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

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by gpg6212, Dec 6, 2016.

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  1. Summer of Malcontent

    Summer of Malcontent Forum Resident

    What makes you think it was inadvertent?
     
  2. Purple Jim

    Purple Jim Senior Member

    Location:
    Bretagne
    Here She Comes Now is OK.
    It's always been hip to declare oneself a fan of this album but I never liked it. The proto punk art-noise texture to it all is interesting, historic at least but then in the end it just comes across as a dull durge for me.
     
  3. mr.datsun

    mr.datsun Incompletist

    Location:
    London
    I don't know! Maybe because you didn't put a :) at the end? You're right it was just too good to be an accident. :)
     
  4. the sands

    the sands Forum Resident

    Location:
    Oslo, Norway
    "Sister Ray". A 17 minute poetic cacophony. The Velvet Underground elevated 'people on the wild side' into art where others talk about them with a self-superiority. It's a sense of humor to it, I think.
     
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  5. mr.datsun

    mr.datsun Incompletist

    Location:
    London
    To be honest, Here She Comes Now is really my favourite track, but I voted Name because I felt it deserved its due.

    I like the fact that Here also exists as a demo (2 demoes), I like the weird guitar line, I like the subtle viola that only comes out on certain masterings. I like the drumming and I like the shift 2/3rds way through (is there a technical terms for what happens?) . I like the unfathomable subject of the song. I like the way it is the calm centre of the album between the bad dream of Lady Godiva and the impending psychotic frenzy of Name.
     
    Last edited: Dec 17, 2016
  6. DTK

    DTK Forum Resident

    Location:
    Europe
    It's the VU album I play least. The playing, the songs, the revolutionary Sister Ray, all awesome. But....it's so overloaded, so badly recorded. They needed the help of an engineer who knew how record what is basically early metal music. With a cleaner production it would be an incredible listen.
    For example, I Heard Her Call My Name might be the best song on the album, but you can hardly hear the drums; I only clued on to what a great song it is after hearing it on the 1993 album.

    It sounds like a band hitting a brick wall, pushing everything to the extreme; the exit of Cale was inevitable. Where would they have gone otherwise.

    I picked the title track, but could just have easily picked Sister Ray or The Gift, just for the hilarious tale of Waldo Jeffries and his unfortunate demise.
     
    Last edited: Dec 17, 2016
  7. mr.datsun

    mr.datsun Incompletist

    Location:
    London
    Despite the sound, it's equal with VU&N for me. Have you tried the original pre-Lou mix of I Heard Her Call My Name?
     
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  8. DTK

    DTK Forum Resident

    Location:
    Europe
    Is that the one on the anniversary edition? I do like that mix a bit better.
    Don't get me wrong, it's an awesome solo.
     
  9. Doug Sulpy

    Doug Sulpy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Pennsylvania
    LOL. I remember, back when I was a freshman, that I became irritated that some idiots were making noise and keeping me awake in the middle of the night. So I responded by cueing up side two of WLWH... at earth-shaking volume (after locking the door, of course).
     
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  10. mr.datsun

    mr.datsun Incompletist

    Location:
    London
    Yes. It (the early version) sounds like a different song. Actually the mix sounds wrong as the vocal is buried for the first 30sec or so. The song to me sounds more normal than the version on the album

    Somehow, I felt that the album was good despite of or because of the (supposedly) awful sound. There are sounds in there that have been hard to decipher for me and I wonder if that contributes to its status as some kind of mythological object or sound event in my head. In fact as things got clearer with a better master I worried that it might lose some of the mystery about what was causing those sounds.:)

    I understand people don't like it cos of the sound and I don't mind that. There are people who feel that way about VU&N, too. But for me good sound is a great bonus – but not an end in itself. So an album with poor sound but great ideas and playing, beats an album with great sound and lesser ideas.

    Another thing. Guess I'm Falling In Love and Hey Mr. Rain (1 and 2) were recorded at the same sessions and sound pretty good, so we have to consider that WLWH was intended to sound that way.
     
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  11. DTK

    DTK Forum Resident

    Location:
    Europe
    Hey Mr Rain was recorded half a year later in May 1968 iirc. Guess I'm Falling is definitely from the same sessions and sounds similar, brutal but a bit clearer.

    I guess my real problem is that Moe is often drowned out; indeed she even stops playing for a while on Sister Ray.
    Her backbeat was just so important.

    Never had any problem at all with the sq of the Banana album.
     
  12. mr.datsun

    mr.datsun Incompletist

    Location:
    London
    You're right – it was just Guess recorded at that time (Sept 67). But it does mean a lot of it might be in the mix. Except Sister which we know was recorded live and deliberately into the red. There's also distortion on the title track - the vocals which sound clearer on the mono mix.

    Moe complained that they had not mic'd her drum properly for the part where she hits the rim(?) on the knocking on my door section. It was meant to be really loud. Also, she has spoken about how she thought they were stopping at the point where she stops playing but then Reed and Cale just spontaneously carried on.

    So, we know that both Moe and Sterling had disappointments with the album.
     
    Last edited: Dec 17, 2016
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  13. stetsonic

    stetsonic Forum Resident

    Location:
    Finland
    Sister Ray, no surprise. White Light / White Heat comes second though, a nice ditty. The only track I'm not too keen on anymore is The Gift; being a narrative song it doesn't really take repetitive listening that well, IMHO.
     
  14. mr.datsun

    mr.datsun Incompletist

    Location:
    London
    I love The Gift with the vocal removed. That is my most played version of the album.

    I tend to have another CDR version which is:

    White Light/White Heat
    Instrumental The Gift
    Lady Godiva's Operation
    Here She Comes Now
    I Heard Here Call My Name
    Guess I'm Falling in Love
    Stephanie Says
    Hey Mr. Rain 1
     
  15. street legal

    street legal Senior Member

    Location:
    west milford, nj
    I'd have to listen to it again, but my recollection is that that alternate take of "I Heard Her Call My Name" doesn't sound all that different from the album version. Certainly not to the extent that it sounds like a completely different song, anyway.
     
  16. dennis1077

    dennis1077 Forum Resident

    Minimal love for Lady Godiva's Operation. Bummer!
     
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  17. stetsonic

    stetsonic Forum Resident

    Location:
    Finland
    With the advantage of 20/20 hindsight, that songs has always sounded to me like a blueprint to most of the Eighties indie rock, for some reason. Truly ahead of its time, and fascinating.
     
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  18. JimSpark

    JimSpark I haven't got a title

    Lotsa love here for "Lady Godiva's Operation." It got my vote. One of the most sinister-sounding tunes I've ever heard, and I really like sinister :righton:
     
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  19. Mr. Grieves

    Mr. Grieves Forum Resident

    My favorite VU album & the one that has stood the test of time the best of the four for me so far(only been a fan for about 5 years)

    White Light is a fantastic rocker & a slightly dirtier cousin of Waiting For the Man. Love that bass riff towards the end high up on the neck that Cale plays.

    The Gift definitely is not a highlight in their discography, & does immensely lose its power after the first play, but I can sit through it just fine & it's a minor blemish on an otherwise perfect record imo. I'd take it over Murder Mystery any day of the week. European Son too(tho I don't hate either of those tracks)

    Lady Godvia's Operation is another home run to me. I love that melody & I can't help but feel joy when Lou & Cale start trading lines later on. I don't know what it is about the song, but I just dig it so much & it's dark nature. I didn't at first, but has grown on me incredibly.

    Here She Comes resonates with me a lot as well musically. I love that song. It's kind of one of the more poppier, accessible tracks on an album that's nearly absent of em, but I like it. Kind of reminds me of the pop moments on their first album, though I like it about twice as much as Femme Fatale, and that's no exaggeration.

    I don't think I need to go on about the legendary status of that blistering solo in I Heard You Call My Name. It's one of the greatest gifts Lou's ever given us.

    And then, there's the 17 minute, mind bending, endlessly entertaining, incredibly visionary & wonderfully exciting imagery that is painted on the closer, Sister Ray(my choice). Wow, I can't believe how great this song is sometimes, even coming from one the greatest rock bands to ever roam the earth. It doesn't waste a single moment. The band are appropriately choatic, & Lou is taking your mind from one scene to the next with such ease & skill, that one must assume there is indeed a higher power that set gave that man a pen & paper for a divine reason! I remember being turned off before I heard the song due to its length, but to my delightful surprise, I was hit with, what remains, possibly my favorite Velvet Underground song ever.

    Oh how I wish more of you heard & felt what I did/do when listening to this album. But hey, if someone thinks one of there other three albums are superior, I ain't gonna argue for a second. I mean, it's the Velvet Underground for goodness sake!
     
    Last edited: Dec 17, 2016
  20. mr.datsun

    mr.datsun Incompletist

    Location:
    London
    I'm overstating it. Perhaps a different kind of song is more accurate.

    I love it too. But it's up there with the title track, the instrumental track of The Gift, Here She Comes Now and I Heard Her Call My Name. So hard to single that one out for the vote.
     
  21. jimmydean

    jimmydean Senior Member

    Location:
    Vienna, Austria
    my favourite album by vu... almost every track is as good as "sister ray"
     
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  22. "I Heard Her Call My Name"
    Lou Reed + Gretsch Country Gentlemen= <3 <3 <3
     
  23. jalexander

    jalexander Forum Resident

    Location:
    Canada
    Picked up the anniversary edition on vinyl at Urban Outfitters today for $10 cdn ($7.50 usd).
     
  24. richard a

    richard a Forum Resident

    Location:
    borley, essex, uk
    Funny thing is that there's nothing gentlemanly about that track!
    It's like getting into a knife fight... that guitar sound actually stabs you in the head!
     
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  25. moonshiner

    moonshiner Forum Resident

    Location:
    Italy
    Lady Godiva
     
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