Velvet Underground blows.

[Beware the Beast Man]

Somehow, we've been programmed to believe that they are somehow "visionaries" and "pioneers" of music. In truth, they were a bunch of musically illiterate smack addicts propped up by their association with that no-talent social climber Andy Warhol. Discuss. :nuke:

[kick-ass-bob]

1. I like Velvet Revolver.

[sniffa]

2. they don't suck as bad as

the steeLers.

how can you knock the nico version of the band?

[Beware the Beast Man]

4. Oooh. We have a barely coherent German model as a vocalist!

How avant-garde! :eyes:

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

8. Its one step away from having Vincent Gallo in your band

[tigereye]

12. Hey Hey Hey!

come down here and say that Beastie! ( puts up dukes) ;)

I love the Velvets. It's those mop top hair cuts. Ah their albums were the soundtrack to many of my exploits back in the day.

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

14. As were the Fat Boys for me- doesn't make them not suck!

[tigereye]

21. hey, I'll cross you off my hipster list,

Chavez. ;)

shocked, shocked. But they have so many great songs. Sigh.

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

23. Yeah - the Fat Boys were quite prolific

and the can never be wack - they said so

[tigereye]

26. obviously you need some schoolin'

[Magrittes Pipe]

3. Sex Pistols were a bunch of musically illiterate smack addicts...

...propped up by their association with that no-talent social climber Malcolm McLaren. What of it?

[Beware the Beast Man]

6. They suck, too.

[sendero]

59. Lot's of...

.... bands that more or less suck were nonetheless very influential.

The Sex Pistols made a small but indelible imprint on popular music, as did VU. Personally, I think both bands deserve every bit of credit they have gotten - because both of them did something NEW. Something NEW comes along only seldom in pop music - you can only rehash the same damn meat loaf so many times before it becomes a crashing bore.

Basic rock and roll is for droolers. It is too simple to do anything other than party to. Some of us like to really listen.

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

5. Just like Sonic Youth - I put that shit on and its like - ok...when does

the genius begin??

:eyes:

[rbnyc]

51. I'm gonna start crying.

2 of my favorite bands are sonic youth and velvet underground. I just enjoy the music.

[dolo amber]

7. That is so amazing!!

I was JUST thinking the same thing! :o



And yes, they were/are horrid. :D

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

9. The guitarist for my band in highschool insisted on playing Heroin all the

time.

I fucking hate that song

[tigereye]

13. but there are so many of their songs that are better than that

JMO

[tigereye]

17. I am stunned, just stunned!

you are scaring me. What kind of alt-hipsters are you guys, after all.

:evilgrin:

And Moe, one of the first rock female drummers, ever. I am stunned and saddened. ;)

[warrens]

10. HAHAHAHA

John Cale, the piano and viola prodigy who studied with John Cage and LaMonte Young, was musically illiterate?

Nice try. Not.

[jpgray]

18. I wish the Velvets would have done an album of 4'33" covers

:)

[Magrittes Pipe]

19. He and Young also worked with the great Tony Conrad.

Don't forget that!

Of course, "Fear Is a Man's Best Friend" may be a better song than the VU ever recorded. And I fucking love the Velvets.

Okay, it's not as good as "The Murder Mystery." And Cale wasn't around for that one. Oh dear, I'm losing my reason. No matter.

Cale is very nearly a genius. Reed IS a genius in that more than half of what he's done over his career is crap. True geniuses can get away with releasing things like New Sensations. But no milquetoast house DJ could ever unleash something as brilliant "Sister Ray" on the world.

[dolo amber]

22. Are you still talking?

:boring:

[tigereye]

37. thank god, the voice of reason

Cale is amazing. In all forms.

[warrens]

40. HoboSapiens is his best work in a long time

My CD player now has that record, the new Fall album and Brian Jonestown Massacre on steady rotation. Every now and then I toss on Arcade Fire for a change of pace.

Among many others, Paris 1919, Fear, Slow Dazzle, Helen of Troy, Honi Soit, Caribbean Sunset, Fragments of a Rainy Season and New Music for a New Society are brilliant albums. And lately I have been listening to his debut album a lot. I loved it when it came out, but hadn't listened to it in years. I think he thought it was pop music, but it is so skewed to the weird, even if it is his most normal record, that it has amazing power 35 years later.

[tigereye]

60. I don't have his new one yet.

I think he is brilliant.

[Kire]

11. Usually, I like to provoke posters who say bands suck with no reasons.

But, seeing as how much support you've got here. I'll let it slide.

[bloodyjack]

15. OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO controversial

I am not going to dignify the original post with a response

Oh shit I just did

[WilliamPitt]

16. Hmmm

It is said that only 2,000 people bought the first Velvet Underground album, but all of them went out and started a band.

I like VU.

[GreenArrow]

28. beat me to it.

VU is great.

[Bridget Burke]

36. Hey, I was going to say that!

Who really said it first? I really liked their combo of crushing rock & European artiness.

[NashVegas]

I Believe It Was Eno

..

[mr blur]

56. Yeah, but wasn't it the same band? (n/t)

[redqueen]

20. You are funny.

:hi:

[Joe Power]

24. Bunch of musical philistines!

VU, Sonic Youth, and the Sex Pistols are/were all great! All three bands were incredibly influential and innovative.

What would you have us listen to? Boston and Blink 182? :puke:

[Beware the Beast Man]

25. Get yourself some Solar Radio.

Excellent underground music.

[Magrittes Pipe]

27. I have it on good authority that the originator of this sentiment...

...prefers Winger and Supertramp. :puke:

[redqueen]

29. Winger? Winger?!

Supertramp is one thing, but ... Winger?

[Magrittes Pipe]

30. And Paul Oakenfold.

Tragic, really. :cry:

[redqueen]

31. Who?

Nevermind... I'm already crying from the Winger reference.

:cry:

[Magrittes Pipe]

32. Exactly.

[dolo amber]

33. At least Oakenfld makes me feel something

Granted, it's blinding rage and nausea, but at least he doesn't make me go into an irreversible coma. :P

[Magrittes Pipe]

34. You mean if I play you some VU...

...you might shut up for a few minutes? :P

[Beware the Beast Man]

35. Oh. My. Starry-eyed surprise.

Lord have mercy on the man who is stuck with you. :P

[devilgrrl]

38. Who cares what you think?

:freak:

[Beware the Beast Man]

41. You do, apparently,

or else you wouldn't have replied!

[devilgrrl]

53. If you're such a music expert - who is deserving of adoration?

I'm almost frightened to find out!

[CanuckAmok]

39. DING DING DING!

You, sir, are spot-on.

They were "the Emperor's New Band".

Fuck, one of 'em couldn't even ride a bicycle.

[Droopy]

42. I read half of this thread thinking you had said

Velvet Revolver. I was thinking how could they have been associated with Warhol?

I've never heard a Velvet Underground song.

I don't think much of Velvet Revolver, though.

[Laughing Mirror]

43. "That no-talent social climber Andy Warhol"

Andy gave a lot of young people a start, putting them to work in his factory and on his magazine, from the money he made off portraits of society people, which I think ran from $25,000 when he first starting doing them, to double that by his clever manipulting of his own market, when he died.

So he directly pumped the money from just those silk-screened Polaroids back into his business, giving people jobs, helping to launch many of them in successful careers, and not just Velvet Underground. I think giving people creative, interesting-and at time exciting--work is a very good thing to do. A lot of people owe a lot to Andy Warhol, even non-people. Things, places. New York City, for one.

How many jobs have you produced with YOUR income, Beware the Beast Man?

[Beware the Beast Man]

44. Millions.

I am Bill Gates.

[HEyHEY]

48. He paid them shit!

Like NOTHING

[Laughing Mirror]

52. The people who worked on Interview magazine and in his factory were paid

and not only that, they were able to advance to excellent jobs in their various careers as a result, not only of their unique talents, but also of having Andy Warhol on their resumes. Andy showcased them, gave them a chance. A lot of people, many of them still around today. Apart from the Velvet Underground, would you like me to start dropping names?

[rbnyc]

45. The thing is...

...while what you say is true in many ways, they STILL created timeless and ispirational works of art. They were still one of the most important bands that ever recorded. And they were still damned good songwriters.

[cestpaspossible]

47. You just haven't taken enough heroin to appreciate them...

[rbnyc]

50. I would never touch the stuff, EVER!

And I do appreciate them.

:hi:

[HEyHEY]

46. Some of it is good - I love Sweet Jane and Waiting for the man

Sweet Bonnie Brown was good too.

However, they do not even come close to holding the rank of overated assbag supreme - the Doors hold that title.

[NashVegas]

49. "All Tomorrow's Parties," "After Hours"

..

[Cocoa]

54. your favorite band sucks

:-)

[48pan]

55. Lou Reed is a Rock and Roll Animal! n/t

[Spider Jerusalem]

57. Not as much as the Dead, though.

Talk about a band that blows...

[mr blur]

58. I do love VU, but

I'm reminded of hearing John Cale interviewed on Desert Island Discs here last year.

Interviewer: "How would you describe the Velvet Underground to people who have never hear them?"
Cale: "Er...monotonous."