The Velvet Underground 
Variations: The Velvet Underground & Nico.
The best album credited to The Velvet Underground is The Velvet Underground which is ranked number 97 in the overall greatest album chart with a total rank score of 12,401.
The best album credited to The Velvet Underground taking into account any aliases or variations is The Velvet Underground & Nico by The Velvet Underground & Nico which is ranked number 10 in the overall greatest album chart with a total rank score of 39,161.
The Velvet Underground is ranked number 11 in the overall artist rankings with a total rank score of 68,017 (this takes into account any aliases or variations).
- Members: N.B. The member list may not contain a full list of members (and there may be notable omissions). If a member has never released a solo album, or their solo albums do not appear on BEA, they will not be able to be listed as a member. These omissions are not meant to cause offense to anybody. The member list is solely meant as an additional navigation aid to browse between the items listed on the site.
- Lou Reed
- John Cale
- Moe Tucker
- Doug Yule
- See also:
- John Zorn / Lou Reed / Laurie Anderson
- Lou Reed's Metal Machine Trio
- The Velvet Underground & Nico
- Lou Reed / John Cale
- Eno / Cale
- Lou Reed & Metallica
- John Cale & Terry Riley
- Kevin Ayers - John Cale - Eno - Nico
- Artists United Against Apartheid
- John Cale / Bob Neuwirth
- Lou Reed & The Velvet Underground
- Lou Reed / John Cale / Nico
- Zeitkratzer / Lou Reed
- John Cale & Band
- American Flyer
- John Cale / Tony Conrad / Angus MacLise / La Monte Young / Marian Zazeela
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The Velvet Underground best albums
The following albums by The Velvet Underground are ranked highest in the greatest album charts:
The Velvet Underground bestography composition
The Velvet Underground best tracks
Include tracks from compilations & live albums | Exclude tracks from compilations & live albums The same track can appear on multiple albums, so excluding tracks from compilations and live albums helps to remove duplicates from this list.
The Velvet Underground ratings
Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AVwhere:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.
Showing latest 5 ratings for this artist. | Show all 437 ratings for this artist.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Artist ratings | Avg. artist rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01/13/2026 10:53 | aramsamsam | 20 | 47/100 | |
| 07/04/2025 01:53 | C0NB9NN | 11 | 98/100 | |
| 06/07/2025 06:19 | Invader666 | 337 | 71/100 | |
| 05/26/2025 21:39 |  Tamthebam | 870 | 73/100 | |
| 05/14/2025 01:37 | stareaterogni0n | 28 | 72/100 |
Rating metrics:
Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some artists can have several thousand ratings)
This artist is rated in the top 1% of all artists on BestEverAlbums.com. This artist has a Bayesian average rating of 88.5/100, a mean average of 86.8/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 88.8/100. The standard deviation for this artist is 16.5.
The Velvet Underground favourites
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The Velvet Underground comments
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I get the influence but I don't really enjoy it. Maybe I had to be there. But then again, I'm not a big fan of most rock-adjacent singer songwriters, punk, and folk rock.
indieshins 06/02/2022 07:19 | #285924
One of the greatest bands of all time. They are more groundbreaking in some ways than The Beatles - but The Beatles have the edge because they had popularity along with their innovations. Still - the influence of the VU cannot be overstated. They have a perfect discography, if you discount Squeeze (which I admittedly haven't heard). Their debut is a perfect summation of all their strengths, merging their skills at experimental music, raw, punky rock and roll, and sweet ballads. White Light/White Heat is one of the most foreboding slabs of noise ever - easily their least accessible album. Their self-titled third album finds the band in singer-songwriter mode, crafting a collection of intimate ballads, interspersed with some rocking tracks and a weird experimental spoken-word piece (The Murder Mystery). Loaded, their major label debut (and their final album), was their big pop moment, their most accessible album by far, though still suitably weird and fascinated by the downtrodden - this is Lou Reed, after all. Every one of them a masterpiece. Inspirational!
sszwalbenest 02/15/2022 22:31 | #281365
Of course, you have to give them credit for two amazing records to start, but everything after "White Light/White Heat" is barely listenable for me. It is clear that John Cale made this group.
Oh my, talk about influential.
Great Band
People like this band just because they want to seem cool....
So far ahead of their time. Influential to so many genres of music. All four of their records are classic.
teague 07/06/2020 21:21 | #255123
Has there ever been such a band that expanded the rock mythos so vastly in four years?
StefanR10 06/13/2020 17:36 | #253454
Lou Reed at his best The velvet underground’s first album is immense for me a band wo influenced many band after them.
zwiebel 09/17/2019 11:07 | #242716
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| Best Ever Artists | |
|---|---|
| 1. The Beatles | |
| 2. Radiohead | |
| 3. Pink Floyd | |
| 4. David Bowie | |
| 5. Bob Dylan | |
| 6. Led Zeppelin | |
| 7. The Rolling Stones | |
| 8. Arcade Fire | |
| 9. Neil Young | |
| 10. Nirvana | |
| 11. The Velvet Underground | |
| 12. Kendrick Lamar | |
| 13. Miles Davis | |
| 14. The Smiths | |
| 15. R.E.M. | |
| 16. The Beach Boys | |
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| 20. The Cure |
