Was the Velvet Underground the greatest American band? With all due respect to the other serious contenders (Beach Boys, Creedence, Ramones, Talking Heads, REM, Pavement), you have to go with VU. Their career touches the deepest roots of rock'n'roll and the most nether edges of the avant garde, with equal command. Dion fits into their scheme as much as Warhol. What other band encompasses so much?
Despite a few caveats, this magnificent box set is VU's one-stop shopping place if ever there was one. First, the drawbacks: the band's live recordings are under-represented, tasty out-takes that did appear on earlier compilations have been mysteriously dropped, and Lou Reed has decided to go with the so-called "Closet Mix" of the third album (sorry, Lou, but I gotta disagree with you -- it definitely *isn't* the superior version). That said, this is still a mind-blowing edifice of great American music. We all know that each of the band's four official releases is a masterpiece, and it sure is convenient to get them all in one purchase (especially if, like me, you're replacing old vinyl copies). But what may surprise some folks is how great the previously unreleased material is. These cuts are very generous, accounting for more than half of the set. There are early, VU versions of songs that later turned up on Reed's solo albums, such as "Satellite of Love" and the glorious "Ocean." But there are also crazy little songs, left in the vaults for years, that astonish me with their inventiveness, humor, and detail -- from the bass line on "The Way That You Live" to the viola on "Sheltered Life." The bonus tracks attached to the 'WL/WH' and 'Loaded' disks are so good, in fact, that they threaten to upstage their hosts. Bottom line, folks: Like Dylan's 'Basement Tapes,' the out-takes here transcend the genre and are as essential to VU's legacy as the official releases.
Lou is dedicated enough to promoting his reputation -- he doesn't need any help from me -- but I'll chime in nonetheless: this a great American artist, caught in his (short-lived) prime. JGC
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