Tattoo'd Lady
Scentless Apprentice
The Velvet Underground's eponymous album shows a much more gentle side to the New York City rockers than their two previous albums. Right from the beginning with "Candy Says" the band introduces their softer sound and more melodic songs than would ever be found on White Light/White Heat. No song on this album has a freak out moment quite like the final minutes of "Heroin" nor does it have a track quite as experimental as "The Gift" or "Sister Ray."
But what this album does have is melody. Melody the likes of which were rarely found on previous albums in songs such as "Sunday Morning" and "Here She Comes Now." But here the songs are presented in an even cleaner and crisper form. Where a previous album would have a nice, subdued, melodic song clouded with a haze of fuzz throughout the track, the songs on The Velvet Underground are clean and polished. Songs like "Jesus" and "After Hours" are nice and smooth and are able to build upon the gentle sound that the band flirted with on their debut album.
The Avant Garde and experimental influence on the Velvet Underground is a lot less prominent in this album as well, most likely due to John Cale leaving the band. However their experimental sounds still pop up throughout the album but of nowhere near the magnitude of their first two albums. The most experimental track, "The Murder Mystery" doesn't come anywhere close to the odd sounding music of White Light/White Heat but is just as interesting and great as any song off that album. "The Murder Mystery" takes their experimental sound and subdues it to a more accessible sound like the rest of the album. With this, the Velvet Underground successfully found the balance of what they were looking for for nearly three years: the right balance of experimental and progressive music but put into an accessible and clean sound to cater to the masses. And although this album, like the rest of the Velvet Underground discography, wasn't very popular among the masses, it remains to show the level of perfect Lou Reed and Co. reached during the end of the 60's.
Track Listing
Side One
1. Candy Says
2. What Goes On *
3. Some Kinda Love
4. Pale Blue Eyes
5. Jesus *
Side Two
6. Beginning to See the Light
7. I'm Set Free
8. That's the Story of My Life
9. The Murder Mystery *
10. After Hours *
* signifies personal favorites
But what this album does have is melody. Melody the likes of which were rarely found on previous albums in songs such as "Sunday Morning" and "Here She Comes Now." But here the songs are presented in an even cleaner and crisper form. Where a previous album would have a nice, subdued, melodic song clouded with a haze of fuzz throughout the track, the songs on The Velvet Underground are clean and polished. Songs like "Jesus" and "After Hours" are nice and smooth and are able to build upon the gentle sound that the band flirted with on their debut album.
The Avant Garde and experimental influence on the Velvet Underground is a lot less prominent in this album as well, most likely due to John Cale leaving the band. However their experimental sounds still pop up throughout the album but of nowhere near the magnitude of their first two albums. The most experimental track, "The Murder Mystery" doesn't come anywhere close to the odd sounding music of White Light/White Heat but is just as interesting and great as any song off that album. "The Murder Mystery" takes their experimental sound and subdues it to a more accessible sound like the rest of the album. With this, the Velvet Underground successfully found the balance of what they were looking for for nearly three years: the right balance of experimental and progressive music but put into an accessible and clean sound to cater to the masses. And although this album, like the rest of the Velvet Underground discography, wasn't very popular among the masses, it remains to show the level of perfect Lou Reed and Co. reached during the end of the 60's.
Track Listing
Side One
1. Candy Says
2. What Goes On *
3. Some Kinda Love
4. Pale Blue Eyes
5. Jesus *
Side Two
6. Beginning to See the Light
7. I'm Set Free
8. That's the Story of My Life
9. The Murder Mystery *
10. After Hours *
* signifies personal favorites
nice review!
