csberry

The two previous Velvets albums on the list were after John Cale left the band. This was my first in-depth listen to what his era in the band sounded like. In some ways, it sounds very similar to what I heard previously...just with insanely loud, distorted guitars constantly feeding back or creating "noise" as opposed to "tunes." The title track starts the album and actually has a classic rock and roll sound - as if they were covering a Little Richard song. From there, the album tends to focus on songs that mesh poetry reading, the aforementioned distorted guitars, and an unfeeling vocal delivery.

The sound for pre-Goo Sonic Youth is firmly established here. White Light/White Heat definitely stretched what it meant to be a rock song with the lyrics and instrumentation. However, I just didn't enjoy listening to it as much as I enjoyed the other two Velvets albums.

Songs I knew I liked: None

Songs I didn't know but now like: "Lady Godiva's Operation" and "Here She Comes Now"

Songs I can go the rest of my life without hearing again: "Sister Ray"