Brad's Take:
Before I hit play on this album, I got flashbacks to the Velvet Underground's first album that my dad and I reviewed earlier. I got really nervous about busting this one open until I remembered that the Velvet Underground's self-titled album was actually pretty great. So I crossed my fingers and hoped that Loaded would be on par with the one that came just a year before it. Thankfully, I was relieved.
"Who Loves The Sun" kicks the album off. It feels like a perfect depressing response to the Beatles' optimistic song "Here Comes The Sun." Lou Reed begins the song with this great verse: Who loves the sun? / Who cares that it makes plants grow? / Who cares what it does / Since you broke my heart? This song is awesome, and is a cool way to open the album.
Before hopping into the studio, Lou Reed and his boys had a plan to make an album "loaded" with hopeful radio singles. They wanted radio-play and so that's what they set out to get. All of the songs are pretty upbeat and single-worthy until it gets to track 5 ("New Age") which is very moody and slow-paced.
The album picks back up with the rockin' "Head Held High." This is another great song that should have been a single on rock radio in 1970. It sounds pretty "ahead of its time" to me.
Like I said before, the band was wanting to make an album that would produce some radio singles. Loaded spawned at least two singles that are still played regularly on classic rock radio stations: "Sweet Jane" and "Rock & Roll."
This album was pretty great. There weren't any songs on it that I disliked. Even the 7 and a half minute long song "Oh! Sweet Nuthin'" didn't kill me. However, I think I prefer their self-titled record more than Loaded.
Dad's Take:
This is what you get when talented musicians realize that art and commerce really can mix.
There's almost a snideness under commercial tracks like "Who Loves The Sun," a sly sneer, an extended middle finger. That has always been in VU's songs, but this time it's actually more meaningful because that finger hides behind a smile.
Lou Reed, who left the band shortly before the album's release, becomes a star in this album, doing his Lou Reed thang on songs like "Sweet Jane" and "Rock & Roll," portending the solo career he was about to enjoy.
This album features good songs, but is not a sudden sell out. This still sounds like the Velvet Underground, only the songs are accessible and comprehensible and relatable. After the first couple VU albums we reviewed, I might never have believed that I'd one day be tapping my foot while listening to them.
There's kind of a Stones feel to several of these songs, a rough-sounding band full of rough characters delivering a white R&B record. I'm enjoying this one, and finding myself wanting to go back and try those early albums again.
Songs like "Head Held High" show why VU influenced early New York punk and the CBGB's scene. It takes that Stones influence I mentioned and roughens it into straight-up white R&B with a punkish twist. It's a fun song.
Then there's "Lonesome Cowboy Bill," which reminds me more of the Grateful Dead. So does the lengthy closing track, "Oh! Sweet Nuthin'." Definitely not a bad thing. Lou Reed and Jerry Garcia have some vocal similarities, so when the song styles are similar too, it's hard not to make the comparison.
One of the most surprising songs, "I Found A Reason," features harmonies and a spoken interlude straight out of the sixties, but it has a wonderful tongue-in-cheek quality that is necessary to make that style of song succeed with Reed's style. It sort of feels like this should be the last song, a kind of coda to the album. But we're far from done, with about 11 minutes to go.
All in all, I enjoyed this album. I still don't think I'd put Velvet Underground in my top 20, but I'm learning to appreciate them, and even to like them. Their later work gives me more of an understanding of their early work. I can add them to a long list of people who I resisted at first but who have grown on me over time, which, I suppose, is why it pays to keep listening, even when a band doesn't grab you at first.
Dad's Take:
This is what you get when talented musicians realize that art and commerce really can mix.
There's almost a snideness under commercial tracks like "Who Loves The Sun," a sly sneer, an extended middle finger. That has always been in VU's songs, but this time it's actually more meaningful because that finger hides behind a smile.
Lou Reed, who left the band shortly before the album's release, becomes a star in this album, doing his Lou Reed thang on songs like "Sweet Jane" and "Rock & Roll," portending the solo career he was about to enjoy.
This album features good songs, but is not a sudden sell out. This still sounds like the Velvet Underground, only the songs are accessible and comprehensible and relatable. After the first couple VU albums we reviewed, I might never have believed that I'd one day be tapping my foot while listening to them.
There's kind of a Stones feel to several of these songs, a rough-sounding band full of rough characters delivering a white R&B record. I'm enjoying this one, and finding myself wanting to go back and try those early albums again.
Songs like "Head Held High" show why VU influenced early New York punk and the CBGB's scene. It takes that Stones influence I mentioned and roughens it into straight-up white R&B with a punkish twist. It's a fun song.
Then there's "Lonesome Cowboy Bill," which reminds me more of the Grateful Dead. So does the lengthy closing track, "Oh! Sweet Nuthin'." Definitely not a bad thing. Lou Reed and Jerry Garcia have some vocal similarities, so when the song styles are similar too, it's hard not to make the comparison.
One of the most surprising songs, "I Found A Reason," features harmonies and a spoken interlude straight out of the sixties, but it has a wonderful tongue-in-cheek quality that is necessary to make that style of song succeed with Reed's style. It sort of feels like this should be the last song, a kind of coda to the album. But we're far from done, with about 11 minutes to go.
All in all, I enjoyed this album. I still don't think I'd put Velvet Underground in my top 20, but I'm learning to appreciate them, and even to like them. Their later work gives me more of an understanding of their early work. I can add them to a long list of people who I resisted at first but who have grown on me over time, which, I suppose, is why it pays to keep listening, even when a band doesn't grab you at first.
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