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| The Velvet Underground & Nico | 
 enlarge | Artists: The Velvet Underground, Nico
Label: Polydor / Umgd
Category: Music
List Price: $9.98
Buy New: $5.76
You Save: $4.22 (42%)
Buy New/Used/Collectible from $4.95
Avg. Customer Rating:  (265 reviews)
Sales Rank: 1426
Format: Original Recording Reissued, Original Recording Remastered
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 4.9 x 0.5
MPN: 531250
UPC: 731453125025
EAN: 0731453125025
ASIN: B000002G7C
Publication Date: 1996
Release Date: May 7, 1996
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 It ain't horrible, but it ain't great June 13, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I was disappointed with this album. I will admit that the lyrics are definately different from the material during the era this was released. However, despite that and the ecstatic violin on Heroin and Venus in Furs (the best song on the album), it sounds like a typical mainstream '60s rock record. I understand what they were trying to do, but I really do not see what all the pizazz is about. By the way, Nico couldn't carry a tune in a bucket--something that did not help this record. Even if she did not sing, I would still have the same feelings for this record.
 in response to a few of the negative reviews May 13, 2008
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
I feel that you do the band a disservice by writing off the lyrics as striving for "shock value." Lou Reed studied under and was recognized as a talented writer by the late Delmore Schwartz. Delmore was a talented writer of both prose and verse, an John Berryman [America's greatest poet] dedicated a section of The Dream Songs [America's greatest poem], to Schwartz. My point: Reed was/is a poet [much like Bob Dylan - though, Dylan was/is a more talented poet]. Since Ezra Pound said that it was the poet's objective to "make it new," it has been unacceptable for any serious poet to write commonplace verse. Really, looking back to John Donne and even further back to Ovid, the best poets were always breaking new ground. As far as songwriters go, Reed and Dylan were more like Skip James, Blind Willie Johnson, Charley Patton, Blind Lemon Jefferson, or Lightnin' Hopkins than the typical songwriter of the 60s. Instead of writing off 'Heroin' as a simple drug song - which I initially did - view it as an existential poem. It's very much a piece that struggles between hedonism and spirituality - one that wants to make a clear dash for hedonism, but is definitely haunted by spiritual undertones. Think: Nietzsche on one shoulder and Kierkegaard on the other [for a very simple explanation]. As a song of spiritual crisis, I liken it a great deal to Blind Willie Johnson's "Lord, I just can't keep from crying sometimes," where Johnson struggles between faith and a Job-like existence. Instead of writing off "Venus in Furs" as a song that aims to shock via sadism, view the psychological implications. The writing is painfully precise: "Strike dear mistress and cure his heart."
As for the music, like with Reed's lyrics, John Cale comes from a school of minimalism. As Bob Dylan pointed out, a great song can be comprised of one chord - see John Lee Hooker, whose minimalism influenced Bo Diddley. John Cale's viola ranges from delicate to hellish - depending on what each given song or moment needs.
That is why The Velvets are music for "thinking" people. The songs work as art. As most children will take Pizza Hut and Gummy Bears over a quality dining experience, most people will take Led Zeppelin, The Beach Boys or Frank Sinatra over The Velvet Underground, Bob Dylan, or the great bluesmen of the past.
Smooth as Velvet April 23, 2008
The digital version of this CD The Velvet Underground is excellent.
I used to be the proud owner of the vinyl version it was good but did not have the sharpness of the CD.
I was so excited when I found the CD on Amazon as I still had this music in my head.
Thank you Amazon from Linda John
 Album is a Mixed Bag March 11, 2008
4 out of 7 found this review helpful
To this reviewer both those who love this record and those who hate it are both correct. The Velvet Underground & Nico represents both the best and the worst of popular music. There are flashes of brilliance as in "Venus in Furs," highly listenable tracks as those sung by Nico (who is an appropriate vocalist on these decadent tracks), and tracks that are almost unbearably depressing (as in "Heroin," hardly a pro-drug song and more a song about despair and hopelessness in mid-sixties NYC). However, the final two tracks absolutely kill the album, as they are unlistenable junk. While this album and the group are considered greats in rock, I think that's a little bit overblown. The album is certainly a product of its time, during which Andy Warhol was the big name in New York, and it reflects those times, including the seedy underbelly of the city, and it couldn't be made today. But is it the greatest album ever made? Hardly, although it certainly has some great moments. And it is an influential album in that many no-talents who heard it suddenly decided if the Velvets could make records and make money no matter the quality, they could, too. That's not necessarily a good thing.
In short, this album and the Velvet Underground are acquired tastes that many people will never acquire and with some justification.
The Velvet Underground...a group ahead of it's time. February 22, 2008
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
From the first track to the last...each tune a great & howling tribute to almighty rock & roll!
From Nico's Germanic, Icy voice to Lou Reed's honest, Intense delivery on tracks like "Sunday Morning" & "Heroin" this CD (or MP3) will give you your moneys worth. I highly reccomend this to anyone who likes honest, no bullsh** music delivered by those who've lived on the edge!
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