Velvet Underground

At this point in music history, it's become a given that the Velvet Underground were one of the most important and innovative rock bands of their era, and that the four albums they released during their lifespan rank with the most challenging and satisfying work in the rock canon…

Does this five-CD box set feature an abundance of essential material? Certainly. It has all four of the studio albums released by the Lou Reed-led lineup, and a wealth of previously unreleased goodies. Is it an essential purchase? That depends on your level of fanaticism. 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…

The world of pop music was hardly ready for The Velvet Underground's first album when it appeared in the spring of 1967, but while The Velvet Underground and Nico sounded like an open challenge to conventional notions of what rock music could sound like (or what it could discuss), 1968's White Light/White Heat was a no-holds-barred frontal assault on cultural and aesthetic propriety…

VU features tracks recorded mostly between THE VELVET UNDERGROUND and LOADED which were never released until they were rediscovered in the 80's.
One of two volumes of previously unreleased Velvets tunes, VU consists of songs that were discovered in the early-'80s when preparations were being made for reissue of the band's first three records. A few of the songs ("I Can't Stand It," "Lisa Says," "Ocean") can be heard elsewhere in different versions, but most had never seen the light of day before in any form. Nine of the ten cuts feature the celebrated 1969 version of the band, with Reed, Tucker, Morrison and Yule, while "Temptation Inside Your Heart" is a Cale-era gem from 1968…