Track Listing

1. Who Loves The Sun
2. Sweet Jane
3. Rock 'n' Roll
4. Cool It Down
5. New Age
6. Head Held High
7. Lonesome Cowboy Bill
8. I Found A Reason
9. Train Round The Bend
10. Oh Sweet Nuthin'

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #15305 in Music
• Released on: 1993-01-24
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.co.uk Review
While John Cale certainly gave the first couple of Velvet Underground albums a signature sound, his departure enabled Lou Reed to do exactly what he does best: write kick-ass, stripped-down rock songs. On Loaded his talent comes to full fruition. Who can imagine a world without "Sweet Jane" and "Rock & Roll", arguably two of the greatest rock tunes ever penned? The brilliance of those songs is so bright, it's easy to overlook a couple of other Reed masterpieces: the tender, epic discourse of "New Age" (which highlights his assured sense of poetic wordplay: "And when you kissed Robert Mitchum / Gee, but I thought you'd never catch him!", and the extended sweet blues romp of "Oh! Sweet Nuthin'." On Loaded the Velvet Underground--who before had hit the sonic ceiling experimenting with shattered chords, feedback, screeching violas and what Reed once claimed was "the fastest guitar playing ever"--eschew the dark side of noise for clarity. Check out the ringing chime that begins "Who Loves the Sun" and the sterling (no pun intended) guitar riff that drives "Rock & Roll." This is not to say that the old ragged punch of the original Velvets is completely gone. Moe Tucker still beats a mean set of skins; there's no stopping Sterling Morrison's train-wreck rhythm guitar on "Train Round the Bend"; and "Head Held High" achieves near- "Sister Ray" moments of madness. --Tod Nelson

Customer Reviews

You may be dissapointed
If you're reading this, chances are that you fulfill the following criteria: 1/Bought and loved the first velvet underground and Nico album, 2/Are confused by the velvets patchy back catalogue, and are wondering what to buy next.
Well, I can safely say that if you really need more velvets then this might be the album for you. If you loved the more acessable tracks on "The VU and Nico" such as "Sunday Morning" and "There she goes again", then chances are you'll love this album too. It contains many fine examples of the Velvet's unique brand of off kilter pop music, with the pretty "Who Loves the Sun" and the essential combination of "Rock and Roll" & "Sweet Jane. If however, your tastes on the first album went toward the wackier "Venus in Furs", "Black Angel's Death Song" then you'll more than likely hate this album. Its difficult to understate just how commercial this album is. For example, Lou Reed was so upset with the results, he quit the band and washed his hands of the album. It is also worth considering that at this point in the Velvet's timeline, Lou Reed was to a large extent being phased out of the band to make way for the girl friendly Doug Yule, who's sappy rather dull influence, and will to commercialise pervades some of the weaker tracks on this album. This isn't a bad album at all, but fans of the harder music would be better off with the fantastically minimal "White Heat White Light", with its bizzare stories and brutal proto-punk.

Loaded
Loaded is the most mainstream, and consequently least interesting, of the velvets albums. Despite this, though, it is still an essential purchase like the other three albums. Who Loves The Sun, Sweet Jane and Rock N Roll still stand up as some of Lou Reed's most memorable tunes.

A decent final album, but far from essential
After unleashing two brutal and innovative avant-rock albums (Velvet Underground & Nico, White Light/White Heat) followed by a stunning, hushed and contemplative eponymous release, the standards the Velvet Underground had set themselves for this there fourth and final release were almost unbearably high. An endeavour not helped by the departure of bassist and creative mainstay John Cale from the band.

The absence of Cale may go some way to explaining why 'Loaded' emerged as easily the most commercial of the four VU releases and in many ways their most disappointing. Loaded bears a closer relation to Lou Reed's solo work than to it's predecessors, lacking both the restrained majesty of the 'Velvet Underground' or the sonic assault of the 1st two albums.

Loaded is quite simply a mainstream, uncomplicated rock and roll record: albeit a pretty good one. Whilst it is difficult to escape the feeling that the Velvets were capable of rather more than this, 'Loaded' has it's moments notably the languid 'New Age' and the awesome 'Rock and the Roll' yet in the final analysis these gems are sullied by an excess of filler.

Not recommended for the uninitiated, try '...and Nico' for starters, yet for the converted 'Loaded' is a worthwhile addition...just don't expect it to change your life.