Loaded (studio album)
by The Velvet Underground

Yes, the worst of their albums. But still such an incredible album. It’s not the avant-garde masterpiece of their others, but still a hell of a rock record. The VU didn’t need to drone to make good music.

This is quite an up and down listen with there being some great songs which are up there amongst the groups best but then there are several filler cuts which are skippable. The first 3 songs are where most of the elite tracks come from with that run of songs hugely elevating the record. Every time I revisit this record I get to the end of Rock & Roll and think maybe I was wrong and this could be their 2nd best release but then it just goes down hill and doesn't fully recover until the closing track. We get some brief moments which are enjoyable such as New Age and I Found A Reason but they still don't make that long stretch of songs worth listening to. Overall, this album lacks consistency and while it does have some of my favourite VU songs they just can't maintain that high level the group set on previous releases.

Great record

I don't enjoy it as much as first listen but there are still some decent songs here.

From LukasAntoine00s 02/02/2022 14:12

82.5

El disco menos consistente de los 4 originales de VU. Los 4 primeros temas llevan las expectativas hacia otro nivel. Who Loves the Sun se siente como un rock clásico, podría tranquilamente ser de los Beatles o los Kinks. Sweet Jane me parece la obra maestra del disco y uno de los mejores temas que tienen. Rock and Roll es otro gran tema de su catálogo. Cool it Down está muy bien y mejora con cada escuchada. Los siguientes no cumplen con el hype. Temas olvidables y no repuntan sino hasta el último, Oh! Sweet Nuthin'.
Me cuesta un toque admitirlo, pero considero que este es el "peor" disco de los Velvets.

Unpopular opinion but this is my favorite Velvet Underground album at the moment, maybe not their best but the most accesible and not so noisy as VU&N or White Light/White Heat

People are arguing in the comments if this is their worst album. Personally its my 3rd favorite
But wow if this might even arguably be their worst then one must say that VU was an incredible band.

From VictorVale 08/13/2021 15:17

Grande álbum. Uma pegada de blues maravilhosa!

From Graeme2 02/24/2021 22:05

First listen in years and always my least favourite of the 4, it sounds even more of a drop in quality from the last album than I remember. As has been said, first 3 tracks and the last are great but the rest is nowhere near velvet greatness of the past. It's still a decent album, but no classic like the rest. I prefer the 80s lost recordings release to this.

From planetneutral 12/15/2020 15:49

I feel a personal and positive connection with almost every song on this album.