The Velvet Underground - White Light/White Heat (Favorite Track Poll & General Discussion Thread)

This is by far the noisiest VU album and it WOULD be their best if every track was as good as Sister Ray, which is certainly the greatest rock song I've ever heard. Sister Ray will easily (EDIT: probably) win the polls, I'm sure, but what will come after? I hope I heard her call and and The gift. Both of those are great too. you can read my full review here if you're interested

 

White Light White Heat is my favorite track
... goodness knows

 

My favorite VU album thanks to "Sister Ray", but love the other songs as well.

 

White Light/White Heat

 

Lou Reed's guitar melted my face off the first time I heard "I Heard Her Call My Name".

 

my favorite VU album for many many many years.might still be but the 3rd album has crept up a bit over the past five years or so.i do believe WL/WH has some of the,if not the greatest electric guitar playing ever put to tape.
i always like heard her call my name and the title track the most.

 

Slightly off topic, but still Lou Reed/Velvets related, I'm listening to The Blue Mask right now and its GREAT!!! This guy Robert Quine is a guitar genius. Never heard anyone else quite like him. Tell me, in a world where this album exists, why is Transformer still Lou's most famous? Anyways... Back to WLWH

 

I heard her call my name is great. in my review i call Lou a "underrated guitar god" in reference to that track and I really think it. Hes in the top 10 greatest rock guitarists for me. Truly talented and original.

 

I had to go with the epic "Sister Ray."
Second would either be "White Light/White Heat" or "I Heard Her Call My Name."

 

WLWH Protip: Just want to listen to the jam part of the Gift and not the recitation? Just turn off your left speaker!

 

Sister Ray
I Heard Her Call My Name
Lady Godiva's Operation
White Light/White Heat
Here She Comes Now
The Gift

 

I Heard Her Call My Name is my all time favorite V.U. song.

 

not if you have an original pressing, or even a repress from the 80s. they didn't fix the stereo separation on the album until the peel slowly box (and then the mid-90s remasterings).

 

Quine is supper cool, great player. New York guy. I saw him with Richard Hell back in the day at CB's 1977.

 

One of the more abrasive songs ever made........and I love abrasive.

 

duck and sally inside.....easy choice for me. second wl/wh, then call my name but here she comes now is creepily good as well.

 

Yep, "Sister Ray" is my favorite too, closely followed by "White Light/White Heat". The rest of the album is great too of course.

 

Yes, I remember reading he was in the Voidoids

 

Heard her call my name. Great pop song with lightning on guitar

 

the technical concept behind 'lady Godiva's operation' is pretty brilliant, even if they didn't quite pull it off.

 

Here She Comes Now - ethereal

 

"Sister Ray" for me.
Funny thing, though; there comes a point every time when I listen to the song where I automatically think of "Frère Jacques" and "Who Put the Bomp".

 

Side two has this competition wrapped up.

Sister Ray is by far the best track on the LP, and in many ways, the best track the Velvets ever did. I Heard Her Call my Name is easily the second best track.

 

Sister Ray may be one of the greatest songs but I went with Lady Godiva's Operation. I just love listening to the guitar in this song. Wish they released an instrumental version on the deluxe set like they did with The Gift which is also a great twisted jam.
But for me this album is more about favourite moments than favourite songs. Like the instrumental jam at the end of White Light/White Heat. Or the way Cale's bass drops out towards the end of I Heard Her Call My Name and then suddenly comes back in thumping and heavy as ever. Or when Cale's organ rises above all in Sistet Ray. Sterl's funky rhythm thru part of Sister Ray. Hmm someone should do a poll.

 

certainly one of my favorite guitarist.