Search - Velvet Underground :: Velvet Underground / Nico [Limited Edition Peelable Banana Cover Art]

Overpackaged, over-priced, but some how it seems right

Sacco | here there and everywhere | 10/21/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Sure it makes more logocial sense to simply buy the 'standard' version, its cheaper and you get what is really important, the music. I purchased the 'Deluxe Edition' because it was there in the record store and they didn't have the regular version. I paid more than twice what the standard edition cost (as I found out later at another record store), and yet somehow I don't feel cheated. Part of that i'm sure is the fact that the songs, unique, raw, powerful and like nothing I'd ever heard before, despite being into 'indy' bands supposedly heavily influenced by them. When "The Velvet Undergroud & Nico" was first released in '67, Andy Warhol, the 'producer' and 'manager' of the band, had previously mutated 'The Velvet Underound' into an art show production. The whole thing was wrapped up in Warhols packaging. From the peelable bannana to the stage show he had set up around it. So in a way this 'Deluxe Edition' somewhat caputures a fraction of what purchasing this album back in March 1967 might have been like.



The inclusion of a dual 'mono' mix of the albums seems a waste, which would have been better used if it contained outtakes, b-sides or other bits from the era. Though the Nico tracks included here are all from Chelsea girl and seem somewhat of a pointless inclusion I guess the general idea was to show what was being introduced in that era. The best thing however is the liner notes and CD packaging, which do as something to the asthetic feeling of the album.



Now to the music. The intense sounds and gritty realism of this album are bone chilling. Nothing else quite sounds like 'Velvet Underground'. Claimed by so many as an influence, from the cathartic and somber "Swans" to the lo-fi pop sound scapes of "Yo La Tengo", yet none come within a mile of replacting the genius and beauty of what Lou Reed and John Cale did back then. Soft, yet dark, melodic, yet dissonant. Essentially done by the band themselves the production is perhaps the best ever. Its raw without being incompotent, stripped down while still managing to seamlessly stitch together the musics layers.



Despite the bands annoyance at her having been thrust upon them, the 'Nico' songs are beautiful, and surreal. "All Tomorrow's Parties" sad cynicism and shuddering rythmic pummeling are beyond mere words. However its the Reed sung tracks, 'Heroin', 'Venus In Furs' and 'European Son' which really elevate this to a higher plane. Epic and desolate they invade the mind them shatter it.



Eventually whatever edition you get it doesn't matter. Just find the album and listen to it or you might well regret it."

Not Great for 'Deluxe'

mark harlan | silicon valley, california | 10/15/2003

(3 out of 5 stars)

"hey there. i'll come at this one from a different direction, and that is as part of the deluxe series ... i have many, if not all of the 'deluxe' sets and i found this one, in particular to be a disappointment.



yeah, they kept andy's banana sticker (and made it better by making it vinyl instead of paper) and the package itself is up to standard, but as many people have pointed out here already, the mono and stereo differences are really for purists only ... for the casual listener, or even a fairly hardcore musicologist, the stereo/mono differences just seem like overkill ... if you're used to the differences between the stereo and mono in the beach boys or the beatles, you'll be very disappointed with what's been done here.



comparing this to, say, the wailers 'catch a fire' deluxe set, there's simply no comparison. the original jamaican versions vs. the north american releases are stark and striking. here it's mostly just subtle and, to my ear, boring. you're definitely, definitely not getting your money's worth by paying for the extra disc. if you need to get everything by the band, well, you've already bought it anyway ... but if you lie merely in the 'strongly interested in the band' region, save yourself a few bucks and get the single disc version of the album.



thanks for reading."