Classic Album Discussion: The Velvet Underground - Loaded

The Velvet Underground's enduring legacy is more than the noisy arrangements, vibrant characters or outrageous glimpses into the gritty side of city life which compromised their albums. If anything, their true legacy may the sonic experimentation captured on their first three recordings. So there is no small amount of irony that "Loaded," the least velvety of all VU's albums, yeilded the band their first real commercial success.

When "Loaded" was released, The Velvet Underground had essentially ceased to exist. John Cale had long since departed, Maureen Tucker was out on maternity leave, and Lou Reed had quit just before the album's release. With its two creative forces, Cale and Reed, missing is it surprising that the album is their most conventional?

Regardless, anyone who has followed Lou Reed's career knows he can write a killer rock'n'roll song and "Loaded" is studded with them. The standouts include "Sweet Jane," whose riff every bit as epic as the Stones' Satisfaction," the terrific, exuberant "Rock N' Roll" and the gorgeous "Oh! Sweet Nothing" which closes the album.

So "Loaded" isn't The Velvet Underground's most experimental album. Had any another band released this album, it would roundly be considered a masterpiece. With that in mind, I submit for your consideration, The Velvet Underground's "Loaded."



1. Who Loves The Sun
2. Sweet Jane
3. Rock And Roll
4. Cool It Down
5. New Age
6. Head Held High
7. Lonesome Cowboy Bill
8. I Found A Reason
9. Train Round The Bend
10. Oh! Sweet Nothing

Certainly the VU has earned its place in rock and roll history. This album definitely made them more accessible as Sweet Jane and Rock 'n' Roll were in heavy rotation on early 70's FM radio

The version of Sweet Jane from Lou Reed's Rock and Roll Animal is molten.

Great selection Henry.

Great album for sure. I should also point out that for a handful of years in the 90's, Phish would perform a complete album from a band during their Halloween show. They played Loaded in it's entirety on Halloween '98. I was actually in attendance for the Halloween '96 show when they played Remain in Light by Talking Heads.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Live_Phish_Volume_16

johnniegold said:

Certainly the VU has earned its place in rock and roll history. This album definitely made them more accessible as Sweet Jane and Rock 'n' Roll were in heavy rotation on early 70's FM radio

The version of Sweet Jane from Lou Reed's Rock and Roll Animal is molten.

Great selection Henry.

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How is Rock and Roll Animal? Sounds like I need to give that a listen; Sweet Jane is such a good song. It is a shame Lou Reed's solo career has been so uneven. When he is on, he's one of the best.

LOVE IT. Great selection! I'm pumped that you posted it. It gives me a reason to dig it out and give it a spin again. I've got a VU/LR folder on my MP3 player, but there's nothing like the actual album and a dedicated listening.

professorchaos said:

How is Rock and Roll Animal? Sounds like I need to give that a listen; Sweet Jane is such a good song. It is a shame Lou Reed's solo career has been so uneven. When he is on, he's one of the best.

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I think it is the definitive version of Sweet Jane.

johnniegold said:

I think it is the definitive version of Sweet Jane.

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Me, too, and molten is a great descriptor. I do not remember what the rest of Rock and Roll Animal is like.

Lou Reed's solo career uneven? Metal Machine Music anyone? I am also told, but have not experienced it myself, that Berlin is a great album.

I think Loaded is a great album, and I do not think I can say it any better than Professor C. "I Found a Reason" is also a standout to me, but as I recall every cut is pretty listenable. Accessible Velvets, who would have thought it? My favorite Velvets album, by a whole lot. Unrated and overlooked.

Did any one see Lou Reed on Elvis Costello's TV show Spectacle? Well worth watching, and helped explain the man to me. To me he has always seemed like so much great stuff, so much utter crap. Seems there was more method to the madness than I had considered.

Fantastic pick for an album to discuss.

Lou Reed remains an engima to me. He has amazing talent, not just as a song writer. Listen to him sing "Train 'Round the Bend." He can belt them out too. Yet such an uneven career, which I suppose the Velvet's catalog presaged. The sole post VU album I've found appealing is "Transformer." Vicious is classic Lou Reed. And how can you dislike "Andy's Chest?"

"I Found a Reason" is an outstanding cut, as is "Oh! Sweet Nothing."

professorchaos said:

Lou Reed remains an engima to me. He has amazing talent, not just as a song writer. Listen to him sing "Train 'Round the Bend." He can belt them out too. Yet such an uneven career, which I suppose the Velvet's catalog presaged. The sole post VU album I've found appealing is "Transformer." Vicious is classic Lou Reed. And how can you dislike "Andy's Chest?"

"I Found a Reason" is an outstanding cut, as is "Oh! Sweet Nothing."

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You and I are on exactly the same page. I just mentioned "I Found a Reason" because you had not in the initial post, but you had mentioned "SN." "SJ," "R&R," "Found a Reason," "Swt Nothing," to me these are songs as good as any LR has written and they are about as good as rock gets.

There was a lot of discussion of Sgt. Peppers. Compare the sentimentality, perhaps camp, of "She's Leaving Home" with the depth and nuance of something like "Found a Reason." Or "SJ" to "Fixing a Hole" or something similar. To me LR is saying a lot in a very sophisticated, not trite, way.

I have no idea why LR has been so uneven. Transformer and R&R Animal are is the only ones that comes to mind for me are good albums. As I recall R&R Animal really was very good. He sure has had great people playing with him. Seems intentional on some level to be uneven. In the Elvis Costello interview he says he started in a high-end band for a record label that would create songs similar to whatever was popular at the time, so he has always had chops. He could probably have put out hit after hit, if he had wanted to.

Just ordered Rock and Roll Animal!

Given how good Lou Reed is when he's on, I don't mind the unevenness too much. He's so unique, I just wish he had a bigger catalog. On the other hand, I'll never tire of "Sister Ray."

professorchaos said:

Just ordered Rock and Roll Animal!

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Guaranteed no regrets, Henry.

"Loaded" is probably more listenable than "The Velvet Underground," which was far too "soft" for me. But, other than "Who Loves the Sun" (which, depending on when it was written, either anticipated or was a response to Harrison's "Here Comes the Sun"), "Sweet Jane" and "Rock and Roll," I find many of the songs to be a bit supbar, particularly "New Age" and "Lonesome Cowboy Bill." Also, I absolutely HATE Yule's singing on the album.

The most interesting thing about the CD version versus the LP version is that includes the 'unedited' version of 'Sweet Jane' that includes the bridge section ("Heavenly wine and roses") that was removed from the original. I remember hearing this section first on the 1969 live album and wondering where the hell THAT came from. Now we know.

Some people really hate "Rock and Roll Animal" because of its mid-70's glam rock excesses, but I rather like the chunka-chunka phased guitar, and the version of "Sweet Jane" is really the definitive post Velvets version. If you get the CD, make sure you get the expanded edition, which includes two additional cuts from "Berlin."

It is truly amazing how inconsistent Reed has been over the years. Other than some cuts of "Transformer" he had very little to say (including "Berlin," which in its own way is as unlistenable as "Metal Machine Music) until "Street Hassle," which was his best album since the Velvets, although it was marred by horrendous production values and a few lousy songs.

Reed's real comeback came with "The Blue Mask," which is, arguably, his best album, although I wouldn't argue with those who felt that "New York" or "Magic and Loss" were better.

Jeff in Boston

Wasn't the music on Rock 'n Roll Animal recorded at the same venue as Lou Reed Live? This stuff was en vogue when I was in high school....all the heads loved Zappa, Lou Reed, Roxy Music, etc. I always thought Reed had a first-rate band for those live performances....but his lyrics and style left much to be desired.

tsmba said:

Wasn't the music on Rock 'n Roll Animal recorded at the same venue as Lou Reed Live? This stuff was en vogue when I was in high school....all the heads loved Zappa, Lou Reed, Roxy Music, etc. I always thought Reed had a first-rate band for those live performances....but his lyrics and style left much to be desired.

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Lou Reed is one unusual performer/artist. The Velvets were sort of during the 60s hippie/pscyheddlic era, for want of a better word, but they and LR were one long way from groups like the Dead. And I sure did not think of folks like David Bowie in he most glam era exactly being head type guys, and LR seemed to be striving for that kind of approach.

Frankly I did not know anyone that was all that into the Velvets but me, and I was not all that into the Velvets, and LR solo was, as we have discussed, difficult and frustrating. I have really more come to appreciate him. But I always did like Loaded and RnR Animal, and cuts like Heroin and Waiting for My Man, Walk on the Wild Side.

Rock'n'Roll still hasn't found a good way to categorize The Velvet Underground. Each album is very different.

There was a time when I was really, really into them. As into them as you can get with the tiny catalog. A couple of their albums changed the way I listen to music.