Velvets' Albums Ranked...

Not sure how to do the poll but this is how I like them
1. White Light/White Heat
2. The Velvet Undergound and Nico
3. The Velvet Underground
4. Loaded

 

Same. Except I'd put the collected '4th' LP material in front of Loaded.

Yes, the poll is a bit odd - you can only select one.

 

First
Second
Vu & Nico
White Light/White Heat

 

1. White Light/White Heat (perfect experimental noise rock)
2. Velvet Underground & Nico (an all-time classic)
3. Loaded (lovely pop & rock songs on this one)
4. Velvet Underground (my least favorite, but it's still great)

Also of interest is some of the live albums as well as the 80's rarities set V.U.

 

Yeah I screwed that up.

Now I cannot delete the poll. So just ignore it I guess and just rank the albums like you have been...

 

The poll is alright. Just vote for your favorite of the four and then write how you rank them.

 

Right on. Good idea. Thanks!

 

1) VU & Nico - one of the 5 most revolutionary albums in rock history, where the tales of the street meet pop, and it's just wonderful in every way, lots of variation with Nico on there too
2) Velvet Underground - Classic songwriting
3) WL/WH - Brutal! Wish they'd spent more time on the recording though
4) Loaded - Not really a VU album without Moe, but the songs are unbeatable. Too many Yule vocals.

 

1st - The Velvet Undergound and Nico
2nd - The Velvet Underground
3rd - Loaded
["lost" album/1969 sessions]
Distant 4th - White Light/White Heat

 

I hate ranking records because it changes regularly, especially when dealing with great stuff like this. The only thing I would add is that I consider VU to be pretty much on the same level as the albums proper. Just shows how great this band was that their throwaways were better than most bands' "A" material.

 

Personally I went from VU & Nico to focus on Nico as a solo artist though I like a few songs on the later VU albums. She was the magic part for me.

 

1. WL/WH (I'd have to turn in my noisy rock snob fraternity badge if I didn't put this at the top)
2. VU & Nico (pity about the "& Nico" part)
3. VU (bores the daylights out of me frankly. expands on my least favorite aspect of their sound, the proto-"twee" element that foreshadows the narcissistic passive-aggressive cutesiness of indie)
4. Loaded ("Who Loves the Sun" is a nice ditty but as an album I found this pretty forgettable)

 

I just finished importing VU albums into iTunes. I imported all of Loaded, almost all of the third album, most of the first and only one track from the second. So I suppose I will go with that ranking.

 

Four very unique albums, each different, each amazing, each groundbreaking. No vote from me, sorry.

 

I think the first one pretty much towers over all the others by just about every artistic measure: the best, most important songs Reed would ever write are pretty much all on there -- Heroin, All Tomorrow's Parties, Venus in Furs, Sunday Morning, I'll Be Your Mirror; the noise and art and pop elements of the Velvets aesthetic are in perfect balance. If it was the only album the band ever made, there reputation would be secure, and if the band had only made the succeeding albums, they wouldn't have the reputation they have. I'd say it's the first album, by a mile and all the others trailing far afield.

Each of the subsequent albums has it's pluses and minuses. I probably listen to the third album least often among VU albums these days, but it has some of the best songwriting of the band's career.

I think really the second album is the worst of the lot -- as much as I love "Sister Ray," it's not something I return to that often; "The Gift" is just kind of a novelty that there's not much reason to return to after one's first hearing. "I Heard Her Call My Name" is just kind of an excuse for a guitar solo. Great solo. But it's not much of a song. In fact, I'd say it's the VU album that's lightest on good writing, making it the worst of the four Reed VU albums. But it does capture the band at it's most rocking and restless. Still when I want to hear the band playing that way I usually turn to something like the live at the gymnasium stuff these days.

Loaded is a fine record, but it's so devoid of the mysterious, Promethean quality that the Cale-era band had that I think it's like a completely different band. On balance I think it's the band's second best record, but it's like a children's record compared to the first album.

So for me:

The VU & Nico
The VU
Loaded
WL/WH

But really

The VU & Nico

and the rest in no particular order.

 

Third

VU & Nico

White light

Loaded

 

3rd
Loaded
Nico
WL

My favorite VU album is the unofficial fourth album.

 

I am in the same camp...I think the third one makes them the iconic band that everyone claimed them to be....everything else just lead up to it to prove they could do a real record Also, thi sis how I feel at the moment, that could easily change but it this ranking was my initial thought too.

 

The third album is probably the one I play most often.
The first is groundbreaking but isn't one I enjoy all that much these days. I'm impressed by it, and recognise it's vital place in music history, but perhaps I'm just a bit too familiar with it now, having played it to death as a teenager.
WL/WH is terrific fun when you are in the mood to have the top of your head sliced off by noise.
Loaded is also good fun, but because it's stuffed full of cracking pop.

Actually it's 1969 Live that I play most, more than the third album. That live album, for me, is the VU summed up.

 

Squeeze

Loaded

WL

&NIco

3rd

 

VU & Nico by a country mile, then:
Loaded
VU
S/T
WL/WH

 

Nico
S/T
Loaded
WL/WH

 

Saucy! I love it!

Not sure how Loaded has so dropped out of everyone's favour over the years. I'm going to still put it on top because of my affection for it growing up, though VU and Nico is right up there.

I don't know...I just can't see how WLWH could be considered better by anyone...But that's just me...

 

VU and Nico first. No explanation necessary!

WLWH second. This was actually the first VU album I bought and I have a soft spot for it. It has no bad songs and is truly the greatest noise album ever.

Loaded third. I only like Who Loves The Sun, Sweet Jane and Rock and Roll. The rest is poor.

VU fourth and last. I don't like this LP at all; it was the start of all the camp nonsense that continued not Loaded and throughout the rest of Lou's career.