Customer Reviews

The Velvet Underground & Nico

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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.

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.

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!

This 2CD reissue contains all of the original lineup's commercially released recordings. Period. That includes Stereo and Mono mixes in addition to all of the 45rpm singles & B-sides. The singles & B-sides ARE different than the "LP" mono versions, both in length and the mix. Your VU collection should, without question, begin with this 2CD set.

Personally, I think the Mono mixes sound better than Stereo mixes!

To the reviewer who said NOT to buy this reissue, the reason why the Nico solo tracks were included was because Lou, Cale, and Sterling had a lot to do with those tracks, from the writing to the production. You are right, Nico's work needs to stand alone to be truly appreciated, but those tracks from Chelsea Girl are basically the result of a VU "side-project." It worked, too.

There are a number of people selling this for well below its original $25+ price tag. Take advantage and make the purchase.

All agree that listening to the mono and stereo sides are a completely different experience..also, the Nico tracks are fine,as is her entire Chelsea Girl album...the 45's are a great bonus and the booklet with lyrics and overall packaging (slick lamination harking back to those European import albums of long ago) peel-able banana is good and a total anachronistic trip faithful to the original.
The anti-elitists Elitists 1st offering.
You can't go wrong.

So much has been said and written about this album since its release in March 1967, that a review of the material is irrelevant, and commentary pointless. Inarguably, it is one of the most influential LPs of all time. So let's look instead at what this *release* of "The Velvet Underground and Nico" IS.
Over the years, the Velvet Underground catalog has begun to get the overhaul it has always deserved, and this Deluxe Edition set is another example of that. If the "Peel Slowly And See" Box Set and the "Fully Loaded Edition" of "Loaded" appeal to you, you'll find this indispensable.

Why both the mono *and* stereo versions of the LP? Differences in the mixes, my friends. Some subtle, some more immediately evident. The casual listener might not spot the differences immediately, but track to track comparisons between the two will be instructive to the faithful. The mono version has been deemed collectable enough to be bootlegged in the past, so it is fitting that it be legitimately released for the completist collectors among us. For what it's worth,I found the mono versions of the singles excessive, as the stereo versions are to be found on the "Peel Slowly And See..." box set, HOWEVER, the tracks from Nico's "Chelsea Girl" were penned by Velvets Cale, Morrison & Reed, who also perform on these tracks. As such, they deserve to be included in the band's output *somewhere*, and as they chronologically follow the 1st LP, it makes sense that they be included here--they're certainly as strong musical numbers as anything else on these CDs.

If you're a Velvet Underground fan (as I've been for well over two decades), you've already bought this CD, perhaps, like me, several times, between the initial release, the remaster, the box set, the 24K Gold Edition. If you have that level of dedication, TRUST ME, you won't feel cheated when you get this baby home, BUT it's not ONLY for completists--more casual fans will find, I'd predict, that they'll have a greater appreciation for this LP, and the ones that follow it because of the breadth of this CD, the liner notes, and lyrics--it truly is "The Deluxe Edition."

This album is great. Lou Reed's vocals and guitar playing is top notch. John Cale's viola and bass add something extra and unique. Moe Tucker's uncanny drumming skills are great. Sterling Morrison's lead guitar is excellent. This album is an essential recording of '60s rock 'n' roll. Granted the stereo and mono versions may be a bit much for just a casual fan but some songs just sound better mono and some sound better stereo. Also the addition of the Nico tracks are a plus. If you like The Who, The Rollings Stones, or The Kinks do yourself a favor and check this out.

It has to be historically accepted that The Velvet Underground & Nico is one of the most inspirational and crucial albums ever made in rock 'n' roll history. This new deluxe edition has great additional features with Nico's voice as well as fine mono versions of the stereo versions of the original album.
This album was released before other masterpieces of other groups were released. Examples are the following: The Beatles-Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, The Doors(self-titled album), Pink Floyd-Piper at the Gates of Dawn, and Jimi Hendrix-Are You Experienced? However, hardly sold; it only reached 199 on the charts. Well, it just goes to show that commercial success and artistic merit do not always go hand in hand.

This album has one of the most groundbreaking songs of all time, "Heroin". It starts off quiet and slow, then it goes faster during the first verse. During the second and third verses, it does the same thing. Then, in the fourth verse where Lou Reed sings 'Heroin', John Cale starts to play his viola like a buzzing chainsaw. He does this until Lou Reed sings the last line of the song, 'Oh and I guess that I just don't know'. Finally, the song is fairly calm and slow again.
All of this is execeptional for this avant-garde type of music. All the songs on this album are great. A few in particular which I like besides "Heroin" are "Venus in Furs", "I'm Waiting For My Man", "Run, Run, Run", "All Tomorrow's Parties", "The Black Angels Death Song", and "European Son". Lou Reed, John Cale, Sterling Morrison, Maureen Tucker, and Nico demonstrate that you do not need to play exact same instruments over and over again or have a clean and clear signing voice to be a fine rock 'n' roll band.
They were the kind of musicians who thought outside the box and challenged the way rock 'n' roll should be played.

Lou Reed is one of the first artists to treat rock 'n' roll as an art. He uses just about any kind of instruments in his songs as well as writing poetic lyrics. We should get back to the song "Heroin".
In the first verse he sings,
'I don't know just where I'm going
But I'm gonna try for the kingdom if I can
'Cause it makes me feel like I'm a man
When I put a spike into my vein
Then I tell you things aren't quite the same
When I'm rushing on my run
And I feel like Jesus' son
And I guess that I just don't know
And I guess that I just don't know'
In my opinion, Lou gives you an impression or surreal situation about what a person experiences and feels after he/she injects heroin inside his/her body.
Do doubt has this song changed songwriting from then on!

This band is extremely fortunate to have a man like Andy Warhol as their friend and motivator. He designed an innovative album jacket. You see this white album with Andy Warhol's name and a banana on the front. In the upper right hand corner, you read, 'Peel Slowly and See'. Then when you do peel it open, you expect to see something vulgar like a penis. Yet it turns out to be a pink banana. Gotcha!

Well, I would say that since its release in March of 1967, it has gradually had a huge influence on musicians that would follow: The Stooges, Queen, KISS, Talking Heads, Patti Smith, The New York Dolls, Blondie, The Ramones, Television, Jane's Addiction, Nine Inch Nails, INXS, Devo, Marilyn Manson, Sonic Youth, REM, David Bowie, U2, Jesus and Mary Chain, and others.
This is why I think this is one of the places where modern rock started!

This is a terrible reissue of one of the greatest albums ever recorded. Instead of messing around with why the album itself is good or bad, I will just go right in to why the REISSUE is anything but essential.

The reissue starts with the album in stereo. After that, there are a few NICO solo tracks. NICO is great, and I love NICO, but her work needs to be appriciated on its own. This would be like reissuing an album by the Who and adding Pete Townsend solo tracks.

After the NICO tracks, the Mono Singles begin. After the mono singles, the mono album composes the second disc. Listening to the album in mono is kind of neat, but why put the singles on there if they are already on the album in the mono mix.

In the end this is a waste of time and money. Rather than spend thirty dollars on this pitiful two disc set, I would suggest buying the original version of the album and a NICO album. This would cost roughly the Same amount of money but more worth the listeners while.