The Velvet Underground

One of the top top albums

Boring. Bob Dylan meets the who but the songs suck. Bet it’s great if you’re on smack. liked The Murder Mystery. Would not listen again.

It's alright. A couple of good tracks, plenty not so good. Not sure I get the hype

A classic album—thank God, finally some decent music again! It is the first album without John Cale, featuring Doug Yule instead. The album is heavy on ballads; Lou Reed sings in a warm, soft style, and both Yule and drummer Maureen Tucker take the lead on a song each. Only the track "The Murder Mystery" is somewhat experimental, harking back to earlier Velvet recordings. The album marked a turning point for the band in several respects. For me, it is an album that deserved greater recognition. Beautiful folk-rock in the classic sense.

Già conoscevo

Very experimental, most likely a lot of drugs were consumed during its production. Some lovely songs like "Pale Blue Eyes" or "Beginning to See the Light". Overall a bit of a downer, but maybe it's better to take some LSD and blast it. Side note: I still can't believe Lou Reed did this, and then went on to make the abomination known as Lulu. Uuuugh.

i prefer the banana one

"Self-Titled" is not as good as The Velvet Underground's album with Nico. However, it still has some good songs. The ones with Reed singing are the best. "Self-Titled" feels very modern for a 60s album. In fact, the track "After Hours" could pass as a 2010s song. 3 stars for "Self-Titled".

My least favorite of their albums, unless you count Squeeze, which no one does, but this is still a 5. The opening to What Goes On was my ringtone for years and it still makes me jump whenever it comes on.

Simplistic yet brilliant. Lou Reed wasn’t the best musician but his approach made his work interesting.

Nothing interesting here, much prefer Andy Warhol. REM do a cover of Pale Blue Eyes and After Hours.

No as good as their first two albums

Enjoyable enough if not ground breaking

It’s fine. But pretty boring.

Feels like friends playing music in a cozy room together.

I miss John Cale. But hey, at least Nico's also gone.

Mostly a bore, but I did really like The Murder Mystery and After Hours. Might just need a few more listens.

Great album, good to listen to.

can’t believe this came out in 1969

solid

Like with other Velvet Underground albums, I appreciate the significance of this, but I’ve never enjoyed it.

The Heroin to Jesus pipeline is crazy

Getting Nick Drake vibes from Pale Blue Eyes. Murder Mystery sounds like something from their earlier albums but most of the rest seems a lot more mild/pop focused. It's not bad but it doesn't feel as groundbreaking.

Cool sound. Felt more modern than it really was

8/10… pre punk / art rock / *1969

Whew. I'm really in a pickle on this one. VU is incredibly influential and this (more) mainstream album is a great example of why. Their downstream effects are so clearly visible on this. The last track "After Hours", for example, could be found on any current indie band's tracklist and you'd just assume it was an original by them. Nope. Lou Reed beat them to it.. 40+ years ago. I'm stuck between a '4' and a '5' mainly because of their experimental, "The Murder Mystery" which this list/project has taught me (and this song reinforced) I don't have much patience for -- especially at an almost 9 min runtime. To balance out my feelings on them, as a whole -- and knowing we haven't been given their first album with Nico on it yet -- I think this one will get the (5/5) mainly because I don't believe that some of Nico's tracks will stand the test of time for me. I listened through a lot of their stuff in HS and college and even then I had limited patience for her razor sharp (not in a good way) voice.. Her absence and the more mainstream aesthetic elevates this for me.

Having already completed White Light/White Heat, I found this to be a much more mellow and groovy offering than I'd anticipated, featuring more traditional song structures and progressions and eschewing tracks of a "Sister Ray" runtime. Occasionally Dylanesque, sometimes even Simon & Garfunkelly (especially the first side), it displayed a wholly different and more melodic (and approachable) side that I wasn't familiar with. Then there's "Murder Mystery," which I found reminiscent of my favorite track from the previous album, "The Gift," and which was a subsequent standout here. Altogether it's a 4.5/5 that I won't quite round up, but that I may return later to update if I find myself drifting back here a few times.

215. The Velvet Underground - The Velvet Underground (1969) 9.24.26 Variety: 4 Adequacy: 5 Listenability: 5 Uniqueness: 5 Emotionality: 5 = 4.8 rounded up to a 5 We've only had one Velvet Underground so far - White Light/ White Heat, which I liked quite a bit, but which is not my favorite. This one I've only listened to a couple of times, but I remember it being much more my speed, and being a much more lowkey affair. I'm pretty surprised Loaded did not appear on the list given its reassessment of the last few decades, but understandable I guess given the space requirements. I mean, it's not like there are way more underserving acts that have more albums than that, right ( seriously? four Morrissey albums?). The band was more or less falling apart by that point I guess. This is the first one without John Cale, who provided quite a bit of the avant-garde vibes ( though reed is no slouch in that department) and the first with Doug Yale, who seems like the Cousin Oliver of the band ( to make a really dated reference) and who would eventually be the last man standing for the forgettable and forgotten last album, which uses the name, but lacks any of the original band members. I don't know much about the man other than he provides some great vocals for a coupe of my favorite tracks off of Loaded, so I can't confidently lay any of the blame at the man's feet. Assuming maybe everyone just got bored, or tired of Reed's supposed epic bullshittery. Anyways, I'm sure this one will hit a lot of sweet spots for me as it's chock full of Lou reed's softer side, and I've got the sweet tooth. It'll also be curious to try and chart the influences from this one. I know of at least one subgenre that is heavily indebted to one track in particular. Though I would argue there are swaths of bands from the late 80s on through the 2010s who owe their whole vibe and sound to INIDIVIDIAL tracks off of this album, so it's surprising that I don't see it mentioned nearly as much as their debut when it comes to influence. I guess getting there first matters some. THE TRACKS Side one "Candy Says" - We start off on a good foot with one of the band's prettiest numbers ( they have a LOT ). Gentle and beautiful and touchingly biographical. Reed is one of those rare talents in the rock world who can alternate between nonsense and literate, with stops in between that are funny, menacing, sleezy, charming, cute, and most of all empathetic. Who else in the world was writing about gender dysphoria in 1968? He's up there with Dylan in that respect for me, and above someone like Cohen who doesn't seem to have much of a sense of humor, being the ironic. Yule does a great job on vocals here, even though it's weird realizing that this is not Reed, like I thought when I originally listened to it. And I still think they have very similar voices, at least when Reed goes into his sweeter mode. By the way, there's a full album made up almost entirely of unreleased songs ( some would eventually come out n a changed form on some Reed solo albums) from a session just after this one that is well worth your time if you liked this stuff, and which was not released until 1985 called VU. Of particular note is the below song which I think is one of their best ( and which Reed does sing on)and would have been a great addition to this album: * "Stephanie Says": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4tS67TDo6Y&list=PLxQpHEbxKcsic66eIYUVHFQfKhORxMBsO&index=3 "What Goes On" - We get Reed's generic "rock" voice on this one, with some awesome driving, droning instrumentation underneath from the rhythm section, and some nice crunchy, feedback goodness from Sterling Morrison's guitar. There's an organ in the background here as well ( uncredited as far as I can tell), which add some real earthy undertones to things. This is an absolute jam, and I would happily listen to a 10 minute cut. "Some Kinda Love" - A little less rocking, but still a headnodder and wonderful piece of drone rock. They already would have had their minds blown by the debut, but all those early Krautrock bands' ears would have definitely perked up at the repetitive beats on display here. Another one that was over far too soon for me. "Pale Blue Eyes" - One of their best. And belongs up there in the all-timers club. Reed has several of these under his belt, and this is one of the prettiest, and most sadly romantic songs I can think of off the top of my head. There's a level of sincerity here that I think can't be overstated, as Reed I think is often viewed in light of his later grump persona, and one could very well think he was being ironic in so many of these. But I think he's genuinely putting real emotion into songs like this, and his delivery is built for it. Much as I love their other stuff, the drone rock, the doo-wop, the weirdo stuff - it's the gentle, emotionally vulnerable stuff that I love most of all. I also think this is another prime candidate for a funeral. memorial service and would have a good portion of the attendees in tears. By the time this list is done, I'll have a good funeral playlist, as we've had some good ones so far. In no particular order, so far we have, the below, so this song is in good company: "In My Life" by the Beatles "Blackbird" by the Beatles "People Get Ready" by Aretha Franklin "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" by Pink Floyd "Brokedown Palace" by the Grateful Dead "The Big Ship" by Brian Eno "Jesus" - This is one I had completely forgotten about, and which is a lot more modern sounding than I remembered. The slightly off kilter harmonies, the warm and pretty ringing single note guitar bits all remind me of something that Yo La Tengo would do ( I checked and could not find them covering this, but they did cover another song - see below:). There's a pretty good Glen Campbell cover though which is a lot brighter, and has country overtones of course. This is very pretty stuff, and a song that I think probably gets left off a lot of playlists, which is unfortunate. Glen Campbell cover: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pswsY37a1iA&list=RDpswsY37a1iA&start_radio=1 Side two "Beginning to See the Light" - Side two opens with something that I think most people would find much more in the pocket of what they imagine a Velvet Underground song is. It's a solid, bouncy drone rock number that suffers a bit from some muddy production that might be on purpose as things seem to clear up during the refrains? Not sure, either way this is fine stuff if not to the level of amazing. There's a little bit of a messier sounding kind of Byrds-ish harmony going on that I really dig. "I'm Set Free" - Much more my speed with a strong vocal melody, and some real energy. This is another one I think would sound not out of place at all if found on say, a Beat Happening pr Magnetic Fields, ooooor... perhaps a Yo La Tengo album some 25 years later or more, with just slight changes to the production. I can even hear some Pavement in this. When the dream pop Santo and Johnny guitar comes it, I'm completely sold. This could very well be my favorite track on the album. Stone cold classic that deserves to be better known. Yo La Tengo cover: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VygmZachvM8&list=RDVygmZachvM8&start_radio=1 "That's the Story of My Life" - This one gallops along at a a nice clip and has an almost country-rock feel to it. I could easily imagine this one popping up on a Grateful Dead album. Short and sweet. "The Murder Mystery" - Man, I'm torn on this one. The guitar and drums that open this sound modern as hell, and could have come off any number of cool ass indie rock albums TODAY. It keeps getting repeated, and works underneath the voices when they come in and balance it really well. When Tucker's charmingly off kilter singing comes in with the male vocals ( not sure who it is as everyone is credited) the song kicks into high gear and as much as I hate this sort of thing normally, the fact that all the voices are overlapped and more or less unintelligible works without grating on me at all. There's even a rad, Doors-ish psychedelic organ line that weaves in and around like some big snake that's trying to hypnotize you. This should not work for me, but it 100% does. I even enjoyed the protracted piano loop/ poetry slam. "After Hours" - This track is SOOOOO good. This is like Twee ground zero, and I guarantee it you can hop on Youtube right now and find a zillion ukulele cover versions from women wearing weird hats. And I love that. This has a very vaudeville feel to it, and sits well alongside stuff like "He Needs Me" that Shelly Duvall performs as Olive Oyl in the 80s Popeye movie. Penned by Harry Nilsson, who did no small amount of lifting to influence the genre. This song makes me want to listen to a bunch of that stuff. As good as "Pale Blue Eyes" and "Candy Says" are, push come to shove this might be the track I'd save from a burning house. Maybe I'll make a playlist and include some Paul McCartney stuff as well. But this one is infectiously catchy and Moe Tucker kills it with the almost naive, cute as hell persona she puts on here. * Cover version by the White Stripes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKeFLZYzYok * "I'm Sticking With You": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PreKtsgoUM&list=RD1PreKtsgoUM&start_radio=1 HIGHLIGHTS - "Candy Says" - "What Goes On" - "What Goes On" - "Pale Blue Eyes" - "Jesus" - "I'm Set Free" - "That's the Story of My Life" - "The Murder Mystery" - "After Hours" MIDLIGHTS - "Beginning to See the Light" LOWLIGHTS - FINAL THOUGHTS If you just swapped out Reed's super distinctive vocals on these songs, and replaced them with any respectable indie rock dude from today and released this again - I strongly doubt anyone not in the know about the original would bat an eye. That's how enduringly evergreen these tracks are. Its been many many years since I've listened to this whole thing in one go, but it's very apparent that it should be heralded as possibly JUST as influential as the original. Though the range of influences is a much narrower band, I think the soft, naive, and heavily melodic weirdo pop featured on here has maybe had more of an impact on the last couple of decades worth of music than the debut's overall influence on alternative rock in general. There's a lot less experimentation on this, though it's not completely gone, and where it does exist, it's very well integrated to the overarching subdued, and pretty sound. Even at its weirdest - "The Murder Mystery" - there's still a very solid base of melody and carefully attuned poppiness that comes through. This album is gentle and flowing, and full of an eagerness to show you a good time, where the debut is arrestingly off book, and ties you in with its melodies DESPITE every impulse telling you this is somehow wrong, or not what music should be, all the way down to the untraditional vocals and the experimental arrangements. I think it being so plain and sparse compared to the debut goes a long way toward explaining this. Now, that's not to be said that hundreds of wannabe Pitchfork writers haven't spilled a ton of ink on this one because I'm sure they have. I'd wager I probably haven't uttered an original thought in this whole review, but my point really is that while the debut has now been minted and certified even in the mainstream public eye ( more or less) since the 90s, I think this one is underrated and underappreciated still. As someone who absolutely can't get enough of that sickly sweet Twee pop sound, this album really hits for me. When it comes time, I think I might still have to give it up for the orginal as it's just so completely full of bangers, but this EASILY is a quiet 2nd place, and right up there for me. Possible turn-Offs might include: - droning, repetitive rhythms - Lou Reed's voice - a very mellow vibe - twee and sugary, sincere vibes You Might enjoy this if you: - have the ability to appreciate emotionally effecting music delivered without a trace of irony - really dig pretty, melodic and gentle music - like the softer side of the band glimpsed on other albums - like Lou Reed's more subdued solo work PLAYLIST ALTERATIONS - Nope. FURTHER LISTENING Precursors: - Berry Is on Top by Chuck Berry - The Complete Recordings by the Harptones - 12 × 5 by the Rolling Stones - Mr. Tambourine Man by the Byrds - Revolver by the Beatles Contemporaries: - Mothermania by the Mothers of Invention - Easter Everywhere by the 13th Floor Elevators - The Stooges by The Stooges - Bookends by Simon and Garfunkel Descendants: - The Modern Lovers by The Modern Lovers - Send Me a Lullaby by the Go Betweens - Brave Words by the Chills - Vehicle by the Clean - Backwash by Talulah Gosh - Mobile Safari by the Pastels - You Turn Me On by Beat Happening - Reading, Writing, & Arithmetic by the Sundays - The Way of The Vaselines: A Complete History by the Vaselines - Tigermilk by Belle and Sebastian - I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One by Yo La Tengo - 69 Love Songs by the Magnetic Fields - The Moldy Peaches by The Moldy Peaches - Remember That I Love You by Kimya Dawson - Pinkerton by Weezer - Return of the Rentals by the Rentals - White Blood Cells by the White Stripes - Adventure Time soundtrack by Various

The Velvet Underground has been a great discovery from this project for me. I was familiar with Lou Reed because of his collaboration with Metallica, but I had never taken the time to go back and explore VU’s music. The first album we had “White Light/White Heat” was a bolt of lightning with how ahead of its time it sounded. This one is more accessible, full of straight rock and roll traditions, but still seemed to predict and influence for years. The stretch of songs from “What Goes On” to “Beginning to See the Light” was beautiful and melodic. The rest of the album is good but didn’t reach a full 5 for me. Still, I’ve already added a few of these tracks to some playlists so I’ll be sure to return to it. 4/5

Leider ziemlich langweilig... obwohl: ein paar schöne Songs sind schon drauf...

Amazing album! It was very psychedelic and had this really unique sound to it. Such a shame that Ride Into The Sun didn't make it into the actual album, but it can be found on the Super Deluxe Edition. Lou Reed is one of the greatest vocalists of all time. Truly amazing!

I love pale blue eyes!

its good and i liked how the songs were different vibes and i really could vibe with them

Some of my favourite velvet underground songs but some very mid songs

I really thought I liked Lou Reed, but I'm starting to second-guess it after numerous Reed-related albums in this project. I've found myself enjoying each one less and less, and this album just didn't resonate with me as a whole. There are a few slightly upbeat songs that almost remind me of CCR (is that a mortal sin to say in reference to VU? Did they hate each other?), but then there's bullshit like "The Murder Mystery", which is the experimental nonsense that makes other folks like The Velvet Underground and makes me despise them. Any good will that this album had garnered up to that point was immediately taken away by that track. Anyway, I liked the CCR-esque songs, so this album is getting a 2 and IT CAN THANK ME FOR IT!!!

Reed had fired John Cale because his ideas were "too out there" and he wanted to make the band more accessible. And here we are making a record mostly full of love songs. It worked, but it really didn't work. It IS more accessible, but it didn't do well commercially, failing to make the Billboard 200 at all. Reed's US mix didn't go over well, called a "mysterious mix" Yet, it grew in stature over time and has been reassessed very positively. What do I think? It's no Velvet Underground & Nico (1967), but it shows a maturity and complexity in both writing and execution. Reed encouraged his bandmates to take the lead and to participate more fully in realizing his art. He still failed to make the commercial impact, but he did make a lasting artistic one. It's a good album... I enjoyed some of the songs a lot and I recognize the artistic expression he was aiming at. Some hit and some miss... "The Murder Mystery" in particular, I could do completely without while "Pale Blue Eyes" is a great song. I've said this a bunch... it's just not really my wheelhouse, but I do appreciate it.

Your favorite band’s favorite band’s favorite band. Godfather’s of DIY music. The album is very beautiful and peaceful, almost like a lullaby at times

Not sure why but I didn't expect to like this. I didn't totally love it but I did like it overall.

Much more melodic and calm than the first album.

I really liked this...and im not a huge fan of the first two albums. Its noticeably different and more conventional which is maybe not surprising given the lineup change. Im guessing they lost some fans after this release (and gained some others)

we get it, you like heroin

Oh shit

Much, MUCH more palpable than "The Velvet Underground & Nico" which was my first forced exposure to this over-loved band. I actually didn't hate the entire album this time which is a huge improvement. Dare I say that this album was actually.. Good. Standout songs that I would not push back against if someone played them: "Candy Says", "What Goes On", "Pale Blue Eyes", and "After Hours" The song "Murder Mystery" can fuck all the way off. What a deeply inserted thorny rod Lou used when writing that song. Just when I was starting to enjoy the album, The Velvet Underground had to remind me why I fucking hate them. What a pretentious counter-culture gorefest of a song. I bet all the self-proclaimed "critics" think this is some kind of revelatory breakthrough that symbolizes a mental health crisis in song form. Into the toilet with my digested tuna sandwich it goes. 1/10, an otherwise decent album ruined by a 9 minute dive into Lou's heroin-stained gray matter.

Yep. Turns out it was Nico holding this lot together.

so i have come to realise i don’t care much for the velvet underground. for some reason i had a positive association with them in my head and thought the last album we had was a one off, but again, this really didn’t do it for me. the more you know.

Way better than the other one by them we've had. This started with a couple of fairly standard 60s pop songs. But then blue eyes came on, which is brilliant until he naff guitar solo and the awful 3rd verse. That "truly truly a sin" line just feels so cringe. Very much in the world of we think we're cool. The next few songs seemed to be vaguely religious and about finding their place or something nonsense. Straight after a song praising the idea of cheating and trying to make it sound cool. Religious people are weird. However at least 2 of those (were there only two) were actually pretty catchy. There was some other bits, some good, some ok, the murder one was really interesting, I enjoyed some of the doubles vocal effects, especially when one vocal was very on the beat and the other more conversational, but it repeated that trick a few too many times. The after hours track was lovely though, I can imagine that inspired a lot of the white stripes stuff. Mostly enjoyable.

Une album qui était, à l'époque, innovateur et comme toute innovation est devenu plutôt standard avec le temps. Néanmoins, il reste que son importance est difficile à nier. De plus, même dans une perspective moderne celui-ci reste impressionnant en ces thèmes crasseux et sombres, un cri lointain en comparant aux autres œuvres de l'époque. Cependant, cela reste tout simplement pas assez pour une époque où l'ADN de cet œuvre se retrouve aux cœurs de plein d'autres, celui-ci est tout simplement bon, pas extraordinaire.

Although its not my favourite style of music (a little bit repetive and sometimes too much calm), ive really enjoyed listening to it. It transported me to the sixties and the vibe was cool and peaceful.

Duh.

Underground

There were some really nice songs on there, but what tf was The Murder Mystery? Didn't enjoy that one too much.

Average at best

I am not an expert in the Velvet Underground, of course I know Lou Reed and I own a VU compilation CD called "The Best of" . Never listened to this album. I understood this is their 3rd and John Cale just left the band and therefore it is less experimental and more straightforward. I should then also have a listen to the other albums to compare. I was confusing "Candy Says" with "Caroline Says", but that is from his Berlin album. "What Goes On" I thought I recognized from a cover from a 90s Dutch folk/punkrock band called Trio Hell, but when I checked it turned out that they covered the Beatles song with the same title. Then maybe it was Bettie Serveert who are known for doing VU songs. "Beginning to See the Light" could have fit also on a Beatles album, very catchy/poppy song with nice harmonies in addition to the typical 60s jangling guitar work. Overall I really enjoyed this album. Not sure which version of the album I have listened to, it sounded a bit dated and cheap low cost production, but maybe that was on purpose. I wonder also how it would sound with a better production. The music is in general quite basic but beautiful and very functional. Sometimes somewhat repetitive, but that gives it also a nice hypnotic/psychedelic vibe (better than yesterday's Electric Prunes). "Pale Blue Eyes" is one of the most beautiful love songs ever written. I did not really connect with the most experimental track on the album, "The Murder Mystery"; I think this is too much drenched in narcotics and guess listening to this fully sober is not a good idea.

ZzZzZzZz

Could be 5 but “the murder mystery” is so so and it’s 9 minutes long xd so like 25% of this whole album xd

kinda boring and like the songs were alright and everything but nothing really stood out, definetly a decent album but nothing I'd listen to again

Love it

pretty decent album, i prefer this one over the andy warhol one

Perhaps I was too harsh on the banana album because I genuinely really enjoyed this one.

Just soooooo boring.

While not as experimental as their debut, this is still a pretty good album, regardless. 4.5 bumped down to 4.

I’m at a 4.5 that I’ll bump up to a 5. At some point, this album just swept me into its more drawn-back style, sort of like pulling a blanket over yourself while you’re already asleep. The comfort isn’t sudden, you just sort of succumb to it & it enhances what’s already there. This album’s strength is in its restraint, trusting itself to get to the destination it wants at its own pace, and while it might take a bit for a listener to adjust (especially with some longer tracks in the first half & a noticeable lack of luster in the vocals / soundscapes), I think its patience pays off in a pretty fulfilling way, as it does start to pick up more & more in the back half, until “The Murder Mystery” overwhelms the senses as a climax & “After Hours” ends on a light, lo-fi note. It’s well structured. It also just helps that it’s a nice set of tracks. Nothing is reinventing the wheel here (save for “The Murder Mystery”), at least compared to the push on their first two albums to shift the genre & artform entirely. Lyrically, I do think it’s interesting; there’s a healthy mix of cynicism & hope, but one never really overrides the other. It just feels like a lived-in experience throughout, with bubbling doubts, regrets & misgivings sharing as much space as pleas to Jesus, moments of enlightenment & desires to stay in endless nights. Instrumentally, it can feel a bit plain, especially since it rarely layers things on top of each other & often loops. I found myself gravitating towards annoyance for a bit due to a lack of variability, but like I said, I kinda just grew into it. I still think they could’ve done much more in the first half for the listener’s sake, especially on a track like “Some Kinda Love”, which is the only one I found to be utterly mediocre. It’s most of the reason I’m at a 4.5. Everything else worked for me at varying levels. You do have to immerse yourself a bit into “The Murder Mystery” to get the extent of that track; I found myself walking into a room, turning off the lights, and holding the doorknob for added tension & to let the dueling vocals overload the senses in a very cool way, and it did wonders for me. Overall, it just works as an album, for reasons I can’t really explain but ones that are easy to hear. It’s unassumingly strong. The lack of a more traditional ‘confidence’ in the delivery & execution one would expect in a post-Sgt. Pepper’s world, along with a subversion of the expectations already previously set by the Velvet Underground, make for an album that simply works on its own merits. You gotta listen to it before you die to get it, and I think it’s worth getting. It’s a 4.5 that I’ll bump up to a 5, and I liked it a lot.

kinda boring, sounds all the same, kinda hum drum

Good lyrics but the sound is not for me

I just really like these guys

Better than the other one I've listened to, the one with Nico, but still not really my thing

Kinda cool

Took a couple lessons but finally got the groove. Pretty solid.

It’s such a great record it’s hard not to feel love for it I love the drum sounds and the oh so mellow vocals throughout it brings a sort of chill to the relaxed nature of the project. The guitar on this is superb as well. This is a album I can listen to for the rest of my life and not get tired of it. This list is making me a big VU fan. Fav tracks: all of them

Bit slow but easy to listen to.

To be honest I loved this. Both tame and experimental. Really great album. Felt sincere which is not something I expected from this band. Not sure why.

Hermoso album. La lisergia, la melancolía, la tranquilidad folk pero con toque de oscuridad. Cuesta quedarse con un tema. 8/10

good

very nice

Interesting avant garde sounds but nothing to really remember besides the odd murder mystery

I liked this album more than I thought I would. I've heard of Velvet Underground but always figured it was a punk band, which is funny to me after listening to it. I can see how this influenced a ton of artists that came years and years after them. I really like Candy Says.

Great, great tunes, and pretty much a no-frills (in a good way) rock album compared to the experimental moves of the first two LP’s by those wild and crazy Velvets. All four records are 5 stars (with the exception of maybe “White Light…”, simply cuz it’s only six tracks, one being a silly and long John Cale spoken word story song), but this one might be the one I spin the most.

good

This album is fine, but feels so underwhelming compared to what the band has released prior to this

It definitely had some Jim Morrison influence or they influenced him.

Love The Velvet Underground, this is probably my third favorite album of theirs.

Great album but misses 5 stars as this feels like a preview to everyone's favourite banana-covered album. Some iconic tracks and if this was The Velvet Underground's only album they should still hang out somewhere towards the top of everyone's queue.

Another banger

4.5 banger!!

Reminds me of listening to Pink Floyd for the first time

What Goes On Beginning to See the Light That’s the Story Of My Life

What Goes On Pale Blue Eyes I’m Set Free After Hours

And the streak of albums I don't like continues. To me, The Velvet Underground is avant-garde, experimental, and absolutely boring. Pair that with Lou Reed's soft and warbling voice, and I have no idea how they've become such a cult sensation. If you like it, more power to you.

I could write a book called One Album You Must Listen To Before You Die.

Warm and fuzzy. I can't believe I'd never got around to this. This one definitely lives up to the test of time. It reminds me of being in a dimly lit bar with friends, tipsy, and chainsmoking the cheapest cigarettes we could get our hands on. I wonder what it would've been like to hear this when it first came out. I really liked After Hours. I think I'm going to learn how to play it.

love it, probably like it more than the banana one. I can see myself listening to this regularly. After Hours was completely unexpected, I think it's on Juno's OST?

A nice easy listen

The first half of the album had my hopes high but then it kinda fell off really. Not much else to say except I do appreciate the whole vibe that the velvet underground have.

Самый простой для восприятия альбом The Velvet Underground с их самыми радио-направленными хитами. Легкая акустическая психоделика и минимальный, но очень узнаваемый пост-панк-арт-хаус вайб

Um album gostosinho, principalmente pra ouvir lendo uma boa história que se passa em NY, tenho esse conceito comigo. Talvez eu ache este melhor que o album com a Nico mas não sei explicar o motivo. Após ouvir ele agora, ainda irei ouvir mais vezes pra me conectar mais com as letras e o conceito do album. Acho legal que ao mesmo tempo que ele é um album característico no fim da década de 60 ele também parece muito atual. Ah, eu amo esta capa. Nota: 80/100

I’ve really enjoyed most of the other Velvet Underground stuff I’ve heard on this list, plus the solo projects that spun off from them, but this one was a step down for me\. It’s quieter and more stripped back than the first two albums, which isn’t automatically a bad thing, but a lot of it felt too subdued\. “Murder Mystery” was especially weird\. I usually like their weirdness, but this one felt more like an experiment I respected than a song I wanted to hear again\. There are still some good moments and Lou Reed’s writing keeps it from being boring, but this is probably the least interesting Velvet Underground album I’ve heard so far\. Not bad, just pretty middle of the road compared with what I know they were capable of\.

It’s really good, Mac Demarco vibes

hun beste album die ik hier heb gehoord.

4 stars - Found myself completely enthralled with The Murder Mystery compared to previous listens. So many great songs here, but still not my favorite by the Velvet Underground.

Excellent album. Re-listened multiple times since.

Pretty good. Overall, it was a pretty mellow album. The stretch from Pale Blue Eyes to I'm set Free was my fav. What Goes On is the only actually bad song in the album. I do not like it. Listened to this one 4 or 5 times. I could see it grow on me more. Looking forward to more from them eventually.

Good stuff, classic band and album. I didn’t enjoy it like a 5. It’s a 4.

Evo ne znam kaj bi reko. Doslovno nista specijalno, nista mi nije ostalo zapamceno i proslo mi tih 45 minuta ko da nista nisam slusao.

Loved this album. It is on the edge of folksy but so original it doesn't need that term. So ahead of its time, and so varied. My favorites were: Pale Blue Eyes, I'm Set Free, The Murder Mystery, After Hours

Good calm listen while at work

Love some Velvet

Love the velvet underground. The murder mystery reminds me of the mothers of invention haha. And after hours is just classic

very vibey, very chill. sounds very modern for the 60s

the best of the 60's psychedelia.

Velvet Underground is what you put on when someone says they want to hear something that's TRULY 60s. Very reflective of the times, very cool, and a fun listen. Highlights: Some Kinda Love, Beginning To See The Light

Måske ikke helt så karakteristisk som den med bananen, men jeg kunne umiddelbart godt li' det. Der var et mere stabilt niveau gennem pladen.

This caught me very far off guard when I first heard it. So quiet and introspective. But absolutely beautiful. I didn’t know it existed when I found it and I needed it in my life forever after I did.

Beyond "Candy Says" there's very little special about this record. I may be biased because I'm certainly not a big fan of Lou Reed, but this album didn't really make me change my opinion.

C'est mieux sans Nico !

Vegetable music

Im a huge VU fan, this album is really great. Not as good as some probably. Puts me right back in Wintergreen in like 8th grade though.

Listened to on my Bose AE2 Soundlink. Now this is more like it. Following the fuzzy, blown to pieces White Light/White Heat, Velvet Underground take a step to the other side of that weird equilibrium found in the group's stunning debut, which is the soft, melodic, and soothing sides to the music. This self-titled record retains the Velvet Undeground edge of the group's vocals, which are far from angelic, and the lo-fi production that keeps the music feeling relatably homegrown, but finds themselves reaching for something much more somber, melancholic, and stripped back. Each song is at it's bare ends here, which is a bit of a surprise since they have a current of simplicity running through their previous work, yet in this case it's moreso in the fact that the tone of the album withdraws a lot of the fuzzy distortion that paved it's way through the heavy rocking tracks of before. Songs like Candy Says, Pale Blue Eyes, and After Hours feel like the after-party from the event that was White Light/White Heat. It brings me back to the vibe I found on the original record, that the band was inviting me to sit in with them and take a listen to what they were working on. It isn't just the beauty in these descriptions of character within the lyrics that are so emotionally barring and vulnerable, but the delicate instrumentals that work around these lyrics that make for these stunners that really spoke to me. I'm almost having trouble really describing how this work makes me feel. It just seems so great to me how Velvet Underground was able to put out a collection of songs this stripped back and laid bare, that sounds so adventurous. I don't think it quite reaches the level of the debut, with it's combination of those opposing ends--soft and heavy--sounding so inspired, but there's so much to appreciate here. Velvet Underground even include the experimental "The Murder Mystery" which, while a bit too long and repetitive, is so forward thinking and bold for a musical track, restating their ability to push beyond the conventions of music in exciting new ways.

Yeah, I mean it's VU, and it's good. Thoroughly enjoyed.

My review for The Velvet Underground I don't know exactly what it was but I could not enjoy almost any of the songs on this album. The only songs I kind of liked was Pale Blue Eyes and After Hours. All of the other songs were okay but I wasn't feeling them all that much. 2 stars

This was a pretty rough listen for me. One of the album/artist that I have always heard about but never listened too. I probably had to high of expectations and am not able to really give it the credit it seems to deserve for these sounds coming from ‘69. But I kinda felt everything was pretty middle of the road. I liked the lyrical content of “Candy Says” the story behind the song makes it pretty progressive especially for the time but i don't think it really translated to the song itself. “Pale blue eyes” is clearly the best song off the album. I also enjoyed “Some kinda love” but that’s where my appreciation for Lou Reed kinda ends since the second best song on the album (the closer) isn’t sung by Lou. I also want to show big love to by far the most interesting experience on this album being “The Murder Mystery”. An almost 10 minute mind fuck of a song. I still have hope I will enjoy the album with the bandanna on it. ⭐️⭐️✨

very sedate, easier to listen to than the velvet underground and nico. favorite track is probably the murder mystery or after hours.

pretty good. i've heard their first two albums already so I kind of know where they're coming from with this. The first two really stood out because they were experimental and nobody else really sounded like that at the time. this album, by comparison, seems a lot more conventional/aligned with popular taste of the time, but I still think its good. i think the second half started to drag a little, and The Murder Mystery is the weakest point, really did nothing for me and was a little annoying to listen to. they had experimental tracks on their first two albums that are a lot more well done in my opinion. highlights for me are candy says, after hours, pale blue eyes, and what goes on is probably my favorite track, absolutely bangin.

Pale Blue Eyes is on a playlist I love that one of my friends made, so it holds a special place in my heart. I really liked the rest of the album too. The Murder Mystery was strange and I think is my least favourite, but honestly it grew on me over the course of the song and I would listen to it again if I was in the right mood. Overall, I really enjoyed it. It felt more cohesive than White Light / White Heat while still being interesting and varied. Fav song: Pale Blue Eyes Least fav: The Murder Mystery

I’ve given a total of 3 stars across the previous two velvet underground albums we’ve had so I expected very little from this album. So it really surprised me how gorgeously well written and performed it is- and so not weird! Perfect chill album for skipping conference talks to read in a park. Favourite song: Pale Blue Eyes Least: The Murder Mystery

6/10 Best songs: The Murder Mystery, After Hours Sounds kinda like the 60s rock equivalent of modern-day indie, with some bursts of extreme creativity (The Murder Mystery) contrasting with dull, garage-rock-esque sounds (I'm Set Free). I don't really enjoy most of the album too much, but I don't hate it, either. I don't really get how it managed to be so influential - what exactly was special enough that later acts replicated their sound? Oh well.

The Velvet Underground go the complete opposite direction of their previous two albums and create a more folky rock affair. It's cool they can do that and that they chose to, but I honestly found this album boring. "The Murder Mystery" is more experimental and is the only real stand out for me. The rest is fine, not bad but not interesting either. 3 seems fair

Feels like an album that probably really suffers from comparing it to future artists that were inspired by it. I trust a lot of these songs are beautiful lyrically but I didn't really appreciate it. The first five songs are a real snore... Makes Beginning to See the Light, a pretty meh song, really seem quite exciting.

I did really like this, but I think I need more listens before giving it a 5

Honestly, so surprised at how good this album is. I know these guys are a little weird and out there, but I can see the appeal. Lou reed is so endless, but it has a lot of really really good songs. And it’s cohesive

I just don't understand the hype with Lou Reid. He sounds like he's half asleep and just talking on his songs. perhaps it's this mindset that makes it impossible for me to really feel like Velvet Underground was as spectacular as everyone else seems to think because every time I get one of their albums or one of Lou Reed's albums, I cringe internally.

It's fine. I like the overall structure, though some of the bits in the middle don't do much for me.

Started well and was great until three quarters way through. Then got a little silly.

It was a long album. They remind me of The Beatles. 5/10 would listen again.

mid

Þetta var ansi leiðinlegt.

1. candy - 2 2. goez - 1 3. love - 1 4. blue - 2 5. jezuz - 1 6. light - 1 7. free - 1 8. life - 1 9. murder - 2 10. hourz - 2

having never listened to this before, it's kind of insane how the velvet underground nailed the '2008 indie band' sound fifty years early. really good

One probably need a more "refined" music taste than mine to appreciate this album.

Already liked velvet underground but hadn’t heard this album.

Nice, but not impressive.

Not quite to the level of the banana album, but I really liked it.

Also perfect and a literal revolution

A little discordant, not my usual style Playlist add: “Pale Blue Eyes”

Ultimately a mixed bag, but I really appreciated the simple beauty of “Jesus” and the forward-thinking indie-esque tracks that sound about 30 years ahead of time. The more experimental stuff could have been cut.

#226/1001 🇺🇸 I find it tricky to rate this album against VU's first album 🍌, which is one of the most monumental records of all time. This has a more gentle straightforward feel to it, likely down to the departure of John Cale. I like it immensely but it just doesn't hit like 🍌 does. Best tracks: Pale Blue Eyes, The Murder Mystery, I'm Set Free, Candy Says.

Chill, super agréable.

Enjoyed more than expected. Nice mellowness. No weird stuff as I was expecting.

I forgot that not everything they make is screechy, apparently it's good to be rid of John Cale. good to hear Pale Blue Eyes again 💙 ok went a bit whacky at the end. would listen to again

9/10

I was born in 2008 so it was very hard for me to listen to this but still chill, mellow album. Favorite tracks are The Story Of My Life, The Murder Mystery and After Hours. Chile it’s just like to 1969 for me. Not a bad album tho for 1969 i gues 👁️👅👁️

OK, might give it another listen

Starts strong with the first two songs. Ends very strong with the best song on the album. The rest is not worth the time.

Nice.

Outrageously boring

I hear Lou Reed and I think of taking a walk on the wild side. Unfortunate because many of these are quite nice and sweet. The murder mystery: no.

Great Songs: Some Kinda Love, Pale Blue Eyes Good Songs: Candy Says, What Goes On, Beginning to See the Light, I'm Set Free, The Murder Mystery, After Hours Mid Songs: Jesus, That's the Story of My Life Bad Songs:

Very cool, gets pretty weird at the end. Can see how the sons has had a lot of influence on newer music like the white stripes, and similar alt musoc

One of the o.g. shoegaze bands. Love 'em :')

4.5

4.5 the song Pale Blue Eyes is a classic and having Jesus next to it made it even better

Najlepszy album wszechczasów od najlepszego zespołu wszechczasów

The VU clearly wasn’t the same without John Cale (and Andy Warhol), for better and for worse. Although not as experimental, Reed’s talent definitely carries this work. I do hate, though, that Doug Yule once said he never would have sang, “Candy Says,” if he knew what it was about.

The intentional off key notes can be off putting, but it works them on this album, and every song begs for multiple listens/serious study. I recommend listening with headphones to get the full experience.

I am not enjoying this honestly. Femme Fatale is legitimately awful. I much prefer Lou Reed's solo stuff.

Very boring. If you want to chill out to a bit of repetitive indie rock music, then this is for you, but I couldn't get past the second song.

Overall the album is a little forgettable at times, passing by pleasantly but without the weirdness and startling textures of previous albums nor the pop-rock pump of loaded. It does have, however, three of the Velvet's best tunes: "Candy Says", "Pale Blue Eyes" and "Afterhours". So... can't argue with that.

The Velvet Underground is the title of the third album released in 1969 and is considered folk rock / rock / pop and not proto punk art rock like its predecessors. This is because Lou replaced with John Cale with Doug Yule because he wanted a less experimental. The songs are more commercial with mostly ballads and more straightforward rock songs. It's considered more of a Lou Reed album. John Yule was a big influence because of his singing contributions as well as instrument playing. Sterling Morrison was a really good guitar player. "Knotty, twisty, and sinewy guitar....master of counter-melody and understated, angular embellishment". Listen to Some Kinda Love. Candy Says and Pale Blue Eyes are the most well known songs but others are good too. I liked What Goes On, Some Kinda Love and Beginning to See the Light (which sounds like Bowie). This definitely grew on me on subsequent listens.

Owned this for years. Never been a favourite. It's not terrible by any means but it lacks the really great tracks that their debut has got. It passed fairly quickly and for the most part I wasn't bored but I wouldn't say that anybody who doesn't hear this before they die will have massively missed out on anything. I prefer Lou Reed/VU in their softer moments so those were my favourites. Favourite tracks.. Candy Says, Pale Blue Eyes, After Hours.

Wild horses is a top 10 song of all time

Now this is one I really need to get on CD. As opposed to the noisy, blasé, drugged out, sometimes even militant disposition of the velvets’ previous works, this is a more toned-down, introspective, friendly album. Rather than yelling at you, it commiserates with you, until it all comes crashing down in “Murder Mystery” (whose intensity at such a key point was probably only partially intentional; as awesome as that song is it was made as a parody of former member John Cale’s style after he was unceremoniously booted from the outfit), and you’re left with “Afterhours,” with a beautiful performance by drummer Moe Tucker, and that’s it. This is a really incredible album. A prerequisite to modern forms of Twee, indie, pop, rock, and folk, and also a pretty great album in its own right. “Candy Says” is a wonderful song, and especially for me as a trans girl myself. Songs like “What Goes On” and “Beginning to See the Light” add some energy, and the slower songs add some melancholy and thoughtfulness, which combined with the last two songs, the storm and the calm afterward respectively, work all together to make a genuinely memorable album experience. Must-listen. 10/10 DOES IT BELONG ON THE LIST: YES REASON: Insane quality, influence, everything just this album is SO GOOD

Not for me. Late 60s a bit slow but not as deep

better than that banana ting

Just not a Lou reed guy

First song - I’ve only heard pale blue eyes from this and the first song sounds exactly the same sorry I’m uncultured. Hated that album except what goes on. Literally skipped murder mystery it was so brutal. Perhaps I’m just in the generation of thinking they’re trying to hard. After hours was kind of cute. Just not my sound.

A slow album that really pulls you in and hypnotizes you with melodic beats and existential lyrics.

Possibly my favourite VU album. Other than the irritating experimental poem piece Murder Mystery, this is just really lovely songwriting.

awesome want to buy

The Velvet Underground - The Velvet Underground (1969) El tercer trabajo de The Velvet Underground se debe entender en el contexto de la rivalidad entre Lou Reed y John Cale que llevó al despido del segundo. Con él se fue prácticamente todo lo relacionado con experimentación y ruidoso. El ingreso de Doug Yule para tomar su lugar afianzó el liderazgo creativo de Reed y dio pie a que el sonido del grupo ahora pasara a ser sencillo, hasta cierto punto minimalista, haciendo que cada elemento estuviese ahí para reforzar la voz de Reed (algo que generó molestias en el proceso de mezcla), relatando una historia cuasi conceptual en la que Candy, su protagonista va pasando paulatinamente de la oscuridad a la luz. Tiene algunas de las mejores canciones de la banda como Pale Blue Eyes, Jesus, Becoming To See The Light, Candy Says o After Hours en la voz de su baterista Maureen Tucker. Podría decirse que es el disco en el que Reed “probó finura” y comenzó a deslizar las maneras que van a definir su carrera en solitario.

not my thing to be honest . never really got them

5/10 - a bit meh but I've heard worse

It was good

It was solid, but not their best work

Really enjoyed the whole album, except for “The Murder Mystery”, which I did not completely hate, but I fell it’s out of place compared to the rest of the album.

Really loved this album! Want it on CD

It didn’t move me.

3.5 rounded…..down. Could have gone either way, but ultimately it didn’t meet my expectations and was a poor man’s Transformer (come back, David, all is forgiven).

It's not offensive enough to go with a 2, but it does nothing for me.

Deadpan

Listened to it a few times, not quite as good as I remember but I think it's still a 5

Pale blue eyes is definitely a romantic song but I think Candy Says is pretty sad; especially knowings it's about Candy Darling, one of the first visible trans person in the US.

I like 1.5 of the songs—pale blue eye one (Edgar Allen Poe referenced and I half-like the “if you close the door”… song bc they sing it in that Florence Pugh movie. The rest of the songs were ok

I’ve always loved a majority of the songs on this album, but again, I’ve never sat down and formally listened to it. Candy Says in particular has always meant a lot to me, not just because I adore Candy Darling and the actress she could’ve been, but because I relate to it myself. I love the earnest and innocent feelings of After Hours, and the way this album transforms such seemingly simple lyrics into something far more moving than it would suggest. I also found the weird double vocal track experimentation on The Murder Mystery to be pretty interesting and unsettling, even if it wasn’t executed in its intended fashion.

Quite chilled, laid back and an easy listen. But not something that had blown me away 3.2/5

this was a relaxing listen. "after hours" and "i'm set free" are some highlights

So I got really disappointed because I genuinely thought The Velvet Underground and Violent Femmes were the same band, and so I got excited, and then it wasn't. With that out of the way, this is fine.jpg. There's some good stuff in here, I liked Pale Blue Eyes and I'm Set Free. There's some bad, I thought The Murder Mystery was annoying. The rest is very quiet. Another album I really struggled to actually hear. It's fine, but that's about it.

This is my second go-round with The Velvet Underground on this journey. After listening to The Velvet Underground & Nico, I declared myself not a fan of the band. This album didn’t change my decision. I did enjoy some of the songwriting, but the music sits right in that 60s rock segment that does nothing for me. According to the book and unfortunately for me, I get one more shot to prove to The Velvet Underground that they can’t turn me into a fan, no way, no how.

Boldly different for the era it was created in, in that it was willing to be more subdued and thoughtful. That said, it never really hooked me. At most; I feel like I recalled hearing After Hours somewhere else, in a film or TV show. I get why people could love it at least, I’m just not one of them.

For me, this is the Velvet Underground’s most permissive album. Not because it’s their most experimental. The banana album still holds that title. Rather, this is the record that quietly told later musicians, “You’re allowed.” You’re allowed to leave the joins visible. You’re allowed to sound unfinished. You’re allowed to trust a repeated groove over a verse-chorus-bridge structure. You’re allowed to make records that capture who you are rather than demonstrate what the studio can do. Listening to it, I kept thinking of cinéma vérité. While many of its contemporaries were turning the recording studio into a playground, the Velvet Underground use it like a camera. The object isn’t to improve reality but simply to witness it. The dry, scratchy Stratocasters, the lack of obvious ambience, the conversational vocals and the remarkable precision of the playing all point in the same direction. This isn’t a band who can’t play. It’s a band who refuse to adorn. That distinction matters. Lou Reed’s performance on “Pale Blue Eyes” is one of the great examples of microphone technique in rock music. His pitching is deliberately uncertain, his delivery hesitant, creating a constructive fiction that only works because of the intimacy of the microphone capsule. Meanwhile, “Jesus” abandons conventional songwriting altogether, becoming a threefold incantation rather than a narrative song, while “Some Kinda Love” simply lets a circular riff exist while the narrator notices things. By the time “That’s the Story of My Life” arrives, it feels as though the Brill Building is still standing but all the windows have been broken. Reed keeps the language of American popular song while quietly dismantling many of its assumptions. Then “After Hours” reaches even further back, evoking the informal Tin Pan Alley and ukulele songs of an America where sheet music travelled more readily than records. Moe Tucker’s unaffected vocal is perfect. I’m sure she could sing “better”. That would entirely miss the point. What struck me most, though, was how deeply this album echoes through British indie, particularly the real C86 rather than the sanitised retrospective version. Not simply the jangly bands, but the whole awkward, diverse tape with Bogshed, Age of Chance and all the other glorious misfits. The Reid brothers, early Primal Scream, Glasgow indie and countless others inherited something more valuable than a guitar sound. They inherited permission. The banana album changed what rock music could contain. This album changed what later musicians felt they were allowed to do.

Legalzinho mas não é pra mim

Yes, you should listen to this before you die. Smooth, enjoyable listen. Goes by in an instant. Murder Mystery is a classic I'll keep.

My preferred VU album

I liked them before they were cool.

A talented group of people making a boring album.

I was excited to listen to this, they are a band I've always known off but never listed too. It was however not for me, I found it slow and not engaging and then a random religious element to it out of nowhere. Not my vibe

No soy la más fan de la Velvet, pero reconozco que este disco me ha gustado mucho más que otros (¿será porque no me gusta demasiado John Cale? Puede ser). Eso sí, me parece algo más íntimo y otoñal, escucharlo con una ola de calor no me ha hecho disfrutar igual de la experiencia. Aun con su buenos 39ºC, con mi cerebro ligeramente derretido, me ha encantado muchísimo más que el del plátano. Canciones favoritas: 'What Goes On'

Chilliä rokkia. Hidasta, osa ballaadimaista. Vika biisi tosi symppis.

It's giving me Beatles vibes.

"Murder Mystery" scared the ever living shit out of me but I'll be damned if the rest of it didn't sound great

A great album, made me feel like I was in a rom com in london for some reason, melancholy and cool, reminded me of the scene in Notting Hill where he’s walking through the market with the seasons changes

Essential weirdo listening for the indie baby

A solid rock album. Nothing memorable on here for me.

Classic. Timely.

I'm not a big fan of this so the album won't rank very high. The Murder Mystery is a standout on this album for being the only song that I didn't feel like I had to slog through. Perhaps my personal tastes (and brainrotted attention span) prevents me from fully appreciating this album. Other reviewers have piqued my interest in their other albums so this endeavor is not a total waste.

"Pale Blue Eyes" is perhaps the best song about love and regret ever made. Does that make this the best review album? Certainly makes it one of the top four. Sorry, squeeze.S

Nothing really special about this album, just your standard 60s rock. fav song: Candy Says

Takie dire straits

Back to back albums with ground breaking ideas that have been superceded by later works. Best parts still hold up well

Oh... so this is it?

Wow.

I like the banana album better, but this one is great too. Velvet is the perfect word for this sound, this is just a comfortable listen.

I don’t know that I care for the velvet underground. That song where they are saying different things simultaneously but with a similar cadence made it feel like my brain was going to implode.

For the 3rd time I've decided I don't dislike Lou Reed as much as I thought I would but I also don't love him as much as his fans seem to.

1.5 - Better than I thought it would be, I'm still not a Velvet Underground fan though.

boring

This is probably my least favorite album from them. They were deeeeep into heroin and I get the cultural significance, just not my vibe. However pale blue eyes and after hours are killer tracks. 4.75/10 Top song After hours

I know a lot of these songs but haven't listened to this album as an album until now. I like just about every song I haven't heard before. There's definitely a big change in their sound, only part of which is the lack of John Cale. It's also what Lou Reed felt like he could do without John Cale looking at him like Snape glaring at Harry Potter. It's hard to believe that this is the same band that made Venus in Furs, Heroin, The Black Angel's Death Song. Gone are the slow haunting drones and gone too are the frenetically strummed scrabble-scrabble guitars accelerating into storms of feedback. On the other hand, the band was never defined by any one style. Some of their songs only sound like they're by the Velvet Underground because they are by the Velvet Underground. Interestingly several of the songs on this album have a subtle country influence to the guitar and there's something about the bass playing that sounds more like a progressive country studio session than the proto-punk of the first album. I don't think that's really true on any of their other albums. Murder Mystery is fun. I feel like a lot of later bands must have used this template for quirky story-songs, but then, a lot of bands have used the Velvet Underground as a template for a lot of stuff, so that makes sense. It's a good album and I'm glad to have listened to it even if it will probably never be my favorite. Essential Listen: Borderline but no Desert Island Disc: No

A great album Just missing some extra flare

As a VU fan, the selection of this album to include in this list is befuddling. It is a good album but not a great one. It also comes on the heels of a great record - White Light/White Heat. That record represents for me the pinnacle of VU’s recorded work and the loss of John Cale as a band member is palpable. I get Lou wanted to turn down the volume and include other voices but in hindsight, it was really Lou’s effort to share the blame if TVU was not as successful. Lou’s lack of courage is also evident giving up vocals to new multi-instrumentalist Doug Yule, whom replaced Cale. So what do you have? A truly great song in Pale Blue Eyes, a couple of good tracks ( Candy Says and the experimental The Murder Mystery) leaving some pretty average straight forward folk rock songs and ballads. No wonder it flopped. When I reach for a VU record it is not this one. 2/5

The extreme dissonance of walking in New York City while listening to 'Candy Says', 'Pale Blue Eyes' and 'Jesus': It makes you wonder how VU became the prototypical NYC band, but of course, prior to this record, John Cale made them a much more avant-garde enterprise. There's lots I didn't know about this album before today- I had no idea who Doug Yule was, or that he sings lead on 'Candy Says'; I hadn't really understood the turn they took after Cale's departure; I had no knowledge of the 'Closet Mix' (which I maybe prefer?). Safe to say I've been trying to unearth more personal excitement for VU over the years without a ton of success but listening today is the closest I've gotten. I think I'm just still lacking some cultural context for what it was like to hear this band in 1969, and what was so energizing about Reed's songwriting (for my money, Cale shows far more sophisticated songwriting chops on Paris 1919). All that said, this album is awesome. The quiet songs are disquieting, like a serial killer whispering (O) sweet nothings into your ear, and the rockers (all 2 of them) sound like being beat to death with rolled up newspapers. Even Moe Tucker’s lead vocal to close the album is great. Only ‘Murder Mystery’ stops this album from being a complete home run.

слишком нежно

Candy Says is a great start. I'm only vaguely familiar with the Velvet Underground catalog, but this is my favorite album so far. Some Kinda Love is terrific. Pale Blue Eyes is my favorite Velvet Underground song of all time. The Murder Mystery is the first miss which wouldn't be a big deal except it is 20% of the album. The banging on a piano is a nice way to close out the song. My friend had a radio show in college and always closed it out with After Hours, good song.

🥞🥞

Decent album. Has the tones of a Beatles record and vocals are “Lou Reed-Lite”, I’ll say. 3.4/5.0

this was pretty okay until I got to "the murder mystery" then it pissed me off

Mostly great and creative songs on here, with a couple duds. Not my favorite Velvets album but an anjoyable listen.

This surprised me—I've never listened to the Velvet Underground before but this is not what I was expecting. I had to resist the urge to listen in order because I assume the other albums will come up in the rotation eventually.

Wonderful.

Very gentle album, love Lou Reeds vocal on this one- Pale blue eyes, thought of you as my mountain top……..beautiful

The Velvet Underground go Pop? Almost. But like with their debut, the self-titled is responsible for spawning a bunch o genres that would more officially begin in the 80's. Here we hear trace of what would become Indie Pop, Slowcore, and Twee Pop, among a couple more. It remains incredible how influential the Velvets were. Probably the band who most genres can be traced back to, second only to the The Beatles. Key tracks: Candy Says Pale Blue Eyes Jesus After Hours

Lou Reed, more like Lou Zer (pronounced loser haha!)

I tried very hard to like this band but its so fucking pretentious. I love maybe 2-3 songs here (their softer tracks are awesome) but dont really like the rest. Maybe ill like them one day. Thanks for inventing many great rock genres and being so influencial but your music aint that good.

(Probably) My favorite band. My (2nd) favorite album by my (probably) favorite band. In a real world, there would be an infinity rating. This would be in that heavenly realm. 5 "infinite" stars.

really great early rock album, probably in my top 50. a strong 9/10. first listen tracklist ranking: 1. Pale Blue Eyes 2. Candy Says 3. Jesus 4. After Hours 5. What Goes On 6. I’m Set Free 7. Beginning To See The Light 8. Some Kinda Love 9. The Murder Mystery 10. That’s The Story of My Life

boring other than "candy says"

Amazing always a banger

It doesn’t suck, but I just can’t get into it. Pleasant enough, but nothing really grabs me or earns a return visit. After all the wild surprises that the late ’60s have thrown my way, this one feels surprisingly ordinary.

Chill The Beatles, not my style

Listened to first half and it was pretty good. Never heard those songs before

Not a fan

The Velvet Underground might be a cult classic, and "Venus in Furs" from their album with Nico is a masterpiece to me, but I found this album the more underwhelming the longer it went. Giving it 3 stars because the first tracks were quite good.

The great Velvet Underground! From the classic 3 album run this might be my least favourite, however this is still great album, probably easy 4 stars.

War auf jeden Fall deutlich besser als das erste Album, aber ist auch nicht wirklich hängen geblieben

The Murder Mystery is epic!

I know it like the back of my fist... perhaps the best album VU ever released (which is quite a feat considering the albums before this one.) I find this album so clever because the 'gimmick' is that there was no gimmick. The first two albums, which are both masterpieces in their own right and have great songwriting to back them up, have the smoke and mirrors of Andy Warhol allure clouding them. If not that, then it's the noise: both of their first two records can be harsh, even by the modern standards of what rock and roll dips into. If you were cool enough to know who The Velvet Underground were, you were probably buying it expecting to have your ear drums ruptured. So imagine the high (or the lack thereof) that would come from dropping the needle on this album and hearing "Candy Says", an unflinching song about gender dysphoria and self doubt. If they were blowing up amplifiers at any point on this album, the music would suffer. The pain leaks in through the restraint, and the genius comes somewhere after.

I really liked this. Murder Mystery was right up my alley and the album was bookended by some really pretty songs. I will definitely pick this up on vinyl. 4 stars.

More accessible than some of their other stuff, but I miss having more exploration in sound over the whole album.

Such a nice album, no idea why I didn’t listen to this sooner. Solid 4 and an absolute gem

I admire how different The Velvet Underground’s first three albums are from each other. This one most sounds like them kicking back and relaxing into the process of recording an LP. Flitting to and fro between semi-acoustic and full band numbers gives it a low key, settled feeling that is the polar opposite of White Light White Heat. The Murder Mystery, which is quite unlike the rest of the record, is a favourite of mine. I like how it shoots from the anxious busy brain verses into the curious and laid back choruses. Over lockdown my band recorded our own version of it for a charity compilation which further revealed some of its beguiling qualities to me. Experimental music made by people who understand pop music is my favourite kind.

VU get a high 4 with this one, love the calmer vibes and the occasional avant garde flourish, a nice mix

It was way more mellow than I was thinking, but good.

I thought this was pretty cool overall. It ebbed and flowed very creatively and it’s one I’d like to spend more time with. Pale Blue Eyes was so pretty. I also really liked I’m Set Free and the last two tracks.

I can only hope that someday I will be smart and cool enough to "get" the Velvet Underground.

My first Velvet Underground album. I really enjoyed it. It's simple, but it never gets boring. Definitely made me want to hear more from them. Favorite track(s) Candy Says Pale Blue Eyes Jesus After Hours

One my favourite albums of all time. Listend to it many many times. Instant 5. Ear magic.

Go stundtals, lite för utsvävande ibland

Candy says - 4 What goes on - 4 Some kinda love - 3 Pale blue eyes - 4 Jesus - 3 Beginning to see the light - 4 I'm set free - 3 That's the story of my life - 3 The murder mystery - 2 After hours - 4

Listening session: july 13th, while getting ready Listened to before: heard three songs before Thoughts: nice album but not as good as The Velvet Underground & Nico Favourite tracks: Candy Says, Pale Blue Eyes & After Hours

Here is where things shifted dramatically for the Velvets. Cale was out, Yule was in, and Lou really found his songwriting voice in earnest. Some of my favorite Lou songs here: Pale Blue Eyes, Candy Says, What Goes On, Beginning To See the Light. There's still a bit of weirdness with Murder Mystery and whimsy with After Hours. But they lost something essential when Cale left and they'd never, imo, hit the heights of the first two records. After this, they practically went pop with Loaded and then it all fell apart

it’s very chill very inspirational kind of the vibe I would go to if I was on a long bus ride home after a very sunny day. I wouldn’t listen to on the regular tho. Well maybe only what goes on

A good four very peaceful really enjoyed it

in the beginning i thought "meh, this is boring". it quickly became clear that actually, it's worse than boring, it actually gets on my nerves very fast. i'm sure it's important and influential and whatever but it's a very hard no from me

Interesting lyrics. Mostly liked this. Feel like I should like it more than I do. Maybe I just wasn't in the mood. Nevertheless, 4.

Classic!

5/10 fav: candy says

heavy hitter

Better than I thought this was gonna be! Pale Blue Eyes is an all-timer that I'd never heard before, and there were other nice and soft but also more rocky tunes. That Murder Mystery one probably went on too long but had a good ending.

perhaps the best to ever do it

Baš jako puno dosadnog mediokriteta na projektu, šteta. Još veća šteta je što mi moj OCD ne dopušta da odustanem kad sam već toliko daleko stigla. Eh... 2/5, 3/10

Highlights: Candy Says, Pale Blue Eyes

zzzzzzzzzzzz

Nice as far as 60's rock goes but still not all that different

Very clearly an influence on a lot of later bands. Having said that I feel that there's better albums that have further expanded on the velvet underground. Still 3 stars for being a very influential and prototypical album.

A soft melody is one that catches my attention in music, so this album was within that paradigm. I had not heard of The Velvet Underground so hearing their third album was a fresh new ride and I can see many people enjoying this. The guitar work is phenomenal, the slow lyrics of love and longing can be reminiscent of anyone who's ever loved before, and the production of muffled or echo chambers with the instrumentals is a standout for me. The tracks would be more of a background listen, but it does not detract from the nicheness this album will have, even if it can be experimental at times. A soft-pop rock album through and through.

vibe

The first few tracks in I was coming to terms with the fact that maybe I'm just not the Velvet Underground fan I thought I was. It was okay enough but wasn't really making me feel anything like hearing the first album in high school. Then the bass sound in 'Jesus' was kind of a turning point and by side B I was having a pretty good time.

Beautiful! It really lulled me

This is a bit weird, but I’m about to start an overdose outreach practicum and on the hardest days, the hard days there are bound to be, when someone with a lifetime of addiction and trauma spits in my face or whatnot, I’m going to remember that there’s a tiny beautiful Lou Reed inside them, that the only way out is through, that only chaos can give birth to a dancing star.

People liked drugs way back then too I guess. I've always had a weakness for this band. Thanks, CJ. Strange and a little too artsy in places but enjoyable. 3.9

I don't see how this album got so many good reviews. It's fine to listen to, but maybe I just dislike Lou Reed's style. I can't get along with any of these albums. They're just boring. Especially for 1969. This album sounds like it could've been released 10 years earlier and would be right about right.

After Hours

They are pretty boring without Nico and JJ Cale. Pale Nlue Eyes and I'm Beginning to See The Light standout.

It's been a long while since I had a Velvet Underground album. This seems to be less abrasive than White Light was while still being dark and somewhat experimental in nature. Upon listening, this initial assessment is proven accurate, as this is a far softer and more pleasant album than the distortion-heavy White Light. It definitely has an edge, but not so much as to put off the average listener. The lyrics are often personal and confessional, making a stark contrast to the lucid, macabre stories that defined White Light. However, some songs(particularly "Murder Mystery") do evoke the uncompromising weirdness of the Velvets as a band, if not as noisy or challenging as the likes of "The Gift" or "Sister Ray"(from White Light). This is a good gateway album for the Velvets as a band, though the banana album(which I haven't had yet) is generally their most acclaimed record. It's more generally a good and interesting record. This album is ranked #10 of 38 albums for 1969. Other 1969 albums rated by me: Abbey Road(1/38)-5 Led Zeppelin(3/38)-4 At San Quentin(5/38)-5 Bayou Country(7/38)-4 In the Court of the Crimson King(9/38)-5 Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere(11/38)-4 Cloud Nine(17/38)-4 Arthur(18/37)-3 Hot Rats(19/38)-3 From Elvis In Memphis(21/38)-2 Tommy(22/38)-4 Songs From A Room(25/38)-5 Unhalfbricking(26/38)-4 Kick Out The Jams(29/38)-3 The Gilded Palace of Sin(30/38)-3 Odessa(36/38)-2

Not bad

7 / 10

Superou minhas expectativas, a segunda metade é muito boa, demora pra engrenar, mas depois que vai, vai bem. Acabou que o álbum finalizou e acabei ouvindo outro álbum da banda, o de 1970. Bela surpresa, nunca tinha ouvido a banda e só conhecia a famosa capa do primeiro disco.

It's when you want chill Velvet Underground.

Not as strong as some of their albums I think but there's a few interesting songs on here. Pale Blue Eyes is famous, I think. I liked The Murder Mystery and After Hours, the closing two tracks, as they are a bit different. I think I zoned out earlier in the album. Not entirely the band's fault. I have just been tired of late.

candy says even existing as a song floors me

I swear I've listened to this album and not been impressed... But it has some pretty solid hits.

7/10