![]() Unless those screen prints of Marilyns, soup tins, cows, and guns were simply what they were-all surface, pure image. This reticence and po-mo detachment, this wariness toward ascribing depth to his art burnished his aloof enigma-and in a way that he was certainly not unaware: “I learned that you actually have more power when you shut up.” Surely, though, no artist is this superficial, no person this skin-deep. Was he profound in his brevity? Or was he just brief? “Just look at the surface of my paintings and films and me, and there I am,” said he. He prescribed 15 minutes of fame for everyone, declared three made a party, and lauded the pointlessness of art-each time in 280 characters or less. His was already the language of primary colors and everyday objects-his art was expansive through repetition and multiplication, his films found focus in the trivial-before fame and infamy allowed him to dispense with drawn-out artist statements for pithy one-liners. It proved they had more depth than just daringly chaotic art rock-they could beat understated rockers at their own game too.As his career grew long, so Andy Warhol’s volubility grew short. This album has the most tear-jerkers out of any VU record, including their best ever (“Pale Blue Eyes”), and it also has one of their greatest rollicking rock tunes (“What Goes On”). He sang lead vocals on the opener “Candy Says,” a tender song about gender dysphoria, specifically that of Warhol superstar Candy Darling, which was a pretty taboo subject matter at the time. Cale’s replacement, Doug Yule, wasn’t an insignificant background player. It was the first album without founding member John Cale, and it was also their most gentle, melodic record, which isn’t a coincidence since Cale helped shape the experimental tendencies that characterized their early career. Their self-titled third album, which celebrated its 50th anniversary last year, was a pretty jarring departure from the off-the-wall harshness of its predecessor White Light / White Heat. If every kid got a copy of this thing when they turned 13, we’d be living in a much better world. Guitar solos don’t get better than “I Heard Her Call My Name,” and “Sister Ray” is simply the greatest rock song ever recorded. ![]() Full of drugs, noise and graphic details of the kind of non-heteronormative sexuality that would’ve been called “deviant” back in its day, White Light / White Heat is an intentionally difficult record, one that’s gorgeous in its ugliness and overpowering in its confidence. What was the point of rock ‘n’ roll after White Light / White Heat? The Velvets basically blew the whole damn thing up on their second record, a dirty, scuzzy, unhinged, but very calculated blast of rabid post-blues madness. Here’s Paste’s ranking of the five Velvet Underground albums. ![]() Sopranos actor Michael Imperioli recently got dunked on for picking Loaded as his favorite VU album, so we thought we’d set the record straight on our favorites. One reason The Velvets are so fascinating is each of their albums has its own distinct identity, meaning listeners are left to their own preferences when deciding which one they think is best. In regards to their 1967 debut The Velvet Underground & Nico, Brian Eno famously said something to the effect of “Everyone who bought a copy started a band,” which couldn’t have been literally accurate, but its sentiment rang true: The Velvet Underground were incredibly inspiring, even if they experienced their highest levels of commercial success after their time. After all, world famous pop artist Andy Warhol was their manager for a spell. They were a deliberate foil to the Summer of Love bands (which they ended up channeling in their later years), but their association with the hedonistic, subversive arts scene of New York City in the late ’60s and ’70s made them similarly ripe for decades worth of rumors and biographies. Other band members like John Cale, Maureen Tucker and Doug Yule were inventive and influential in their own right, even though they weren’t a part of all five studio albums. ![]() Their avant-garde rock was way ahead of its time, and Lou Reed was one of the greatest American songwriters ever. The Velvet Underground are one of the most mythologized bands in history, for good reasons and bad.
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