The Velvet Underground & Nico [Extra tracks, Original recording remastered, Deluxe Edition]

Velvet Underground | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 25, 2002)
• Original Release Date: 1967
• Number of Discs: 2
• Format: Extra tracks, Original recording remastered, Deluxe Edition
• Label: Polydor
• ASIN: B00005YTN5
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #22,665 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

When the Velvets recorded this debut, they were best known as the protégés of Andy Warhol (who designed the sleeve), and as a grating, combustive live band. Fueled by drummer Moe Tucker's no-nonsense wham and John Cale's howling viola, some of the straight-up rock & roll and arty noise extravaganzas here bear that out. But before Lou Reed was singing about sadomasochism and drug deals and writing lyrics inspired by his favorite poets, he was a pop songwriter, and this album has some of his prettiest tunes, mostly sung by Nico, the German dark angel who left the band after this disc. Even the sordid rockers are underscored by graceful pop tricks, like the two-chord flutter at the center of the classic "Heroin." --Douglas Wolk

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Royal reissue of watershed LP, August 4, 2002

By 

hyperbolium (Earth, USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Velvet Underground & Nico (Audio CD)

Of the many impressive facets of the Velvet Underground's debut, perhaps the most impressive of all is how completely undated it sounds. While those who followed in the VU's footsteps often sounded retro -- often purposefully so -- this gritty, thirty-five year-old creation seems not to have aged a day.

Polydor's latest double-disc reissue collects both the mono and stereo mixes of the original album, digitally remastered, and adds contemporaneous singles and a quintet of VU-powered tracks from Nico's subsequent "Chelsea Girl" album. The package is enveloped in a foldout digipack (with or without peelable banana artwork), with a thick booklet that includes newly penned liner notes from Dave Thompson, photos, song lyrics and recording credits.

Of particular interest to U.S. buyers is the mono album mix, previously available only outside the U.S. This is the band's vision of the album, later remixed into stereo by MGM staff producer (and, at the time, Simon & Garfunkel producer) Tom Wilson. The mono version is tougher, and in the opinion of the band's label at the time, too limiting for American audiences (both for its intensity, and for the US's burgeoning interest in stereo). The difference in atmosphere is a terrific lesson in how mixing affects an album, and how visceral mono recordings can be.

The bonus tracks include five sides waxed by Nico with the original lineup of the Velvet Underground for her solo debut. Recorded in April 1967, they followed the band's original recording dates by exactly a year (the VU debut, recorded in April 1966, did not see release until March of the following year). The songs, from Reed, Cale and Sterling Morrison are rendered lightly, with strings and flutes (apparently much to Nico's displeasure), a minimum of Reed's guitar, and no drums. The VU's more ferocious and dissonant side really only turns up on "It Was a Pleasure Then." Combining these sides with the original album provides a nice opportunity to listen to the original VU lineup's entire ouevre.

The singles offer a chance to hear "All Tomorrow's Parties" shaved down from it's original 5:58 to a 45's worth of 2:49. Less radically, the single release of "I'll Be Your Mirror" resolves with a chord, rather than a fade as on the album. Even more minor is the two seconds of what seems to be engineer's chatter (announcing the tape roll) that precedes the single release of "Sunday Morning." The fetishism of collecting these minute differences seems like a natural fit for VU fans.

Those looking to hear this watershed album for the first time will likely be just as happy with the single-disc 1996 reissue. For those who've loved (and lived) this album over the last thirty-five years, the opportunity to view it from a new angle shouldn't be passed up.

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mono is better, July 18, 2005

By 

Heavy Theta (Lorton, Va United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Velvet Underground & Nico (Audio CD)

After buying the lp, the first cd and the box set, I've been hard pressed at justifying this purchase. I spotted a used copy at the local swap shop; the guy at the counter asked (in so many words) "Is this really going to improve your love life?" No, and it won't get me into a band with Brian Eno either.

But I've always found the standard release of this classic album pretty brittle on the sonic side, especially on Nico's numbers. So when I read that there was an "original mono" version of the disc, I've really been curious as to whether this would be any significant improvement.

It is. Nothing is ever going to turn the original primitive tapes into ECM ambiance, but it is also clear that Tom Wilson's stereo re-mix was enough to edge lo-fi into no-fi back when. Besides some noticable reduction of distortion, the guitars are now front and center, while the vocals sound stronger.

Is it worth the extra purchase? Hard to say. It would be nice if the mono version was available as a single disc, or part of the box set. If you are a hard core VU fan you should try to hear this version sometime.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A MUST for All Fans!, July 16, 2002

By 

E. Dolnack (Atlanta, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Velvet Underground & Nico (Audio CD)

I just purchased this deluxe CD release of the Velvet Underground's Earth-shattering 1967 debut: "The Velvet Underground & Nico", and boy am I glad I did! All the tracks have been remastered in 24-bit and have never sounded better.

This is a slick little product that comes with a beautifully put-together package, complete with peelable banana label and a handy little booklet; and if you do manage to un-peel your banana sticker, never fret, it's a vinyl cut-out [like colorforms] that can be stuck and unstuck indefinately.

There are two CDs: one in stereo and one in mono. For the record, the mono version was never released in the US before, and is the product before producer Tom Wilson remixed the tracks for stereo. (He felt the band would be more accesible to a wider audience if polished somewhat). The mono tracks have a somewhat grittier feel than do the stereo mixes and might explain some of the reason the Velvets were more succesful in inspiring English and European bands over American acts.

There are also a number of single release versions of some of the tracks, as well as a few cuts from Nico's 1967 LP "Chelsea Girl" (which for trivia's sake, many of the songs were written by her boyfriend at the time, Jackson Brown).

This is first-rate, All-Star treatment of a true American legend! This is a museum-piece treasure that is a must-own for true fans of true Rock & Roll everywhere. To not know this legendary album is to not know Rock itself!