The Influential "The Velvet Underground & Nico" by The Velvet Underground

If someone had to name the most influential album in music, that album would be The Velvet Underground & Nico. The album changed music forever, reshaping the idea of what music can be, what sounds an artist can produce, and the lyrical themes artists can write about. The album has a mood unlike any album before or since: A painful beauty, both warm and metallic. That combination of light, sweet sounds with dark, somber tones has made The Velvet Underground & Nico so successful. 

The band is comprised of singer and guitarist Lou Reed, multi-instrumentalist John Cale, guitarist Sterling Morrision, and drummer Maurrn Tucker. Frontman Lou Reed explains that you don’t need a studio or any musical talent to create new noises in music. All you truly need is some sense of adventure in making music and a mind to take music in new directions. And that’s exactly what the band did. 

Cale built the architectural structures in music that helped The Velvet Underground & Nico. His abrasive approach provides the backbone of many of the album’s cuts. The album contains songs about buying drugs, using drugs, prostutiton, and sex. Its lyrics have inappropriate connotations as well. However, the band was missing a lead singer who could reach higher octaves and bring some extra edge. They decided to add actor, model, and vocalist, Chanteuse Nico to the group. This addition proved to be helpful. 

The album is so significant because of how influential it is. For instance, post-punk, rock, new wave, and industrial music can all trace their lineages all the way back to this iconic album. Plus, this album has influenced artists like David Bowie and similar albums like Is This It by The Strokes.

The album is structured well, as each song is placed in a meaningful order. The tranquil “Sunday Morning” opens the album with sweetened pop. Messy guitar sounds and paranoiac lyrics anticipate the album’s darker undertow. Things take a turn on “I'm Waiting For a Man,” as the song deals with drug exchange and the reality of street life. The track “Femme Fatal” swirls into a gentle fantasy and changes the focus to Nico. Next, “Venus in Furs” has many paradoxical themes about love and unique chord progressions. “Run Run Run” demonstrates the band’s celebration of stupidness and ugliness. “All Tomorrow's Parties” sounds victorious. 

The track “Heroin” provides a directness and truthfulness about substance abuse. I like this track because it’s out of tune, which adds to the song’s theme of the uncertainty of the unknown. “There She Goes Again” is a straight rock song, but has elastic time signatures. “I’ll Be Your Mirror” is bright compared to “The Black Angel’s Death Song. This comparison of back-to-back songs is unique and new. The last track, “European Son,” distorts the feedback noises and end the album in a cinematic, inconclusive matter. 

For the cover art, Andy Warhol––artist and pop culture headliner––collided with The Velvet Underground. Because of the album’s subject matter, Warhol painted a phallic symbol (a banana) for the cover art. He also helped produce some parts of the album.

Since its release, The Velvet Underground & Nico has become one of the most important and influential records for years to come. The band put meaning and intelligence to music that was never before seen. Through its unique use of new sounds, inappropriate lyrics, structure of tracks, and deeper meanings of songs, The Velvet Underground & Nico proves to be an significant record. After many years, the record still sounds like a groundbreaking work ahead of its time.