John Cale takes the lead vocal on ‘The Gift’, reciting a Lou Reed short story over feedback – it’s distinctive but doesn’t hold up to repeated listens well. It’s a six track record with punchy garage-rockers like ‘I Heard Her Call My Name’ and the title track, and two longer experimental pieces. John Cale stated that White Light/White Heat was “consciously anti-beauty”. The Velvet Underground’s second album is their noisiest and most extreme. With Mo Tucker on maternity leave, Doug Yule is highly involved – as well as playing bass, he sings lead vocals on four tracks and plays drums, keyboards, and guitar. The rest of the album is surprisingly bland – it lacks the experimentation of The Velvet Underground’s previous releases. Loaded starts with three of Lou Reed’s most accessible and memorable songs the sunshine pop of ‘Who Loves the Sun’, the indelibly simple riff of ‘Sweet Jane’, and ‘Rock & Roll’. But Loaded is a valiant attempt at a more accessible and radio-friendly Velvet Underground record. It has pleasant songs like ‘Friends’, later covered by Luna, and inspired the name of Glenn Tilbrook and Chris Difford’s new wave band.Ītlantic demanded an album loaded with hits – an odd request for an avant harde band. It’s tough to expect Doug Yule to measure up to creative giants Lou Reed and John Cale – Squeeze is a likeable album but it’s clearly lightweight compared to the band’s earlier work. Yule had contributed heavily to Loaded, but Reed wrote all the songs.
This left Doug Yule as the band’s focal point. Lou Reed left the Velvet Underground in 1970, followed by Sterling Morrison. The Velvet Underground: Albums Ranked from Worst to Best #5 Squeeze The Velvet Underground only made five studio albums, although a couple of 1980s compilations ( Another View and VU) mopped up outtakes, including a scrapped fourth album. Reed and Morrison left after 1970’s Loaded, leaving replacement bassist Doug Yule in charge for their final record. The band gradually lost key members – John Cale left after their second record, forced out of the band by Reed, who wanted to make the band more accessible. Brian Eno is often quoted as saying – “the first Velvet Underground album only sold 10,000 copies, but everyone who bought it formed a band.” The Velvet Underground are famous for their influence – despite a lack of commercial success during their tenure, they’re now critically revered. He also introduced the band to German vocalist Nico, who sang three songs on their debut record.
The band were introduced to artist Andy Warhol, who negotiated a recording contract and showcased them in his multimedia road shows, which combined his films with the band’s music. The pair recruited guitarist Sterling Morrison and drummer Moe Tucker and The Velvet Underground was formed. Cale had worked with experimental composers John Cage and LaMonte Young, and Reed’s interest in alternative guitar tunings and drone notes provided common ground. On the strength of that single and songwriting gems such as "Perfect Day" and "Satellite of Love," the album cemented Reed's status as a star whose music will be played for decades to come.The Velvet Underground began as a collaboration between frustrated songwriter Lou Reed and classically trained John Cale. "Walk on the Wild Side came from Transformer, Reed's second solo album that was produced by David Bowie and released in 1972. In a career that spanned New York's Andy Warhol-era experimental art scene and included the unlikely hit "Walk on the Wild Side," Reed never lost his sense of urban grit and cool. A third self-titled album, produced without Cale, included the mournful "Pale Blue Eyes." The band's first two albums, The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967) and White Light/White Heat (1968), became touchstones of art-rock for generations that followed. Bassist Doug Yule later replaced Cale in the lineup. "Anyone listening to a bass guitar and regular guitar coming out of the same amp - it couldn't have been a really great listening experience."Īlong with Cale on viola, bass and other instruments, the band's core personnel included drummer Moe Tucker and guitarist Sterling Morrison. "We were not user-friendly at all," Cale told NPR in 2000. In a remembrance of Reed, NPR's Neda Ulaby quotes his Velvet Underground co-founder and longtime collaborator John Cale explaining that the band didn't care to make things easy for their listeners:
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