The Velvet Underground Albums Ranked From Worst to Best
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- Опубликовано: 20 дек 2021
- We're back to the core trio this week after several weeks of guests, and this week we're ranking the five studio albums of The Velvet Underground. Now, things get a little murky with this discography as many fans view Squeeze as a Velvet Underground album in name only, while other like to count "lost" albums like VU and Another View as part of the discography. But we're traditionalists here, so we're counting the ones that most people consider "official" studio albums.
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The Velvet Underground was an American rock band formed in New York City in 1964. The original line-up consisted of singer/guitarist Lou Reed, multi-instrumentalist John Cale, guitarist Sterling Morrison, and drummer Angus MacLise. MacLise was replaced by Moe Tucker in 1965, who played on most of the band's recordings. Their integration of rock and the avant-garde achieved little commercial success during the group's existence, but they are now recognized as one of the most influential bands in rock, underground, experimental, and alternative music. The group's provocative subject matter, musical experiments, and often nihilistic attitudes also proved influential in the development of punk rock and new wave music.
Originally, the group performed under a number of names before settling on The Velvet Underground in 1965. Pop artist Andy Warhol became their manager in 1966, and they served as the house band at Warhol's art collective known as "the Factory" and Warhol's traveling multimedia show, the Exploding Plastic Inevitable, from 1966 to 1967. Their debut album, The Velvet Underground & Nico (with German singer and model Nico), was released in 1967 to critical indifference and poor sales but has since drawn wide acclaim. They released three more albums, White Light/White Heat (1968), The Velvet Underground (1969), and Loaded (1970), with Doug Yule replacing Cale for the final two, and with none performing up to the expectations of record labels or of Reed, the band's leader.
The group functionally disbanded in the early 1970s as everyone except Yule left the band. An abortive UK tour with Yule as the band leader and with new musicians followed in 1973, and a final album released in the band's name, Squeeze (1973), consisting mostly of Yule with a few session musicians, marked the end of the band for some time. All of the members continued to collaborate on each other's solo work throughout the 1970s and 1980s, and a retrospective "rarities" album, VU, was released in 1985. A full reunion of the band came in the early 1990s, with the Reed-Cale-Tucker-Morrison lineup playing a series of well-received shows in 1993, and releasing a live album from the tour, Live MCMXCIII.
After Morrison's death in 1995, the remaining three members played together for a single performance at their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction in 1996, the last time the band performed together musically. In 2004, the Velvet Underground were ranked number 19 on Rolling Stone's list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". The New York Times wrote that the Velvet Underground was "arguably the most influential American rock band of our time".
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Thanks for watching! Leave your own lists in the comments below.
Next week: 2021 Recap Week
After that: The Mama's and the Papa's, Fleetwood Mac, Whitney Houston
#TheVelvetUnderground #AlbumsRanked #WorsttoBest
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Lou's lyrics, cadence, and talk-singing have always fascinated me. And I don't care if they aren't virtuoso musicians. I love their art exactly the way they expressed it.
John Cale was a classical schooled musician who had performed, written and conducted modern classics before he joined VU. He received a scholarship to study music at the London University and he played with contemporary composers when he relocated to NY. The drones he played on Sister Ray are not dilettantism but came out of the music of John Cage or La Monte Young (Cale had played with both).
Moe Tucker on the other hand was self taught by banging along to Bo Diddley tunes...
Lou Reed had played and sung in a doo-wop trio.
Their upside-down inside-out approach was fully intentional and not the result of inability.
On top of that, The Beatles weren’t virtuosos either.
Yes he did talk sing, even in the early days, I like Countess from Hong Kong on the box set, but as he got older he did it on nearly every song , Dirty Boulevard and The Last American Whale.
Velvets and Nico was recorded in one day. According to Maureen Tucker they had 8 hours booked in the studio so they couldn’t make many mistakes and do a lot of takes. Most songs were live single takes, though they did repeat some. She recalls it was probably a two track device as four track was a brand new innovation the Beatles had just acquired in early 1967. Velvets and Nico was recorded in May ‘66 but was held up from release until March of ‘67 mainly because of the cover. Such a landmark album recorded after Freak Out but before Revolver. Amazing
Mind-blowing that it was recorded in 1966. I like every single track.
The amount of detail and care that goes into these comments makes them a joy to read. What a group of knowledgeable & passionate music lovers! And the hosts aren’t bad either
PoOp is goOd for brekfast. It makes my tummy happy 💩 mm-mMmm!
They went from “Sister Ray” to “Jesus” in one year. Crazy.
I also love the outtake albums “Another View” and “VU”.
Love the Cale era best, but Doug Yule has some seriously good moments.
I’ve never listened to squeeze, but I probably should.
This band sent me on a musical direction from which I have yet to return.
squeeze is not great
I like the one with the banana on it
Same
The Velvet Underground & Nico is one of the greatest debut albums ever & is easily my favorite by The Velvets. I rate the second , third & fourth in the order they were released.
my all time favorite album
@@mahatmaniggandhi2898 omg mine too!!
@@curly_wyn what are your next ones? my 2nd is a tie between revolver by the beatles and a love supreme by john coltrane
Andy Warhol's 15 minutes turned into half a century for them, still counting. If I were a critic, I would need to give 5 stars to their four albums based on importance and impact alone - today's music would not be what it is without them. As a listener I put them among the great bands with more great songs than a four album discography would let one expect - and especially songs that have endured all my life.
Not in my top 20 but surely in the top 50. In their case, the doors they opened for other musicians and for listeners may even be more important than their recorded output. They inspired artists as different as Jonathan Richman or Can - and made me listen to such different artists. VU are among those bands that very early in my life taught me to listen to music differently and open minded and not to trust the pop charts or mainstream radio.
So, yes, their impact on me cannot be overestimated...maybe I would not even post here without them.
(PS - I tried to approach Squeeze from different angles over the years, probably spending more time with it than it ever was worth. As a 1973 pop rock album by one Doug Yule it is a mediocre effort compared to other albums of the day. It would be long forgotten had not some label executives decided to market it as VU. Now it gets more hate than it deserves - instead of being left in the 1 dollar bins where it belongs.)
4. White Light White Heat 4,0 (People have tried to give Side A all kinds of importance etc - for me those are experiments that are long outdated and were not that great to begin with. Side B is one of the most incredible pieces of music available and sufficient reason to listen to this album again and again - I do for over 50 years now.)
3. Loaded 4,0 (The band showed that they could play pop and rock like any of their contemporaries - but this was also a band already breaking up and with Cale gone there were no experimentation any more. Loaded was short for "loaded with hits" and in a VU way, it was. Still, the songs are strong and Lou Reed prepared for his long solo career, the difference to his first solo album was just the choice of musicians.)
2. The Velvet Underground 4,5 (As great as a VU album without John Cale can be. The mood is as black and white as the cover...but the band at this point was no longer ahead, avant-garde or venturing onto new ground.)
1. The Velvet Underground & Nico 5,0 (Every song is the birth of a genre and the proof that this is one of the most influential albums ever made. Apart from that, every song is a masterpiece and still sounds like it was just recorded yesterday. You cannot overrate this album.)
@Dave Costello I know this comment even if I am not sure that it was related to VU. They may have sold a few albums more. I think it was said by Eno and he was talking about one of the krautrock pioneers - but it might as well be that he just adopted that earlier quote about VU for his purpose.
@@roxannewalsh It was definitely Eno and he was definitely referring to the VU. I love the appreciation you show for "Sister Ray." A lot of people aren't getting the greatness of that track. It was done live in one take.
Well said Roxanne. Many of my fave bands clearly were inspired partly by VU. I go on about Broadcast alot (they did Tenderbuttons) I think they loved the band....👍
@@179rich Let us see about Sister Ray tomorrow...if you encounter a sixty year old lady listening to Swans' Glowing Man you can be sure that she listened to VU in her youth. Somebody here in the comments said that this has become part of our musical DNA. (Sorry, Hall & Oates, you never sold a record to me in all those years.)
Recently listened to the live Gymnasium show for the first time and it only increased my appreciation of the band. "Sister Ray" could be twice as long and I would love it twice as much. Years ago I saw Yo La Tengo and The Feelies perform a full length version of "Sister Ray" and it was mind/ear blowing. And I have both owned and worked in record stores, so, in the words of X-Ray Spex, I am a cliche.
The VU record with Stephanie Says, Foggy Notion, One Of These Days, Lisa Says, etc.. stands in greatness with any of their other amazing albums as well......Which is a testament to who they are, which is simply one of the greatest bands ever.
They made being bad a viable choice, which is impressive. - Joe
@@TastesLikeMusic Said nobody ever. :) Ha, that's the reason why all of their first 4 albums have a perfect 5 stars on AllMusic too, those hacks. Great channel overall though, man. You guys do a fun, inspired job. Congrats on the good work.
Yeah the VU album has Velvet Underground written on its cover and could have been ranked more credibly than Squeeze. VU album is great I agree
It's their best album, IMO, so can't bring myself to listen to this. And given the band's small catalogue why would you exclude an album of all studio material? So obnoxious with their shitty pedantic criteria.
An interesting bit of possible alternate history to ponder as well: the jazz label Verve (a subsidiary of MGM records) wanted to start releasing albums by rock artists so the Velvet Underground and the Mothers of Invention were signed to the label at the same time. Since both bands were doing experimental music, Verve decided to release Zappa's Freak Out album first since it was a double album and was more expensive to produce than The Velvet Underground and Nico. Freak Out came out in 1966 while the Velvets had to wait until 1967 for their debut to be released. Andy Warhol was at the peak of his popularity in 1966 and if the album came out while the hype on Warhol was still hot, they would have been more successful at the time.
4. Loaded
3. The Velvet Underground
2. The Velvet Underground And Nico
1. White Light/White Heat
great video, the Velvets are one of my personal all-time favorite bands ever. They're important to me for two big reasons: they introduced me to the world of experimental music and Lou Reed's lyrics were the first time I've heard anyone address the realities of street life so vividly and honestly before. I'll never forget listening to Venus in Furs for the first time when I was 14 years old and being so confused and slightly uncomfortable at what i was hearing but the performance was so compelling to me that I just kept listening to it over and over again and the more I listened to it, the more I loved their vibe, their music means a lot to me.
As far as the albums go, the first 4 are all easily 5 star albums for me. My all-time favorite is the self-titled 3rd album, the lyrics are amazing and the darkly romantic vibe of the songs is really beautiful. The debut is second, followed by Loaded, then White Light/White Heat, and Squeeze in last place. I don't listen to White Light very much but I do like the concepts behind it, especially the short story songs (The Gift has to be one of the most fucked-up hilarious spoken word pieces I've ever heard lmao) and Squeeze isn't as awful as everybody says it is, but I always have to be reminded that it even exists and I honestly just remembered it when I saw this video lol the songs just remind me of diet McCartney and it's just extremely forgettable imo
I'm a pretty big fan of the VU. I first got into them through R.E.M., who covered three of their songs as B-sides that were included on the Dead Letter Office compilation. Prior to that, I really only knew "Sweet Jane". I think 3 of their first 4 albums are fantastic, as is the V.U. rarities album that came out in the '80s.
1. The Velvet Underground. I think this is the best balance between the artiness of the early albums and the more classic rock sound of their latter stuff. Except for "The Murder Mystery", every song is fantastic.
2. Loaded. They clearly trying to be a more accessible band here, and I think it generally works. Lots of classic songs here, but I do think there's some weaker tracks on the second half of the album.
3. The Velvet Underground & Nico. Super innovative album for 1967. Almost every song is great (though I'm not crazy about the last two). What holds it back a little is that I think it's a bit rough sounding, even for 1967, and I'm not a fan of Nico's vocals most of the time.
4. White Light/White Heat. I will say that it's pretty revolutionary for 1968, but outside of a couple of tracks, I find it a little too abrasive for my tastes.
5. Squeeze. It's not as bad as people think, but it's not the Velvet Underground. Doug Yule is a good singer and musician, but as a songwriter, he is not Lou Reed.
My first exposure to the VU was also through Dead Letter Office.
I quite like Murder Mystery if I am in the right mood. The whole album is top notch. I am perplexed with the song Jesus- was Lou taking the piss or did he really mean those lyrics ?
Actually, the BEST versions of Sweet Jane and White Light/White Heat is off of Lou Reed's live album "Rock-'n'-roll Animal"!
Agreed
I’m right down the line with Kram. He had the funniest line….”you try and solve a murder mystery in under nine minutes”…. The amateurishness is their trademark in a way, but it jives with the DIY, living in back alleys and flop houses etc..the DIY esthetic of college bands in the 1980s jives with the anti-corporate vibe of that era
been waiting for this one since i discovered this channel!
Hi guys,
it's nice to watch your videos again, you've kept me company throughout 2021. I'll draw up a list of their best in the next few days after watching the video.
You guys sound like my friends. Such pop rock music dudes. Your channel rocks
Great job guys! All the best over the holidays. ✌️🎄❤️
perfect timing, as I've just recently got a bit obsessed with the velvet underground. peace
Imagine the Velvets release another album in 1969 with select songs that wound up on VU, Another View and also Sad Song. That would be a killer.
Guess I'm Falling In Love Again, so crunchy.
The Velvet Underground & Nico and White Light/White Heat are some of the greatest masterpieces of rock music as well as some of the most important, revolutionary and influential albums of rock music. The third album by them is a great album and has some really beautiful songs, some of the best ever written by Lou Reed but I wouldn't consider it to be a masterpiece in the same league as their first two albums. The rest of their studio albums are not really that much worth talking about, except for a few classic songs from the Loaded album like Rock And Roll and Sweet Jane.
true, only two VU albums, plus third album, which is partly VU album
Legendary band. Looking forward to watching this 👍🏻
5. Squeeze ★★★
4. White Light/White Heat ★★★★
3. Loaded ★★★★½
2. The Velvet Underground ★★★★★
1. The Velvet Underground & Nico ★★★★★
"I fully acknowledge its importance in the development of many music genres,
its influence, its creativity, but it's very difficult for me to determine both how good it is, and how much I like it."
I want to thank Jason for his honest and well-articulated take on the VU debut - it is literally exactly how I feel about Pet Sounds. Same exact sentiment. Acknowledge its importance / influence / even "greatness," but doesn't really register on a personal level.
The whole objective/subjective discussion of music tastes is so multi-layered and fun. More of this discussion in the new year would be excellent!
But 2021 has been just amazing for me enjoying all the content of this channel. Brilliant work, J, J & K! So grateful.
Tasto forever 🏆⚔️👣🎶🌈👍📻🤠
Re: Jason's comment...
I think being perplexed by an album is a sign that's it's more interesting than most albums and therefore deserves more attention/revisitation. After all, that's the core job of a classic album- to be interesting enough to draw you back to it again and again.
I have no desire to go back to it for a long time. -Jason
@@TastesLikeMusic feel that way about “Trout Mask Replica” . It’s supposed to be some sort of genius , influential work of art. I can’t quite argue either way cause I still haven’t worked that album out yet. The listening experience I don’t want to have again, that I’m quite sure of
Another easy Listography for me. VU are firmly entrenched in my DNA . Was fun revisiting this brilliant music again . Now i want to wear shades, dress in black ( on a hot summer day ) , smoke lots of cigarettes, read Camus , and be artfully " aloof" ..
1. The Velvet Underground and Nico ( 5 stars)
2. White Light/White Heat ( 5 stars)
3. The Velvet Underground ( 5 stars)
4. Loaded ( 4 stars)
5. Squeeze ( 2.5 stars)
So what you’re saying is you would love to
“Make a career of being blue, dress in black and read Camus. Smoke clove cigarettes and drink Vermouth. Like you were seventeen, that would be a scream”
Haha, you guys have grown so popular that I never need to comment because so many viewers always say what I wanted to say. But I'll say it anyway, yet again. GREAT JOB!! Love your channel, guys. Love VU and Lou Reed very very much and you guys handled this ranking with your usual class and humor. I think it is fun to see one or more of you kinda wince at having had to listen to stuff you didn't want to hear! Hahaha. I'd be the same way, but probably not nearly as classy about it. Haha. Again, great job, guys. Cheers!! Jeff
Great video. Love to see you guys do Steppenwolf.
One of my favourite sonic artists/bands, since my rebellious teenage years, 1985-1991.
Jason - "The way you feel about it is how it is" - Truer words have never been spoken!
Thanks A LOT for this great episode!
Big VU/Lou fan here!! 👍
My Top 4 (I’m not familiar with Squeeze because I have the Peel Slowly And See box set):
4. The Velvet Underground
3. Loaded
2. The Velvet Underground & Nico
1. White Light/White Heat
"They were wild like the USA
A mystery band in a New York way
Rock and roll but not like the rest
And to me America at its best
How in the world were they making that sound? Velvet Underground"
That sound was largely down to John Cale on the first two VU albums, who brought the avantgarde aspect into the band, such as those ongoing drones, created by using mandoline strings on his electrified viola. His arrangements on those two seminal lps would overthrow the common form of song structure forever, allowing more artistic freedom.
Indecision about The Velvet Underground & Nico, changing album ratings during the video...sounds to me like you could have used more time listening to this band Jason. Still, a good video.
Great video, as always! Like The Doors, The Velvet Underground were very much a ‘time and place’ happening for me: the former were my obsession as a sixteen-year-old; the latter, a couple of years later. My point being that I’ve barely revisited either subsequently, whereas The Beatles, The Stones and The Who have been part of my life’s soundtrack throughout. Am I suggesting that they’re an act I can’t go back to? I’m giving them a listen this afternoon, but they really are so tied to particular moment in my life. However, I felt the same about The Strokes - they moulded me, as a late-teen - but have been unable to listen to them since... until now, that is. Is This It gets played a lot. We’ll see later, if Loaded can create a Renaissance for Lou Reed and The Velvet Underground in 2022!
great show guys, VU is my favorite from them, wish it was released back in the day for it to qualify
Interesting that Jason mentioned the Grateful Dead. I have also noted the occasional similarity. You can hear it on "I'm Gonna Move Right In."
Kramzer's facial expressions are right on the money as usual lol
If you've "never noticed" Doug Yule's bass playing after listening to the outro to "New Age" I don't know what to tell you. That's some of the tastiest bass playing ever laid down on vinyl.
This episode will probably be the highlight of my Christmas lol ( Gonna save it for the 25th ). Would rank the albums in the order they were released
It would be hilarious to see ya'll do the SWANS discography, especially all those 2-hour long late period albums
As far as I'm concerned Joe gave the Velvet Underground a fair shake and he's welcome to take shots at them in the comments.
It’s another band that I don’t really hate but dislike compared to the average music lover (and critic) I guess. - Joe
@@TastesLikeMusic I would just say keep listening to them. It took me many years of periodically revisiting their albums to fully appreciate them (especially the more abrasive parts of their catalog.)
@@TastesLikeMusic I don't think you're alone in disliking some of the highfalutin, avant-garde aspects, and projecting that on the band as a whole. And without doing a deep-dive, nothings gonna change your mind on that. But like you said, even on WL/WH, there are great moments.
I think you could say they were more innovative than musically talented.
I’d say more innovative than good 😉. - Joe
Its interesting to hear how far in advance you recorded these episodes
Looks like my list will also match with Kram and Joe. Feel like I could relate to what most of you guys were saying here despite the differences. For some reason, I find them quite a bit more accessible than what is usually stated (outside of the handful of longer experimental tracks).
1. The Velvet Underground & Nico
2. Loaded
3. The Velvet Underground
4. White Light/White Heat
5. Squeeze
That was very interesting. It is rare for a mainstream-focused channel to give The Velvet Underground due consideration.
And while there was the fear that "like a dog's walking on his hind legs. It is not done well, but you are surprised to find it done at all," but it was a fair and honest appraisal. Mostly the struggle in your reviews was to hear the albums through the weight of history that now surrounds them. And that may be a common issue for new listeners.
Not sharing a sound, but the Velvet Underground is reminiscent of The Band. A conscious reaction against the hippy-dominated hegemony of the times.
I wished you had talked about Reed as a guitarist more. Very underrated. The playing on I Heard Her Call My Name especially.
Thanks for giving them an airing and while I disagree with a lot of your conclusions I was impressed with how honest and open-minded you were even far outside your comfort zone. It was helpful to have Kramzer weighing in, playing the token Fox News liberal.
The gift is about Waldo Jeffers mailing himself to his long distance gf who had cheated on him the night before, only to be killed by her after she drives a sharp object thru the middle of the box
01 Velvet Underground
02 Velvet Underground & Nico
03 Loaded
04 White Light/White Heat
05 Squeeze
Great video. Interesting comments by all three. Least fave to most fave ranking for me is WL/WH, VU and Nico, The VU, Loaded.
If we are ranking Worst to Best then VU and Nico has to be at the top of the list. It's innovative, influential, groundbreaking, all that stuff, and includes some great songwriting. I like listening to The VU and Loaded more, but they aren't as daring as the debut or WL/WH.
I think their songs are uniformly either fantastic or interesting in the case of the experimental tracks like The Gift, Murder Mystery, Sister Ray. Only two tracks I don't really feel add much to their legacy: I Heard Her Call My Name and European Son, although the latter starts out with promise. I'm not a huge fan of atonal music, I guess.
Don't forget Joe, you found some things to like about Sonic Youth!
I like The Velvet Underground but I am admittedly a more casual fan. I own the debut and a best of compilation. I didn't listen to all the albums this week but did revisit the debut and I still really like it. I also listened to Squeeze and was definitely expecting a much bigger disaster than it was. Yes, it's not a VU album by any means but it's fine like you all said. I'll probably never listen to it again but meh. I know I've heard the other albums over the years but don't know them well. I'd like to revisit Loaded after watching this though.
I have a CD-rom set of all the Rolling Stone issues from 1967 to 2007 and lately have been reading the original reviews of albums starting with 1970 because I find it fascinating to get that perspective of what critics thought before history decided what was classic and influential. I read the original review for Loaded the other day and it was very positive so today I wanted to see the review for Squeeze just to see what they said. I couldn't find it. It looks like they didn't even actually review it when it came out. I guess that says a lot about how upset people were at the time. Even on Wikipedia the review they referenced was from an album guide.
If you think Moe is a bad drummer listen to live at the Matrix! They definitely were a live jam band and she holds it down like a boss. Great analysis guys
Even though she is credited on the album, Moe Tucker didn't actually play on Loaded.
White Light is hard for me to get through. Aside from that, I love the other three albums, as well as those albums that were put together from tracks the Velvets worked on but didn't use.
Is there any plans to review the solo albums of Lou Reed and I'll be interested to see if you include Metal Machine Music, Lulu (the one with Metallica) and Hudson River Wind Meditions
This is great guys. If any band was actually life changing for me it was The Velvet Underground. No one else comes close. It was the first album that did it and remains my favourite VU album and perhaps my favorite album. I would have to include at least the two comps 1969 Live and Max's as they are as important to the discography as the main four. Never listened to Squeeze and never will so not relevant to me. No other band has opened my eyes to so much more. I'm so glad I discovered them at a young age. I was more or less a prog listener before the VU. My list is very subjective in regards to what I included.
The Velvet Underground and Nico - 5.0 Ageless beauty - although others have followed and thank VU for that, there is no record quite like this one. Perfect. European Son is a great closer - do not listen to detractors. All Tomorrow's Parties is perfect.
VU - A compilation but one of the most enjoyable listens. I Can't Stand It, Foggy Notion, Lisa Says are all fantastic. I will reach for this one if I want to play VU for people who've never heard VU before. 5.0
1969 Live : One of my favourite live albums and a bunch of songs not found elsewhere, now perhaps superceded The Complete Matrix Tapes. The best versions of Rock and Roll and What Goes on can be found here. easy 5.0 and I always reach for this and VU in summer. The Stones talk about guitar weaving - I love the Stones but Lou and Sterl were the best guitar weavers. It's what helps to make them great.
The Velvet Underground 4.5 - A beautiful record with a perfect side one. Side two unfortunately let down by The Murder Mystery - I love experimentalism but this one doesn't work for me. Essential 4.5
White Light White Heat - 4.5 let down by The Gift most of all. Sister Ray still surprises me to this day.
Loaded - 4.5 A little generic sounding for VU but still has some classic tracks. Oh Sweet Nuthin' still sounds great.
Live at Max's Kansas City - 4.0 The older I get the better this becomes, Such a different take of these songs. Maureen added so much to the previous albums so noticed by her absence here even if these are fun exciting rock and roll versions all experimental elements gone. Still love it.
Another View 4.0 Nothing below a 4 for me. This is the weakest but still has Mr Rain and a few other gems.
I look forward to Joe's take as I know it won't be his thing.
Later edit. Kram is the only one I can take seriously re VU especially when he starts talking about the third album. He actually talks about the music - guitar etc. Jason is predictable in his conservatism.
My favorite Velvets song is probably the instrumental version of "Ride Into the Sun" off of Another View. I want it played at my funeral.
@@neesi1570 I agree, it's wonderful. I was a bit hard on Another View as it's actually pretty great.
'1969: Velvet Underground Live' was the first of their records that I listened to and it is a great introduction.
All of these things can be enjoyed together: The Velvet Underground (a best of compilation will satisfy me), the movie
“I Shot Andy Warhol”
Lou Reed’s album Transformer and song Ecstasy. Oh and Jonathan Richman & Julian Casablancas in all of their incarnations. Wish I could hear Venus in Furs for the First time all over again!!! No other song of theirs touches this one. Can you just imagine listening to this in ‘67 sprawled out on a chaise lounge?! What.
The first couple with Cale alternate being my favorite depending on which I listened to most recently. Lou wanted to go more commercial than John though. While I do absolutely love S/T and Loaded, I can't help but wonder what more they could've accomplished with their partnership (not considering their commissioned Songs For Drella 20 years later.)
In my top ten 10 artists of all time. Used to have a banana t-shirt that I literally wore off.
I've been always surprised by how little appreciation you guys have shown so far to VU and the solo career of their members. Will hear now your reasons.
My list:
4. White Light White Heat (7). 10 for courage, boldness and adventure, some great songs, awesome sound but not such a pleasant listening experience from start to finish. The record I listen to the least.
3. Loaded (9). Fantastic production, a bunch of classics, interesting deep cuts... I'm just missing the experimentation.
2. The Velvet Underground (9.5) All the songs are awesome, a bit more adventurous than Loaded. Only for having Pale Blue Eyes deserves at least 8 points. Great listen from start to finish, only maybe The Murder Mistery is too long. Excellent lyrics. So cool.
1. The Velvet Underground and Nico. (10) Perfect balance between their artier and their more melodic work. Filled with classics. One of the most influential albums ever. Incredible art work. I must have listened to it a million times. Caleb's weird viola, Nico's cold but compelling voice, Lou Reed's songwriting, the cave man drumming... all match perfectly for me.
I have the first two albums and a live album, and those are what I'm most familiar with, and have been since I discovered the band around 1999. I definitely like them best when they're raunchy, scrappy an d almost disagreeable. The debut is also my favourite and I think Nico is great. Not the most expressive singer in the world maybe but she lends a quality of further oddness to everything with her thick teutonic tones. I really love the noisy stuff -- who else was doing that in 1967, really? And Cram is right -- there is a whole load of variety on this album.
I adore the Velvet Underground! also, you guys should do The Monkees before their last remaining member croaks
Jason and Joe's comments were what was an ice pick to the ears.
I have never felt the need to listen to Squeeze.
4. White Light/White Heat - 4.5 stars.
3. Loaded - 4.5 stars.
2. The Velvet Underground - 5+ (as in, top 100 of all-time for me) stars.
1. The Velvet Underground and Nico - 5+ stars.
I'll comment further on the songs video tomorrow. The two VU albums are also essential. The lost VU album would have been 4.5 stars and above Loaded in ranking; ditto their fantastic 1969 Live double set.
The song “I heard her call my name” from White Light/White Heat has quite possibly the MOST INSANELY HEAVY guitar soloing of al time. I prefer more avant garde approaches in rock so I like White Light/White Heat the most
@@jefferyhoelscher EXACTLY THE MOMENT I WAS REFERRING TO🤘🏽😀
@@jefferyhoelscher pretty epic stuff man. The stuff we feel in the music is genuine and can be felt empathetically amongst others
I hope you do Lou Reed soon.
I remember buying Squeeze when it was re-released about 1974 or 75 and took it around to a friend's place to play for the first time.
He was more into Yes and ELP and when I heard it I was embarrassed it being so lightweight and so different to their early stuff, but he was really liking it and wanted to hear each and every track right through- very strange.
New Nickname: Velvet UnderJoe
The worst thing about the VU are all the bands who came after them claiming to be influenced by them.
Yeah, they should have known better. - Joe
Well reasoned, persuasive arguments from Jason, Kram and Joe, paying due respect to the catalogue. I haven't heard Squeeze but my curiosity has been piqued! Of the four "core" albums, all have their strengths and occasional weaknesses. My ranking would be:
4. White Light White Heat - Side 1 is quite enjoyable but side 2 is a tough listen
3. The Velvet Underground & Nico (I honestly thought I had a faulty copy when I first heard European Son!)
2. Loaded ... choc full of more accessible songs.
1. The Velvet Underground ... For me the perfect distillation of VU
Kramzer is spot on re: Loaded. Reed's vocal performance on this album is a difference maker. He sings with great power and conviction. I will note that after repeated listenings over the course of several years, the greatness of his vocal performance became more and more evident.
Sweet Nothing, that ending performance from Lou, all the feels every time.
5, Squeeze - 2 stars
4. White Light White Heat - 3 stars
3. The Velvet Underground - 4 stars
2. Loaded - 4.5 stars
1. Velvet Underground & Nico - 5 stars
7. Squeeze
6. Another View
5. White Light White Heat
4. Loaded
3. The Velvet Underground
2. VU
1. The Velvet Underground and Nico
Or maybe switch 2 and 3 around
All four of the Lou Reed VU albums are classics and 10/10s
Loaded 5*
The Velvet Underground 4.5*
The Velvet Underground & Nico 4*
White Light/White Heat 3.0*
Squeeze 2.5*
Pretty close to mine, except I have 1 & 2 flipped.
@@edgustafson yeah, I hear you. For me it’s just that I love every single track on Loaded. I can’t say the same for TVU.
@@josejones They're both pretty close for me. There's 2-3 tracks on each I could live without, but I like the vibe of TVU a bit better.
Lou Reed best to worst worthwhile
Another great video, thanks!
My personal choice:
5. Squeeze (obvious reasons)
4. White Light White Heat (really enjoy it, but the production hurts my ears at times!)
3. …and Nico (love this album, but it’s one that I listen less to than I appreciate it)
2. Loaded (really fun album with the band all on fire)
1. The Velvet Underground (beautiful songs - with the exception of Murder Mystery, love the REM sound on here)
Same ranking as me!
I agree with Joe, Nico's voice annoys me on their debut, I like the songs without her on it.
The Velvet Underground is a pretty good band. They don’t have a bad album and one of their albums is fantastic. I like them. Especially their early stuff is quite unique compared to the music of that time.
Good Albums (3 Stars):
5. The Velvet Underground
(Unfortunately, I’m not a big fan of Folk-Rock and it shows again. Not getting much from this album, still not bad. Another 3-star Folk album that is not bad at all but gives me nothing.)
4. White Light/White Heat
(‘The Gift’ is horrible, but the rest is good. ‘I Heard Her Call My Name’ is the highlight on this album. It’s a good album, just a bit disappointing after that debut.)
Really Good Albums (4 Stars):
3. Squeeze
(I’m not sure why people have problems with this album. A great collection of catchy Rock tunes, nothing wrong with it.)
2. Loaded
(Strong album. They successfully try to make accessible music while still sounding like ‘The Velvet Underground’.)
Amazing Albums (5 Stars):
1. The Velvet Underground & Nico
(Legendary album. Has a great dark atmosphere to it. The songs sung by Nico are a welcome change and it makes for an overall amazing album experience. ‘Heroin’ is a masterpiece of a song.)
Thanks for being more realistic about them. The Banana album is one of a kind and light years ahead of it's time. Loaded is next best but what if they had use Nico on Loaded too?
I guess if I can’t be Billy Joel buddies with Kram, the velvet underground will have to do cause I love this band. I got the biggest smile on my face when Kram noted Reed’s singing on loaded. To me, it’s some of the best classic rock vocals of all time up there with Mick from Exile on Main Street and Dylan from Blonde on Blonde. Their lyrics are amazing but I always gravitated towards Reed’s voice. I never found him to be as expressive with his solo work which is a shame because songs like White Light / White Heat, Sweet Jane, Sunday Morning, and so on are phenomenal. I don’t count squeeze so White Light / White Heat is their worst out of the 4. The idea is cool and the title track is amazing but it’s too much. I never understood how die hard velvet fans can praise that album and diss Loaded for being too commercial. My top two have always been between the 3rd and fourth and it just depends on the mood, but they are both without a doubt perfect 5 stars, especially if we are talking about the Closet mix for the 3rd album. The debut is great but fuck European Son sucks lol. Excited for top ten songs tmrw!
Amen! Just listened to Loaded again and Lou's singing is incredible. Great performance!
Do you hate Billy joel? - kram
guys i came on board to your great channel about a year ago , but did not see year end 2020! So next thursday you do album of year 2021. Do you do a songs of the year 2021 also? will you have videos tuesday and wednesday? Cheers!!
We’re doing 10 best of the year, then SOTY 2021 the next day. We also have some yearly awards to hand out. So there should be a full week of content. - Joe
Really appreciate Jason’s comments on the debut. An album can be historic and influential but you don’t necessarily have to like it
Good point, although Jason does like it to some degree.
I probably hate most of what it influenced but in itself it does have some good/interesting music. So I maintain the influence aspect is irrelevant.
@@starry2006 I agree. It’s garbage! In terms of influence, we should only be talking about and praising the Beatles and Led Zeppelin…and them alone. (Sarcasm)
I'm pleasantly shocked you included Squeeze in the ranking. There's some really nice stuff on there and it'd be far better remembered if it had just been credited to Doug Yule.
I bought the debut on cassette with 14th birthday money. My parents had recently divorced and my dad would come over to pick me up in his car and go for long rides, talking and listening to music. I remember distinctly that VU&N was the first music choice I made that genuinely alarmed him, which gave the album enormous credibility in my eyes. I’ve always loved the variation in styles that they adopted from album to album. Each has its own little universe of sound. And obviously they are one of a handful of most influential rock bands ever. I’m also a big fan of Lou Reed solo discography and an even bigger fan of John Cale’s.
7. The Doug Yule Band’s Squeeze. 2.5 stars. A pleasant nothingburger.
6. Another VU. 3.5 stars. Few other bands’ bottom of the bottom of the barrel scraps sound this good.
5. VU. 4 stars. Some really great songs, including a handful of their best; however, I generally prefer live versions of most of these. (The Velvet Underground’s live albums could almost warrant their own Listography.)
4. White Light/White Heat. 4.5 stars. I’m not always in the mood for something this loud, dirty, speed-fueled and sometimes just ugly. But when I’m in the mood for it, this record works so well.
3. Loaded, 4.5 stars. Over time the second half of this album has struck me as relatively weak compared to its no-doubter 5-star first side. “Rock & Roll” is easily a top-5 VU song for me.
2. The Velvet Underground. 5 stars. The most pleasant, if not most exciting, listening experience in the discography. Absolutely superb all the way through, folk-rock with enough lyrical barbed edges to keep things super honest and real.
1. The Velvet Underground & Nico. 5 stars. This came out several months before Sgt. Pepper. It was the sound of the future. Staggeringly influential, thrilling music. “Venus in Furs,” “All Tomorrow’s Parties” and “Heroin” are mesmerizing, while “Sunday Morning” and “I’ll Be Your Mirror” are completely gorgeous. This one still holds up. It will always hold up.
Going into Squeeze years ago, I did REALLY want to rank it higher than White Light/White Heat since I find that album insanely overrated and although I get its’ influence, I just don’t get how people can actually listen to “The Gift” and the last 2/3rds of “Sister Ray” (among other moments) for pleasure on their own. Can’t do it though - although definitely not a terrible album (it’s a high 2-1/2 stars for me) Squeeze is just an overly lightweight copy of Loaded with no great songs on it.
My overall ranking goes like:
1. The Velvet Underground & Nico (4 stars) (“Sunday Morning” is a contender for not only my favorite 60’s song but #1 ever, and combined the rest of side 1 as an album/EP by itself, it would rank super high on my all time list. I do find side 2 somewhat of a letdown though, especially “European Son” outside that first minute, so I can never quite get up to 4.5, although it’s very close.)
2. The Velvet Underground (4) (When first getting into the band it was my favorite since it was more consistent to me than the debut - I even like “The Murder Mystery” a good bit - but the songs definitely don’t blow me away as much as the debut high points.)
3. Loaded (4 stars, on the lower end) (The first three songs and “Oh Sweet Nothin’” are probably the highs here and prove that Lou Reed had a talent for writing very listener friendly music as well. Very predictable choice for Jason’s favorite. 😂)
4. White Light/White Heat (3 stars) (Some of the raw noise like the title track and “Lady Godiva’s Operation” is cool, but I feel like this style was done so much better by others later, like Here Come the Warm Jets by Brian Eno for instance.)
5. Squeeze (2.5 stars) (Yeah, if this was properly credited as Doug Yule’s first solo album, no way would it have a comically low 1.99 average on Rate Your Music. 🙄)
agree. Another aspect of The Gift, I don't like John Cale's voice.
Joe, I think you are wrong in that I think Lou Reed is a great rhythm guitar player, with the emphasis on the rhythm. I love the way he really propels so many of the songs forward with his relentless rhythmic playing. What Goes On, I Can't Stand It, Rock and Roll, Foggy Notion. Many of my favorite tunes are those propulsive rockers.
I could very well be wrong. - Joe
@@TastesLikeMusic they aren't virtuoso musicians, and even Reed's rhythm guitar playing is not technically advanced, but he's just got a feel for the groove that I find powerful.
@@burmajones803John Cale is a classically trained musician, who joined the Welsh Youth Orchestra aged 14 and was granted a Leonard Bernstein scholarship in 1963 to study in the U.S.
The Velvet Underground had broken up by the time I became possessed by music, so I worked my way back from "Transformer," but it helped that WNEW-FM had a few "Loaded" songs on regular rotation. Music like The Velvets, T-Rex, Bowie, the Kinks and Roxy Music saved me from the macho, Long Island environment I was surrounded by. It wasn't like my friends and I made a conscious effort to listen to less-than-mainstream music, it's just that listening to VU opened our ears to other possibilities. Also, it's not like we all became the school rebels; we still listened to Rod Stewart, The Stones, Elton John If I had to rate the albums, "The Velvet Underground and Nico" would be number 1. I adore Nico's voice, and her "Marble Index" album is an all time favorite. I'm also a fan of noise; contrary to many of my age I've grown to enjoy volume and what may appear to be chaos in music. "The Velvet Underground" is number 2; "I've come to hate my body and all that it requires in this world" is one of my favorite lyrics, imprinted on every post 30 injury and ailment. "White Light/White Heat" is a recent number 3, though "The Gift," while amusing, is skippable. I have gotten to love the murkiness of it all. If I can't have it tie for number 3, I guess "Loaded" is number 4. I was shocked, after years of thinking Lou did vocals that turned out to be Yule. The double disc version of "Loaded" is also a must have. Gotta say I listen to the "VU" compilation of stray tracks almost as much any of the "standard" VU albums. I hope some of those songs make it on to the follow up video. Despite the narrow parameters of the recent Todd Haynes documentary, I think it's a must see for any VU fan. One of my few recent excursions to a movie theater, but it was safely, and sparsely attended; it helped that the sound system was great.
'80s college radio introduced me to the Velvet Underground, REM's "Dead Letter Office" has 3 VU covers alone. And Cowboy Junkies' "Sweet Jane" is my favorite cover of that song. Don't really love them or anything but they never intended to be a "lovable" band.
*5. Squeeze (1973):* Listening to the albums in order, this seems bland and full of cliche. Capable but just not in the same ballpark.
*4. White Light/White Heat (1968):* Obvious recording issues, not surprised Jason put it at the bottom.
*3. Loaded (1970):* Really like the first 3 and the final song. Feels like the end for VU though (and it was) as they went commercial.
*2. The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967):* The variety of the songs is its best point. I also like how the album moves, song by song, from completely accessible and tuneful all the way to practically unlistenable. ... "Heroin" illustrates how well VU matches the music with the lyric theme.
*1. The Velvet Underground (1969):* Except for "Murder Mystery," I like all of these songs, it's the most cohesive album for me. And "Pale Blue Eyes" is easily my favorite Velvet Underground song.
Dead Letter Office also introduced me to the VU.
Two separate guitarists broke strings on my acoustic guitar playing "Sweet Jane." Now, if someone asks to play my guitar, and they pass the not-too-drunk visual inspection; I first make them promise that they won't play "Sweet Jane'" before I hand it over...
I always thought the VU was like Music's way of being accepting of people who have no musical talent. Why should the kids who had money for music lessons have all the fun? type of thing...
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, though? As long as there will still be room for Kevin Federline, at some point in the future, I guess that's cool...
I will add that I haven't heard enough of them; they have always just been that "plucked his eyebrows on the way" band, or something; to me...
John Cale was in the National Youth Orchestra of Wales and went on to study music at a conservatory in London. He also worked with composers like Aaron Copland and John Cage, so there's that. And unless you don't count songwriting as a musical talent, saying Lou Reed has no musical talent is kinda silly too.
1)Loaded 5.0
2)The Velvet Underground 4.5
3)White Light/White Heat 3.5
4)The Velvet Undergound & Nico 3.5
5)Squeeze 2.0
my fav sweet jane cover is done by the cowboy junkies!
THEN the big task Lou Reed SOLO !
I would've loved to hear the 3 of you take on Big Star - not that you still can't without Kram. Is there an album minimum to justify a show?
5 minimum. But we can do a Listo Jr.
Jason said the first VU album eas the first ever art rock album. Hmm.....
Wouldn't you say that accolade should go to the debut Zappa & The Mothers album, Freak Out, from 1966? I suppose you could classify that as experimental rock or avant garde rock, but, I dunno, seems like an art rock record to me, fellas.
I love the velvet underground, but beside the debut I only listened to the others once or twice, and squeeze not yet, but here's on the spot listing:
1) The debut
2) The Velvet Underground
3) Loaded and White Light/White Heat, depending on my mood (I'm a person who equally enjoys the flying burrito brothers and sonic youth, I ranked the other two higher because the debut is a masterpiece and the third one has some really heartfelt sweet songs)
Joe has an open mind; that’s a good thing!
I tried. - Joe
John Cale added what you call 'Art Rock' . I was 16 when they came out. Coincidentally we called this "Underground Music'. Music that wasn't in the mainstream. I do like Nico!
I've got the velvet underground the complete matrix tapes On vinyl records
4. White Light/White Heat
3. Loaded
2. The Velvet Underground
1. Velvet Underground and Nico
I feel like you guys would probably quite like the Complete Matrix tapes, which you've probably heard before. The idea of them in San Francisco, the hippie mecca, in the later 60's is a bit of a head trip.
As the guys pointed out, the VU actually had some things in common with the Byrds and the Dead on occasion in the way they play guitar.
Supposedly they had some equipment stolen which affected the sound of the self-titled.
Correct however that album was essentially prepared when they were on tour. More of the reason the album sounds different is because John’s droney elements are gone and Lou wanted to go more with a simpler and mainstream approach. While the equipment does make a difference, their goals were also simply different.
Almost forgot it was The Velvets week 😲. Straightforward list I think . Great band . So great, I hardly listen to them these days but their aura lingers on in the sound of every 2nd indie / art rock band I hear . My tribute to Lou and the gang
1. Velvet Underground and Nico
2. Velvet Underground
3. White Light/ White Heat
4. Loaded
5. Squeeze
One of my favorite bands
I love all 4 albums pretty much the same. I haven't heard Squeeze yet but I think Doug Yule was great on the 3rd and 4th albums. I LOVE "Sister Ray" but hated the whole album on first listen. My ranking of Listography's rankings: #1 Kramzer #2 Joe (proud of you!) 😁 #3 Jason. 😃
Thank youuuuu! - Joe
5. Squeeze
4. The Velvet Underground
3. Loaded
2. White Light/White Heat
1. The Velvet Underground & Nico