Ranking the Velvet Underground studio albums

FP > FP > FP > FP

&N edges VU for me, which in turn just nudges WL/WH - v close poll for nxd here, neck and neck

great idea for a poll, will have to think about this

Same as nxd. Though perhaps of a given day WL/WH would nudge VU.

VU > WL/WH > VU&N > Loaded although I love Cale. I would also rank the lost Verve album above Loaded.

What 'lost Verve' album?

The 1984 archival release? That was my gateway drug and still stands as my favourite studio album.

VU > WL/WH > VU&N > Loaded

Sorry, MGM. Had a minor brain-snap.

VU > WL/WH > VU&N > Loaded

― EZ Snappin

same. a few years ago i would have put put a few >>'s between VU&N and Loaded, but now i realize that Loaded rules. they all rule.

VU > WL/WH > VU&N > Loaded

― EZ Snappin,

The 1984 archival release? That was my gateway drug and still stands as my favourite studio album.

― doug watson, Wednesday, July 22, 2015 8:38 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Ditto. I always considered it as much a part of their discography as WL/WH or VU&N.

i like most of the songs on it but the production kinda takes me out of it. (sort of a funny complaint when considering the production of VU&N and WL/WH, but true for me at least)

also i heard VU (1984) last, long after the big four studio albums, so that probably plays a role.

VU&N > WL/WH > VU > Loaded

"Sunday Morning" opens the album, that's seriously in my top 3 most beautiful songs of all time. So many iconic tracks here,
"White Light/White Heat" for inventing noise rock.
"VU" for having lots of great tracks.
"Loaded" for making me fall asleep halfway through my first listen.

VU&N > VU > WL/WH > Loaded

For years I've said #3's my favourite, but I think that's changed. #2 is probably the most perfect, but I'm just not in that particular mood very often. Half of Loaded I just don't care about.

Noodle Vague's posts always make me laugh on these threads.

The VU are one of the few bands (maybe the only band?) where their unreleased stuff is as crucial to the discography as the main discography is. I can't imagine them without "Foggy Notion", "Lisa Says", "Stephanie Says," or "Temptation." But then, I'm one of those kids who discovered them in the 80s.

VU>WL/WH>VU&N>Loaded

I tried...

http://www.ilxor.com/ILX/ThreadSelectedControllerServlet?boardid=41&;threadid=58192

NV OTM.

i like most of the songs on it but the production kinda takes me out of it. (sort of a funny complaint when considering the production of VU&N and WL/WH, but true for me at least)

― 1992 ball boy (Karl Malone), Thursday, July 23, 2015 12:09 AM (20 hours ago)

MUst be weird having lived through the time, and the next generation to not know the material that is easily found now. IT's a lot easier to be a VU fan in the age of cd reissues and d/loads than when they were current, even when they reunioned.
Funny that innit?

I think I prefer Cale era to Yule era anyway.
THough there is a lot more Yule era around in terms of outtakes and bootlegs. Shame there isn't more Cale era live around. Wonder if there is any more that isn't really in circulation. Gymnasium was only a rumour as recently as 5 years ago wasn't it?

Do like that then unreleased material which would presumably have been an lp if released at a time, VU/Another View or one disc in the s/t box.
I don't get the idea that there is no r'n';bin the VU since it does seem to be an audible constituent part. Maybe its just that it wasn't used in a cliched or pseudo authentic way? But there are Berry and Diddley rhythms used thoughout their history as well as more Staxy stuff, direct quotes from soul tracks,amng other things. I think every member showed some grounding in the stuff, not so sure about Yule.

unreleased material which would presumably have been an lp if released at a time

No, because they were demos.

I can't think of any of these albums as better or worse than the others — strictly a matter of which one am I in the mood for right now.

Loaded > VU&N > VU > WL/WH

I guess VU&N and WL/WH are in some ways "better" and more "important" albums, but Loaded is by far the one I've listened to the most in the past couple years, it's just a great rock album. Also "Sweet Jane" is probably my favorite VU song.

Loaded gets so much hate around here I voted it best out of spite/contrarianism

People be cloth eared.

i'd probably put loaded at the bottom, but just because of the competition -- it is still a great great great album.

My thoughts exactly.

yule never hear a bad word about it from me

VU&N > VU > Loaded > WL/WH

The 1st and 3rd albums are very close in my mind though. WL/WH only really last because I've never been a huge fan of 'Sister Ray' and it takes up a huge chunk of the running time.

I can't think of any of these albums as better or worse than the others — strictly a matter of which one am I in the mood for right now.

― dart scar rashes (WilliamC)

VU&N > VU > Loaded > WL/WH

Me too. The last two could go either way but I let my love for "Oh! Sweet Nuthin'" and my dislike of "The Gift" be decisive.

Oh Sweet Nuthin is perfect - if you put on loaded then start drinking and showering and dressing etc before going to a party then maybe you'll luck out and have that be the last song you here before you leave home and you'll feel like a star

New Age is a great portrait too

lol hear*

vu&n>loaded>wlwh>vu

This is hard though. I could probably talk myself into putting loaded last bc it's the least consistent but it's best moments are some of the most enjoyable vu songs to me

WL/WH > VU > VU&N > Loaded

What are folks' thoughts on Heroin? I loved the song :-P as a teen, used to jam it out with my friend on guitar... now it's an automatic skip. Too OTT or am I just sick of it?

WL/WH > VU > VU&N > Loaded

and i like loaded fine. heroin's great, intense, rising and falling ritualistically, with the vox alternately drawling and hectoring over the top, both influencing and being influenced by the music. but i similarly listened to it lots when much younger and them veins are calloused now.

Heroin was a calling card and an albatross, but when you get past its shock value it's a remarkably direct and unpretentious song. In my book it may be played out, but it's pure genius. Whoever would have done it if they hadn't?

VU&N > VU > Loaded > WL/WH

"Heroin"'s an overplayed (by me--it's not like it's ever been all over the radio), over-celebrated song that I actually love more today than when I first heard it. Don't know why--many have fallen by the wayside.

VU (1985 release) = VU&N = WL/WH > Loaded > self-titled

Only reason the self-titled is my least favorite (not by any discernible margin) is "The Murder Mystery." Totally kills the mood, and the joke wears out its welcome in about two minutes.

Love Murder Mystery

Ditto, much more tired of 'The Gift' as a joke that wears out its welcome p quickly

"The Gift" at least has a payoff! A hilarious payoff! And the band is so churny under the story!

I dunno, maybe "The Murder Mystery" has a payoff, too; I usually give up trying to listen to the words pretty quickly.

Lotsa laughs in the lyrics. You don't have to listen to the story in "The Gift", it's all in one channel, unless you're listening in mono, weirdo.

Mono is hardcore. Spesh with WLWH.

Order of release for me but there is no dip in quality until Loaded.

VU is the best album of all time...how can I choose between VU&Nico v. WL/WH for second

WL/WH > VU > Loaded > VU&N

VU&N is still great, but every single other album has at least one track that I think blows anything on VU&N out of the water, just as they matured.

WL/WH because "I Heard Her Call My Name" means the most to me, then VU for so many great songs, then Loaded for a few great songs, so something has to go last and VU&N it is.

But yeah, was just listening to the 1984/5 or whatever odds & sods collection and it probably hangs together just as much as loaded if not more.

The Gift is something that does wear out quick, not sure I'd relegate the WL/WH to last though (?)

Loaded > VU&N > WL/WH > VU if we're going on the track listings of the original releases. If we include the songs that were unreleased at the time, then I don't even know.

WL/WH > VU&N > VU > Loaded

First two are all-time genre-defining albums for me. I'm no longer as dismissive of Some Kinda Love as I used to be, thanks to Alfred, but for some reason I still have a hard time getting behind that back-to-back with Pale Blue Eyes (also likely why I steer clear of solo Reed, apart from Kill Your Sons), but its true that Beginning to See the Light thru Story of My Life (+ After Hours) is a perfect mini-album, and What Goes On & Murder Mystery are excellent acid rock, so its still pretty close for me.

I only really like two songs on Loaded

^burn the heretic.

Can't really think of anything I don't like on these albums. Seem to recall being unable to whittle down my selections in time for the track list poll. Probably listen to WL/WH the least, only because I don't always feel up to its demands, not because I think it is inferior. Would most likely put Loaded last, but agree 100% with what Tyler said.

I think Loaded is the only one I haven't overplayed. The others I can't really listen to anymore.

I only really like two songs on Loaded

Almost exactly the same: the big two + "Oh! Sweet Nuthin'." The rest is just there. Those three are so brilliant, I wouldn't want to be without the album.

"I Found A Reason" is my favorite off Loaded. Closest thing to the morphine beauty of the first and third albums. Early slowcore?

If I had to pick one another it would be "Who Loves the Sun". It's like the bizarro Beach Boys.

i've adopted a hugging policy to be done once and for all with the usual british uncertainties about it, but still when anyone greets me with more than one kiss it feels like i've been thrown into a particularly fiendish spatial reasoning puzzle

um wrong thread. VU rooooooolz

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Voted 1,3,2,4

WL/WH > VU&N > VU > Loaded

Loaded > VU > VU&N > WL/WH

That said I'd rate WL/WH 3 stars out of 5 so I don't think it's a bad record at all.

3.5 even.

Loaded 4.5
VU 4
VU&N 3.8
WL/WH 3.5

Loaded was my first VU album, and I didn't really get what the big deal was. VU (the 80's comp) was my second and then I did. Train Round The Bend is the great lost track from Loaded.

For years I probably thought VU>VU&N>WL/WH>Loaded. Now it's probably WL/WH>VU>VU&N>Loaded. But the deep dark secret is that that VU comp is still #1.

VU > WL/WH > Loaded > VU&N

I used to always put Loaded last, but I'm getting old.

I honestly don't care about this band for their bite. I'd rather hear them purr the morning after. Sunday Morning is my favorite song off of the debut and I see Loaded as the natural extension of this lavish, sedative sound. Some might find it boring, I think it's one of the best albums next to the self titled album to play on lazy mornings, specially if you're hungover.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Interesting

Loaded > VU > VU&N > WL/WH

Lotta corny indie heads in here is how i see it.

where's alfred to do that eagles joke

Loaded > VU > VU&N > WL/WH

That's pretty much how I see it, although maybe switch VU and Loaded.

Lotta corny indie heads in here is how i see it.

DON: Lots of people, hipsters I'd call them, dropped the Velvet Underground's name in the seventies. I heard Lou Reed doing "Walk on the Wild Side" and while I thought it was a lot of glitter nonsense at the time I could see how he talked about things that we'd start writing about on the Long Run record. The fact is, we knew a lot of kids like Holly on the Strip.

GLENN: "Caroline Says" FUCK ME, bitch!

DON: Well, yeah.

It's just like Senator Ray says. It's just like Senator Ray says.

Lotta corny indie heads in here is how i see it.

― where the sterls have no name (s.clover), Tuesday, July 28, 2015 10:00 PM (58 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

LOL I think I found ILX from following an article from Tom Ewing called "Why We Hate Indie Kids"

http://freakytrigger.co.uk/ft/2001/01/indiekids/

ghost of Lester Bangs still checks up on how often you play your copies of White Light/White Heat, smiles/frowns at these rankings because you all still don't get the majesty of speed!!!

(ghost stopped coming around when I sold all my VU records, and was already sulking visibly whenever I'd play Web of Sound -- which it dug --- and point out that, no, all Seeds songs DON'T sound alike, you really blew that you New York suckup ---- um, where was I? -- I actually didn't mean to sell the 3rd VU, I still played that one pretty often. My ranking is the 3rd listed above, tied for second place!! Consensus is consensual. The possibilities are endless. And for me to miss one.)

I'm neither Indie nor Corny nor a Head nor a Kid, but these are the correct results

they call me the kid

WL/WH > VU&N >> Loaded >> VU >>> Squeeze

i could put the four studio albums in any order and be ok with it, i think. today, it would be: VU > Loaded > WL/WH > VU&N

this is probably evidence that i fundamentally misunderstand the point of WL/WH, but if the sister ray side was replaced with 4 or 5 normal-length songs, i think it would be my undisputed #1. i love the album to death but i've heard sister ray a million times and prefer some of the live versions over the studio one. i'd gladly give it up to hear some more cale-era hitz

Don't think I checked in on the results at the time...Surprised my ranking finished first; I can still remember a time when hardly anyone talked about album #3. (I guess Yo La Tengo and low-fi and whatnot helped give it some stature.) And I always expect WL/WH to dominate, but that doesn't seem to be true anymore either.

(By "anyone," I mean rock critics. I wasn't listening in on conversations in the supermarket and laundromat, where the amount of VU-related talk has remained steady for decades.)