The Best Velvets Album
Although "The Velvet Underground and Nico," "White Light/White Heat," and "The Velvet Underground" all receive due critical acclaim, VU's swansong, 1970's "Loaded," is actually their finest album. Whereas the band's first three albums dabbled in obtuse guitar freakouts, lo-fi folk, and pure garage rock, "Loaded" goes all-out baroque--it's loaded with swooning harmony vocals, ornate melodies, and some of Lou Reed's most complex lyrics and vocal performances. The relatively accessible and straight-forward nature of this album has long drawn the ire of many who are too staunchly "indie" to acknowledge brilliant conventional pop music; nevertheless, "Loaded" is a masterpiece of songcraft and eclecticism. If I had to chose between "The Velvet Underground and Nico" with its angular noise and "Loaded" with its unforgottable melodies, I would certainly pick the latter. Starting with "Who Loves The Sun?," "Loaded" jumps from one pop gem to another--if this indeed the "sellout record" that so many purport it to be, then it is undeniably the best sellout record of all-time. "Sweet Jane" makes wondrous use of a three-chord progression, "Rock N Roll" is garage rock at its purest, "Oh! Sweet Nuthin'" is an epic, sprawling guitar anthem that beat Lynyrd Skynyrd to the punch by almost two years, and "I Found A Reason," shockingly enough, was once sampled by the trip-hop ensemble Massive Attack (!), such is the influence of the Velvets. This album is crisp and smooth, retaining the Velvets' knack for artsy pop while also adopting a more melodic approach that romances the ear. Baroque, hummable, and blackly cool, this is The Velvet Underground's definitive statement.
amazon is clueless
The person at Amazon who reviewed this probably didn't listen to this album more than once, for it undermines what Loaded did for the band, which was to broaden their musical scope into the field of pop music. While it may not sound like the first two albums, it certaintly isn't out of place in the collection. It is essentially a Lou Reed solo album, and better than any of his actual ones at that. The songs also take more time to be appreciated than anything he had done before, but were among his finest compositions both musically and lyrically. "Sweet Jane", the obvious highlight, represents a compromise of the Velvet Underground's previous cataylclismic pessimism with cheerful American optomism. "Rock and Roll" is Lou's happiest 3 minutes, with him screaming "It's all right!" over and over as a coda. "Who Loves the Sun" is an interesting albeit cheesy production, but a fascinating composition musically speaking. "Lonesome Cowboy Bill" has the greatest pop hook I know of, and the "Hey Jude"-like chorus at the end of "Sweet Nuthin" makes it clear: why not be happy after creating four unbelievably great albums and changing rock music forever. Loaded is what Lou Reed really wanted to do all along: create good rock and roll songs. This can be seen by his pre-John Cale work and his later solo work, which this outlined. This said, though, the album does have drawbacks. The drummer is good but ordinary, Doug Yule kills the vocals on some songs, and since it was released posthumously, any work on conceptual song ordering was botched. (The end of track 8 matches the beginning of track 6 exactly). If you dont want to buy the box set of VU, I recommend the double CD, but if you have the box set, theres nothing else on the double CD of any value. Dont miss this album, though.
Could've been better.
After listening to their previous three records, I was glad to finally hear this album as part of the Peel Slowly box set. It certainly isn't inoffensive; now matter how commercial the Velvets ever got, that adjective is not something that would describe them. But it is somewhat neutered. Not because of new drummer Billy Yule, who is far better than Moe Tucker, by the way, but simply the album doesn't have enough strong songs and lackluster production. I needn't restate what virtually every other reviewer has said: "Sweet Jane" and "Rock 'n Roll" are classics. 'Nuff said. "Cool it Down," "Lonesome Cowboy Bill," and "I Found a Reason" are very underrated tunes in the VU cannon. "New Age," "Who Loves the Sun," and "Oh!Sweet Nuthin'" are good, but rather overrated. "Train 'Round the Bend" and "Head Held High" are mediocre throwaways.
Overall, a listenable album with two stone cold classics ("Sweet Jane" sounds even better on the Peel Slowly box set in its full-length version) and a few other good tunes. But it's not a rock 'n roll classic.
VU go Classic Rock
"Sweet Jane" and Rock and Roll" are the popular tunes here, "Who Loves the Sun" and "Oh, Sweet Nuthin" are just as good-but basically this is the VU without John Cale (Or Warhol and Nico, for that matter) making an album that could appeal to Stones fans, or even maybe Skynyrd fans. It's also very good, and the chord progressions would be a much bigger influence on 70's rock than anyone has ever mentioned. Good songs, no real experimentation or punk/metal/psychedelic leanings. Lou Reed was more dominant in the band than ever on this album, but the other members do contribute to the sound. Think of "Ballad of Dwight Frye" by Alice Cooper, "Angie" by the Rolling Stones, or "Signs" by the 5 Man Electrical Band-that's the musical territory the first ever experimental rock band explore on "Loaded". In otherwords, it's good stuff-but NOT avant garde.
Good. Why isn't this remastered?
This is a great album, but can anyone tell me why this isn't remastered like the first 3 VU albums?
While John Cale certainly gave the first couple of Velvet Underground albums a signature sound, his departure enabled Lou Reed to do exactly what he does best: write kick-ass, stripped-down rock songs. On Loaded his talent comes to full fruition. Who can imagine a world without "Sweet Jane" and "Rock & Roll," arguably two of the greatest rock tunes ever penned? The brilliance of those songs is so bright, it's easy to overlook a couple of other Reed masterpieces: the tender, epic discourse of "New Age" (which highlights his assured sense of poetic wordplay: "And when you kissed Robert Mitchum / Gee, but I thought you'd never catch him!") and the extended sweet blues romp of "Oh! Sweet Nuthin'." On Loaded the Velvet Underground--who before had hit the sonic ceiling experimenting with shattered chords, feedback, screeching violas, and what Reed once claimed was "the fastest guitar playing ever"--eschew the dark side of noise for clarity. Check out the ringing chime that begins "Who Loves the Sun" and the sterling (no pun intended) guitar riff that drives "Rock & Roll." This is not to say that the old ragged punch of the original Velvets is completely gone. Moe Tucker still beats a mean set of skins; there's no stopping Sterling Morrison's train-wreck rhythm guitar on "Train Round the Bend"; and "Head Held High" achieves near-"Sister Ray" moments of madness. --Tod Nelson
