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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
One from the vaults, 19 Oct 2003
The tracks on this album were recorded between Velvet Underground’s third album and Loaded, their fourth. Many of the songs later surfaced on Lou Reed solo albums. VU offers great listening but it’s not up there with the Warhol album or White Light/White Heat. It sees the band in a more melodic phase, somewhat like the 3rd album and demonstrates Reed’s evolving lyrical genius. John Cale features on only two tracks, Stephanie Says and Temptation Inside Your Heart. For the rest, it’s Lou, Maureen, Sterling and Doug. My favorites include the wistful Stephanie Says with its elegiac feel and lilting melody, the hypnotic Temptation Inside Your Heart, Andy’s Chest and One Of These Days with its guitar cascades. I’m Sticking With You has a certain poppy charm, whilst the bass-driven I Can’t Stand It does capture some of the early raw energy and Ocean is a wonderful atmospheric ballad with beautiful vocals. VU is an album for the fans. Those who wish to investigate this great band for the first time ought to start with the first or third albums.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Point of VU, 22 Jan 2006
The Velvet Underground's "lost" album "VU" is a bit of a forgotten child, overshadowed by better-known albums like "Velvet Underground and Nico" and "White Light White Heat." But that doesn't mean it isn't as good -- it's a mixture of the enchanting and the gritty and raunchy, and who knows why it wasn't released along with the others. It opens with the slow-burning rock rhythms of "Can't Stand It," but switches tempo with the delicate, ethereal "Stephanie Says," one of the prettiest little songs the Velvet Underground ever produced, especially with that haunting viola in the background. Nothing else on "VU" is like it, which makes it all the more striking. Elsewhere, the Velvet Underground stretches its wings a bit with Southern-fried rock'n'roll, complete with an exaggerated drawl. Then there's the intentionally silly "Temptation Inside Your Heart," where Lou Reed breaks off and starts chatting with someone else in mid-song. And finally, a sweeping soundscape in "Ocean" that rises and swells like the waves. The Velvet Underground was the grandfather of modern indie rock, dipping into darkness and grandeur when other bands were just singing about the same ol' same ol'. Even now, bands get influenced by them -- the Dandy Warhols, most obviously. But it's almost impossible to capture the spirit of the Velvets, especially their mix of naughty fun and musical genius. Your solid guitar riffs are backed up by some equally solid percussion, especially when Reed decides to tinker with his style (like the Southern twang). John Cale only appears briefly, but he provides an exquisite viola melody for the second song, and a subtle, driving piano moves forward through songs like "I'm Sticking With You." Lou Reed has that type of flawed voice that will somehow grow on you, despite its thinness. And Reed's studio banter is especially funny ("Electricity comes from other planets." "Woo!"). He also quietly spins out some of the strangest, creepiest, funniest songs in classic rock ("If I could be anything in the world that flew/I would be a bat and come swooping after you/And if the last time you were here things were a bit askew...") Excellent songwriting and solid musicianship make "VU" a must-have for anyone who loves the Velvet Underground. Don't let the "lost child" be left out.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
essential for fans, 31 Mar 2007
This album's been billed as the Velvets' lost fourth album, but while a lot of its contents would have been on such an album had it ever been released, what this really represents is a first dip into the vault containing previously unissued Velvets studio recordings.
What's startling here is that these are proper, finished studio recordings, though newly remixed for issue 15 years on. All of it apart from Stephanie Says was recorded by the Reed/Morrison/Tucker/Yule line-up subsequent to the issue of their 3rd album in spring 1969. Many of the songs are quite lighthearted and even poppy compared to most Velvet Underground songs, and if many are quite slight lyrically they're all good tunes.
I Can't Stand It, Lisa Says and Ocean first emerged on Lou Reed's poorly produced first solo album; they're all excellent songs better served by live recordings by the Velvets, especially the latter two, but these versions are superior to the Lou Reed solo ones. Foggy Notion, I'm Sticking With You and Temptation Inside Your Heart first appeared in 1976 on a bootleg EP in crackly rough mixes of these recordings; I'm Sticking With You (amazingly used both for an advert and in a craft programme on children's TV) is an appealing novelty sung by drummer Maureen Tucker in her beautifully innocent, untutored voice; Foggy Notion is an excellent, chugging rocker, and Temptation Inside Your Heart is an odd but rather good little song enlivened by some nice overdubbed vocal harmonies and amusing commentary. Andy's Chest later turned up (in a superior version) on Transformer. She's My Best Friend and One Of These Days were, so far as I can tell, previously unknown when issued in 1984; they're both good, if not great songs. And leaving the best for last, Stephanie Says, recorded in early 1968 when John Cale was still a member, was re-recorded for Berlin as Caroline Says II, but this gorgeously pretty effort, a masterpiece of 60s folk-rock with an elegant viola line from Cale, is the definitive version. It's hard to believe that their record company didn't rush it out as a single - it would surely have had more chance of being a hit than virtually anything else they ever recorded - instead it stayed in the vault for 16 years.
VU is far more than an album of out-takes and curios - it opens up a rich vein of previously unissued recordings of considerable quality and gives an interesting angle on the evolution of Lou Reed's songwriting. Like the subsequent "Another View", not all of this album is on the "Peel Slowly And See" box set, making both albums essential for fans.
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