THE VELVET UNDERGROUND
rarities collections

VU (1985)
Verve

Irony is a persistent beast. The Velvet Underground's most accessible album was, conveniently enough, never released while the band was together and only found its way to the public a couple of decades later. The album in question was recorded at the very end of the band's MGM contract, after THE VELVET UNDERGROUND but prior to LOADED, including some of the Velvets' most beloved live favorites -- "I Can't Stand It," "Foggy Notion," "Lisa Says," "Ocean," "I'm Sticking with You," and on and on. This isn't quite the unreleased album because some recordings predate those sessions, but it does fill in a hole, providing a much-needed bridge between the third and fourth albums.

If you excuse the icky "Andy's Chest," no better from the Velvets than it was from Lou Reed solo, this must stand as one of the best outtake sets released from any band, and as Kurt Loder says in his notes, one of the best Velvet Underground releases ever.

Those who prefer the band's John Cale period should be happy to know that this contains a couple of the very few unreleased songs he made with the band (another great one, "Hey Mr. Rain," surfaced on this album's sequel ANOTHER VIEW). "Temptation Inside Your Heart" is one of the band's most accessible (and funniest) songs, and "Stephanie Says" is their most precise, delicate pop construction, displaying much potential, but both tracks were shelved when Cale left the band shortly thereafter.

The presence of studio versions of the rest of the classics here is cause enough for celebration, but these are excellent studio versions, bringing the comedic frustrations of "I Can't Stand It," the sweating "Foggy Notion" -- a marvellous rocker written by the band without Lou -- and the immense passion of "Lisa Says" into full technicolor mode. "She's My Best Friend" is an unfairly forgotten, distinctly Beatlesque beauty that could have been a hit single. And there's nothing else quite like the uniquely moving C&W stomper "One of These Days" in the VU's archive.

What's most impressive about V.U. is the way that it defies the world's perception of the band. Those who cast the band as nihilistic druggies haven't the capacity to comprehend Lou and Maureen's stirring duet of unconditional love "I'm Sticking with You" -- and it could not have been the work of any other band. "Moon people going to the stratosphere / Soldiers fighting with the Kong / But with you by my side I can do anything / When we swing we hang past right and wrong."

For me, the most divine moment among many golden classics is "Ocean" (what an appropriate title), a song that exists throughout the Velvet catalog in a number of different variations, all of them grandly evocative, this one the most delicate and easily the best. It is one of the most dramatically powerful but still dauntingly subtle recordings in the great rock library. All these platitudes must sound stupid, but it must be understood that the Velvet Underground's mastery of their craft is unparalleled, and on "Ocean," it comes together in a single moment as with no other song they recorded. The outro is cathartic but whispered, its tower of glory muted but infinite. No sense of schlock exists... it all goes directly to you and you don't know what it all means but you don't need to. It touches you, holds you up. Hell of a song.

Although it's not perfect, V.U. does fascinate from start to finish and must count as much as an essential work as the four original studio albums. Do not skip it.


Another View (1987)
Verve

It feels weird to give this four stars because it is the absolute bottom of the barrel in terms of the Velvet Underground's studio recordings. But that's how good they were. Even this set of throwaway leftovers found around the same time as the first-rate material of VU is an amazing collection of music. I wouldn't recommend it to outsiders and it's definitely not a good "first purchase" for neophytes, not so much because of the quality of the material as because some of this stuff is unfinished. "Guess I'm Falling in Love" has no vocals, nor does "Ride into the Sun," and two tense versions of the long, droning "Hey Mr. Rain" could turn someone off if they didn't know what to expect.

Fans will be in a half hour or so of heaven, though. I don't care much for the "Rock and Roll" outtake, but everything else here is charming and occasionally sublime. "Hey Mr. Rain" and the fabulous rocker "We're Gonna Have a Real Good Time Together" are the two cuts here that could be at home easily on VU. "Coney Island Steeplechase," too, is a good example of just how ahead-of-their-time the band was; it's hard to believe they're not a contemporary group hearing this. The quirky "Ferryboat Bill" probably won't make any new converts, but it's a fine curio much better than, say, "Andy's Chest," and it's one of Lou Reed's funniest compositions. As for the instrumentals, "I'm Gonna Move Right In" cooks, while "Ride into the Sun" seems nice and complete even without vocals (which later surfaced on the PEEL SLOWLY & SEE box). However, the scorching "Guess I'm Falling in Love" is so good it really hurts that no vocals are there... and unfortunately, no full studio version has come to light.

I do wonder why this wasn't just combined with VU, but then again, the earlier record probably wouldn't have been such a success if they'd thrown on everything they found. Once they knew there was a market, I suppose it felt much more natural to delve deeper. However, although this has an air of finality about it, as if there was nothing more in the vaults to discover, a whole new batch of material was found for the boxed set in 1995. "Countess from Hong Kong" in particular is a beauty that, if found, would have been perfect on either of these sets, to say nothing of the pre-WHITE LIGHT/WHITE HEAT demo tape and the LOADED outtakes.


1969 Live bonus tracks (1987)
Mercury Records

Mercury, for whatever reason, chose to release the two discs of the seminal Velvet Underground live album separately, preventing fans in some cases to get the entire album at the same time. Despite this phenomenally stupid decision, they did a good job with the CD and added bonus tracks, a great performance of "I Can't Stand It" and a fine extra "Heroin," one on each disc.


Loaded: Fully Loaded Edition (1997)
Rhino

This only escapes a five-star rating because its field of study, a single block of recording sessions, is too narrow for newcomers. Nonetheless, Rhino's utterly remarkable expansion of the fourth Velvet Underground album goes above and beyond the call of duty... they have done something that was long necessary, and much much more. This is absolutely the standard by which all "deluxe editions" of albums should be measured (only Matador's gleeful 2002 revision of Pavement's SLANTED & ENCHANTED betters it, and that's because it encompasses live material and such). The only reason now that one would need the original Warner CD of LOADED (which remains in print) is if one didn't know this one existed, or if one wanted the butchered "Sweet Jane" for some reason.

The format of the reissue is ingenious... the PEEL SLOWLY & SEE remaster finally available separately on disc one, with the immeasurably wonderful extensions of "Sweet Jane" and "New Age," and on disc two, a reconstruction of the tracklist with a wealth of alternate versions, demos, and studio madness. Both discs are fleshed out with some marvellous outtakes as well, and a few extra alternate versions of LOADED tracks. In addition to the great cuts unearthed on the boxed set, we have yet another stab at "Ocean," an extra "I Love You" belted out with Lou Reed's most boyish enthusiasm on record, and the first-ever release of the Velvets' version of "Love Makes You Feel Ten Feet Tall," later released by Lou Reed alone. This one is a keeper; it demolishes Reed's version and adds yet another classic to the VU canon. Best of all, particularly for Moe Tucker fans, is proof that she dropped by for the LOADED sessions at least once, for a lovely rendition of "I'm Sticking with You."

Some of the remixes and other alternative material for the LOADED tracks are superior to the album versions, and all are at least interesting. Finally, a studio version of the original drawling "Sweet Jane," documented previously on 1969 LIVE. A "Lonesome Cowboy Bill" that kicks as much as the bruising LIVE AT MAX'S performance... with good sound! A country-rock arrangement of one of the band's most beautiful songs, "I Found a Reason," and an unbearably tense "Train Round the Bend." There are two new versions of "Head Held High" and both give the LOADED track a run for its money, and "Cool It Down" slaughters the released version... and all this from someone who had no complaints about the album to begin with! You do not want to miss this repackage. It is one of the best Velvets purchases you'll make.


The Velvet Underground & Nico: Deluxe Edition (2002)
Polydor/Universal

This deluxe edition is one huge wasted opportunity. Unlike Rhino's revamped LOADED, this two-disc set adds nothing previously unreleased and is pretty much a glorified expansion of the corresponding disc in the PEEL SLOWLY AND SEE box. It is commendable that Polydor has finally brought out the superior mono mix of the Banana album, and that is the only real attraction here and is the sole reason I gave such a high rating to this package. But it would have been so easy to just package the mono and stereo versions together and delete the old CD, something that quite frankly should have been done in 1996 when the reissues came out (and since the awful "closet mix" of the third album was utilized on the box, I really wish they'd opted for the mono version there as well). [Actually, I was mistaken -- you could not possibly fit this album twice on one CD, but since none of you cretins are reading this anyway, I don't know why I should bother correcting it.] Instead, the whole thing is stretched out to an impossible length. Live material from the Warhol era? Bah! Studio outtakes? Demos? Surely you jest. The "extras" are cuts from Nico's debut album CHELSEA GIRL featuring (or written by, at least) members of the Velvets. Might I add that you can still easily buy CHELSEA GIRL and that probably every major VU fan already has it? I didn't protest the inclusion of the two standout cuts on the boxed set, since it seems smart to at least represent Nico's later career while acknowledging the aid of the Velvets on her early material. But five songs is really stretching it.

The second disc is marginally more valuable. Aside from containing the mono mix, it has single mixes of the songs that were issued on 7" vinyl. You will probably not be able to tell the difference because there isn't a significant one. I'm glad they're here and everything, but I don't know if I'd realize the anomaly if it was not pointed out to me, which to me is a mark of mastering differences rather than mixing differences, and mastering differences are cause for a big "who gives a shit?" over in my corner. This overpriced set is a completely unforgivable waste of time... except, again, for that mono mix; I can't express how much better this album is without the awkward stereo phasing. But it's also disappointing that we have to pay for such shoddy merchandise to get it on compact disc. In case you didn't already think this was a big Universal marketing scheme, the CD is available in two versions: one with a peelable banana, one without. The one that peels is more expensive, of course. Wonder what that's supposed to mean. And aren't people tired of this banana gag yet? I digress.