Product Description

Velvet Underground's self-titled third album seemed like the debut of a new band. John Cale had left (replaced by Doug Yule) and the group became, for all intents and purposes, Lou Reed's back-up band. The songs actually sounded like rock music and John Cale's screeching musicality was reworked into songs that featured Sterling Morrison's most eloquent guitar accompaniment.
Reed's songwriting moved beyond the armed-to-disarm approach of the previous two albums towards a spiritual level of empathy with the human race--a change thatwouldn't go unnoticed. The man who once begged someone to "nullify [his] life" ("Heroin") was now asking "Jesus" to "help me find my proper place", and whooping his way through the equally inspiring "Beginning To See The Light". To this day, every song on VELVET UNDERGROUND sounds like a breakthrough.
In short, VELVET UNDERGROUND showcased the human sideof Lou Reed's songwriting. Unobstructed by walls of sonic noise, Reed's insight and genius was finally allowed to shinethrough.

Track Listing

1. Candy Says
2. What Goes On
3. Some Kinda Love
4. Pale Blue Eyes
5. Jesus
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

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1800 in Music
• Released on: 1996-05-20
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Running time: 44 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Released in 1969 to an almost total lack of critical acclaim or consumer interest, the Velvet Underground's third album may well be the finest record of the band's career. Without the sonic terrorism of The Velvet Underground & Nico and White Light/White Heat or the ill-conceived commercial concessions that marred Loaded, the album's songs are free to stand on their own merit. And stand they do: "What Goes On" and "Beginning to See the Light" may be the finest flat-out rockers in the band's catalogue, while "Pale Blue Eyes", "Jesus", and "Candy Says" are some of the most delicately gorgeous songs Lou Reed has ever penned. There's no evidence here of any of the psychedelic effects and hippie sloganeering that marked most late-1960s rock releases, which is probably why the record still holds up today. --Dan Epstein

Customer Reviews

one of the all-time great albums
I keep on coming back to some of the tracks on this album, and yes, I did buy it on shiny black vinyl when it came out in the late sixties. For me, some kinda love, pale blue eyes, and what goes on are the standout tracks, but, it has to be said, there's not one duffer on the album. Best of all, it sounds as good today as it did back in sixty nine. An absolute classic gem of soft but weird rock, beautifully produced and recorded, and showcasing Lou Reed's song writing at its best. Buy it and enjoy! This is one of the best albums of all time, and truly seminal in the way it influenced rock music from then on.

Here are some of Lou Reed's finest songs.
This was the Velvet Undergrounds third album and the first without John Cale. After the distortion laced, White Light White Heat, this album showcases solid song writing glued together by more thoughtful arrangements. The VU's can still burn through high energy numbers as proved by Lou Reed's almost ecstatic delivery of Beginning to See the Light but John Cale's uncompromising razor-wire viola has been replaced by Doug Yule's altogether lighter touch. Don't get me wrong, they are not scared to take risks, just listen to the experimental Murder Mystery.

Here are some of Lou Reed's finest songs. Complex and subtle lyrics are woven into some of his most compelling tunes.

The album pays dividends from repeated listening as each new playing draws further dimensions to the fore. If you want to own just one Velvet Underground album you won't go far wrong with this.

The Velvets' Best?
I'll stick my neck out here- the Velvets, for all their reputation as terrifying, noisy avant-garde terrorists, are actually at their best when gentle, warm and melodic (eg Sunday Morning), and this album proves it. Amazingly for a Velvets album, it has (can you believe this?) production values, as well as highlights aplenty- such as Lou Reed's thrilling rhythm guitar solo on What Goes On, and the blissful trio Candy Says, Jesus and Pale Blue Eyes.
The real peak however, comes at the middle of the album- the soaring triumvirate of the Stonesy romp Beginning to see the Light (Lou sound like he's actually enjoying himself here, listen to him whoop at the chorus!), the almost catatonic I'm Set Free, and the jangly That's the Story of My life, which verges on being a throw-away track, but in the best possible way- in the way that only a great songwriter like Lou Reed could get away with.
The old adage about every Velvet's fan forming a band seems borne out by this record too. The blissed-out solo on I'm Set Free could be an offcut from the Pixies' Bossanova, while The Murder Mystery's bass riff must surely have inspired Joy Division (incidentally Ian Curtis named his dog Candy after the opening track!), while even After Hours has something of Oasis' Digsy's Dinner about it. It may not always quite reach the soaring peaks of the first album (like Venus in Furs), but overall its probably a better album, the Velvets having ditched the unlistenable elements without losing their alternative credentials (which would go completely out the window with the next album, Loaded).