The Velvet Underground The Velvet Underground and Nico: Deluxe Edition Polydor/Universal By David Chiu

One of the most important debut albums ever recorded, The Velvet Underground and Nico was a stark contrast to the summer of love in 1967 when the youth counterculture was turned on to psychedelia and flower child hippie dom. Not only was the sound on VU and Nico raw and stark, but the lyrical themes were equally jarring: sadomasochism, drugs, alienation, and despair. Thirty-five years later since its release, this album still resonates and provided the blueprint for punk and alternative music through artists such as David Bowie, Roxy Music, Joy Division, R.E.M, Sonic Youth, Nirvana, Jesus and Mary Chain, and countless other bands. The album starts off innocently enough with the sweer-sounding "Sunday Morning," a sort of hangover from the harrowing events that the rest of the album documents; the avant garde "The Black Angel Death Song", the bluesy hustling drama of "Waiting for the Man," the garagey Run Run Run, the controversial and cathartic "Heroin," and the Gothic strains of "All Tomorrow Parties." Lou Reed's street poetry and talk singing stamped the band; John Cale's viola added to the tension; Sterling Morrison's guitar work gave the music its abrasive quality as Mo Tucker's drumming gave its primitiveness. Nico's one and only appearance on a VU album is equally memorable, not only adding a chill on All Tomorrow's Parties, but her Euro-vocals lent a rare humanity on I'll Be Your Mirror and Femme Fatale. This deluxe reissue not only contains the entire album of Andy Warhol's famous absent production, but also the mono versions of the songs, single versions of a couple of tracks, and songs off of Nico's Chelsea Girls on which the other Velvets played on ("Chelsea Girls." "Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams"). It had often been said that while the Velvets didn't sell many records, those who buy their albums did started a band. Because of this one particular album, it's no wonder why.

http://www.universalrecords.com