The Velvet Underground & Nico
★★★☆☆
Preface
Too avant-garde for me. It has its moments, but I enjoyed maybe 10 minutes of it. Not really my thing—either thematically (prostitutes, sexual masochism, and heroin) or musically (long and drone-y). It felt like an audible Jackson Pollock for me (yes, and not an audible Warhol).
I acknowledge the role it historically played—with Warhol and his “Factory”—but as music, I don’t think I’d listen to it much in the future, except for a few long-time favorites: Venus in Furs and I’m Waiting for the Man, and later Femme Fatale.
It’s certainly new for me (and was at its time), but “new” alone isn’t enough. They say “disobey” and “destroy traditions,” but that only makes sense if you create better ones in return. Destroy, yes—but only so you can build something better on top of the ashes, not just for the sake of destruction.
Review
Nico sings a lot like Lou Reed—“atonal whining.” 11 songs, 49 minutes: a decent standard length.
The first track has sweet melodies, with a celesta intro, and a weird reverb suddenly kicks in during the second verse. I had heard I’m Waiting for the Man before—very noisy and drone-y. It reminds me of his ostrich guitar. Loud, compared to the next track, which is much smoother. The lyrics, however, are in contrast, amplifying the idea of Femme Fatale.
Venus in Furs has always been a favorite of mine. It sounds like no other band—catchy, repetitive sections, and Reed’s singing is iconic and unmistakable. It continues with the theme of sexual masochism. There’s a slightly Eastern feel in the middle. Minimal and solid. Run Run Run sounds heavier than the others—more raw singing, and a weird solo that follows the same repeating rhythms as previous tracks.
Generally, I’m not very fond of the themes—sex, drugs, and sadomasochism—but I’m trying to follow along. It’s not even symbolic or metaphorical—just straight-up heroin, overdoses, and whipping.
All Tomorrow’s Parties has the same structure: minimal tribal percussion, repetitive rhythms, tambourine, lazy guitar that sounds like it’s the first take, and diatonic singing. Nico’s singing also feels very German and folk-like. I’m starting to get a bit bored by the end—6 minutes is almost too much. I kinda like the guitars, though! Sloppy, but it works here.
Heroin is so catchy. Same pattern, but the tempo changes are amazing. Sometimes it feels sloppy and out of sync. For me, the climax is when he says, “heroin be the death of me.” The distorted violins, then the calm fade-out at the end… Honestly, the album could end here as far as I’m concerned. Very wordy, which fits Reed’s writing spirit.
So far, it’s been trying to depict its time, geography, and themes: little expressions, names, prices, and places. Every detail builds a bridge for me to what they lived.
There She Goes Again is more listenable—nice lyrics and more diverse rhythmic patterns:
There she goes again
She’s knocked out on her feet again
She’s down on her knees, my friend
But you know she’ll never ask you please again
To me, The Black Angel’s Death Song sounds very… Scottish? For some reason. European Son is also way too avant-garde for my ears—cool bassline, though. After a few minutes, I thought, “Yeah, I don’t have to listen to this,” only to realize I was still in the middle of the song. It’s like several deaf people playing for themselves.
I could sum up the album along these lines:
I che che, che che I, Che che che, ka tah koh
Choose to choose, Choose to choose, choose to go