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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: $5.27
You Save: $4.71 (47%)
Buy New/Used/Collectible from $4.61
Avg. Customer Rating:  (264 reviews)
Sales Rank: 1305
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:
 A Great Album despite ... or becuase? August 14, 2007
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
This album is, to me, a classic. There's an incredibly strong emotional energy behind most of the songs on here, of which 'heroin' is probably the most outstanding example. The music is eclectic, range from sweet and melodic, to avant-garde noise, to rhythm and blues. Sometime in the same song. And Lou Reed's lyrics are superb.
Nico actually only sings on a 3 songs (or is it 4, am I missing one?) and the other songs are done entirely without her, so the title is somewhat of a misnomer. Now while I think this album is charming, it is highly idiosyncratic as well, and just because I like it doesn't mean you will. Here's somethings to note:
The production is HORRIBLE, I don't think there's a single song on the album without at least one instrument badly overdriven. This is in fact charming in a way, to me, and I think it adds a nice finish to "Sunday Morning" in particular, but a couple songs, like "Femme Fatale" would really benefit from a cleaner production.
Avant garde noise. Screaching feedback. Screaching, droning violas, unsteady percussion, atonal paino playing. In my opinion the only song made unlistenable by these factors is "European son', which features around 2 minutes of song and 3 minutes of noise. The feedback at the finale of 'Herion' works, and is appropriate thematically, but one could wish it was mixed to be less over-powering. John Cale's screaching droning viola is essential to "Black Angel Death Song" and "Venus in Furs", but it is not a pleasant thing. While I like all of these, it is easy to see why someone else might not.
Distinctive vocal styles of both Lou Reed and Nico. Lou Reed is a bit like Bob Dylan, I can't really think of a simile for Nico though. Listen to the samples, if you don't like their voices, you probably don't want this album.
Extremely simple forms characterize the songs, and some are extended for as long as 'herion's' 7 minutes of the same two chords. (D major and a G variant) Except for "European Son' and "Run, run, run", this isn't a problem for me. The songs have sufficient weight to be repeated out this long. If your attention span prevents you from making it though a song over 3 minutes long, don't buy this album.
Really, the best thing to do is to LISTEN to most of the tracks before you buy this album, because to some, the idiosyncrasies of this album will combine to make it great, and to others they will combine to make it almost unlistenable.
 Concrete hard August 9, 2007
1 out of 7 found this review helpful
I generally will not review a product on Amazon unless the previous review is thin.
The city ain't Eden, so one shouldn't project that expectation on it or its inhabitants. Humans went urban for money, convenience, and (ironically) safety, not to hear smog covered birds sing while we milk metal cows; hope that fact's not too cynical. Another fact: the Velvets cynicism isn't a pose; it's as hard and real as New York pavement. And art as reaction - especially that which is a reaction to bubbleheaded West Coast flower power - can easily surpass its "target" as art.
To quote the Bard of Duluth
"The city's just a jungle for games to play/Trapped in the heart of it, tryin' to get away./I was raised in the country, I've been working in the town/I've been in trouble ever since I set my suitcase down."
Or even Eddie Arnold: "Take Manhattan, give me that countryside."
The city isn't for the meek. Neither are the Velvets.
 Artful Poses August 6, 2007
10 out of 31 found this review helpful
I generally will not review a product on Amazon unless the existing commentary is thin. This CD is an exception, because it's so critically acclaimed and so BAD that I don't think there can be enough negative reviews on here to compensate for the cult following of people who've listened to it so many times that they think it's worthwhile for the rest of us.
I don't need to tell you what's wrong with it. There are lots of other good reviews detailing the many ills of this recording: terrible production with almost no sound separation, tone-deaf singing of unoriginal melodies, a dated style presented with limited musicianship, etc. Instead, I want to address the logical follow-up question that you might want to ask these negative reviewers: If it's so bad then why is it so praised?
This album was popular not because of what it WAS, but because of what it ostentatiously WAS NOT. The Velvet Underground flaunted their rejection of sugary "bubblegum" pop, of the British Invasion, and of the pastoral jam music then emerging out of the American folk/blues tradition. With all the subtlety of a thumb in your eye, they rejected these movements in favor of a stripped-down drone that was urban and cynical. In that sense, they were rebelling against American youth music in the same way that Steely Dan later would -- but incapable of drawing on a rival musical tradition (such as jazz), armed only with warmed-over Eastern and classical techniques already being used by the psychedelic artists that they mocked, all VU could offer were the lyrics and the pose. The critics embraced them for breaking the monotony, but their praise does more to explain why the music is forgettable than anything you'll get from the attacks: Nico's looks. Warhol's New York sophistication. All they could say on behalf of the music is that it was violently loud and repetitive. That's not particularly clever and, these days, it's not even rare. So many other people do it so, so much better.
Undeniably, Lou Reed was onto something with his reworking of Bob Dylan's vocal style. Even this early you can tell he's the one who'd eventually achieve some stardom. But rarely can he put it together with the band to craft a good performance. "I'm Waiting for the Man" would have lost nothing if Reed had performed it a capella, whereas with "All Tomorrow's Parties" it's too bad the vocalists lacked the wisdom to lay out. About the closest they get to a song that actually works both musically and vocally is "Venus in Furs," but it's hardly strong enough to carry an album.
Class of Their Own May 25, 2007
0 out of 4 found this review helpful
The first time I heard The Velvet Underground, I thought and still do think their style is so distinctive, like no other.
Lou Reed has great versatility in his voice,and can be quite commanding as in Heroin and Run,Run,Run.
There up there with Nico, just wow !!!!!
Thankfully through Andy Warhol artist on canvas film and music, we have The Velvet Underground.
Good music. May 14, 2007
13 out of 14 found this review helpful
Not so fond of Nico's voice, but Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground are awesome!
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