White Light / White Heat

<3 velvet underground. sex

First listen in a few years and the first thing that struck me was: this must have been Steve Malkmus’ favorite record. The blueprint of Pavement (and yes, 1000 other bands) is here in many of its facets. Anyway, I love this record and on any given day it's my favorite VU record. The title track and Sister Ray, The Gift (!!!) Here She Comes Now, I Heard Her Call My Name. It's loaded (PI)

To me, the album that encapsulated the true Velvet Underground essence. It’s one of a kind

The thing about the Velvet Underground...it's hard to be this fucking cool. So many bands have tried to make songs like this and failed miserably but somehow it works here. Spoken word; Yes. 17 minutes songs, sure. Lou Reed is in fact a magician... Also the title track is an all time great Velvet Underground song so there's that. This album isn't for everyone and that's OK. Lastly it's New York AF...

VU = 5

Ten stars

Influential and groundbreaking. Great record.

Альбом був доволі цікавим, але я сумніваюсь що повернусь до нього. Хоча в групи цікаві пісні, можливо пораджу друзям

Essential

Why do I love this so much and hate prog rock so much? I think I just need grit in my musical noodling. Whatever the reason, the Velvets are exactly my type.

Starts strong and then just turns into a hangout. A nice jam with friends.

Absolutely hilarious and and a bop too

"White Light/White Heat" is the second studio album by American rock band the Velvet Underground. Noise rock, proto-punk, art rock and experimental rock are the Wiki-listed genres. You betcha. The album was recorded quickly and modeled after their live shows with techniques of improvisation. It was their last album with John Cale (vocals, electric viola, Vox Continental organ, bass) and the first after the firing of producer Andy Warhol. Other bandmembers included Lou Reed (vocals, lead guitar, piano), Sterling Morrison (guitar, bass, backing vocals) and Maureen Tucker (drums, percussion). Commercially, the album cracked the US Billboard Top LP's chart at #199. The album is cited as having a significant impact on punk and no wave. The self-titled "White Light/White Heat" opens the album with charging music. A bouncy piano with Reed on lead vocals. Backing vocals echoing the lead vocals. Sort of 50's doo-wop. And then the end foreshadowing the rest of the album with a distorted guitar and bass. Oh, a song about amphetamine usage. Cale is on lead vocals in "Lady Godiva's Operation." A melodic psychedelic guitar melody and thumping bass. A tale about a botched sex-change operation or lobotomy. Yep. Reed comes in at the end yelling various words seemingly to throw Cale off. Also, at the end are medical device and drilling noises. Frightening. The second side begins with "I Heard Her Call My Name." Distorted, banshee-like guitar strikes overlay the 60's-sounding pop song with female backing vocals. A love song about a dead girl. The album ends with the 17-minute "Sister Ray." The song starts with a fast, distorted guitar and pounding bass. Cale eventually comes in with an annoying distorted organ and I feel like I'm at some sort of weird, psychedelic circus not exactly sober. The song keeps tripping along. In comes a Bo Diddley riff, percussion beats that sound like garbage cans and ends with feedback and an even more annoyingly organ sound. A song about drag queens, heroin and sailors. You connect the dots. Experimental, avant-garde. The music seemingly is a battle between songs trying to carry a melody and songs with random noises and improvisation. Was this really a battle between Reed and Cale? The lyrics are purposely shocking with themes of drag queens, sex, transgender people and drugs. The lyrics and music match up perfectly. The vocals are sung, spoken, yelled and mimic medical devices. There's no doubt on the influence this album has on punk and no wave. And on artists like Jonathan Richman and Sonic Youth. And, of course, I liked this album. I found it fascinating. I liked it much more the second time through and thought it might go the opposite way. Who might also like this album? I don't know. Maybe, anyone who likes their music with distortion, feedback, annoying sounds or improvisation.

Grand fan de Velvet, grand fan de Lou Reed malgré son caractère de marde, grand fan de John Cale. Album à l'esprit grunge 25 ans avant son temps. Le docu The Velvet Underground (2021) de Todd Haynes n'est pas absolument remarquable mais vaut la peine malgré tout. On réalise l'importance de la présence de John Cale dans le groupe.

This used to be my least favorite of the original 4 VU albums, but I think it has actually become my favorite with time. Lou Reed is at the height of his powers without much of the ego that would later consume his work, John Cale is still in the band, and adding so much odd brilliance. The guitar work from Lou and Sterling are excellent, and Mo's drumming is minimalist and perfect for the songs. Oh, and Sister Ray might be a perfect song.

Motherfucker I love the Velvet Underground are you kidding me? Easy 5

I’m really happy this album popped up today. I don’t know why I’ve taken so long to return to this but today I did and I can confirm that’s it’s still fucking fantastic. It almost sounds as though they had a loose plan and just went for it, at least from a musical standpoint. It’s garage rock, it’s art and it’s absolutely experimental and the experiment is a huge success. It’s a beautiful mess that reminds of The Stooges masterpiece, Fun House. It’s the perfect amount of unhinged, it’s a trip, it’s a beautiful mess. Sister Ray, a sprawling 17 minute punk rock freakout that, is so distorted and so noisy, it will drown out whatever worries are bouncing around your skull. It will sweep you away in its rollicking complexity and take you to a better place. Settle in for this unsettling ride that is White Light/White Heat. 5 stars

real trap bangers

Bring the noise

Oh, this is a great album, recorded before Cale left. Another very influential album from the Velvet Underground. A particular high point is the mammoth needle-in-the-red Sister Ray, my favoured pre-club soundtrack in my youth!

What a gem.

Loved it. The guitar playing on this album is just visceral.. abrasive, loud and aggressive, especially Sister Ray. What a sound Clear to see why this was so influential on the punk and noise rock genres

Love velvet underground. Great album

Ok

Rock perfection. From focused ditties like Here She Comes to the full-on improvised noise of Sister Ray, this album has so many twists and turns. I love all of their albums, and they are all different, but this one sounds not quite like anything else, the influences less obvious than on the two albuns either side of this. Favourite is Heard Her Call My Name, but there is not a duff track on here.

10/10 AGHHRHHHHHHHHH

This album was incredible! I can't believe I've never heard of this one over Velvet underground and nico!

Like nothing else out there

This is kinda insane, but also kinda great.

yessssss sexy

I personally consider this album to be the first true noise rock record ever made. Of course, that’s debatable depending on how strictly you define “noise rock.” Artists like The Fugs, Red Krayola, and The Monks had already flirted with noisy, abrasive sounds, but none of them matched the sheer feedback driven aggression you get here. The Velvet Underground throws all caution to the wind, embracing raw distortion, amp noise, and complete chaos. The production is deliberately murky and abrasive. It was recorded quickly and mixed roughly, with the intention of sounding as raw and loud as possible. This album paved the way for countless artists like Sonic Youth, Suicide, Swans, Big Black, The Jesus Lizard, and MBV. This one was clearly meant to be anti commercial, something designed to repel mainstream taste, and it’s probably their least popular album. But for me, it’s my personal favorite. A lot of the music that came out of The Velvet Underground’s universe never really appealed to me the same way it does to others, but this is the one I fully connect with.

Perfect Ten / Perfect Goat

God I love John Cale. Saw old mate play the most futuristic version of Sister Ray in the Barbican while drones were flying around the theatre. Incredible. Imagine not wanting to listen to all 17 mins of Sister Ray. Longer versions are available. Lou is also an OK guy I guess. 1968! It's easy to think that better/wilder experimental music was happening then... I'd love to hear some examples.

I absolutely LOVE this immediately. I have been instantly charmed. Losing my mind. This is fantastic. Funny, weird, lovely, distinct, jarring, stupid, clever, stopped me in my tracks. Freaks me out in a way I appreciate enormously. I have fallen instantly in love. Bits of the 60s bleed through whatever the hell else is going on. Long live the oddballs.

Such a great raw album

Beat poetry set to peak sixties guitar riffs

I’m at a 5. Words escape me here – that was a 40 minute ride through some noisy, controlled chaos, and I loved basically everything about it. There’s a chance I’m gaslighting myself into liking another “artsy” album just for being different, but in this case, I think there’s a genuine case to be made in calling this a progenitor of heavy metal, shoegaze, industrial, & punk rock. For 1968, going all in on using feedback and overblown stuff as a storytelling device & an intentional instrumentation choice feels kind of revolutionary, especially so on the 17-minute adventure that is “Sister Ray”. By modern standards (& arguably, even by the early-mid 70s), this general style has been played to death, and gotten louder & screechier. As such, this album doesn’t sound as crazy to the ears as it probably did back then. We’re literally just a year after Sgt. Pepper’s, so something like this popping up from that band with the banana on the cover must’ve been jarring as hell. I’ve heard noisier & stranger stuff on the list though, so something like this where the musicality is still pretty intact throughout the whole thing makes it all feel normal by comparison. There’s good storytelling throughout this thing, some great guitar riffs, some maddening percussion, and enough of a vocal presence to keep the 40 minute runtime flowing really well. It’s abrasive as hell, but that’s why I like it. It’s definitely not an album for everyone, and I think that even for me, it would’ve been too much a while ago. I really don’t know what else to say – I think this is an album best experienced by just listening to it and letting the brain go nuts. I’m at a 5, but I totally understand why it might be a 3 or even a 2 for someone else. P.S.: Shoutout to “The Gift” for being the very first “Subway Surfers-core” track ever put to tape.

Such a foundational album for avant-garde, noise rock, experimental music of all flavors. I’d call this a 4 in its listening experience (as someone who likes this kind of stuff) but a 5 for impact. And also just to raise the score from all the normies who can’t handle it lol. ML #130.

I believe White Light/White Heat to be the purest distillation of VU’s artistic ethos: beautiful chaos gloriously unrestrained, dangerously honest, and defiantly unbound by time.

The song White Light/White Heat gets stuck in my head all the time even though I don't hear it much. I avoid listening to The Gift and thought I didn't like it, but you know what, it's fine. Most nihilistic album from the Velvet Underground but they do rock real hard. appreciated. (⌐■_■)

I wouldn’t be surprised if this is a rather divisive inclusion on the list, but I absolutely loved it. Favourite tracks: the Gift, Sister Ray

Not my favourite Velvet Underground album but tremendous from start to finish. Has always made me wanted to start a band, until I remember I have no musical talent or hand-eye co-ordination.

Transgressive. Uncomfortable. Brilliant.

One of my favourite bands, but not my favourite album of theirs - though i have always loved The Gift so it gets 5 stars due to that. John Cale's voice is so wonderful. I wonder if many of Lou Reeds stories were published?

Wow. Prototype punk/grunge, absolutely incredible. (had to get Sister Ray from a "best of" album, as it wasn't available on WLWH on Apple Music)

noisy and abrasive, droney and maxed out on distortion. it's not pretty, but it's beautiful.

LOL I love this stuff

God, I love it. One of four perfect records by the perfect band. Chaos and beauty. Have a solid rhythm section with a hypnotic, regular beat and you can be as pretentious and experimental as you want.

Riding on my bike drunk on air Music that I like Life is fair

Chaotic fuzzy drones, wild guitar parts that dissolve into squals of feedback, dark intense bass riffs, frenzied drumming, lo-fi production and wild expressive performances all combine create a hypnotic hallucinogenic atmosphere. Extremely cathartic noise. Sister Ray is the star of the album, but the title track is a great garage rock track that basically invents pop punk. Lady Godiva and Here She Comes now features more of their gentle darkly pretty songwriting. The Gift is kind of annoying though.

One of the best followups to something so great out there.

Velvets hit their stride with this fine collection

tadinho do waldo genteeee 😭 eu gostei muito mais do que eu achei que eu gostaria desse álbum até mesmo os 17 minutos de sister ray foram bem tragáveis e até agradáveis é bem experimental, mas consegue ter uma sonoridade bem interessante sem ficar pesado/cansativo em nenhum momento uma ótima experiência, muito provavelmente a frente de seu tempo

What a downright dirty album. I remember here this about 20 years ago and wondering what the hell was going on kind of expecting VU&Nico part 2 but with every listen it gives more and more and more. I think it took the rest of the music world to catch up too. The alt-rock scene owes so much to this record. As much jazz using feedback as a sax, to punk, to alt-rock to psycadelia to brain melting noise this is a pure 5*

honestly i had a lot of fun with this album. it's really noisey and definitely rough around the edges, but i love the way it sounds. it's a bit avant-garde, but not offputtingly so. really, it mostly feels like you took "black angel's death song" from their first album and made it an entire album. as with every velvet underground album, it just oozes cool to me. great stuff!

A prophetic blast of feedback and grimy noise.

Este LP es esencial para la invención del Punk. Crudo, intenso, repetitivo, grosero, y perfecto. En mi opinión, este esfuerzo de Cale y Reed supera con creces a su debut, sorprendiendo con paisajes sonoros realmente innovadores para la época en que fue concebido y lanzado. Si no lo has escuchado, te has perdido una parte esencial del ethos de la música alternativa. Sumamente recomendable y un disco que realmente se gana su lugar en esta lista.

Pure genius

Just an absolutely genius album. What is there to say about it at this point? It’s ugly and beautiful at the same time. Amateurish and intricate all at once.

music 2

I can never say enough good things about The Velvet Underground, bunch of geniuses that made some of the most creative music of all time. Also Sister Ray is probably the greatest song ever made, I honestly can't think what else would take it's place.

Lowkey I dug the shit out of this

10/10

Velvets get an instant 5. This one is probably my third favorite of theirs. I’m more of a Reed fan than Cale but Cale still absolutely crushes it on this one. It’s tough to think of anything to say that hasn’t been said. So far ahead of the curve it’s hard to comprehend. Like they turn the fuzziness of the Who all the way up into noise rock territory 15-20 years before most everyone else. Lou’s guitar on the Gift is some of my favorite too Rating: 4.8

The Velvet Underground at their noisiest, wildest, and most experimental. The first time I listened to this album, I didn't vibe with it at ALL, but by the next day I loved it. Love this band and just about all their work, and this album is no exception - a true classic I'm glad to revisit.

I really liked this. Its so out there and it's art in music . Love Lou Reed, love the band. Brilliant

Big album from a big band. In what it lacks in memorability from its predecessor, it makes up for in audacity and avant garde tendencies

I can't say why but I find this album very comforting. It just works for me.

Great but it's got nothing on their previous album. I like most of these songs better on the 1993 live album.

There's the iconic debut LP featuring Nico. And then, there's this sophomore album that is the best representation of what the Velvet Underground sounded like *live*. And it's wild, man. Wild. Countless modern genres find their origin in this record (punk, noise-rock, no wave, indie rock...). The shorter tracks go from messy, animated rockers (the title track, "I Heard Her Call My Name") to abrasive-yet-stellar ballads ("Here She Comes Now", " Lady Godiva's Operation") in the vein of the band's debut. Yet it's in the two longer, fully experimental dirges ("The Gift", and the absolutely insane "Sister Ray") that Lou Reed's mad genius shines the most. After this album, John Cale would leave that freaky circus and be replaced by Doug Yule, who would help the VU record two more jewels (*The Velvet Underground* and *Loaded*). But I guess that's a story for another time, kiddies. Number of albums left to review: 184 Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 355 (including this one) Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: 204 Albums from the list I won't include in mine: 259

Just one of the best alternative albums ever made (-: The Gift: who can think of such a song comes from different planet, one I like to live in. Left the sad story, right the grungy music. Sister Ray took some time to appreciate when I first heard it long ago, but no longer now. Made me appreciate 'Noise', 'Industrial' and all music that was at least inspired by these giants,

I remember the first time I heard The Gift, in the early 1980s, drinking cups of tea and listening to every Velvet Underground album back to back. It's the sort of track you should only listen to every decade or so in my opinion. Having said that, this album is a definite and strong five stars, way ahead of its time. Sister Ray is the obvious standout, but there's other strong songs here as well.

Not even sure how to categorize this, but each song is amazing in its own way.

Absolutely love this, though I am willing to admit if this was my first time listen, I would have absolutely hated it, as there is quite a lot about this album which takes getting used to. Definitely an album one should listen to multiple times.

Delightfully dirty and trashy and sleazy; an oily puddle in a back alley. Must have been nothing short of revolutionary at the time.

From the opening of the first song, I’m struck by how New York they sound. His accent is thicker, the doo-wop sound sits at the core of the song. And then it spins out enough at the end to lead into the soft psychedelica of The Gift. Still the sounds of the city are reflected in the grinding, squealing guitars, the driving beat. It feels like you’re overhearing a conversation on the subway, while tripping the fuck out on heroin. And yet it feels years ahead of first song. It’s like the first song time warps you from the old sound, to the new sound. It’s kind of impossible to review something this perfect. This is a for-real work of art. It sounds chaotic at times, but everything is exactly where it’s supposed to be. Kinda like the city. The scope of all the artists that influenced this record, plus all the artists that this album influenced, would encompass all of music.

Very good record! In my opinion the second best velvet underground album.

This is a cacophony in the greatest way. Somehow (maybe in help to) how distorted and janky the entire album is it works to be a greater sum than its parts. I’d love to know what the recording members thought while this happened. Definitely encapsulates the subject matter. It’s a mandatory jam going into overtime, especially with Sister Ray. What a template. I hadn’t heard this album in full and it was good to dive into it. I could see a lot of folks absolutely hating it, but the avante-garde nature somehow transcends itself into something more cohesive… somehow? I do like the recorded album versions over the extras though. Although if the actual takes sound like the extras, well done to the producers!

Yeah, I like this. I think it is probably a low 5, but it still makes the cut for me.

This is classic. I love me some VU. This is probably my #2 album from them behind the album with Nico. My only gripe is The Gift. I hate the way John Cale reads it and I usually just skip it, but the story itself is fairly amusing. It still gets a 5 for the other songs, particularly Sister Ray, which I would certainly understand if some people hate it.

Part of the soundtrack of my childhood! I was obsessed with The Gift - which I just called Waldo for years. I played it over and over revelling in the story with music, the different viewpoints and John Cale’s insouciant tone. It was just amazing to me - moreover I love all the other tracks - I didn’t realise then how huge an influence this would be on styles to come but I knew it was different and fabulous. It may have been in the folks’ record collection but I adopted it as my own and as far as I know their original vinyl is still in a cupboard infused with love and memories.

I thought this was great. It’s got a 60s Happenings vibe to it, part beatnik party, part performance art. The white noise and distortion add to the atmosphere, sounding like the hubbub of a crowd or a poorly recorded bootleg. Favourite track: Sister Ray.

The pop sensibility of six-in-forty is truly demented. Headphoned, at least two tracks - and novel ones - cross the unbearable boundary. Yet the transgression retains the New York precision that can drive a rock music staple firmly into the historical fabric.

Oh, Waldo... I don't ever get the urge to listen to Sister Ray, but no doubting it's existence.

cool

Title track - sounds messy and muddy production wise, but the melody and interplay with the backing vocals gets stuck in my head once a week at least. The gift - the instrumental jam is good, I dig the story line, and I like John Cale’s Welsh accent. Lady Godiva - see above comment regarding John Cale’s accent. This is one of two VU albums to include him, so it’s a rarity I enjoy every time. Here She Comes Now - the soft spot on the record yet still a little dark, brooding and messy. I Heard Her Call My Name - I thought this would be the reason I gave it 4 stars, but I ended up enjoying it more than I expected Sister Ray - good groove, maybe doesn’t need 17 min but a great finishing track. A very coarse album, impossible to digest on first listen, but I can’t turn it off once I start listening to it. Definitely a good one to try out after the Banana album.

Loose and dark

My favorite VU album

Not a very good album in a way. WLWH is poor, Sister Ray not as good as the JD cover, etc But a great artistic statement.

What a lovely hot mess this is. Rambling story telling, protopunk thrashing, darkness and dirt. It plays less like an album and more like a slice of life.

Gritty, dark and chaotic. Gleefully, sometimes piercingly noisy. Lyrically vivid and provocative with dashes of whimsy. Pushes all the buttons VU liked to push, but stripped bare of the melodic touches that were on their first album. It can be a hard listen for some but it's pretty brilliant. Fave Songs (All songs, from most to least favorite): White Light/White Heat, Here She Comes Now, The Gift, Lady Godiva's Operation, Sister Ray, I Heard Her Call My Name

9/10 maybe I need to give this one another chance some other time it’s obviously an incredible album, but I didn’t find it as good as their first or third albums it’s just the slightly awkward in-between album still amazing tho, just not as good I guess

5/5

nicely nice, love it but little bit looong

Brilliant drug fueled bummer music. It documents a scene and inspired a million bands.

Love this band, so many great and weird sounds.

Ovaj album je strava, a tek Sister Ray stvar? Uf.

Absolutely stunned to see people are all bottom-Drake meme with the banana album but somehow top-Drake meme with WL/WH.

Man blir kanske lite trött på The Gift efter en stund men annars kan man ha detta album på repeat förevigt och det skulle vara en helt bra användning av tid

This album is raunchy, dirty, ugly, and smelly. 5/5

Just go listen to it I can’t do it justice with my bird brain words

I really, really love that album. Where VU & Nico was more pop, this one is all about explorative, drony, strident sounds. A big, experimental piece of work that everyone won't love, but that I cherish.

The only thing left to say about the brilliance of this album is that the deluxe version is both better and unnecessary as perfection cannot be added to.

A harbinger of what was to come in the chaotic year that was 1968, White Light/White Heat remains not only the antithesis of the Summer of Love but a crucial turning point in the world of The Velvet Underground. With John Cale one foot out the door and Nico and Andy Warhol completely gone, Lou, Sterling and Moe paint a wholly bleak picture of grisly proportions; death via good intentions, botched entries into a more comfortable being and a seventeen minute romp whose most memorable refrain refers to fellatio. Sgt. Pepper's, Majesty's Request and whatever The Monkees' latest was this was not. The punk movement had arrived early and White Light/White Heat was the first of the few flag bearers.

5/5. One of the greatest 😎🤙🤘

Velvet Underground one of the most influential bands of all time. This album is one reason why since it really challenged what rock music at the time. Sure it's noisy, strange and weird and not something you can listen to all the time but it really pushed music to a new dimension. Many people took these elements, polished them and made them more accessible. It's not my fav or most listen to Velvet Underground album but it does make sense to be on the list. It's a 4.5 for me, so once again I'll round up.

Not for audiophiles or the squeamish.

White Light/White is an unflinching and at times brutal album which in many ways surpasses Velvet Underground & Nico. Gone is the softness added by the chanteuse Nico, replaced by John Cale's sardonic spoken singing. Sister Ray is the stand out with it's assault of noise becoming and influence on kraut rock, Joy Division and the whole no-wave scene. This is another one of those albums soaked in turmoil. You can hear the turmoil between Lou Reed and John Cale bubbling over and in this case leads to a couple of the less amazing parts of this album Often overlooked when compared to the Velvets first album.

4.5

White Light / White Heat is a fantastic foray into very early punk rock. The Velvet Underground were lyrically transgressive, and likely one of the first bands to demonstrate to the audience, through their lyrics, that they were the embodiment of Sex, Drugs and Rock 'n' Roll. Best: Whole Album Worst: N/A Note: the Link to the album above on Spotify is the deluxe version. I only listened to the original album.

Tits on a stick.

Crimely over looked in favour of the debut album. This is the Velvets at their difficult, anti-flower power best. I can only assume that a lot of the wilder elements of the Velvets originated from John Cale as the John Cale-less third album is positively bland in comparison.

It all sounds wrong, as it should do

vinyl day! a classic

When I reviewed 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘝𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘵 𝘜𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 & 𝘕𝘪𝘤𝘰, I joked that it might be unlistenable for some people. 𝘞𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘓𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵/𝘞𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘵 somehow manages to be even less accessible. If you made it through the debut, this album is ready to push you even further. The record embraces noise, distortion, and chaos in a way that was almost unimaginable in 1968. At the same time, The Velvet Underground continue writing about subjects that few rock bands were willing to touch, including drugs, homosexuality, and gender nonconformity. It’s an uncompromising album in every sense. And then there’s 𝗦𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗥𝗮𝘆. The story of its recording session has become part of rock folklore, and the track itself fully lives up to its reputation — an extended, noisy jam that seems determined to test the listener’s tolerance for chaos. It certainly isn’t an album I’d recommend to everyone, but I can’t help admiring just how fearless and uncompromising it is. Nearly six decades later, it still sounds like a record that refuses to play by anyone else’s rules.

Maybe I should stop reading reviews before listening because they tend to sway my opinion on the music before experiencing it myself. This is raw and exciting and real. I can see how much this band influenced so many other great bands who would follow.

Utterly manic and bizarre... I still can't decide whether V.U. were geniuses, or if I fucking despise them. I found myself listening to the full album twice in a row, so I guess I'd go with the former - even if I really want to hate this. If nothing else, no other band perfectly encapsulates just how radically the way music is written (and the capacity of listeners' attention spans) has changed over the past half century. I will admit that this album demonstrated how V.U. was so influential to so many artists that came after, but you can't simply listen passively and expect it to just click. Sober or blitzed out on a cacophony of hallucinogens -- you gotta immerse yourself in the weirdness.

Very solid Velvet Underground album.

nice little project

I like the Velvet Underground albums either side of this more, because they have beautiful songs alongside the noise and sleaze. You have to be in a very specific mood to enjoy this one and yesterday it felt likely to bring on a headache, but if you get into it, it's a pretty wild listen.

we've got another entry from the velvet underground. i can safely say that after listening to a bit of these guys, they're probably the best "true neutral" example of really early experimental rock music. this is their second album release, made after firing andy warhol, who produced their first album. noise rock is probably the biggest descriptor i can really give this. in a world of safer and more contemporary 60s rock, the velvet underground distorts the FUCK out of a lot of their music. some tracks essentially start as crunchy standard 60s rock but as it continues it smoothly goes to staticy mush. this album can be really grating on the ears, but even someone like me with big hearing sensitivities thinks that you gotta learn to get used to it or get yourself in the right mood for it. it's a true audio oddity and i feel like while it's not going to be everyone's cup of tea, i think this is worthy to listen to if you want something to challenge and bewilder yourself with.

Easily the trollest Velvet Underground record. Hot take it’s better than Andy Warhol. 17 minutes about ding songs. Lou Reed was truly a genius

White Light / White Heat - 4.5/5 The Gift - 3.5/5 Lady Godiva's Operation - 4.5/5 There She Comes Now - 4/5 I Heard Her Call My Name - 4/5 Sister Ray - 4.5/5 The quote rings true that although the Velvet Underground sold poorly, almost everyone who bought one of their albums started a band. This album is highly experimental for its time and probably scandalous for how Lou Reed talks about getting his "ding-dong" sucked. Incredibly ahead of its time and deserves equal praise for the VU albums surrounding by it. Overall: 4/5 Favorites: White Light/White Heat, Lady Godiva's Operation, Sister Ray

another album that's not for everybody. it's noise, chaotic, and challenging with two long songs taking up much of each side, and "sister ray" taking up 2/3 of side 2. still, an album i've loved for some time, even if i don't pull it out very often

Bananas that this came out in the 60's. VU was so ahead of the time.

I was ready to live this as the last Velvet Underground album on here had been so amazing. And at the start I was getting very “60s punk” vibes. And when it sticks to that I really like it. I’m less keen on the wishy washy songs. So, I dunno. It could be a 3… or a 4… maybe even a 5! But I’ll settle for 4 as I think this is one I might return to.

On first listen I enjoyed the track about the guy who mailed himself to his former girlfriend and the rest seemed disjointed and noisy. On second listen a few others settled in. By third listen I found myself repeating several tracks to figure out what was being said. I’m going to lean into this to encourage more exploration. 4/5

105. White Light / White Heat - The Velvet Underground (1968) 6.7.26 Variety: 5 Adequacy: 5 Listenability: 5 Uniqueness: 5 Emotionality: 2 = 4.4 rounded down to a 4 “I guess you guys aren't ready for that yet. But your kids are gonna love it." - Calvin Klein Not my favorite by the group, and been a while since I've heard it. The Velvet Underground continue to get their flowers well into the 21st century, and it's all well deserved. I've got no counter point to make or anything, except to say that as influential as they were, that's all I really hear anyone say about them, which can be pretty boring. And as far as influence goes, let's save that for their first one, which is guaranteed to be on the list. I might instead dip into why they were NOT very successful in their time, despite being obviously great in retrospect though. Very little to say here other than I'm ready to sit back for some guaranteed quality. THE TRACKS Side one "White Light/White Heat" - Great piano led little boogie number that descends into chaotic feedback by the end, this songs seems to encapsulate the band's ethos pretty well of very listenable backwards looking stripped down rock aesthetics mixed with an avante garde sensibility. I'm not claiming that this isn't great stuff, but very easy in retrospect to see how these guys were setting themselves up for, if not failure, then certainly obscurity. For the time period. Reed in his later years complaining about how no one got it, surely understood at the time that that was kind of the point. The band most definitely courted the art scene, no matter how much Reed claims they just wanted to be a successful rock band with giant hits. Sure, but totally on their, at the time, unreasonable terms. And it's been proven again and again on these albums they could pump out short, radio friendly, divine pop rock. I would maintain the lyrical content is what kept them down. This is no exception, and that bit of business at the end is just the nail in the coffin. "The Gift" - God bless these weirdoes for doing this, which they knew would not be getting them a spot on the Ed Sullivan show. A killer fuzzed out jam serves as the table setting for Cale, with his hilariously button down voice reading this very EC Comics bit of horror comedy. This should not work as music. It should be performance art at best. But it somehow works as a musical experience. And I am someone who is vehemently anti-spoken word when it comes to music. This gets a complete pass form me. Genuinely funny, with a sting of horror. The Cryptkeeper himself would be jealous. "Lady Godiva's Operation" - More lovely, fuzzed out prettiness. Cale providing lead vocals with Reed popping in occasionally to roughen up the edges in real time. Interesting stuff near the end, but this is a prime example of the sort of self-sabotaging impulses Reed just can't tamp down. I would have been perfectly fine without all that, and while I like this one,, it would have sat a bit closer to the next track on the bench. "Here She Comes Now" - S-tier stuff. Reed displaying all the god-level melodic abilities that he seems to want to hoard for special occasions. "Sunday Morning", "Perfect Day" are maybe the best example of him in this mode, and proof that he could indeed sing well. But I think he maybe was the type of guy who would rag on you for liking "that pussy shit" even though he wrote it himself. And here we barely get a taste of it. Side two "I Heard Her Call My Name" - Reed tries his best to gunk this one up with his atonal guitar solos, but it still remains pretty listenable otherwise, with Tucker's metronomic trance beat functioning as the rivets barely holding the boiler together and preventing an explosion. "Sister Ray" - The centerpiece of the album for me, though we are forced to gorge ourselves at the end of the meal instead. Sprawling but never meandering. This one spreads out before you with intent and a drive that allows no glances backwards. And how do they manage to make this effort last the whole run time without petering out into either exhaustion or boredom? Keep it simple, stupid. There is absolutely nothing flashy going on here. These are all basic as fuck elements that are just compounded upon and remixed and used to propel you ever forward, with even the provocative lyrics barely registering as they pass by in the rearview. Worth the price of admission. HIGHLIGHTS - "White Light/White Heat" - "The Gift" - "Here She Comes Now" - "Sister Ray" MIDLIGHTS - "Lady Godiva's Operation" - "I Heard Her Call My Name" LOWLIGHTS - FINAL THOUGHTS When listening to this again, I was struck by just how unpalatable the content would have been to the mainstream of the era compared to how listenable and easily digestible it became over the course of twenty or more years. All the cool kids were ready at the time, or maybe shortly there after anyways though, and like the John the Baptist of highly influential alternative rock, the Velvet Underground's message was picked up, expanded upon and made gospel by the more successful weirdos that followed in their wake. Bowie was a big proselytizer, for example. By the mid to late 80s they were already giants in the minds of all the budding alternative and indie rock bands that would soon blow up your radios. And by the mid 90s ( in my memory) the band had finally earned it's place as one of the bedrocks. This album in particular, as great a listen as it is, is not Reed and company in my favorite mode. It's purposefully abrasive in ways that I appreciate, but could never emotionally connect with. I much prefer the delicate, beautiful pieces over the feedback and the noise and the more avante garde material. And there's just not enough of that on here. Maybe that's because that more prickly sort of stuff seemed old hat for someone who grew up surrounded by all the stuff that owed debts to it. I said that the talk of influence bores me, but it's unavoidable when talking about context. This is still is and will remain a classic though. It's just a 4-star classic for me, because I have to compare it to other stuff by the band and even Reed's solo material that I like much more. PLAYLIST ALTERATIONS - Wouldn't dream of it FURTHER LISTENING - We're Only in It for the Money by The Mothers of Invention - The Modern Lovers by The Modern Lovers - Fun House by The Stooges - Tago Mago by Can - Transformer by Lou Reed - Marquee Moon by Television - Suicide by Suicide

I thought for sure this was an easy five, but I guess I was just not in the mood today. Also, the whole “ding dong” bit was easier to ignore when I was younger, for some reason. It was just too much cheese for today though.

Decent, experimental for its time 4/5

This is really good. I cant believe I had never heard "The Gift" before or that I liked it so much.

In which Lou Reed and John Cale take nearly the entirety of late Sixties pop up to that point - Motown (the title track), Flower Power ditties ("Here She Comes Now"), British Invasion fuzz-rock (most of the rest of it) - into a back alley and beat it over the head with a crowbar. "Sister Ray" out-Morrisons Morrison (Jim, not Sterling), but the real star here is Reed's wicked sense of humor - "The Gift" and "Lady Godiva's Operation" are both laugh-out-loud funny in a way that allegedly serious artistic music isn't usually allowed to be. That said, much of this is meant to be respected rather than liked, which is another way of saying it's abrasive on purpose in a way that you may not want to necessarily listen to often. And I absolutely think they could've gotten to the point sooner with some of these. But as a standard-bearer for MoMA rock you could do a lot worse.

White Light/White Heat is the only song on here I've returned to (and that a lot) over the years, but the rest is pretty impressive. For a droning eight-minute story-song, The Gift is amazing. Blew my mind the first time I heard it, back in high school when I borrowed the album from my friend Marc. And Sister Ray works even though it should be three or four separate songs.

4/5 - I'm sure some would like to get off the bus about half-way through Sister Ray, but I'm glad Ira Kaplan never did. Did D. Boon and Malkmus first here talk-rock here? This is a pretty essential listen and certainly deserves a strong spot on this list.

Good album. Not a lot of songs, but most of what’s here is very good. Classic garage rock sounds.

very cool how the Velvets use the same drugged-out, two-chord caveman rock to all sorts of ends here - the vehicle for insane sexual desperation, the relatively straightforward backing for two short stories, a gateway towards amphetamine-nirvana. it's like they're playing six different covers of the same song, six variations on the same dental-drill theme. as such, this isn't an easy record to love, even if love for noise-rock comes easily. i, who can get down with all sorts of nastiness, am totally filtered by Lady Godiva's Operation, the world's most horrifying song that is perhaps played as a joke. but it's an easy record to feel awestruck by, awe in the proper old sense where you're sort of stunned and repulsed and terrified. the band, even more than their previous outing, turn their debaucherous lives into an aural horror-movie. it's not the fun kind, but it's the kind that lives under your skin after the last bit of Sister Ray finally fades, still there keening along to the tinnitus you've given yourself by blasting it

Some pretty good playing and some bearable singing but dives into arthouse and the spoken word track probably works better when played to a room wearing sunglasses and berets But there's no denying the influence of tracks like Sister Ray on later music

I don't really know this album and I've been told it's not their best but I liked it nevertheless. Lot of talk about sucking on dingdongs and finding mainlines. They knew what they liked and they weren't afraid to let you know.

Dirty and fuzzy and whilst not as accessible (or good) as their first album its pretty awesome - other than The Gift as spoken word songs are annoying. Love the drumming on Sister Ray. A high 4.

Their debut was always going to be difficult to follow, but even taking that into consideration, this is especially hard to love. When they lean into Reed-led garage rock, it comes up trumps. 'Lady Godiva’s Operation', the title track and 'Here She Comes Now' are classic Reed melodies, with added scuzz. 'Sister Ray' is regarded as their magnum opus by some, but how it can be considered on a par with 'Venus in Furs' remains a mystery. This is not always enjoyable; actually it can be irritating. And yet is there anything quite like this? A certain sound, a certain approach that could only be the VU, and a heck of a wide-ranging influence. For fascination value alone it's a four.

I mean, they got better with each album

What a strange experience... that was exciting

4/5

There was certainly everything you come to expect from a Velvet Underground album. The guitars were quirky, the noises (and strangely levelled voices). Overall, an experience. But not a challenging one. 4 stars.

This album freakin rocked wow. So much good stuff, and just reminded me how fun and inventive the velvet underground is.

i like the velvet underground. i love the debut with nico. i’ve heard this album before but i don’t revisit it often. the gift is a really cool song. i love the jam. the panning on it is really cool, even if that meant it took me a minute to finish it. the title track is good, not much else to say about it. this is just an insane album, it’s crazy that this got made. and its an insane follow up to & nico. the ending for i heard her call my name is genuinely so cool. i love when musicians just play bullshit. it’s not my favorite velvet underground album, but it is damn influential. and in a completely different way than & nico was, which is nuts for a single band. mmm sound… sister ray is cool. the amount of different ways he sings the same lines to mean different shit. super super cool.

It's loud and distorted, raw and gritty, very avant-garde. I am a VU fan and I love this album but it is not one I would recommend to someone interested in learning about them. I normally am not a fan of spoken word, there are a few exceptions and The Gift is one of them. The whole album is really building, its so fast and loud almost anxiety inducing. So experimental, sometimes I like to dream what could have been if Reed and Cale could have stayed together.

Very good

Mindst lige så forud for sin tid som bananpladen, de opfandt jo reelt 80er-støj-rock her. Ikke en særlig nem plade, men jeg tænker heller ikke det var meningen.

Super different and fun to listen to.

Favorite Song: Lady Godiva's Operation

Another familiar one. I don't always like the muddy, muffled sound. Lady Godiva still feels somewhere between annoyingly tossed off and deliberately ruined. I remember barely being able to get through Sister Ray when I first heard it, but it feels almost soothing to me now. One of the things that struck me listening to this today is this: how huge the influence of VU -- especially this album -- is on Yo La Tengo. I always recognized it (it not only obvious, it's a known thing, almost a cliche to recognize it), but this listening it felt like Ira Kaplan was playing guitar. It's not my favorite VU album to listen to, but it's probably the most provocative, challenging, and interesting. Yeah, it belongs on a list of 1001.

Still a rockin’ album, but my least favorite of the main VU records. Too few songs, a bit too much jamminess. The garage rock sound is intriguing, but they’ve written better melodies. 4.3 stars

The Velvet Underground > The Velvet Underground & Nico > Loaded > White Light/White Heat, imo. It's great and pioneering and everything, but not what I reach for (judging from my last.fm stats).

Not the most straightforward of the Velvet Underground’s albums, but still plenty to like here and further evidence that this short-lived group had outsized influence over rock and roll music. Good listen.

I suspect this is going to be a polarizing one, and I'll admit that while I was listening, I couldn't decide if I loved it or hated it. I think I've settled somewhere in the middle. I like a lot of it, but it does feel a bit over-indulgent at times. 4/5 Highlights: Here She Comes Now Sister Ray

Absolutely wild album. Pretty difficult to listen to in places, but you can't deny how influential this was on experimental and alternative music to come. Not something I would listen to often, but I think everyone should give it a go at least once! After the VU/Nico album of course.

short, sweet, knows what it's doing

First time listen Pretty great, eclectic album. Velvet Underground are obviously super influential and were always trying new stuff with their music. I think for the most part this album is a great example of that, Lou Reed jumpscaring you in "Lady Godiva's Operation" and incorporating the breathing and heartbeat into the beat of the song is especially memorable. I found "The Gift" to be a little overly meandering though, but when you're swinging for the fences all the time it's not surprise you don't always knock it out of the park Favorite tracks: Lady Godiva's Operation, Here She Comes Now Least favorite: The Gift 4/5

Not in my top tier of VU records, but I love it regardless. Sister Ray is a thing of wonder and beauty. #johnsvinyl

This feels like a piece of situationist art - an avant garde part of the process of broadening the scope of what rock music could be. It’s not the easiest listen but that’s not really the point. Sister Ray is great - a tour de force.

It is chaotic, noisy, and aggressive, yet strangely addictive. Even though I usually prefer short, punky songs, I’m drawn to the long, hypnotic tracks like The Gift and Sister Ray, where relentless basslines, distorted guitars, and Lou Reed’s spoken vocals create a trance-like energy. It’s wild and intense, but the album’s raw experimentation makes it endlessly compelling.

Noisy

When I heard Lou Reed died, I put on Sister Ray at full noise on the shittiest Bluetooth speaker on the planet. Over the course of 17 minutes, the speaker rattled apart on the kitchen bench and became a dancing pile of screws and wires and plastic pieces. It somehow made noise until the end of the song, then it stopped forever.

Por qué cuando alguien que no es la Velvet hace esto, no me gusta, y cuando lo hace la Velvet si? Hay algo místico ahí

Released in between two largely accessible, high fidelity recordings, White Light/White Heat is the anomaly in The Velvet Underground’s studio album catalogue. To see what they were going for with this release I think you need to look ahead a couple of years to their 1969 Velvet Underground Live album which shows the electric clarity that could be achieved through capturing the band on tour, balancing the guttural feel of their semi-improvised performance with a crisp, clear sound. When attempted in these rushed recordings in 1967 the band overwhelmed the equipment with noise and it led to a very distorted end result, the compositions are immense but little would be lost if you listened to them through a tin can. The band were disappointed with the results, and (unpopular opinion amongst fellow fans) I also think they would have benefitted from a bit more time, but what we’re left with is a welcome time piece which could not be more different from VU’s other output. Fans of this record can quite rightly point to the fact that the band are delivering an early form of noise rock and punk, putting them well ahead of their time. It is for this reason that it's such a well regarded album, though I would personally put LP1, LP3 and the aforementioned live album well ahead of this.

Today’s VU album is COOL. I really like it but the production stops me loving it, but may also be what makes me really like it. I’ll spin this more and it may grow, its some kind of 4 and contains a lot of great stuff bands i enjoy realised more fully in the 70s and 80s, and even 2010s

This is a classic album, but not my favorite Velvet Underground record, so only gets a four.

This one really grew on me. Some amazing storytelling. Sister Ray is a big highlight. Amazing song. Here she comes now also a classic

Dat dit in de jaren 60 is gemaakt, is nog steeds wild. Echt een ongelofelijk cool album. Als alle luisterboeken zo'n coole instrumental hadden als The Gift, dan zou ik vaker luisterboeken luisteren. Ruime 4 sterren. (De beste heren zaten overigens denk ik wel aardig aan de heroïne toen ze dit maakten, maar dat mag de pret niet drukken.) BUSY SUCKIN ON MY DING-DONG🍆💦

Een soort lange advertentie voor hallucinogenen.

The original Hobo Johnson. Three songs I love, three songs I really do not. Sounds about right for the Velvet Underground

I do like their more melodic stuff better but the Underground is always good.

begin van art rock, noise rock... rockt als de pest

Solid

It was god. But they have better ones

Love those punky sounds. Something about it feels raw and artistically expressive. I wasn't crazy about lou reeds voice in this context at first, almost seems too cool, but it really won me over. The drawn out atmospheric sections are the most beautiful though

this guy really can yap but it's worth it

Really liked some of it but definitely not all of it

I listened to alot of Velvet Underground when I was younger so I'm familiar with this album and others. I'm a fan of the band. This is not the album I would choose to introduce someone to their music. It's probably the LAST album I would recommend. It's pretty rough around the edges and takes some artful approaches to songwriting. I've made it all the way through Sister Ray many times but it seems really unnecessary.

Avant-garde masters come out of the gates on their sophomore album to establish a new world order.

So, I’ll be honest, I’ve never really bothered to explore the Velvet Underground’s work before. On the face of it, this is a major oversight - some of my favourite artists (Can, Eno, Kraftwerk and others) cite them as a major inspiration - but the odd bits I’ve heard never encouraged me to dive in further. Thankfully, working through this list has changed that. So, White Light/White Heat. Reading the reviews of this before getting into it, I was expecting this to be a more challenging listen than it was, which isn’t me trying to claim some hipster points, more that the influence of the Velvets on a lot of music I love means this feels a little more accessible than if I was coming to it fresh; its influence on Can’s early work with Malcolm Mooney is in evidence, particularly "The Gift”. It’s not an album I can imagine I’d listen to over and over again, but it’s absolutely one I’d recommend, and one I’m glad I finally checked out.

arty and punky. Weird but enough of this was 'good' and 'made sense' to me.

Album #43 The Velvet Underground: White Light/White Heat I really am not surprised to see this album have a rating that falls below a 3. If someone were to, like me, get this as their first Velvet Underground album on the list, but unlike me, had never heard any of their music prior, then it is completely reasonable not to enjoy this album. As a massive fan of The Velvet Underground, I am thankful that my introduction to the band was their debut and not White Light/ White Heat, because frankly, I definitely wouldn’t have been ready for this. Part of me sometimes wonders if the only reason that I and many others were able to give this album the benefit of the doubt is due to us already considering The Velvet Underground geniuses, which gives us a predisposed idea that it will be good. If Tom Macdonald were to drop this album tomorrow, I have a very strong feeling that this album would not be as heralded as it is. But regardless of the meta reasons why I like this album, musically, it also has a lot to like. Whereas their debut album with Nico has moments of harshness and noise, it also has many areas of respite for the listener to feel safer in amongst the chaos. Songs like Sunday Morning, I’ll Be Your Mirror, and Femme Fatale are gentle and comforting, meaning you never get lost in the madness of say European Son or Black Angels Death Song. White Light/ White Heat, however, provides you with no such safety; it is a non-stop trip through chaos. Even the songs which appear to be normal, like the title track and Here She Comes Now, have an underlying sense of malintent, whether it is because of the lyrical content, or the noisy guitars. A song like The Gift, which is a 10-minute spoken word story about a man shipping himself to his girlfriend and being stabbed to death through the box, to the backing music of harsh guitars, somehow isn’t even the most intense experience on the album. The album is most famous for its closing track, a 17-minute beast known as Sister Ray, in which Lou Reed twists a tale of Transgender girls sucking on his ding-dong until they eventually kill each other. White Light/ White Heat is far from my favourite Velvet Underground album, as for me personally, their self-titled albums are untouchable. And it would probably be the last one that I showed to a friend, I was trying to get into the band. But it is undeniably one of the boldest and most unique albums of its time, and though it seems that the band was mostly making it with the intent of being as abstract and funny as possible, it still actually sounds good. The Velvets didn’t invent avant-garde with this album, but they certainly influenced a good deal of musicians who would go on to push boundaries in similar ways. But I wouldn’t fault anyone for thinking that this is overly pretentious, yet vulgar, ’60s drug-induced slop; because it absolutely is, and it’s amazing. Best Songs: Lady Godiva’s Operation, Here She Comes Now, Sister Ray Worst Song: I Heard Her Call My Name Score out of 10: 8.5

7/10

Llevaba tiempo con ganas de escucharme algo más de la Velvet que no fuese el del platanete. Habré quemado ese disco pero nunca me había escuchado nada más, y lo consideraba un sacrilegio por mi parte, así que me alegré cuando tocó este disco. Buena mierda. Más noise rock que otra cosa. Ningún grupo tuvo tanta libertad. Ni tantas ganas de drogarse y meterse en el estudio a ver quien hace más ruido con su instrumento. Esto es punk y lo demás son tonterías. Buenos temas. Buenísima la historia de The Gift, me encantó, escrita increíble, hasta el final estuve intentando ver por donde iba a ir el giro o si me iba a dar pereza y fue un desenlace magistral. Lou Reed sonando menos mixeado que el carajo en Lady Godiva fue un jumpscare super gracioso. Y más buenos temas hasta Sister Ray que es ya maltratar a tu guitarra con inquina durante dios sabe cuanto tiempo. Buen disco. El mejor grupo. Abrieron todos los caminos. Para su creatividad ninguno estaba cerrado.

INPUT = {"artist": "The Velvet Underground", "album": "White Light / White Heat"} LINEUP = {"men": 3, "women": 1} FEATURED_ARTISTS = {"men": 0, "women": 0} TOTAL_MEN = 3 TOTAL_WOMEN = 1 WOMEN_PERCENTAGE = 25 OUTPUT = "Score adjusted accordingly. 4/5"

If you can make it through the cacophonous banging on some of the songs, you will be rewarded.

Okay, second velvet underground album in a week and actually interested to see the evolution. Just discovering my Lou Reed intrigue so I’m here for it… I don’t find this offensive or dissonant as some others are suggesting, although only just starting side 2. I mean it’s left field and a little wacky but I’m all for that. Maybe I’m just a bit of a Lou Reed fanboy, but this stuff speaks to me and makes sense 🤷🏻‍♂️ Sister Ray 17 minutes though….

Love this album. The Velvets in full noisy chaotic mode, but still managing to produce some memorable tunes along the way. Definitely a big influence on a bunch of my fav 90s bands. Recommended highly!!!

I actually really like this one - more than the banana album at least, which I could never really wrap my head around. I even enjoyed the absolute sonic trainwreck of a closing track; I unironically love how absurdly kitchen-sink chaotic it is. There's this sense of beatnik poetry deliberate senselessness to the entire album, right down to the off-kilter panning. Fav tracks: The Gift, Lady Godiva's Operation, Sister Ray

Massive tunes

Pretty good sound, very VERY interesting lyrics. Lots of innuendos and drug references

I’ve only very vaguely dabbled with The Velvet Underground so don’t really know their albums. I must say I can hear how influential there were on the punk/post punk scene. Track 2 (The Gift) could be right out of a Bauhaus album for instance. I really like the spoken word/ poetry to music aspect of The Gift. I liked the whole album more on the second listen and it probably helped bump it up a point.

When it came up I was sure I loved this album - after a listen I'm not as sure. The title track and Sister Ray keeps it as a four though

The opening track, White Light/White Heat, sounds like it’s had a few seconds trimmed off the start so you’re launched straight into a noise-rock hellscape. The level of distortion in the album reduces the quality enough that I initially thought this was a home recording made before their & Nico album. I love the rawness and weirdness and rebellion and defiance. And it’s awesome to end with Sister Ray, “the big bang of noise-rock”.

Needles in the red! Sister ray!!!!

Fuck it I loved this, why not it was brilliant

The distorted guitars and the experimentation and improvisation made this such a fun listen. I can see how this had a huge impact on the later punk and industrial movements, especially Sister Ray.

Cool album, though not quite as listenable as Velvet Underground & Nico. These guys were real pioneers, and Sister Ray in particular feels like a song way ahead of its time. Favourite track: Sister Ray

Je voudrais d'abord remercier Boston de m'avoir fourni le parfait compas du 3 étoiles dans le rock. Maintenant, je peux classer les albums à partir de ce point de référence. Ça a de la gueule, j'aime bien le côté Stones, le côté experimental, et je vais tenter de m'exprimer comme Guillaume, le côté low-fi? Mes excuses si c'est pas ça la game. Par contre, Sister Ray c'est trop.

J’aimerais donner 5 étoiles. J’adore Velvet Underground and Nico, ainsi que Lou Reed en général. Mais clairement c’est ici leur album le plus caustique et le moins accessible. Bien aimé The Gift ainsi que Sister Ray qui sonne comme un gros jam proto punk.

Let's, for once, start with the end- Sister Ray. Man, sister ray. One of the most mind blowing pieces of shit I've ever heard. It's equally painfully tough and beautiful. The guitars, the repetitive drumming and above all the unbelievable organ tone. Wow. Incredible. This entire record leads to this highlight and the first 23 minutes feel more like an introduction. But a pretty great introduction, to be honest. My experience listening to this album was great. I don't have the emotional attachment to it like I have for the debut, but it's definitely a step forward. Less in regards to songwriting and more the soundscape and atmosphere. A 4.

Quite unusual - liked it.

This album is a vibe. It’s not the most easy to listen to but the raw attitude and unique nature make it an incredible listen.

Nice

completamente a frente do tempo pqp

noise rock as vezes spokenword lo-fizera em 68. não tem jeito, eh mta doideira como essa banda tava uns 25 anos adiantados. todas pedradas MÁXIMAS, até as menos barulhentas. só não dou 5 estrelas porque acho 17 minutos de música demais quando vc está sóbrio (infelizmente eh o caso no momento)

This is the Velvet Underground at their noisiest, fuzziest and most experimental, so I'm not surprised it isn't too well rated, especially for those for whom this is their introduction to the band. For me this feels like post-punk before punk had even happened, which makes it pretty remarkable. I also feel like it captures the band jamming and improvising, which shows the talent in their ranks. That said, it's the VU album I listen to the least, and I'm knocking it down to 4/5 because they have 2 better albums, plus another album with more standout tracks.

Interesting

very weird but i kinda liked it this time

Felt unclean after this perfect VU album

The Gift is one hectic song

Muy bueno

Past and present baristas have no choice but to give this a high rating

Inspired pretty much all the music that I like so I have to give it 4 stars for that alone

Weird

Гурт і саунд які вплинули просто на безліч інших виконавців. Дуже стильно все. Класика.

it’s clumsy and scattered and seething, a magnificent failure. it’s impossible to imagine what this could have sounded like with the “proper” audio technology that the band felt it required, and it’s probably not even worth trying to imagine it. like with everything related to the velvet underground, there is the gap between the myth and the music, but on the other side of that is the gap between the music the band could record and the music they could play and the music they could imagine. *WL/WH* falls somewhere in amongst all of that. it feels like peering into a deep hole in the ground and feeling all that cool, damp and filthy subterranean air against your face. of the myriad technical issues remaining on the final product, the only one i really regret is how low maureen’s drums are mixed. turn that shit up!!!!!!!!!!!!! fav tracks: here she comes now; sister ray; lady godiva’s operation

I'm just going to steal what I said in my own texts to Emilia when I finished. I purposely waited to start listening until I knew I'd have enough time to do it uninterrupted and I'm glad I did. It's meditative in a sense; it's very repetitive and feels like you have to let it put you in a trance. It's interspersed with cool guitar solos and unconventional avant-garde noises that keeps it interesting.

Noisy and feral. Experimental and transgressive. Very strange and almost anti-commercial; doesn’t care.

A fully realized piece of art that's not all that fun to listen to. Can't imagine anyone being like, "hey, I'm in the mood to listen to The Gift." As a total package, obvious how this is Your Favorite Band's Favorite Band's Favorite Band because it really does do what it wants to do and, well, it does it well. But again, it's not super fun to listen to. No wonder everyone describes the velvet underground as being the inspiration for so many other bands, the other bands made music. Lou Reed's ear for a hook doesn't really show up here too much, so much plodding through these songs, which I guess makes the noisy sections a welcome respite. I like da noise.

A discordant album. The birth of so much to come in the future from this album. Its so distorted and the music over powering the lyrics at most times. Favourite track is the spoken word track, The Gift.

3.5/5

It's very lo-fi, experimental, underproduced. Not their best work for me. Maybe a little too abrasive, but still interesting.

It’s always good listening to The Velvet Underground you can hear where a lot of the late 80s alternative rock bands got their sound from. Like the use of feedback, fuzzy guitars and rough production syles. There's also a 17 minute song about taking drugs and getting a blowjob, whats not to like?

4,5

There was this kid at school. She spent her time making life-size models of the Velvet Underground. In clay. Slightly odd kid, but in a good way. Last I heard she spent her time turning tables round in Marks and Spencer’s. Apparently they were OK with it. This was an interesting listen. I’m not sure I’ll come back to it all that regularly, but it was enjoyable enough. And I do like that fuzzy guitar sound. I’ve certainly heard a lot worse and it went straight on for a second listen, which is always a good thing.

This is a very garagey sounding rock album with lots of distortion and strange song structures. The poor production does a number on the album's enjoyability, which would be aided significantly by a louder mix. That said, it's still a good and interesting album.

I think this album could have been great... with a couple more songs, less of the spoken word, a little less drugs. It has some great stuff and continues their exploratory approach, but it falls short, and I could see people giving it a 3 for some of it's missteps.

Erratic and seems highly experimental for the sake of experimentation. I still find it enjoyable though

4/5 interesting but not as good as the debut

Dirty and fuzzy and whilst not as accessible (or good) as their first album its pretty awesome - other than The Gift as spoken word songs are annoying. Love the drumming on Sister Ray. A high 4.

About 100x better than that banana album everybody drools over. Sister Ray is a showstopper!

I Heard Her Call My Name Sister Ray

This is the good version of psychedelic rock from this era, not the Kinks

Crazy distortion for its time, and Dylanesque lyrics and vocal delivery right from the get-go. And distinctly different from their debut, though it's hard to describe exactly how. The same one- or two-chord drones are used extensively throughout both albums, so it can't be that. The two short, "single-prone" tracks – White Light/White Heat and Here She Comes Now – are a notch above the other tracks in virtue of simply being more accessible. I'm a huge fan of TVU's debut record, and these two tracks in particular carry on the energy of the very best of TVU+N. Here She Comes Now is very clearly the sequel to There She Goes Again, though I enjoy this album's version slightly more. Hearing The Gift is one of the strangest experiences I've ever had listening to a song – certainly one from the 60s. It features eight minutes of a deadpan spoken vocal overly an intensely energetic slew of distorted guitar riffs. Pretty cool, eh? Well, the story is even cooler. Gruesome ending Almost reminds me of a Stephen King short story, though of course this predates the Stephster by almost two decades. I Heard Her Call My Name is also pretty dang out there for its time. You can't tell me with a straight face that Helter Skelter is the heaviest rock song of 1968 when the this song's relentless onslaught of screeching guitars and hammering drums are sitting right there. The seventeen-and-a-half-minute Sister Ray is similarly mind-bending. Reminds me of (perhaps) an extended cut of the Doors' The End, and every bit as dark yet exciting. I'm struggling to find the right words for this album, but one thing's for sure: it's very good. All those 1- and 2-star reviewers have no idea what they're on about. 4/5 Key tracks: White Light/White Heat, Here She Comes Now

I really enjoyed The Gift, utterly pompous but fun with it. I Heard Her Call My Name too. I wasn’t sure I was gonna like this as his solo and other VU hasnt left much of an impression but this was a pleasant surprise

Good

Velvet Underground ran, so you're favorite bands could walk.

Favorite Track: White Light/White Heat

White Light/White Heat is the sound of chaos pressed to vinyl. If the debut had moments of beauty beneath the noise, this one dives headfirst into the noise and never looks back. The title track opens with a jolt of distorted rock and roll, and from there the album grows darker and more abrasive. “The Gift” is essentially a short story read in a deadpan voice over a pounding jam, while “Lady Godiva’s Operation” drifts between uneasy calm and bursts of distortion. The centerpiece is “Sister Ray,” a 17-minute maelstrom of organ stabs, feedback, and half-shouted vocals that feels like the walls closing in. It is messy, raw, and hypnotic, testing the limits of what a rock song can even be. This album is not about polish or hooks, it is about capturing energy, danger, and the thrill of something falling apart in real time. White Light/White Heat may not be easy listening, but it is thrilling, confrontational, and one of the boldest statements of the era.

I thought I was going to like the velvet underground, and I do. However, again this isn't the album you should be listening to.

I love Lou Reed!

Fingernails on blackboards. Poor old Walter.

Goddamnit I must actually like TVU.

Dug it. Weird, wonky, & a bit psychedelic. Has a few annoyances that pop up, but I kinda started to dig on re-listens.

The sound of the world crashing down around you whilst Lou Reed sings "too busy sucking on the ding dong" is peak

On y raconte des histoires comme on dérange par le tapage, dans l’ivresse

Good

I love this weird shit. Talk slash sing poetry over rough guitars? Sign me the fuck up! The distortion did start to get to me after awhile, but that's probably because I was developing a headache for unrelated reasons. Otherwise I really enjoyed how weird this was, and Lou Reed is a great story teller, even if the songs are not told the traditional way. I know this album is really hit or miss with critics and listeners, but I think it's great and very representative of the time.

i prefer banana album but still fire Fav song: Sister Ray

Best Song: Here She Comes Now The Velvet Underground remind me of the art students you'd meet in high school and college. Their brain(s) just work different. I didn't think this was as good as their debut album but it accomplishes what it sets out to do. This is supposed to be their anti-beauty album and it accomplishes that. 4/5.

Finally, an album to listen to before I die! Not the best VU, but such a fun an grungy hypnotic dirty spaff of songs

considering the fact that this came out in 1968 i would say they were ahead of the curve in terms of weird noise music. didn’t know what to expect really going into this but i wasn’t disappointed tbh. maybe a hot take but i actually liked this, not exactly the type of music you’d put on for a chill vibe while studying but i take loud and weird over boring and forgettable any day

Quoting exactly how I feel: "considering the fact that this came out in 1968 i would say they were ahead of the curve in terms of weird noise music. didn’t know what to expect really going into this but i wasn’t disappointed tbh. maybe a hot take but i actually liked this, not exactly the type of music you’d put on for a chill vibe while studying but i take loud and weird over boring and forgettable any day"

Psychedelic headbanging with Lou Reed droning tunelessly over it. Not a patch on the banana album but better than a lot of other albums on the project.

What a strange little album this is. Lou Reed is such an odd choice for frontman, but I enjoy his deadpan. Things kick off with White Light/White Heat that deliberately kind of sounds like shit with the fuzzed out bass and distant almost non-existent drums. The song drives forward with stomping bass and plonking keys and just fades away in an extended jam. Not gonna lie, I was pretty hooked into The Gift. While the monitor separation is a little unbalancing through headphones, it is interesting how well it works... The instrumental just wanders in the right monitor while a short story rambles on in the left. Sister Ray, which makes up almost the entire second half, is a long-running, fuzzed out, freeform improvisation around some loosely formed lyrics about mainlining heroin, sucking on ding dong, and killing a sailor. This is a case where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. This song is an absolute mess, but I'd be lying to say I didn't enjoy the whole ride. While I'm not 100% bought into The Velvet Underground hype train, I did enjoy this album. Certainly weird and experimental, even by modern standards this one kept me engaged. Not something I'd seek for pleasure, so to speak, but an enjoyable listen in its own right. Soft 4 for me.

busy sucking on his ding-dong 4/5

Welp, between this, the other two Velvet Underground albums, the two Lou Reed solo albums, the John Cale solo album, and the Nico solo album if you want to count that, I have finally listened to every album on this list that is either from or closely associated with The Velvet Underground. Am I going to miss thinking about these guys? Well, not really, but only because I'm not going to stop thinking about these guys. It sounds like there are a lot of albums on here in the Velvet Underground family. That's because there are quite a few of them, but I think that's mostly warranted. I think all of the albums in question here are varying degrees of good. Admittedly, I do think that White Light / White Heat is my least favorite of the bunch, and it's certainly my least favorite of the actual Velvet Underground albums, but when this is the weakest album I've heard, that's how you know you've got a pretty good band on your hands. Even then, I don't think I could objectively call this the weakest of the three albums. It's just the one that appeals to me personally the least. Why is that? Well, this album's definitely the most experimental of the three they have on the list. It's also the noisiest. I'm not the hugest noise music fan, but I do think it works in moderation. Fortunately, I think this album's moderated pretty well. This still feels like music, and good music at that. Still, I have to admit that I prefer the style of the albums that proceeded and succeeded this one. There are experiments that I feel more positively about though. Take the album's closer, "Sister Ray," for example. There's two big things that make this song stick out to me. The first of these is the subject matter. That's really what has made the Velvet Underground and Lou Reed specifically stand out to me in the place they have in music history. These guys were willing to sing about drug abuse and sexual deviancy in a much more explicit way than their contemporaries. It kind of makes the writing of these songs feel ahead of their time in some ways. I mean, name any other song from around this time that was saying things like "She's been sucking on my ding-dong." That's not something people were casually saying in 1968! That sort of thing is where my respect for the Velvet Underground as musical pioneers really lies. "Lady Godiva's Operation" is a similarly unsettling song that exemplifies the unique traits of the Velvet Underground. Back to "Sister Ray," the second thing that makes that song stick out is that it's 17 and a half minutes long. You know me. I love long-ass-songs. This stuff appeals to me! There are, of course, other things I could say about White Light / White Heat. Take the influence this thing had on punk and noise rock as an example. I'm definitely noticing some of the roots being laid down for later bands like Sonic Youth in particular here. That's cool! This album's cool. It's not my favorite thing in the world, but it's more proof of the legacy of the Velvet Underground, who will undoubtedly go down in music history as legends. Low 4/5.

vuče me prema četvorci, premda mi je zadnja pjesma bila dosta zamorna. jako dobro, neobično

Difficile d'embarquer au debut, mais developpement vraiment interessant.

I really liked this, musically, it's got a 60s rock n roll sound with some discordant rumblings of the first waves of punk rock that were emerging at the time. Lyrically their story telling reminded me a little bit of Nick Cave. 4/5 for me.

Bastante arido. No es para mi el mejor disco de la velvet.

Pretty neat

Bit of a varied record, but it's still damn good, nonetheless. 4.5 bumped down to 4.

own

You take it for granted that music is art as you’re raised knowing so. But this? This is /art/.

I like Velvet Underground now

Probably shocking in its day, but less so now. Loved "Sister Ray" which musically is so typical of the long improvisations that were being done around that time. Let down slighly by the sound quality.

Like the Ramones a decade later, The Velvet Underground had an uncanny understanding of rock-n-roll, so that while they are experimental, at times utterly off-kilter, they are never inaccessible, not even on 'The Gift,' which features John Cale's recitation of an eight minute short story written by Lou Reed. That story happens to be deliciously suspenseful and surprising effective as literature, w/ an ending worthy of an American master such as Flannery O'Connor: 'which split slightly and caused little rhythmic arcs of red to pulsate in the gentle morning sun.' W/ that said, I find it hard to love this record as much as I love their first, which as an artistic statement rivals almost anything. It gives me a great deal of pleasure, but not all-out affection.

Pretty mad for 1968, very ahead of its time, makes a lot of the other 60s bands look pretty tame. Really sets the stage for 70s psychedelia. Definitely the best velvet underground album we've had so far but still more influential than something I actually want to listen to regularly. Good list inclusion mind, happy it came up.

This sounds pretty rough hey. I quite enjoyed it though. Not on the level of the more classic albums but I like their sound. 3.5

Not the VU’s finest outing, but some terrific tracks here. The lo-fi production/recording is a little irritating at times. HOWEVER the title track, Sister Ray, and Here She Comes Now all rule. And then there’s The Gift, one of the funniest songs in rock history with Cale’s deadpan delivery of the story of a man who ships himself in a box to his faraway girlfriend.

Not as good as VU and Nico but still pretty solid

This was pretty far out there for the time that it was released and a record that must've been hard for a label to get behind and promote. Tho not the easiest of listens, this is the underbelly of Velvet Underground. The stuff that isn't mainstream cool featuring model singers and promoted by famous pop artists. This is heavy psychedelia, disjointed and incongruous, like an acid trip that's not always a good. Still looking back on this (but more a trip to Wikipedia) shows that this 'noise rock / art rock / proto-punk' album was ahead of its time before heavy metal.

Very good band, hard to imagine listening to something like this when good music had only just been invented

Do you remember that scene from kids film ‘Madagascar’ (2005) where Alex the Lion falls down the hill and lands on grass, rocks, flowers and cactus? This album is a suitable comparison. Some tracks sooth and take you down the stream and other tracks are sonic onslaughts of the sense (I’m looking at you Sister Ray). You’ve always got to take the rough with the smooth, especially if it makes for an all round fantastic album.

7/10 Groovy Hipster goodness 3-27-2025

They make a lot of noise and it just simply works.

Not as good or legendary as the debut but grezt nonetheles

The sound is very bad. The theme is interesting but... . IMHO, "The Velvet Underground and Nico" is much better.

Weird and cool. Standout songs: The Gift Here She Comes Now Sister Ray

If you want to divide Velvet Underground fans, play them "White Light/White Heat". Casual fans of the band often mistake them for a charming pop band that hung out with Andy Warhol's crowd. Songs like "Sunday Morning", "Pale Blue Eyes", and "Sweet Jane" all feed into this illusion. In truth, they were always an experimental noise rock band in disguise. The odd avant garde songs comes in like a Trojan horse on other albums. But their second release was where they fully embrace this in all areas. The music is loud and noisy, the production is rough and abrasive, the lyrics seem designed to make the listener uncomfortable by exposing worlds unseen by polite society. The band had at this point abandoned Warhol and Nico, setting them free to push everything to the limits. This is also the final album with John Cale as a member (Cale and Lou Reed would eventually work together again two decades later on "Songs for Drella", their tribute to Warhol) and the experimental elements seem to have been heavily influenced by him. The final (legimate) Velvet Underground album, "Loaded", now stands in sharp contrast to "White Light/White Heat". Fans will tell you that you have to love both ends of that spectrum from avant garde to pop to really appreciate them. But Reed and Cale certainly didn't make it easy for people.

This album is mostly okay, "The Gift" is a big highlight but the rest is fine. Then we get the giant "Sister Ray". Wow. What a fucking song. So goddamn cool. Bumps it up an extra star for that

Even all these years later there is still something exciting about listening to these rough, dissonant sounds. The Velvet Underground tapped into something, and it definitely isn't for everyone, but it sure does it for me. 4

Few albums in rock history hit as raw and uncompromising as White Light/White Heat. Released in 1968, this was the Velvet Underground at their most chaotic, abrasive, and experimental. Far removed from the more melodic, artful sound of their debut. The guitar mix is incredible, drenched in distortion and feedback, pushing the boundaries of rock music at the time. The spoken word elements, particularly in The Gift, add a twisted humor that feels both intellectual and absurd. While the album has an elitist, avant-garde edge, it remains surprisingly accessible, at least for those open to noisy, dissonant textures. Hearing this in the late ‘60s must have been wild. Imagine stumbling into a NYC loft session and experiencing these sounds live. The sheer proto-punk energy was unlike anything happening in mainstream rock then. While not for everyone, White Light/White Heat stands as a groundbreaking, aggressive, and essential listen for those curious about the roots of punk, noise rock, and experimental music.

Lou Reed is such a unique song writer. Often imitated, never duplicated. I can't say I enjoyed this album, but I am certain it is the work of a genius.

8/10

The sounds of the VU were surprising and not what I was expecting at all. The only song I knew by them was Oh Sweet Nothin which gave Grateful Dead vibes so I was expecting more 60s calm hippie-ish vibes from them, but instead I was caught off guard by suspenseful instrumentals, literally crazy ass lyrics and a long story(?) The Gift was insane to listen to haha. Definitely feels way more modern than 60s music so I can appreciate what they made.

4.0

I enjoyed this much more than the debut album

Decadecnia y distorsión. Vival el mal, viva el capital!

Not their best album, but still fantastic

I like this. The Gift is an early audio book. The ending was predictable, but in 1968, that had to have freaked some people out. And Sister Ray sounds like the drug-fueled parties I attended in my youth, it feels wanton and depraved, in all the best ways.

Spotify linked to the Deluxe Edition of this album, so that is the one I listened to and reviewed here. The original album is ok, nothing to jump up and down about. There is a 17 minute song about blowjobs on it (Sister Ray), so ya know, top marks for that, lol. There is also a comical 8 minute spoken word song that tells the story of a lad named Waldo who mailed himself to his girlfriends place because he was afraid that she was getting railed by different dudes. The additional content on the deluxe edition (some extra songs, and some live content) is really solid. Truthfully, I feel that the deluxe edition of the album brings this album from like a 3.5 to a 4 star. Some really solid tunes, and a bit less experimental. Favourite songs: Stephanie Says, Beginning to See the Light, Guess I'm Falling In Love, Run Run Run, Sister Ray, The Gift Least favourite songs: I Heard Her Call My Name 4/5

For some reason, I just got on this album’s wave length. It’s noise at times, but also strangely good

yooo this new death grips sounds FIRE

It has been a long time since I heard The Velvet Underground & Nico for the first time. And I’ll admit that, unlike many who have heard it, the album had no real personal impact on me. I have not listened to it voluntarily since, and I really don’t think I ever will. I view it as the young and naive teenager’s first experience with experimental rock. Not saying it’s a bad album, or one that doesn’t deserve the praise it’s received. Or even one that works as a good gateway into the more unusual side of rock music. I just question how we can still regard it so highly, at the same level as other landmark art rock releases, like Marquee Moon for example. My experience with that debut was not that bad in retrospect though. So I wasn’t opposed to hearing what else they had to offer. Plus, the absence of Nico would definitely make other albums more tolerable. Safe to say I’ve never been a fan of her. While the debut was thematically hedonistic and dark, this follow-up fits the experimental label much better. It’s more noisy and unkempt. All around it’s pretty fucking weird. As strong as Lou Reed, and I guess Nico’s, writing was, the music on that debut was not doing enough to keep me engaged. This is far more interesting. The titular opening track is short and simple, but still solid. Here She Comes Now and I Heard Her Call My Name are a combo of very noisy and wild recordings, the latter of which I like better. The Gift is potentially one of the most perplexing songs I’ve ever heard in my life. Everything about it is designed to be a confusing listen. The completely monotone delivery from Lou Reed being used to tell such a strange story, one that I found myself really entranced by in fact, and the hard panning of vocals to the left and instrumental to the right, make this an undeniably difficult song to get through, but such a cool one. Many would argue that the real star of the show here is Sister Ray. And while I agree, is there a debate to had about it being too long? Potentially. Especially when it devolves into mostly structureless noise towards the end. But it’s a good song no doubt. I’m still not entirely sold on this band. But in my eyes, this is a steady improvement from what I heard on their first. I hope to hear something even better on the second of two self-titled albums they released. Rating: 7/10

good vibes, but long as shit