The Velvet Underground

The famous Brian Eno comment on The Velvet Underground ran like this: "The Velvet Underground’s first album only sold a few thousand copies, but everyone who bought one formed a band."

Formed in the mid-1960s and nurtured by Andy Warhol, the first four VU albums are legendary. In particular, the 1967 debut is extraordinary. Full of darkness and deviance it remains a record that can stun and overwhelm over half a century later. Simmering with an attitude of defiance and fuckyouness that inspired punk a decade after its release, The Velvet Underground & Nico deserves its status as a massively influential work.

Lou Reed, principal songwriter and leader of the band, was disappointed with the sales of the VU albums and ultimately dissolved the band for a long and successful solo career. Yet the intensity and often surprising melodicism of many Velvet Underground songs remains timeless, being discovered anew by successive generations.

Cautious newcomers should start with Loaded and the intrepid with the debut, while the converted should seek out VU, the 1985 release of "lost" material.