Candy Says
What Goes On
Some Kinda Love
Pale Blue Eyes
Jesus
Beginning To See The Light
I'm Set Free
That's The Story Of My Life
The Murder Mystery
After Hours
Frogtoon Music Album Info: The Velvet Underground & Nico 45th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition
Published: 02 Feb 2013, 19:57
Upon First Release The Velvet Underground's Self-Titled Third Album Must Have Surprised Their Fans Nearly As Much As Their First Two Albums Shocked The Few Mainstream Music Fans Who Heard Them. After Testing The Limits Of How Musically And Thematically Challenging Rock Could Be On Velvet Underground & Nico And White Light/White Heat This 1969 Release Sounded Spare Quiet And Contemplative As If The Previous Albums Documented Some Manic Speed-Fueled Party And This Was The Subdued Morning After. The Album's Relative Calm Has Often Been Attributed To The Departure Of The Band's Most Committed Avant-Gardist John Cale In The Fall Of 1968 The Arrival Of New Bassist Doug Yule And The Theft Of The Band's Amplifiers Shortly Before They Began Recording. But Lou Reed's Lyrical Exploration Of The Demimonde Is As Keen Here As On Any Album He Ever Made While Displaying A Warmth And Compassion He Sometimes Denied His Characters. "Candy Says " "Pale Blue Eyes " And "I'm Set Free" May Be More Muted In Approach Than What The Band Had Done In The Past But "What Goes On" And "Beginning To See The Light" Made It Clear The VU Still Loved Rock & Roll And "The Murder Mystery" Which Mixes And Matches Four Separate Poetic Narratives Is As Brave And Uncompromising As Anything On White Light/White Heat. This Album Sounds Less Like The Velvet Underground Than Any Of Their Studio Albums But It's As Personal Honest And Moving As Anything Lou Reed Ever Committed To Tape.