Reviews (page 7 of 8)
VU is another one of those bands I can acknowledge was pioneering and led to other genres and styles of music, but I have trouble getting into them. "The Gift" for example just seems so pretentious.
Weirdly Tidal's link brought me to Social Distortion's White Light, White Heat, White Trash from 1996. I enjoyed that album. I can't say that I enjoyed this album. Lou Reed wrote some of the best tracks in rock and roll history, and I respect the Velvets and understand their massive importance in music history. I'm just not a fan of fuzzy noise jams, not a big Sonic Youth fan for the same reason. This album is kind of a mess, I know I won't be getting it for my vinyl collection!
gott að hafa klárað þessa. Ekkert endilega að fara í rotation
Not what I’m looking for.
Very long album, with nothing to prove for it. I think the music is alright but not good enough to listen again. There’s too much talking and not singing like just make it instrumental or don’t talk.
The notions dripping off these lads in this album.
I kinda dig it. The bad songs outweigh the good
Meh. Had its moments, but not many. And the 8-minute story time wasn't one of them. Although it sort of pains me to give this a 2, I can't justify a 3.
Only Here She Comes Now prevents this from getting a 1 star
This album is very strange. Especially "The Gift" at least the stereo mix that is, where the short story and music are panned hard left and hard right respectively. I don't think it is bad and it was certainly an influential and critically acclaimed album, but I don't think it is The Velvet Underground's best album. I feel bad about ranking this low, but I know that the other two albums I'll end up rating higher.
Pros: - First track - I love that experimental ending, with all of the instruments just gradually pulling apart rhythmically. Very cool sound! - Then the second track starts with some spoken word! I have to admit though as this track went on that I became a little bored by it. I've mentioned it before but I'm a big believer in albums starting with a song or having their second song be some kind of moderately uptempo / interesting sound regardless of the genre, and this one was really interesting to have the second song be a repetitive 8 minute long spoken word song. - The experimental-ness of the album and overall sound is really intriguing. Specifically experimenting with vocal deliveries is really cool. Cons: - Not every act needs things like choruses and hooks, but I think they could benefit from having some of them? Or more of them? I found myself bored at times with some of the songs. Ultimately I didn't love the album..
Loud noise but I get it
Here she comes mow was covered by nirvana so that's a star and I wanted to know how the gift would end so that's 2. Was a bit disappointed in this one. Expected better.
Most influential band of all time, blah, blah, blah. There’s less to like here than on the other records, as much as one admires the experimental bent and iconoclasm, which doesn’t fully come off anyway. “Sister Ray” is as gritty as art/noise rock got, but just because it was among the first of its type doesn’t make it a masterpiece. Anyone annoyed by Reed’s talky vocal style will be sent over the edge by “Lady Godiva’s Operation.” The muddy, submerged production is a big part of the issue – one wonders what this lot would have achieved with modern technology, including sampling (Cale’s later work suggests what might have been). The record’s commercial performance suggests sometimes bands get what they deserve, while its critical reception shows the power of revisionist history. 2.5 for 2.
Lost a fucking point because of the 17 minute song about a blow job. Sucking on my ding dong says Lou Reed. God I think deep down really fucking hate the Velvet Underground. I get it, they are super influential and all that. But I also fucking incredibly fucking pretentious man. Avant Garde heroine chic rock and roll bullshit.
Robert est au plus mal en ce moment et je vais vous expliquer pourquoi. Alors qu'en début de semaine, je lui avais déjà tenu tête en refusant catégoriquement de me plier à ses exigences, celui-ci vient d'être transféré à l'hôpital en soins intensifs pour la raison suivante : il aurait été tabassé par mon compère et rival de toujours eltrapeze (l'intéressé l'a confirmé à l'heure où je m'enregistre). Bien que je trouve l'album du jour très moyen (Lou Reed se moque de nous depuis les années 60), il n'aurait certainement pas mérité de créer un tel élan de haine. Je ne cautionne en aucun cas les agissements d'eltrapeze. Pour en revenir à l'album, et je crois que tout le monde sera d'accord avec mon analyse, le problème a deux sources : Lou Reed et le menuisier du dernier morceau. Inutile de rappeler comment le premier travaille ses chansons (il appelle ses parents, lance l'enregistrement, puis la conversation, et une fois le combiné raccroché, colle sa voix sur des instruments). En ce qui concerne ledit menuisier, son intervention est un énorme point d'interrogation. Il scie d'abord des planches de bois puis perce un énorme trou dans le mur du studio avant de creuser le sol au marteau-piqueur. « Que cela cesse » crieront nos oreilles jusqu'à la dernière seconde.
I’m not sure if this is a different band named Velvet Underground, But this is some of us disappointing music I’ve listened to. I had high expectations going into this and was extremely disappointed.
I always feel like I'm in an "Emperor's New Clothes" situation when I listen to The Velvet Underground. This is garbage but I have to listen to everyone tell me it's brilliant. Pretty sure I heard him say "busy sucking on a ding-dong" at some point?? There were one or two moments that prevent this from being one star but it really is complete trash.
Könnte gut sein wenn’s nicht so lärmig wäre
I get, in part, this is an experiment in what an audience will put up with under the guise of art and that pushing boundaries is necessary in the evolution of music but I really object to just how unlistenable the whole album is - the discordant guitars, the monotonous sound mix, the shouting - and presented in such a way that I am the problem if I don’t ‘get’ it. If I’m square then so be it. An extra star for being on this list, to educate others to avoid at all costs.
not in the mood at all for this
*hits blunt* Uh yeah I do happen to be a huge connaisseur of *looks at hand* expremented Rodc
Definitely not the same level as some of their other albums. This one felt a bit all over. The first song was pretty noisy then the second song was just talking. The other three songs weren’t too special and the album was pretty short. Overall pretty meh. 4.2/10
Veel te rommelig en arty. En de stem van Lou Reed trek ik echt niet.
The Velvet Underground hebben best aardig wat nummers die ik erg kan waarderen. Maar dit album....niet door te komen. Chaotische herrie. En het gaat maar door....
Meh
entiendo que es un disco realmente influyente e innovador para su época pero de lejos es mi favorito de la banda. tiene buenas canciones y otras en las que simplemente no puedo concentrarme, pero en general lo siento como un caos de sonidos que no logro conectar.
Not terrible. Just sooo long
I know, I know, they're iconic or something but...ehhhhh.
How do you rate an album that feels like an experiment gone bad, yet goes on to create and/or drive a genre by how it influences other artists? Ultimately I have to go with my own ears and emotions—how do I feel about the music? Would I listen again? I really struggled with this review; the best I can give it is a 2.
Ugh. I…. _HATE_ Lou Reed. So asking me to listen to VU is asking a lot. The song “White Light / White Heat” I know from Bowie. He performed it in concert a bunch of times. I can see where the foundation of punk came from from these songs, but some of them… people talk about prog rock bring pretentious, THIS stuff sounds pretentious to me. That 17-minute piece just meanders. God, it was bad. I’m adding one star for the song “White Light / White Heat” since I always liked it. So that’d be 1.5 stars, round up to…
The Velvet Underground are one of the most important band of all time, or so I keep hearing. Doesn't help that this album sounds like it was recorded on a boom box because Lou Reed spent all of the recording money on heroin. I actually like some of their material (mostly from their previous album with Nico but also some of Loaded). This album just kind of sucks though. It does get a bonus star because of the Gift though. The feedback cleared my sinuses. Actually the title track is okay.
The album started off ok - "White Light / White Heat" sounded like proto-glam and was promising. "The Gift" had a fun riff and story, with a good punchline. However, underneath both these tracks were hints of the noise that was going to annoy the crap out of me later in the album. "Lady Godiva's Operation" sounded like some decent 60s psychedelia until the doctor part where it got weird. "Here She Comes Now" also had that 60s vibe and wasn't bad. But then the last two tracks brought the noise rock front and center. "I Heard Her Call My Name" had a horrendous almost all-feedback guitar solo that sounded like garbage to me. The jam in the middle of "Sister Ray" was just sloppy and all noise. I wanted to shut off the squealing organ and feedback. The end of "Sister Ray" was even more obnoxious than the middle. I tried to give the album a fair shake - even listened a second time, and that's when I noticed that the noise was present throughout, just not as noticeable on early tracks. I like some Lou Reed solo stuff, but I'm definitely not a fan of this album. Giving it a 2 rather than a 1 solely because there were some redeeming moments.
Not a big VU fan.
Art rock bullshit. 2 stars for a couple catchy songs.
bleh
Might appreciate it more if I were on drugs.
Dude, this was not good. Even for them
Lacking any production value whatsoever and with little regard to singing in tune, this was the ultimate 'fuck the system' album of the time, doesn't make it any good though.
An Interesting album. With some good times and equally some shite. Literally had to turn some off because of the racket. Weird little story track about a bloke posting himself to the woman he loves and she ends up stabbing him in the head. Compelling.
Velvet Underground hieß unsere Studentenkneipe in Brügge. Das Album hat leider weniger Spaß gemacht, als die Abende da.
.
Wow, I did not care for this. 3/10
4/10. I will admit, it was better than the Wikipedia article made it sound. But you know, I really didn't need some guy talking into my left ear for 8 minutes straight about some hopeless romantic, and honestly it was a bit of a cop-out to just have him die at the end. Similarly with the 17 minute song at the end, except I couldn't even be bothered to follow the story of this one, though I did figure out that she was busy sucking on his ding dong, because the singer said so about every 30 seconds. I'd be inclined to say the album was fairly good if it weren't for these two songs, except that these two songs are 65% of the album.
Another gsrage band
Classic lou reed: half of the time is interesting, half of the time you can enjoy it. Hole time is just noise. I get it, is experimental, but why?
Not my favorite VU record, but still a vibe to listen to. A little too noisy & chattery to be enjoyable throughout.
Ne das war nicht ganz meins - 2
Some good tracks on here but the final product is ultimately too disjointed to read as a cohesive album. Comes across more as a set of B-sides and demos, a view reinforced by the garage-level production
Definitely not an album that I choose to be in a list of best albums, half of the songs are just random noise sounds. Maybe when they make the album have just a few songs and wanted to release something new and say, ey, we should load the rest of the album with random shit and wala!
Some stuff stood out- "The Gift" was experimental and interesting, as was "Sister Ray" and "Lady Godiva's Operation", but I can't see myself returning to it, and too much was plodding
Interesting, but not as much my speed. Somewhat grungy.
Got through disc 1 and the start of disc 2 but boy it wasn't easy. What a weird band.
They remind me of the Beatles and, crazily enough, I'm not a huge Beatles fan. I did really enjoy the second song but that's primarily because it was a spoken song. I thing the singer's singing was the biggest issue for me however the instrumentals were good. I'm giving it a 2 since I couldn't even finish the album.
interesting
It was aite, not super my style
Not great
Not amazing.
Better than the last VU album but not by much. Not my thing I’m afraid
Yeah was not into this one. What was up with random talking over some of the tracks?
Couldn’t get into them. Maybe o got lost in the track they legit just talked
👎👎 crap
I’m not sure this qualifies as music.
"[T]hey often played loud with new equipment from an endorsement deal with Vox. However, the final product was compressed and distorted-–most members were dissatisfied with the final product and it was followed with the less experimental The Velvet Underground the following year..." -Wikipedia "White Light/White Heat sold fewer copies than The Velvet Underground & Nico, and peaked at 199 on the Billboard Top LPs chart. The album's only single, "White Light/White Heat", failed to chart, which the band blamed on airplay bans and lack of promotion from Verve. The album was dismissed by many contemporary mainstream music critics, although underground newspapers took notice." -Also Wikipedia Let me get this straight: the band didn't like this album because it sounded terrible, critics didn't like this album because it sounded terrible, and it failed commercially because it sounded terrible, and yet I'm supposed to believe that this is an album that's important enough to be on a list of albums I need to listen to before I die. It really doesn't help that this is one of three albums from The Velvet Underground and one of five from Lou Reed. As much as I hate The Velvet Underground & Nico, I can at least understand why that album's on the list. It's impossible to deny that it had a huge influence on the underground rock and punk scene and could easily be called the single most influential rock album of all time. That album being on the list should mean that White Light / White Heat isn't necessary, but apparently we needed The Velvet Underground & Nico but worse. Every song on here is five minutes longer than it needs to be at a minimum, and every song is significantly worse than the one before it. That last point really comes to a head with Sister Ray. I was damn close to giving up midway through that song, only to find out "midway" was actually about a quarter of the way in. Truly awful.
This is lo-fi slop? This is one of those albums that really make you question why people loved this in its heyday. There are albums today that have garnered lots of attention that we’ll look back on with the same confusion, but when that’s the case why is this a must-listen 50 years later?
Wow... this is mostly just noise.
Like listening to fingernails on a chalk board. Ugh
CHE CAZZO È. SICURAMENTE È STATO IMPORTANTE PER LA MUSICA A VENIRE BLABLABLA…QUESTO È RUMORE PURO E I TESTI FANNO CACÀ. “THE GIFT” PUÒ ESSERE UN RACCONTO INTERESSANTE, NONOSTANTE NON SIA UNA CANZONE: C’È CALE CHE LEGGE UNA STORIELLA E UN BABBO DIETRO CHE SUONA LA CHITARRA NEL MENTRE. MI PIACCIONO PERÒ LE PALLE CHE I VELVET UNDERGROUND NON TIRANO INDIETRO. 1/5
overall it was pretty crap. was hard work to listen to.
There are times when the band members go AWOL and either play a different song or get entirely too board with the droning. Examples - Bass at the end of the first track - Guitar in the first two minutes of The Gift - The random vocals on Lady Godiva's Operation "SWEETLY!" - All of Sister Ray If you plucked out good parts of each track you would make one complete good song. "Here She Comes Now" is the first decent track on the album. Rough album.
The Velvet Underground may be an innovative band with exciting concepts. Apparently, my understanding of music isn't sufficient enough to appreciate this album. I won't listen to it again. 1/5
너무 듣기 힘들었다. 마치 난해하고, 알 수 없는 이미지로 가득 채워진 실험적인 예술 영화를 본 듯한 기분이었다. It was incredibly difficult to listen to. It felt like watching an experimental art film filled with obscure, inscrutable imagery.
1/5. Absolute trash. Experimental crap.
Pretty garbage. Go write a book instead of making these stupid songs if you’re just gonna talk the whole time and put terrible music over it. You know they’re stupid when their Spotify bio has a typo in the first sentence: “The Velvet Underground were largely ignored during HEIR original run from the mid-'60s into the early '70s, but few bands would cast as long a shadow in terms of innovation and influence.” Absolutely one of the worst albums I’ve ever had the misfortune of subjecting my ears to.
I disliked this to the point that I considered going back and lowering the ratings of other Velvet Underground albums.. glad they learned they would have better success with a different formula
veel geluid, weinig geluid om van te kunnen genieten
Helt igennem nederen album. The Gift er måske den mest irriterende sang jeg har hørt (med headset på)
Disturbing album 1/10 unbearable
Noooooo
terrible. awful.
I love Lou Reed, I like John Cale a lot, but I have something to say: a deep dark secret that has haunted me, a theatre/art history grad who has been described as a “pretentious wanker” more than once: I hate the Velvet Underground. I hate this album, I hate the production, it’s almost unlistenable.
06/17 Hippie druggie bullshit
Like an ice pick to the ear drum.
Now that you’ve listened to this album, go back and play The Gift. I’m 100% positive this is what the CIA plays at “11” for terrorists held at black op sites between their water boarding sessions. This is just bad music. Hard pass for me.
Trying way too had to be cool and edgy. Brutal sounds, just all around unpleasant. Except the Waldo story, that was dumb but at least it was weirdly interesting.
Сара опет слабо слушала, фокусирала се на јаковов албум марко 1
Naw
This is by far one of the most obnoxiously abhorrent albums that I've had the displeasure of listening to. It had the sensation of waiting in line for the electric chair, hearing nothing but the jarring sounds of the screams of the unfortunate before me. They should try making music sober instead of manufacturing this bs off whatever narcotics they were on.
Why is this on the list?
That shit sucked for real
Это не альбом. Мужики просто пытались придумать новые песни. У них не получилось.
this actually physically hurt to listen to, in particular the screeching guitar. i used to looove the velvet underground but this has me really questioning my taste. almost gave it a 2 for the moments of solace in Here She Comes Now and parts of Sister Ray.
0.5 / 5 Best Song: Sister Ray Worst Song: I Heard Her Call My Name Weirdest Song: The Gift Honorable Mention: White Light/White Heat Thank god, it's over. I laughed hysterically, but out of bewilderment or torment, I do not know... By far the most abrasive, chaotic, and ear-shattering abomination I have ever had the displeasure of experiencing. Half a point awarded for Sister Ray, which made me laugh for quantity of ding dongs sucked.
#20 What a noisy mess of an album. It feels like they are trying to be as experimental as they can possibly be, while also making it deliberately off-putting.
At best it bored me (such as during the Gift), at worst aggravated me (such as the weird vocal cuts on Lady Godiva's Operation), but mostly it just confused me. It sounds like giving a small child access to any musical production gadget and telling them to go wild, while one or two actual musicians try to keep up. It works best as an album described to you than you actually giving it a listen. I'm really hoping either of the two eponymous albums live up to the Velvet Undergrounds' legend.
Pretty songs
Wow this is BAD.
Jesus was this recorded on a potato? What is this awful noise at the end of the first song? Cool and now song #2 is just someone telling a weird-ass story. Oh great the last song is 20 minutes of noise. No thank you.
wow no thank you.
Halva albumet är en intermission. Velvet underground måste vara det mest överskattade bandet någonsin, så hjälper inte att de släpper ett "album" som absolut inte kan räknas som ett album. Varför detta med i listan?
This was truly awful. Most of this isn’t “music” - just noise, or talking (over noise). The most music-like tracks are fuzzy-sounding and have terrible song lyrics.
More experimental shit by Velvet Underground. Yeah hard pass. Only decent song is The Gift, and that is only because it has an interesting story. But it's not even a song, it's just the guy telling the story while music plays. And the music is too high, can't hear the words. Thankfully the music is all in the right channel and talking all in the left. I just moved the balance slider and I could understand the story. Best song: The Gift
Was very raw and kinda just sounded terrible. Their other albums are actually enjoyable this just seems terrible to be terrible.
Not a fan at all. Unfocused.
Gah. Terrible rock album. Too weird.
I take back every time I called something else pretentious bullshit, because this takes the absolute cake. What a self-absorbed waste of 40 minutes.
they lost me here
ehhh naur
The last song made everything else irredeemable by association.
A bunch of noise and words. i couldn't wait for it to end
Nope from me
I had assumed I'd enjoy this, so it was quite the disappointment. And opening bland track, followed by a long story over some low repeating sounds. A 17 min noise track with a story that, sure great write a book. I guess if this is your thong then sure... cool. But I've got bettwr things to do with my time.
This is the kind of nonsense that music critics fawned over so that they could come off as sophisticated and, therefore, justify getting paid to listen to music. This is the equivalent of when you give a group of kids a tape recorder and a microphone and, just like this album, they can demonstrate that they don't understand audio levels and sound mixing.
el peor álbum q escuche en mi vida
This is an ADHD Nightmare. It is chaotic, loud, just a bunch of random noise with talking over it. You know the creepy tunnel scene in Willy Wonka ... This is like that but on drugs. I hate it with a passion and couldn't get through a single song
Not my jam. Mostly noise, and weirdly experimental. There's a 17 minute song about a blowjob with the lyrics "You're busy sucking on my ding-dong. You busy sucking on my ding-dong." For fucks sakes.
Blah. Find it annoying at best. My husband is a huge fan and did admit this wasn't their finest hour.
The Gift was fun in a novelty kind of way. I Heard Her Call My Name was atrocious and a 17 minute final track was a special kind of torture. Abysmal.
Oh this again. Really, we need all three of these? Pretty sure we get the gist of what this band is all about after the one album, I have to listen to all of them before I die to really understand music? What if I already went through my Beat phase in college? Anyway, there's not what I would classify a "song" here. Especially whatever is happening at the end of this thing. "She's busy sucking on my ding-dong?" Bro. Embarrassing. That was cringe THEN. Anyway, I'm out of patience with this band. Pretty sure Sonic Youth would have figured it out without them, and the Nirvana cover of "Here She Comes Now" is infinitely better because Kurt had a sense of like, melody and rhythm. Also, real quick, this is not the only experimental band from the 60s. But apparently enough people have decided that this is the only one that matters somehow. This band is annoying. I'm annoyed. Suck a ding-dong, Velvet Underground.
This was fucking dreadful cunt, looking aside the horrid audio quality the lyrics and musicianship on this fucking suck. PUN INTENDED because the rambling in Sister Ray was just stupid, as well as the incoherent dribble that come out of whoever-the-fuck drug addict sings for Velvet Underground. I HAD TO LISTEN TO SOME CUNT SAY "TOO BUSY SUCKIN' ON MY DING DONG" ARE WE BEING SERIOUS NOW This was fucked man I don't understand why these guys are so acclaimed. That being said, I've had everything served up to me on here except for the banana album - whatever that's called.
I actively hated listening to most of this. It’s difficult to make me completely dislike an album that has even decent guitar playing. But this even got me to cringe at the guitar parts. Somewhere hidden in there are some good guitar riffs but you can barely tell because of the ear-shattering nonsense noise going on elsewhere. I should get an award for getting through most of Sister Ray without driving my car off a bridge.
“…the album’s engineer was so put off by the 18-minute ‘Sister Ray’ that he left to get coffee, complaining that no amount of money was worth listening to that crap.” I’m with him. 1.4 stars
oh dear god, not another velvet underground. No. Not gonna happen.
garbage noise.
called the velvet underground because their music puts you underground
Yeah I was too mean to the first Velvet Underground one we got At the very least, Nico wasn’t that painful, if a little boring. This one is so unpolished and rough that it barely sounds like music at times. It really does sound like you gave a bunch of five year olds instruments and told them to rock out. Horrible rhythm, the vocals just straight up suck, and the instruments are passed through way too many layers of distortion. The lyrics are awful too, it’s not like there’s some kind of deep meaning behind them. That 17 minute song to cap off the album is definitely some of the truly worst music we’ve had on this list I really don’t have a whole lot to say that’s nice about this one, I understand why it’s on the list and how it’s super influential but man this one straight up sounds like shit. Every once in a while there’ll be a section that sounds ok but they’re far and few between. I really don’t get the appeal of this one at all
It's still the same thing; too rough and unpolished for my enjoyment. The Gift is some kind of dry comedy bit and I don't know why it felt the need to be 8 minutes long. Lady Godiva's Operation is the same thing; a half-baked melody wrapped in random sounds with no care for whether or not it's listenable. They're more obsessed with being an art project than making music. Also Sister Ray is 17 minutes and I have more important things to do with my life.
I hated the first Velvet Underground album that we got and I was so disappointed to find out that there was another one on this list. There is not much to say other than I can't stand listening to this music, it's not even music. Why is this album on the list? It does literally nothing.
Listen, I don't mind a jam session. I'm not huge into the Grateful Dead, but I can appreciate them. There's elements of noise rock and psychedelic here, but man, they find one chord progression and beat it to death, don't they? Yes, the lyrics were extremely progressive for their time, but there's got to be more than that, especially when the vocals are buried beneath everything else. Throughout listening I was steady on a two, maybe a three, but then "Sister Ray" started to drag on and I realized, with growing horror, that it was going to go on forever. This is just my purgatory, I guess.
Couldn’t wait for this to finish
Prätentiös ohne Ende, der zweite Song hat mich richtig aufgeregt.
I'd like to nominate "The Gift" as a bottom-ten song in the 580 albums from this list. We were so far into negative-star territory that even Lou Reed couldn't pull us back to mediocrity.
Very unpleasant experience, not sure I liked a single thing about this album, the 17+ minute final track cemented 1-star status
Did I just hear five plus minutes of sucking on my ding-dong?
I just didn't like it, the vocals were drowned by the guitar, which might be fine, but makes it really hard to follow a spoken story for 6 min. And the vocals that did come through weren't very enjoyable and didn't really build on the distortion or use it for effect. It all seems very random and disconnected Standouts The Gift 1/5
The Velvet Underground will forever be that band that people like because it's "different" or "groundbreaking." It's straight ass. It's so fucking garbage. I wanna blow my fucking ears in after hearing the first few songs on the album. It actually hurts my ears. Straight brainless noise, and pretentious people can't convince me it's good or purposeful like genuinely shut the fuck up. Silver Ray's alright but it's still unnecessarily long like we get it. The opening track isn't too bad, but the rest of the album is completely unbearable. This is probably the worst album I've ever heard.
You would have to be on some ridiculously strong hallucinogen, like pure liquid acid, dripped onto centimetre cubes of plaster of paris, which you had to keep in the freezer to prevent the drug evaporating, to think this album was 5 stars. Otherwise sober you’d realize that this is a festering pile of dog shit.
Listened to The Gift with right ear only, that way it was pretty enjoyable The rest stinks
Bogus lyrics and equally as bad instrumentals
Like their other album, certainly interesting from an expiramental view but not enjoyable to listen to.
Nul, pas aimé
This is what happens when Andy Warhol does zero work on a Velvet Underground album
If there’s something to get, I didn’t. Too busy sucking on that ding dong.
Feel like there’s a joke I’m not getting, like a bunch of teenage boys have somehow managed to have their shitty album get big. Favourite song: White Light/White Heat Least: The Gift
I think theres a reason that people mostly talk about "The Velvet Underground & Nico" in regards to The Velvet Underground as group because while the whole nature of their work is experimental or avant garde in nature... Some of it is too much so to be enjoyable for the average person. Frankly the only song I kind of liked here was "I Heard Her Call My Name" and the rest was absolutely not for me, ESPECIALLY "The Gift" the 2 channel use on that song drives me fucking crazy I h a t e it. And y'know what I bet Sister Ray sounds life-changing if you just shot some smack into your veins
I love when someone takes garbage and turns it into art. I hate when someone, posing as an artist, produces garbage and tries to convince you that it's art.
I’m not sure all of that was actual music.
I didn't like this. They were trying SO HARD to be counterculture it just comes off cringey.
I went in biased because I saw the little blurb on Apple Music refer to this as The Velvet Underground’s noise album. My fears were confirmed. Absolute garbage.
Some of this will always be more in the admire/respect camp, but from their own telling it was a failure technically, the product of amateurs enthralled with the sound of distortion and loud guitars, something anyone who has been in a practice space will understand. Reed’s lyrical concerns have never interested me and their “boundary-pushing” a bourgeois, adolescent fascination, a tourist on holiday, maybe provocative in its time but quickly tamed. At times his performance has the sensibility of a 6 year-old giggling at the word fart.
A bunch of noise
2.5/10
Struggling to think of anything positive to say about this. Jarring guitars that sound like they're being bashed against a wall, coupled with awful vocals and mumblings. The only thing that would be a positive would be if I never have to endure any more Velvet Underground ever again which, given the nature of this list so far, is pretty unlikely.
Could not stand this. Not for a second. Sorry.
I do not like the Velvet Underground. This isn't good and their vocalist is so annoying. There are decent parts, but not great overall. Liked Songs: "White Light/White Heat" , "Here She Comes Now"
Stupid album by a stupid band 1.5
Didn’t love this one
Die Frage ist nicht, ob die Katze beim Hören gestorben ist – sondern ob es Gnade war. Dieses Album klingt, als hätte jemand Feedback zur Kunstform erklärt und vergessen, wieder aufzuräumen. Verzerrung, Dissonanz, ein 17-minütiger Krach-Monolith namens „Sister Ray“, der klingt wie ein Stromausfall im Irrenhaus. Die Künstler wollten Noise – sie haben ihn bekommen. Avantgarde? Vielleicht. Hörbar? Kaum. Am Ende bleibt nur Stille. Und die klingt plötzlich wie Mozart.
Didn't get this at all.
Beznadziejne czuć że słabo nagrane
Holy shit, this is not good. I want to like it. I really do.
The music is extremely simple and boring and the guitars are covered with feedback and distortion that makes them tough to listen to. The lyrics are repetitive on most of the songs, and there's even a meandering spoken word track. It's not the worst album on this list but it still gets a 1.
no thank you
This faded into the background..... until it started to annoy me. Sorry Phyl.
Listened Before? N What a pile of pretentious garbage. Apparently they fired Andy Warhol before they recorded this one.... I hate Andy Warhol - but he would have improved this record. What a noisy turd. My first TRUE one star rating. Added to Library? N Songs added to playlist: Here She Comes Now (because it was short and the only song that had any coherence to it).
Underwhelming :/ and ew
Never actually listened to these before but I was aware of their Andy Warhol album so I was quite excited going in. However I just couldn't get past what felt like messy instrumentals and slurred vocals. Maybe it was just the style of the time and I can see how in a time of very "clean" music it could be viewed as a bit rebellious but I really struggled to enjoy any of it.
Well... there's that. Love you John Cale, but this ain't it.
I don't get it, this group continues to be overrated to me.
I didn't enjoy 1 second.
Garbage. Beat poets with amplifiers. I can't stand beat poets. I'd gladly listen to 100 hours of that Captain Beefheart Fish Head album before I'd listen to this again.
Who is this for?
Terrible
What an insanely unpleasant album. Not one redeeming quality.
Pure noise. Not good.
Hated it, and I like the velvet underground other stuff
Thank god I didn’t listen to the deluxe version. Absolutely horrible. You must have to be high AF to think this is decent.
Quite messy. A little too much distortion and squeeking; way too much talking.
I hated every second of this. The subversive subject matter of the lyrics was newish at the time, but other than that I simply don't like/get Lou Reed's oeuvre. This sounds like the output of heroin-addled narcissists, which it is.
I am not cool enough to enjoy 90% of this. 0.4
This is mind numbing stuff. As much depth as a puddle. Does not belong in any best of lists and instead belongs in the dustbin of history.
What a shambles this is. Going by the Wiki entry the recording was rushed and chaotic and even the band thought the production was terrible. Why anyone would want to sit down and listen to this on the regular I have no idea
3eme album avec Lou Reed =>1/5 Je n'aime toujours pas son chant, et l'accompagnement est particulièrement désagréable dans cet album.
Er det noen som setter på dette frivillig?
Pretentious as can be. Indulgent. Hard to listen to.
Ah not my favorite band and least favorite album from them so far.
What the heck even is this?
This is experimental noise rock and the thing about experiments is they’re often a failure. 6 tracks and 40 minutes, meaning you get a 17 minute track that’s just slamming on instruments. If that were the only offense I could get over it, but it’s not. The opening track ends with cringe inducing noise; “The Gift” is story time with minor background music; “Lady Godiva” starts ok until you get bad talk singing out of nowhere followed by an annoying heartbeat sound; and “I Heard Her Call My Name” has some really obnoxious guitar. Not since Pink Floyd’s debut album have I been so disappointed in an artist I otherwise like. This is bad and it should feel bad. 1/5
The gift... Can I send it back? Awful album, not surprised I've never heard of them before.
Goodness me! That was shit!
Just because every band I love loves this album doesn't mean I have to. 1/5
Had to listen to this AND Bjork yesterday. Not my finest musical day.
White light / white shit!
a failed experiment? Tracks to Track: White Light/White Heat
Proof that Americans can make noise.
I had to turn the volume way down on my headphones to survive that seventeen minute shitfest at the end
Unlistenable. Terribly recorded to boot
Honestly unlistenable in parts. The distorted guitar that got them all the acclaim wasn't intended and the band didn't like it? Give me a break.
painful
Just wasn't pleasant or even interesting
This wasn’t an easy album or something I enjoyed. Most of the guitars are too distorted sounding just as noise. One song was too long without really catching my attention.
Didn't get this at all. Half listened earlier in the week and came back to listen properly today. Too avant-garde, not a fan of the vocals, lyrics not great. The final song sister ray, at 17 minutes final nail in the coffin.
this sucks
What in the Christ on a bike was that! Just cause you can be experimental doesn’t mean you should or are good at it! I will say one thing though I think they may have invented the Audiobook with the track The Gift…. Poor Waldo!
Noise. No Songs.
Sheesh. You can hear that these are some great musicians. But for the love of Pete, who gave them so many drugs? Hate to high hell. Perhaps with exception of the few classical rock and roll tracks.
I just don't like this band.
Not my vibe
No. It's more than just sounds because I can say that it's rock, but it's just barely more than sounds.
Profoundly annoying and aimless. Oh look, Lou Reed is involved. Hard no.
I can't do this one. Couldn't finish it. 1 star.
Thank goodness it's over. Of the 40 minute runtime, 20 percent of it is one song that is just a story. 1 star.
Unlistenable.
joo mitä vittua? tämä ei voilla mikään . public zeitgeist moment. aivan paska bändi lopettakaa näitten suosittelu spotifyp spotfuy en kuuntele velevt undergoround sekä nico albumia olen jo kuullut en vittu halua uudestaan ja tämä vieläkin paskempaa hyi helvett TTTTI.. so low key tho... vähän chilli ja menee vaa .. menee vaan eteempäin kinda chill in that way... aina niin strukturoitu niin nää vaan tekee heh jotain tekee vaan. ja mitä sitten? jatsi ollut jo aika kauan olemassa tässä vaiheessa ei se tarkoita että paska musiikki on jotenkin uutta heh.. vuosi on jo 68 eiköhän ole jo selvät sävelet että tällästä romumusiikkia ei enää tarvita.. sister ay
I don't know who thought it was okay to give Lou Reed a microphone, but if he says "sucking on a ding-dong" one more time, I'm gonna blow my goddamn brains out. I can't imagine taking The Velvet Underground and Nico off this list, or Transformer, but this album absolutely doesn't need to be here.
1.5 - not a whole lot to like
Awful
I know how influential these guys were but I just can’t bring myself to like The Velvet Underground. Everything sounds so fucked up but not in a fun or cool way but in a way that absolutely drives me insane.
2/10
I mean I just can't even. That final track will haunt me forever.
Probably influential, but not very good.
Me gusta el disco de la banana, pero este disco realmente suena mal. No se cuál es el atractivo del mismo.
Gives pretentious shithousery a bad name.
As a concept, The Velvet Underground seems like a great idea. In practice, it is unlistenable garbage. I'll never get the appeal. Sure, Lou Reed did make some fantastic songs later in his career. I certainly hope that his masterpiece, "New York", is on this list. If VU sounds like what heroin feels like, this album serves as a very effective deterrent against the drug.
Ich liebe Lou Reed und Velvet Underground. Das hier nicht.
sure why not!
Nope...fucking terrible. Nothing velvety about this album. More like The Piss Soaked, Sand Covered, Shredded Leather Underground. File this one with the other obnoxious noise albums from The Jesus and Mary Chain and Suicide. Somehow White Light/White Heat was actually harder to get through then those for me though. Band was too busy getting their ding-dongs sucked to write good tunes. Even the softer track "The Gift" is a pretentious load of shite. The only solace is that the band was not happy with the final release and it was not well received by the public or critics. On the list because it influenced punk and was about trannies? Fuck off...0.58 stars.
Did not think my first 1-star (after~338 albums) would be a Velvet Underground album. A bit anticlimactic as it's not exactly something I loathe with all my being but it also just contains nothing reedemable outside of the first track.
1/5
I'm allowed to not like things and I don't like this. The production is self-satisfied, the lyrics are a navel-gazing glorification of unexamined masculinity, and the sound mixing is terrible. Life is short! I don't have to listen to a song about sucking on anyone's ding-dong! I don't need to endure uninterrupted monologuing or long, masturbatory outros! I'm not saying this album needs to be expunged from the world, or even that it doesn't deserve its place on this list, but once mostly-through was enough of this album for me personally.
hey, this fucking sucks. aimless, masturbatory experimental noise that includes the line "you busy sucking on my ding dong". hard pass.
Hahaha va fan. Det här sög ju stenhårt. Älskar också kritiken. När det inte går att säga nåt bra så säger man istället att "musiken" varit viktigt för utvecklingen av andra genrer. Men det gör dessvärre inte denna upplevelse bättre. Ett jävla megatrots. "Suck my ding-dong".
Milda makter vilket skräp.
Redom ide dosadna pjesma, pa priča s malo pozadinske muzike, pa još jedna trun muzikalnija priča ali ovaj put o lobotomiji, pa dosadna pjesma, pa dosadna pjesma s najgore odsviranom gitarom koju sam ikad čula, pa dosadna pjesma od 17 MINUTA! Ovo je stvarno jedna od većih katastrofa dosad.
It's a group of white people making lots of noise, which engulfs the alleged vocals in the background. Particularly, the final track was a chore to get through. Favorite Track: "White Light/White Heat".
I want to give this album a chance to prove to me why it is so well-loved, seminal, and influential. But it makes it so hard. From the boring spoken word story of “The Gift” to seventeen minutes of “She's busy sucking on my ding-dong” and improvisational noise on “Sister Ray,” it’s all just too much. This album is so different from “Velvet Underground and Nico” that preceded it, and from the follow-up self-titled album. At least in the latter, the difference is John Cale, who was kicked out of the band after “White Light/White Heat” as Lou Reed wanted to take their sound in a more conventional direction. And while Cale was too much for me, Reed swings things too far in the other direction on “Velvet Underground.” I understand how much “White Light/White Heat” was 20-30 years ahead of its time, and it's clear the influence it had on many. I want to give it a ⭐️⭐️, but the ding-dongs kill me.
Eclectic, random. A bunch of noise. A couple cool instrumentals, but some really annoying, piercing sounds that were distracting. Grating vocals.
I really wonder how some of these albums get onto this list. I get it, this is a prime example of psychedelic rock from the late '60's, but it's nearly unlistenable. Plus a 17 minute track about drugs, sex, and murder...I'm sure it was quite shocking in the day, but it just comes off as annoying now. Albums and music like this make me happy we have moved onto better things. Also, there was way better examples of music like this from the time, why aren't they on this list?!
Langweilig! Langweilig! Monoton! Monoton! …
# Album Name: White light white heat # Artist: The Velvet Underground # Rating: 1/5 # Comments: Absolute shite. I think the opening song was the only audilble track. The rest is garbage. Fucking hot garbage. Just noise. Sister ray - 17 mins? give me a fucking break sunshine. # Top Tunes: Absolutely none of them. # Would I listen to it again? No
A horrible follow-up to a band's magnus opus. As someone who, doesn't entirely love, but enjoys The Velvet Underground & Nico's Self-Titled, imagine my disappointment when I actually got to playing the album. On their debut, the distortion was an interesting aspect of the album, maybe not entirely for me, but I liked it at least a bit. This album is trying too hard to be noisy, and doesn't have any variation whatsoever, besides maybe a few seconds in one or two of the songs. 1/5, was too busy sucking on a ding-dong to make it sound good :(
Alternative band from the early 20 teens. No real hits.
Not great. Lots of noise and words, but almost no melody or musical lyrics.
I just couldn't get in to this album at all. I can't really put my finger on why but something about the style of music, the mixing, and the singing just didn't vibe with me at all. I might have to come back to this another day to see if I feel differently then.
Sorry, the best words I can find are Fucking Wank.
Meh
If you have synesthesia that causes you to feel sound AVOID THIS ALBUM. The purposful feedback screeching, the having every song recorded to sound like your speakers were damaged by dry rot and the parts that sound like someone is using a car horn as an instrument, make this album painful to listen to. Their reputation far exceeds their talent!
Album shouldn't be on the list! Really love the debut album of Velvet Undergound, but this is total crap to me. Normally I don't give 1 stars (especially for genres that I don't "like"), but since I really like rock etc. I have to give this a 1...not 1 goood song on the record, really enoying stuff...
More self aggrandizing bullshit from the Underground. Bletch
Been a while since I couldn't finish an album, but boy oh boy, I couldn't take another minute of this one.
Sucks for the most part
TRASH
Just garbage, barely can be considered music.
I loathe this band. What a bunch of losers.
I don't think I'd listen to it again. 1/5
did not like. too jam bandy
I've never listened to this album before, I'm sure. But if this had been the first thing I'd ever heard from VU, I'd never have listened to anything else from them. This is absolute trash.
i don’t think i’m the target audience for this album.
This album was just outrageously dull. Looking back, I actually scored The Velvet Underground’s self-titled album highly, but holy guacamole this album is awful. It’s shoddily played instruments very bizarrely mixed vocals, and occasional loud feedback sounds. I’m genuinely amazed that this is considered a good album. I’d rather listen to 40 minutes of dog farts.
I really tried liking I swear to cow but it was dull and boring as fuck
1. light - 0 2. gift - 0 3. lady - 1 4. nouu - 1 5. name - 1 6. zizter - 1 7. name 2 - 1 8. love - 1 9. heart - 1 10. ztephanie - 1 11. rain - 1 12. rain 2 - 1 13. light - 1 14. booker - 1.5 15. anymore - 1 16. love - 1.5 17. man - 1 18. run run - 1 19. ray - 1 20. gift - 1
inaudível mixagem horrível até pra 1968 sua influência se compara a como se uma das primeiras pinturas na história usando a cor azul fosse um pênis mal feito não é pq é influente e histórico q eu tenho q gostar dum quadro dum pênis
Achava que eles so tinham feito bittersweet symphony. Honestamente o album não é um dos mais impactantes. A segunda musica é basciamente um monologo hippie com uma linha de baixo fazendo dum dum dum dum dum, detalhe que essa musica é basicamente uma romantizacao de suicidio de corno. francamente bem boiola. Meio meh.
What the actual fuck have I just listened to. Sounds like a poor quality recording made by a bunch of people who were too high/drunk to form coherent thoughts. Way too screechy but possibly could be made good if it was re-recorded well.
You don't get to read a urban legend copypasta at me without my consent and then end the album on a 17 minute meander meme fest.
Feedback: The Album. I hated this more than I expected. I can't believe a full 8 minutes of the 40 are devoted to a spoken word story. Nothing else in here really contains any music I want to hear again. The vocals and lyrics are unpleasant too.
Obnoxious garbage. Apart from The Who, I absolutely DESPISE The Velvet Underground.
Spotify wil me naaien met een 126 minuten versie, maar dat kan ik me met mijn achterstand niet veroorloven. Maar zo is het album oorspronkelijk natuurlijk ook niet bedoeld. Vanaf track 2 (een langdradig kutverhaal) ben ik er aan uit dat dit album nooit op een dergelijke lijst had gestaan als het nu zou worden uitgebracht. Ongepolijste, kunstzinnige rommel die vooral legendarisch is omdat een lading boomers dat ooit heeft besloten. Af en toe krijg je bij dit soort bands het idee dat ze vooral aan het kloten waren met hun taperecorder en dat de liedjes zelf bijzaak waren. Kunnen zingen was in ieder geval geen vereiste. Het zal allemaal wel z'n plek hebben in het muzieklandschap, maar ik ervaar dit album toch weer vooral als een enorm vermoeiende schreeuw om aandacht. Dit is niet aan mij besteed. Die laatste track waar iedereen even een kwartier mag uitrazen begint wel aardig. Helaas wordt het al weer gauw een schelle kakofonie. Ik vind dit super kut. 1 ster. Kutherrie.
White Light / White Heat is what happens when a band decides they’re above making actual music. Lou Reed probably thought he was a genius when he recorded this, but it sounds like he tossed his instruments into a cement mixer and called it art. Every “song” is a cacophony of screeching, distorted guitars over lyrics that make zero sense. If you’ve ever wanted to know what it’s like to have your eardrums sanded down by pretentious noise, you’ve found it. Art? More like White Noise / Headache.
so fire that it's burning down the house!!!!!
альбом - перформанс, альбом - провокация
I can easily imagine in 1968 that there was so little going on that someone could hear this and it could be so experimental and different and interesting that they’d be like wow this is so experimental and different and find it very entertaining, but i am listening to it in 2024 and it isnt interesting it’s annoying
This was so awful. They got rid of Andy Warhol and Nico for this album, and apparently they needed them. This was just poorly produced noise. I really have no idea why this is on the list.
bruh this was dogshit. Why do people say something was good because it was experimental. It has to be good first, then you get extra points for doing something unique. Otherwise experiment failed. You all can boo now idc. The Waldo song is an interesting story but since when is reading a short story a song. I really don’t care for discordant noise and then people cheer cuz “wow no one else is doing this”. yea there’s a reason. Smh 1.5 if I could
1/5
Songs are too much like talking with music in background, difficult to understand what song is. Out of tune, no melody at all.
couldn’t finish. fell asleep
This was almost painful to listen to.
Didnt finish it. An hour too long and it is mostly experimental noise.
Surely the worst album that regularly pops up on "best of" lists. Monotonous, noisy, lyrically offensive. VU are like a comedian who thinks it's cool to be crass. Nah... just boring.
Ummm 30 tracks, over 3 hours? Dear god, why. OK, I'll give it a try... check back in on me in an hour or so. I'm back. This is crap. Sorry, I know I know I know Lou Reed, influencer, innovator, he took a walk on the wild side... but come on, this is crap.
White hot trash! First song was fine, then for some reason they started overusing feedback in their songs and it kept making me cringe like nails on a chalkboard. Then in another song, after a line is sung, some dude half ass repeats the word like a crappy hype man at a hip hop concert. I don’t understand how this even made the list.
9/5/24. I'm a big fan of Velvet Underground but I didn't like this one, just thought it was rambling and noisy. Compared to Nico and the Self Titled, this one is far behind in my opinion.
Loaded is a far better album than this hot mess.
Did not like one little bit
💤💤
if you want to torture your ears for 40 minutes give this a listen. Might be the worst album on this list so far.
What the hell is The Gift!? Motherfucker Lou, Sister Ray is so poorly mixed. god this stuff is a pain to listen to. Wow what a real pile of shit.
I can only speculate why this might be a "good" album. It can't be the music.
1/10…Postpunk(apokalypse)
Actively bad
Sure man whatever you say, this ain't for me
I get it, the noise and chaos is the point, but it’s just not good.
“Where Waldo” meets Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Sounds like someone pressed record in the rehearsal room full of drunks. I really dont get the greatness of this.
Jeez, White Light/White Heat is definitely not for me, it actively annoyed me and/or made my head hurt at times, and the rest of it was pretty inaccessible with (deliberately) sparse production and a lack of coherent structure. The Gift as a spoken word song was crap, Here She Comes Now was a load of noise, and Sister Ray is stupidly overblown and genuinely terrible in places. I am not remotely the target audience for this sort of stuff, experimental in every way, but it can get in the bin as far as I'm concerned, a 1 from me, and I'll fight you about it too. Lou Reed was a cunt and I'll fight him as well, dead or alive.
#272. This started out bad, and only got worse. 1/5: terrible, take a lap.
Shit!
pretentious drivel
Wooooaaaaaah, bloooooaaaaa, and spuuuuul is random sounds that for some reason make up this album and it is wildly confusing overall. No me gusta Velvet Underground.