Reed and Cale were both interested in fusing the avant-garde with rock & roll, and had found the ideal partners for making the vision (a very radical one for the mid-'60s) work their synergy would be the crucial axis of the Velvet Underground's early work. Cale, who had performed with John Cage and LaMonte Young, found himself increasingly attracted to rock & roll Reed, for his part, was interested in the avant-garde as well as pop. Reed did learn some useful things about production at Pickwick, and it was while working there that he met John Cale, a classically trained Welshman who had moved to America to study and perform "serious" music. After graduation, he set his sights considerably lower, churning out tunes for exploitation rock albums as a staff songwriter for Pickwick Records in New York City. By the early '60s, he was also getting into avant-garde jazz and serious poetry, coming under the influence of author Delmore Schwartz while studying at Syracuse University. ![]() Reed loved rock & roll from an early age, and even recorded a doo wop-type single as a Long Island teenager in the late '50s (as a member of the Shades). The member most responsible for these qualities was guitarist, singer, and songwriter Lou Reed, whose sing-speak vocals and gripping narratives came to define street-savvy rock & roll. But the band's colorful and oft-grim soundscapes were firmly grounded in strong, well-constructed songs that could be as humanistic and compassionate as they were outrageous and confrontational. The group was uncompromising in its music and lyrics, to be sure, sometimes espousing a bleakness and primitivism that would inspire alienated singers and songwriters of future generations. Historians often hail the group for their incalculable influence upon the punk and new wave of subsequent years, and while the Velvets were undoubtedly a key touchstone of the movements, to focus upon these elements of their vision is to only get part of the story. Their four studio albums - 1967's The Velvet Underground & Nico, 1968's White Light/White Heat, 1969's The Velvet Underground, and 1970's Loaded - are all essential documents, and 2015's The Complete Matrix Tapes is superb evidence of their power as a live act. Too far ahead of their time for pop music's mainstream, the VU made a profound impression on thoughtful listeners, many of whom would go on to make groundbreaking music of their own, and they would belatedly be acknowledged as one of rock's most important groups. ![]() Playing music that was boldly uncompromising both sonically and lyrically, the Velvet Underground infused rock & roll with the daring of the avant-garde and the poetic realism of post-beat literature. A separate release of the two discs or so of truly new material would have been welcomed by the many fans who aren't interested in paying for a five-CD box of stuff when they already have well over half of it.The Velvet Underground were largely ignored during heir original run from the mid-'60s into the early '70s, but few bands would cast as long a shadow in terms of innovation and influence. The thing is, though, that virtually everyone who's interested in this material has already bought the four studio albums, sometimes several times over. And there are sundry other unreleased live and studio items, highlighted by a scorching live 1967 "Guess I'm Falling in Love" and the 1969 demo "Countess From Hong Kong." There are also highlights from VU and Another View, longer versions of Loaded's "Sweet Jane" and "New Age," and an 80-page booklet. Other big bonuses include no less than seven outtakes from Loaded and other songs re-done by Reed on his early solo albums. The entire first disc is devoted to a drummer-less 1965 rehearsal tape in John Cale's loft, with radically different, almost folky run-throughs of most of the important songs from their classic debut, as well as a song that only made it onto Nico's first LP ("Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams"), and one which makes its first appearance anywhere (the Dylanesque "Prominent Men"). Most serious Velvet fans have all four of the core studio albums already (although the third, self-titled LP is presented in its muffled, so-called "closet" mix), and will be most interested in the previously unavailable recordings, which do hold considerable fascination. Is it an essential purchase? That depends on your level of fanaticism. ![]() It has all four of the studio albums released by the Lou Reed-led lineup, and a wealth of previously unreleased goodies. Does this five-CD box set feature an abundance of essential material? Certainly.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |