So before I listened to this album, I went back and listened to The Velvet Underground's debut album with Nico, so I'd get a sense of the band's progression with this one... My favorite quote regarding the debut album, was from Brian Eno, who said about the record only selling 30,000 copies in its first five years, "...Everyone who bought one of those 30,000 copies started a band...". As for White Light/White Heat, it was good to see them ditch Nico - which I don't think they wanted her around for the 1st album either, but Andy Warhol probably insisted... Anyways, rather than exceptionally polished, and well-done songs, this album is all about the artistic creativity and experimentation... I liked the diversity of the songs - especially the fact that there really was no format/song structure, compared to what a lot of the music sounded like back in the early-to-mid 60's... Probably prefer some of the songs on the debut album better than these, but you can hear the original strains of musical styles/approaches - that would go on to inspire other artists to continue the evolution of those sounds and approaches... Not gonna lie, in some weird way I really enjoyed "The Gift", as well as "Lady Godvia's Operation", and "Here She Comes Now" - as the lyrical content (i.e. basically the under/dark side of street life - sex, drugs, survival, etc.) was incredibly original, and a real departure from what everyone else was writing about at the time... I'm NOT saying that these are some of the most profound lyrics ever written, but the fact that Lou was writing about authentic real-life experiences/stories, in which he painted such a vivid picture - was absolutely innovative... Best song - especially instrumentally was the album's final track, the 17-minute "Sister Ray"...