Greatest Velvets' Hits?

This is the definitive Velvets collection that hardcore VU fans can't afford to be without. Reason being that every damn thing they've put on tape worth having is right in this box. There's five CD's that trace the Velvets' star-crossed career from 1965-70, and it's hard to believe that any group could have done so much to influence so many in so little time without the benefit of ONE Top Ten album or single. At any rate, let's take a look and see why you want to invest a huge chunk of change on this rather than continue buying every VU bootleg or remastered item that pops up in your local record store.

DISC #1
This is the Velvets' demo tape, put together by budding studio musician Lou Reed, Dream Syndicate disciple John Cale, and jam session kibbitzer Sterling Morrison. According to the accompanying bio that is one major reason to buy this compilation, it was snubbed by Marianne Faithful but picked up on by a Stones aficionado who got them started with some high school gigs in the Tristate area. A zillion takes of "Venus In Furs" indicates the perfectionism in Reed and Cale that would lead to all the breakups and make-ups over the years. "Prominent Men" shows us Reed's potential as a lyricist but never goes anywhere else in their repertoire.

DISC #2
This is it, Jack, the one worth the price of admission. All their best stuff is on here, going back to The Velvet Underground and Nico two-album compilation released during the 70's. Nico is at her best in "Femme Fatale", "All Tomorrow's Parties" and the heretofore-suppressed "Chelsea Girl". "Black Angel's Death Song", the forerunner to "Sister Ray" which got them kicked out of their Café Bizarre gig and into Andy Warhol's Exploding Plastic Inevitable, leads the charge of their white-noise decibel attack. Hardcore fans like me will let the other CD's collect dust when the beer parties start. This one's good for at least two replays a night.

DISC #3
Here we see the sophomore slump setting in, and if it wasn't for "Sister Ray" and "White Light/White Heat" they would've barely broke even. Lou gets into all that self-indulgent balladeering that has plateaued his career since the 70's, and the result is a sporadic sunshower of brilliance that lets up once too often for us to pay any serious attention. Reed aficionados will be delighted by all the obsolete tracks which you probably won't find on CD anywhere else, and for good reason.

DISC #4
Now we've moved on to 1968, and John Cale and Nico have long since departed. "What Goes On" is the only real asskicker on this one. "Jesus" reminds us there's still some goodness within the murky darkness of his soul, though "Beginning To See The Light" is a reaffirmation that Reed's soul still belongs to rock and roll. We're seeing the transition from their white-noise distortion phase into the street crooner imagery that will follow him straight into Y2K.

DISC #5
This is the Velvets' swan song, though who would've guessed what Papa Lou was gonna do with this stuff in his mind-boggling solo stint with Hunter and Wagner down the road? "Sweet Jane" is one of his all-time greats, though to this day he curses the producers for cutting the melodic bridge from the final mix. "Rock and Roll" was the barn-burner in the Hunter and Wagner-fueled Rock and Roll Animal live Reed album years later. And, who would've thunk whut "Satellite of Love" would do on Lou Reed Live? We also have the unheralded and unappreciated "New Age", and the death dirge from Berlin, "Sad Song".

These guys definitely went out with a bang instead of a whimper. For hardcore VU fans, this is the one you want for that desert island scenario, the only Velvets fix you're ever gonna need.