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The Velvet Underground & Nico cover

The Velvet Underground & Nico

Nico, The Velvet Underground

rock art rock avant-garde proto-punk garage rock new york
Polydor Verve Forecast

Recorded

1967

Released

1967

This 1967 debut has been so mythologized and valorized over the ensuing years that it’s hard to assess it without the weight of its baggage. But the reason the myth developed is that it’s just so outstanding. One of the great works of rock and roll, it both defined and transcended all alternative music that followed in its wake. “Venus in Furs” and “All Tomorrow’s Parties” still startle in their ability to make urban grit and decadence sound celestial and majestic. Lesser tracks like “European Son” do bring it back to Earth a bit, but “Femme Fatale,” “Run Run Run,” “I’ll Be Your Mirror,” and most of the others are eternal.

Joshua Levine

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Bitchin Bajas, Natural Information Society