A spectacular boxed set

"Peel Slowly and See" is an amazing box set, one that no fan of great music should be without.

It's a boxed set of five disks. The disks contain the complete Velvet Underground albums "The VU and Nico", "White Light/White Heat", "The VU", and "Loaded", as well as a number of demos, live stuff, and other miscellanea. The first disk contains several demos, and from then on, we get a complete look at the VU's music.

The first disk is rather amusing. Consisting of demos of songs - "Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams", "Prominent Men", "Heroin", "Venus in Furs", "I'm Waiting for the Man", and "All Tomorrow's Parties" (almost twenty minutes long - ouch!), it's not great music, but is still fascinating for its historical value. I swear, you couldn't tell the difference between Bob Dylan and the Lou Reed of this first disk!

The next album features the single version of "All Tomorrow's Parties" (unchanged, except that it's shorter), the complete "VU and Nico", a live version of "Melody Laughter", and two songs by Nico as a solo artist. "The VU and Nico" is what it is. I don't really get "Melody Laughter", but it's okay. And Nico's tracks are great - "It Was a Pleasure Then" and the brilliant, melancholy "Chelsea Girls" showcase her talents (not to mention "Femme Fatale", "All Tomorrow's Parties", and "I'll Be Your Mirror".

The next disk features demos of "There is No Reason", "Sheltered Life", "It's All Right", "I'm Not Too Sorry", "Here She Comes Now", live versions of "Guess I'm Falling in Love" and "Booker T.", and the album "White Light/White Heat". The demos are pretty good, although they're typical demos. The album is great, though - featuring the seventeen-minute epic "Sister Ray", a song about "searching for mainlines" and "sucking on ding-dongs". After "WL/WH" comes "Stephanie Says" (which was remade on Lou Reed's "Berlin" as "Caroline Says II". I like the melody of "Stephanie Says" better than Reed's version, though the lyrics are a bit stupid. There's also "Temptation Inside Your Heart" and "Hey Mr. Rain".

The fourth disk encompasses the 3rd LP and several other things. There's a great live version of "What Goes On", and the

Something that some people who've bought this box set complain about is that on the fourth disk, containing the 3rd LP, we get the "closet mixes" of the music rather than the regular ones. But I have to say, what's to complain about? I could understand people not liking this if the regular version of the 3rd LP wasn't available anywhere, but as it is, you can just walk into a store and get it. Anyway, the closet mixes are actually better than the original ones. They sound much more clear, pure, and minimalistic, although the music is definitely there. On songs like "Candy Says" and "After Hours", the singing and lyrics are much, much clearer (which may not be a good thing in the case of "After Hours" - poor Mo Tucker!), and even on songs where the music is louder, like "Beginning to See the Light" and "What Goes On", the singing is still more listenable. The version of "The Murder Mystery" is much more coherent and listenable (essential, considering that there's a different voice, with different lyrics, coming out of each speaker). And "Pale Blue Eyes" is gorgeous.

The fifth disk features "Loaded", and several other goodies. The highlight of this disk is the complete restored version of "Sweet Jane". "Rock and Roll", "Oh! Sweet Nuthin'", and "Head Held High" are also good. Then there's stuff like an early version of "Satellite of Love" (with "Wynken, Blynken and Nod" in place of "Harry, Mark and John") and a version of "Sad Song" which would show up later on "Berlin". There are also a couple live tracks. As it goes, "Loaded" is probably the VU's most pop-music album, and their least effective (although it's twenty times better than anything you could hear on the radio today). There are a few bright spots, though. I have to say, the new version of "Sweet Jane" is amazing; although the added part sounds a bit sloppy, it's still cool, and it's only available on the "Fully Loaded" version of that album.

The design of the set is great. There's a reverent booklet by David Fricke that talks of the history of the VU - this is fascinating reading, and I found out a lot I didn't know. And there's a plastic banana on the cover, so you can peel slowly and see.

I have to say, this boxed set couldn't be any better without making it much more expensive. If I'd been responsible for it, though, I'd have added some material from Lou Reed's "Rock and Roll Animal" ("White Light/White Heat" and "Heroin" are rather tepid, but they'd be good for historical value - "Sweet Jane", though, is epochal and is still a lot of fun. I'd have mixed that stuff with a few of Reed's best songs. "Walk on the Wild Side", "Dirty Boulevard", "Hang On to Your Emotions", "Coney Island Baby", "Oh, Jim", a couple minutes of "Metal Machine Music", and "The Blue Mask" would probably be acceptable. And another disk I'd add might have some of John Cale's solo stuff, with several tracks from "Songs for Drella" thrown in for good measure.

This is just a pipe dream, though, and in reality, "Peel Slowly and See" is, for its price, a stunning boxed set that's not only entertaining and listenable, but also has historical value. If you're at all interested in fringe music, it's essential listening.