The Velvet Underground – White Light/White Heat (1969)
Another purchase from Harborough Market, this is the second Velevet Underground album, without the dulcet tones of Nico or the artistic gudance of Andy Warhol.
I wasn't previously familiar with this album so was unsure what to expect.
What I didn't expect was the abysmal quality of the recording. The ear soon tunes in, but it's a shock at first, and made me wonder if it was my copy. Wikipedia talks of the speed of its recording, and the use of new effects equipment leading to compression and distortion, but it's raw, even for 1969.
So, the five songs. White Light White Heat kicks off, a solid garage style rock and roll number followed by The Gift, a bizarre tale of Waldo mailing himself to his long distance girlfriend, and the fate which befalls him, all told in John Cale's gentle Welsh lilt, over a thumping theme.
Lady Godiva's Operation is a Lou Reed song of his teenage experiences of ECT, with he and Cale sharing vocals on a downbeat number. Here She Comes Now is my low spot of the album, a twee double entendre followed by the more frantic, anarchic I Heard Her Call My Name, with Hendrix inspired guitar work. Much more like it.
But the main course is, obviously, the seventeen minute two chord jam, Sister Ray. My first exposure to this was on Joy Division's Still album but that didn't prepare me for the sheer power and relentlessness of the original. The lyrical content is certainly on the seamy side, but it's really lost in the wall of noise which tests the listener to stick with it to the end, while the organ accompaniment clearly inspired Jonathan Richman to rewrite the song as Roadrunner.
The album is probably a decent representation of the raw performance that the band gave live, warts and all. But it's an interesting document of the band just before John Cale decided to move on to other things.
3* - very raw, very intense, not always the easiest or most rewarding listen, but woth persevering
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