The Velvet Underground 
Variations: The Velvet Underground & Nico.
The best album credited to The Velvet Underground is The Velvet Underground which is ranked number 95 in the overall greatest album chart with a total rank score of 11,993.
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 37,037.
The Velvet Underground is ranked number 11 in the overall artist rankings with a total rank score of 65,063 (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 3 ratings for this artist. | Show all 439 ratings for this artist.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Artist ratings | Avg. artist rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 09/24/2026 08:06 |  nextorgd | 21 | 89/100 |
| ! | 07/31/2026 19:30 | stareaterogni0n | 54 | 76/100 |
| ! | 06/05/2026 10:48 | kinginsomniac12 | 75 | 100/100 |
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 88.4/100, a mean average of 86.9/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 88.7/100. The standard deviation for this artist is 16.1.
The Velvet Underground favourites
Showing latest 10 members who have added this artist as a favourite | Show all 157 members
The Velvet Underground forum mentions
BestEverAlbums 3 days ago in Chart of the day (#5465): By elton229View latest topic →
DommeDamian 07/09/2026 14:09 in DommeDamian review of Knock Madness.
EyeKanFly 12/01/2020 15:04 in What album are you listening to right now?View all forum mentions
The Velvet Underground comments
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1. White Light/White Heat (10/10)
2. The Velvet Underground & Nico (10/10)
3. The Velvet Underground (10/10)
4. Loaded (9/10)
5. Squeeze (4/10)
I think they're more important than the Beatles. They have a really consistent discography. Squeeze was made with no original members, so it only holds the VU name. Doesn't really count as an album by them.
Say whatever but I think the self titled album (Not the Nico one) should be on the top 100.
joannajewsom 10/28/2009 06:16 | #6946
Agree with Alex. Those 4 Lou Reed era studio albums are amazing displays of all things rock, from delicate folk to harsh noise, from the most accessible and beautiful pop to the most challenging and artistic experimental and avant-garde.
liking the vu is not about being a hipster...it's about loving their great and timeless songs. where would new york punk rock be without the vu? truely influential - and fab!
I like to think of VU's discography as a weekend of debauchery...
- TVU & Nico is Friday night. You're done work for the week, and it's time for the party to begin.
- White Light/White Heat is Saturday night. The party is still going, but there are a lot more drugs being passed around, and things are really getting out of control.
- TVU is the Sunday morning hangover, and the time of reflection.
- Loaded is Monday morning. The weekend is over, you've sobered up, and it's time to get back to work. (Edited)
