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The Psych Ward–The Velvet Underground & Nico
The Psych Ward–The Velvet Underground & Nico
The definition of psychedelic music is one fraught with controversy – or at least opinions. To quote an article from this site; “the endearing and enduring genre means different things to different people.” The debut album by the Velvet Underground – The Velvet Underground & Nico – was released in March of 1967, the golden era of psychedelic music to some. Any number of elements could qualify (or disqualify) the album outright: the banana cover art by Andy Warhol, a German chanteuse, the use of orchestral strings (specifically a viola) in a rock context, lyrical subject matter that pertains to drug use, sado-masochism and other “deviant” topics.
Taken as a whole, the album wasn’t particularly successful upon release, famously selling “only 30,000 copies the first five years” according to an interview with Brian Eno. To add more context to that famous quote of Eno’s from 1982, he also elaborated that “I think everyone who bought one of those 30,000 copies started a band!”
The album starts with “Sunday Morning,” a slice of dreamy pop magic that centers around a xylophone figure and features dreamy vocals – a combination that wouldn’t be out of place in a modern pop playlist or Wes Anderson soundtrack. The last track to be recorded, “Sunday Morning” is probably the least “true” psychedelic song on the album.
“I’m Waiting For the Man” and “Heroin” are odes to respectively buying and using drugs. Both employ a Lou Reed song structure to be seen on subsequent albums – both Velvet Underground and solo – featuring two chords repeated over and over with an occasional third but relying on distortion, volume dynamics, and layered instruments to provide the story.
While “Femme Fatale,” “Run Run Run” and “There She Goes Again” (despite its close musical similarity to “Hitch Hike” by the Rolling Stones) are fairly straightforward pop songs. The real argument for The Velvet Underground & Nico being a psychedelic album is found in “Venus In Furs” and “All Tomorrow’s Parties” as well as “European Son” to a lesser degree. Featuring the aforementioned viola, “Venus In Furs” is a sparse and droning chant with a floor tom and tambourine and occasional guitar over Reed’s angular lyrics about whips and “shiny boots of leather.” “All Tomorrow’s Parties” follows a similar rhythmic structure but adds a “prepared” piano and is built on Nico’s unmistakable Teutonic alto double-tracked to add depth.
The Velvet Underground & Nico, despite its slow start upon release, has since become a seminal influence on modern music, inspiring countless bands in many genres.
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