The Velvet Underground & Nico (studio album) by The Velvet Underground & Nico

This record is one of the most important to ever be released with it influencing the landscape of music for over 50 years now. A lot of influential albums don't hold up in terms of their quality but this is the opposite with the musical feat that is achieved on here becoming more and more evident as time goes on. When you first experience it the music can be quite abrasive and can easily be disregarded by new ears but if it is given some patience and you adjust to the production it will only be a matter of time before you see the masterpiece that is this album. This raw sound they create is completely intentional with them fabricating a dark and heavy atmosphere that completely engulfs us. This is accomplished by the weighty and distorted guitar work complimenting the deadpan voice of Lou Reed perfectly. Reed is consistently phenomenal throughout with his distinctive guitar and vocal work elevating this record to the level it is at. His lyrics are sensational as well with them going into dark but realistic themes of drug use, prostitution and sadomasochism. These themes, when not wrote about intelligently, come off cheap but Reed writes about them in such a poetic and genius way that they are anything but cheap. His lyrics are rich and unique solidifying the fact that he is one of the greatest song writers of all time. Another major contributor to the success of this record is Nico. She is outstanding on here with every song she appears on acting as a brief respite from the gloom with her deep but still distinctively feminine vocal elevating every song it appears on. She adds such beauty and elegance to the music and provides us with an amazing contrast between the male and female vocal which sounds so pleasing to the ear. Overall, The Velvet Underground And Nico created a musical marvel on here that gives us one of the greatest lyrical, instrumental, vocal and atmospheric displays ever recorded.

Sunday morning sounds about 40 years ahead its time.

The rest of the album is pretty consistently great. Production, songwriting, voices, instrumentation, all top notch. Innovative to boot. Miles ahead of other albums of this period (including the Beatles, sounds decades ahead of them.)

I will say other than the first track nothing really makes my playlist. Still a great album.

Really beautiful. Can see why it's so highly rated and influential. Shame about the last track, which is genuinely quite difficult to listen to. Ruins the album a little bit but overall really good album. My favourites are Sunday Morning, Femme Fatale, I'll Be Your Mirror and Venus In Furs.

Perhaps a bit overrated.

I made an embarrassing comment about this album 3 years ago on this site so I thought I’d give an update. This is one of the few albums that I considered an absolute perfect masterpiece with a perfectly executed vision by the artist. Other examples are In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, Pet Sounds, what would have been the album Smile, Sgt.Pepper. Only a few albums like this exist. When I first listened to it 4 years ago I didn’t understand it. For those who are struggling to understand it, it’s basically a drug album. If you haven’t done drugs or haven’t spent time in New York City it might not click for you. I had previously judged the production and thought it was shit, but, now that I think about it, although songs like Femme Fatale sound rough, it’s supposed to sound like that. It has a texture unlike any song I’ve heard. The Nico songs are my favorite on the album, and are a great contrast to Lou Reeds mania and darker songs. This album was recorded in 1966 (a whole year before Sgt.Pepper really changed music forever), and the Velvet Underground essentially invented alternative music. Lou Reed was a true mad genius, it’s a shame they fired Warhol and changed their sound a bit after this album.

Absolutely superb. Heroin remains the highlight to me; the continuous change in pace is simply exhilarating. "I'll be your Mirror" is a gem of a love song.

Clearly one of the most important albums in history. All songs are good, some great. Very original sound that´s still amazingly fresh 55 years later. .

Helped shape rock and roll

An influential album full of gorgeous tracks. The experimentation is what draws be back time and time again.

From Brad1770 05/29/2022 05:22

If we were truely being honest with our musical selves how many perfect 100/100 albums are there really?

Think about it? - P.E.R.F.E.C.T. Not a single weak track, not a note out of place, a landmark gene defining iconic unforgettable album that resonates through the ages. Even the album cover needs to be something special. So lets apply this assessment to ‘The Velvet Underground & Nico’

Not a single weak track: TICK

Not a note out of place: TICK

A landmark gene defining and iconically unforgettable album that resonates through the ages: TICK TICK TICK

Album cover something special: MASSIVE TICK

So there you have it, as easy as 100/100 P.E.R.F.E.C.T album rating I will ever give

As a side note, what a year 1967 was for iconic albums in addition to this one. How’s this for a role call

The Doors:’The Doors’
The Byrds: ‘Younger Than Yesterday’
The Moody Blues: ‘ Days Of Future Passed’

Oh and something from a little known band called The Beatles and ‘Sgt.Peppers’ which is close to perfect but most certainly is not, unfortunately spoil by the awful “When I’m Sixty-Four” (McCartney ! )