Nuggets

Raj Bala ended his great Loudspeakers #13 podcast which I blogged about earlier this week with The Velvet Underground's I Found A Reason.

That prompted me to dust off The VU's Loaded album and give it some airtime this week.

That was a good thing because Loaded is a great album.  All four of the VU records are great and the first, VU and Nico, is on my top 50 list.

But Loaded is special, maybe because John Cale was gone and Lou got to shape the sound of the record.  This is a pop music record, VU style, with Lou's stellar songwriting in full form.

My favorite track is I Found A Reason, but this record also has Sweet Jane and Rock and Roll on it.

I am sort of torn on the subject of which version of this record to recommend. We own both of them, one in vinyl and the other in CD. 

Loaded, with just the ten original songs, is a great listen start to finish.

But the reissued and remastered double CD (the Fully Loaded edition) is the one to get if you are a serious VU fan.  The demo version of I Found A Reason is my preferred version of this incredible song.  That version was the inspiration to start posting music on this blog almost two years ago.  Click on that link to hear the demo version of I Found A Reason.

Comments

[Paul]

Yes - awesome.

When Janine and I first met each other in college I made a mix tape for her. She returned the favor and included I Found a Reason on it, knowing I was a VU fan.
It's a wonderful song, and a great album!

another great nugget.

[jackson]

I'd have had it in the top 50. For me, and I know at least one person who will disagree, the Velvets begin and end where they begin and end, meaning I like the Nico record and Loaded best, the Alpha and Omega if you will. It's almost two completely different bands, but amazing records non the less.

[Chrispy]

I do like Loaded. Some amazing songs.

Interesting that you say Lou got to shape the sound of this record - so much of it came from Lou, but in the end he never forgave Steve Sesnick and Doug Yule for what they did to the album in his absence, hacking apart "Sweet Jane," changing the song order around, cutting the end off of "New Age"... and he was gone a short time later.

Jackson's right, the VU of the Banana record is a totally different band than the "Loaded" VU.

Mo Tucker doesn't even play on "Loaded", and Doug Yule has spoken about how marginalized Sterling Morrison was during production.

Jackson says the Velvets begin and end where they begin and end, and if this is true than you'd have to count the record "Squeeze" as authentic VU.... though of course none of the real VU fans do.

That's the thing about the VU. They are hard to define, and were always way bigger than the sum of their parts.

The extra tracks - "Ocean" is one that really stands out to me - are amazing as well. Luna covered "Ride Into the Sun," totally making it over in their own image, on their "Slide" EP. Check it out when you get a chance.

[Will]

Didn't you say that you were going to keep music posts off the VC and technology feed?