but why put the singles on there if they are already on the album in the mono mix.

In the end this is a waste of time and money. Rather than spend thirty dollars on this pitiful two disc set, I would suggest buying the original version of the album and a NICO album. This would cost roughly the Same amount of money but more worth the listeners while.

Polydor's latest double-disc reissue collects both the mono and stereo mixes of the original album, digitally remastered, and adds contemporaneous singles and a quintet of VU-powered tracks from Nico's subsequent "Chelsea Girl" album. The package is enveloped in a foldout digipack (with or without peelable banana artwork), with a thick booklet that includes newly penned liner notes from Dave Thompson, photos, song lyrics and recording credits.

Of particular interest to U.S. buyers is the mono album mix, previously available only outside the U.S. This is the band's vision of the album, later remixed into stereo by MGM staff producer (and, at the time, Simon & Garfunkel producer) Tom Wilson. The mono version is tougher, and in the opinion of the band's label at the time, too limiting for American audiences (both for its intensity, and for the US's burgeoning interest in stereo). The difference in atmosphere is a terrific lesson in how mixing affects an album, and how visceral mono recordings can be.

The bonus tracks include five sides waxed by Nico with the original lineup of the Velvet Underground for her solo debut. Recorded in April 1967, they followed the band's original recording dates by exactly a year (the VU debut, recorded in April 1966, did not see release until March of the following year). The songs, from Reed, Cale and Sterling Morrison are rendered lightly, with strings and flutes (apparently much to Nico's displeasure), a minimum of Reed's guitar, and no drums. The VU's more ferocious and dissonant side really only turns up on "It Was a Pleasure Then." Combining these sides with the original album provides a nice opportunity to listen to the original VU lineup's entire ouevre.

The singles offer a chance to hear "All Tomorrow's Parties" shaved down from it's original 5:58 to a 45's worth of 2:49. Less radically, the single release of "I'll Be Your Mirror" resolves chord, rather than fades as on the album. Even more minor is the two seconds of what seems to be engineer's chatter (announcing the tape roll) that precedes the single release of "Sunday Morning." The fetishism of collecting these minute differences seems like a natural fit for VU fans.

Those looking to hear this watershed album for the first time will likely be just as happy with the single-disc 1996 reissue. For those who've loved (and lived) this album over the last thirty-five years, the opportunity to view it from a new angle shouldn't be passed up.

This is a slick little product that comes with a beautifully put-together package, complete with peelable banana label and a handy little booklet; and if you do manage to un-peel your banana sticker, never fret, it's a vinyl cut-out [like colorforms] that can be stuck and unstuck indefinately.

There are two CDs: one in stereo and one in mono. For the record, the mono version was never released in the US before, and is the product before producer Tom Wilson remixed the tracks for stereo. (He felt the band would be more accesible to a wider audience if polished somewhat). The mono tracks have a somewhat grittier feel than do the stereo mixes and might explain some of the reason the Velvets were more succesful in inspiring English and European bands over American acts.

There are also a number of single release versions of some of the tracks, as well as a few cuts from Nico's 1967 LP "Chelsea Girl" (which for trivia's sake, many of the songs were written by her boyfriend at the time, Jackson Brown).

This is first-rate, All-Star treatment of a true American legend! This is a museum-piece treasure that is a must-own for true fans of true Rock & Roll everywhere. To not know this legendary album is to not know Rock itself!

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