014: The Velvet Underground
Loaded
[Cotillion/Atlantic; 1971]
Loaded
[Cotillion/Atlantic; 1971]
Though Lou Reed might be more widely remembered for some of the most provocative and contentious experimental rock of the 20th century, his influence stretches equally far within the rock 'n' roll mainstream. A spot-on portent of Reed's vibrant solo career, Loaded witnesses The Velvet Underground emerging from the druggy maw of their late-60s work to pen some of the best vanilla rock anthems of the era, with the typically reticent Doug Yule assuming a more conspicuous role. The album is staggering not for its consistency, diversity, or technical proficiency-- something the band came to stylize-- but for the ardor and joie de vivre with which it explores the capacious boundaries of its form.
Sadly, Loaded often comes recommended with one glaring stipulation: "It's a good starting point, if you're looking to get into them." But the album is too good to be relegated to sub-intellectual standing; from the dripping tongue-in-cheek melancholy of "Who Loves the Sun", to the sultry narrative swagger of "Sweet Jane" and "Rock & Roll", to the maudlin-but-oh-so-irresistible "Oh! Sweet Nuthin'",Loaded proves the Velvets top-shelf geniuses with a vocabulary fit for the hoi polloi. It's here that they finally chose to break the din of their histrionic, often difficult 60s triumvirate, striking the hot iron of rock in a transitory period-- and what a way to do it. --Sam Ubl
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