Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Autumn Came Early in the 1970s, December 13, 2001
I have gotten to the point where I only trust albums that take a lot of listening to enjoy. Take note: if you ever encounter a disc that you find yourself liking parts of, while other parts you don't understand or even leave you just plain cold, don't send it off to Goodwill but hold on it -listen to it several more times, in different places, different moods. The chances are you've got a masterpiece & you just don't "have ears" yet. I mean, who enjoyed Cubism when it first was invented?Yes, I have just described my own process in coming to immensely enjoying this disc. I came to it expecting some black, riotous Velvet-Underground something-or-another... Instead, I found myself in something dusky -not black; skewed and dreamy and sad and oddly spiced -and if riotous, only in the way the local bum might be riotous, scribbling paragraph after paragraph of sad and spooky gibberish on an alley wall somewhere... maybe Amsterdam, with the North Sea crashing in the background. What's funny is that this music (with the exception of "Gideon"- I know now where Brian Eno got a lot of his inspiration for songs like "On Some Faraway Beach")-I reitterate, this music has its roots in all the most popular music of its time: The Band, James Taylor, Elton John, Creedence Clearwater Revival -and yet with a combination of unlikely elements: John's surreal lyrics; the purpousefully slippery production -that yet is simply packed with details and layers of sound; the odd song choices (it takes one a while to simply get used to what's coming up next)...well, John Cale suceeds in going places few of his comtemporaries dared to go: the world of Art. Take it or leave it, this is Art; if it was a painting it would be something like what Whistler did, indispensible to the few, ignored by the mass. Give it a try, I say. As said earlier, you'll immediately like parts of it. Then wait a few days. Play it while you're painting or driving. Let it rest when you feel you've had enough. In the long run, you'll know.
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14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Avant-Pop and the Viola Man, March 23, 2001
I obtained a vinyl copy of VINTAGE VIOLENCE about twenty years ago for one dollar and I played it about five times in all of that time. I've always been a huge John Cale fan and went out of my way several times to see him live -- which wasn't too difficult, living in New York City where he often plays offbeat gigs unrelated to tours. I fanatically devoured SEDUCING DOWN THE DOOR and FRAGMENTS OF A RAINY SEASON and considered myself a bit of a Cale expert. But I never really warmed to VINTAGE VIOLENCE. I chalked it all up to early over-ambition, slapdash recording procedures, lack of a true pop voice that only emerged on his masterpiece PARIS 1919. However, listening to this remasted CD, I feel like I'm hearing it for the first time. True, there are no monumental epic songs like "Child's Christmas in Wales" or "Dying on the Vine" and the only truly strong song on the album is "Amsterdam", a slow acoustic ballad. True, this album only merely hints at the rampaging creativity that consumed his later work and turned him into a powerful voice and violent performer. True, if this was the only Cale album that existed, his legacy in the rock world would be a relatively weak album of pop tunes being performed by an avant-garde viola player trying to be like the Bee Gees. But when I heard this remaster, I thought: "That's John Cale. It's no one else." His voice is unmistakeable. His quirky avant-pop is mysterious (check out Big White Cloud) and his lyrics cryptic. And the repacking has some cool pictures of the young Cale hanging out on the street corner. I would not recommend this album to a new-comers (those unfamiliar with Cale's work should spring for the 2-CD retrospective SEDUCING DOWN THE DOOR -- it will not disappoint) but those who have a few albums, really like him and want to hear some odd pop songs with his distinct flavoring, should check this one out.
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Pop Masterpiece, December 13, 2001
I am not an experienced VU fan (I am but fifteen years old). However after recieving the marvelous box set Peel Slowly and See, I immediatly fell in love. After a year or so of fully absorbing that, I felt that I was ready to delve further into the work of the VU members I hadn't heard. I went out, bought JOhn Cale's Vintage VIolence, Lou Reed's Transformer, and VU 1969: Live. While I knew the two latter albums were widely considered masterpieces, I had heard little of VIntage VIolence, praise or otherwise. However, I went home and listened to all three albums, and while all are amazing, the Cale album is by far my favorite.
Nowhere is it more clear why Cale was such a prime force in turning the VU towards more adventurous sonic territory than on this album. The first two songs are simply genious. Catchy, beautiful, musically engaging, and somehow at the same time edgy and exciting. And while the next two songs seem to zoom bby pretty fast, by the time "Cleo" hits, just about every listener will be emersed.
Top it off with the excellent cover "Fairweather Friend" as a closer, two superb bonus tracks, excellent remastering, well-written liners, and an amazing album cover, this Cale album is a must buy!
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