20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection: The Best Of The Velvet Underground (CD)

From their early days as the house band for Andy Warhol's Exploding Plastic Inevitable, the Velvet Underground were the antithesis of late-1960s Flower Power optimism. Lou Reed's decadent lyrics and dour vocals proved to be the perfect match for the group's droning pop, and the early addition of goth-chanteuse Nico only served to increase VU's black-clad mystique. The influence of their blend of street poetry, avant-garde experimentalism, and raw rock & roll on punk and its aftermath is inestimable. It's been said that not many people heard their early records, but everyone who did went out and started a band.

• Category:  Music  »  Rock & Pop  »  General Rock & Pop
• Format: CD   Learn more about the CD format using Tower WIKI.
• Release Date: October 10, 2000
• Label: Mercury
• UPC: 731454913324
• WAPI (Tower ID): 106274173
• Average Customer Review: There are no customer reviews yet. Be the first to write a review!
• Tower.com Sales Rank: #102476 in Music (See Top 100 Music Bestsellers)
• #30394 in Rock & Pop (See Top 100 Rock & Pop Bestsellers)
• #20154 in General Rock & Pop (See Top 100 General Rock & Pop Bestsellers)

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Velvet Underground: Lou Reed, John Cale, Sterling Morrison, Maureen Tucker, Doug Yule.

Producers: Andy Warhol, Tom Wilson, The Velvet Underground.

Compilation producer: Andy Levenson.

Includes liner notes by Joseph Laredo.

Calling an 11-track CD the best of the Velvets is something of a misnomer--the band was too prolific and creative for that sort of reductivism, and obviously the omission of certain songs (take your pick, fans) is going to rankle somebody. That said, these tracks are by and large intelligently chosen, with representative samplings from all four of the band's musical periods.

There's the Nelson Algren-ish realistic and musically avant-garde approach of their debut "I'm Waiting For the Man," the completely over-the-top metallic assault of "White Light/White Heat," the Byrds-ian delicacy and grace of the third album ("I'm Beginning to See the Light") and the pop songcraft mastery of their endgame. Purists may balk at the inclusion of live versions of "Sweet Jane" and "Rock and Roll" in lieu of the more familiar studio versions from LOADED, but these quibbles aside this is a fine introduction to one of the seminal rock bands of all time.

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