The Velvet Underground And Nico

      The Velvet Underground was a group from the mid 1960’s, dedicated to producing music that was designed to annoy people with atonal sound and taboo lyrics. It was the precursor to Punk Rock that followed in the 1980’s. The image projected was a mixture of angst and uncaring, combined with the drug culture and pop art of Andy Warhol. Their music was experimental and sometimes atonal in nature with odd instrumentation, like a modified electric viola.

            The group consisted of John Cale, Lou Reed, Sterling Morrison, Maureen Tucker, and Nico, a German model and singer. Andy Warhol brought Nico into the band when he began to produce and involve them in his Exploding Plastic Inevitable multi-media happenings. The Velvet Underground did not readily accept Nico and so the name of their album was The Velvet Underground and Nico to show that she was not truly an accepted part of the group (Howard, 2004). Her vocals lend a doomy quality to the songs of the group (Howard). 

            Lou Reed wrote songs with intense lyrics, which covered taboo subjects like drug use and abuse, transvestites, and anything that he thought would shock the audience. According to USA Today (December 6, 1995), as a teenager, Lou Reed was subjected to electroconvulsive theory in an attempt to cure his Homosexual tendency and alarming mood swings. I am sure that this had a lasting impression on Reed and may have contributed to his taste in taboo lyrics.

            John Cale was a virtuoso musician that studied classical music in England and came to the United States to study modern music in Massachusetts on a Leonard Bernstein Scholarship (Howard). This did not work out well so Cale moved to New York and worked briefly with John Cage (Howard). After working with Cage, he then worked with La Monte Young and began playing the electric viola. Many of the compositions that they performed contained heavy drones and this influence carried over into his association with Lou Reed.

            The Velvet Underground and Nico album had several characteristics that have caused it to gain a cult-like following, though as with many experimental records did not achieve commercial success due to the extreme nature of the lyrics and the harshness of the sound. The lyrics cover a range of taboo subjects, which were intended to shock the listener, and the production was done with minimalism in mind. The mix sounds raw and un-polished and many times, even sounds out of tune. Several of the songs have the electric viola droning in the background and at other times playing crazy solos or orchestration over top. The songs that Nico sings are sparse and gloomy sounding.    

            As an industry professional, I understand the experimental nature of the album and the sound of The Velvet Underground. Their expression of taboo subjects and minimalistic approach certainly leads directly to the harsh punk rock and even Goth metal sounds of today. However as a listener, I find the subject matter questionable and the atonal nature of the sound objectionable. I experienced this period of music first hand and, as a listener, was not much impressed. This was not a style that I enjoyed or spent much time analyzing. As I have grown in the music industry, I can appreciate the talent and the intent of the artists but still do not necessarily enjoy this music.