The Velvet Underground White Light/White Heat Verve, 1967 amazon

I first heard music of the Velvet Underground in my dorm at Cal from my roommate Brooks. Brooks was into punk/funk/rap/folk/techno/ska/reggae (he was one of the original members of the Rapture, before his house burned down and the rest of the band decided to head to New York), so you could say he was well-versed in music history. I remember hearing the wanderings of "Stephanie Says" ("the people all call her Alaska ... it's so cold in Alaska") and being intrigued by Lou Reed's gentle croon. I was even more impressed on hearing the noisy rock of "I'm Waiting for the Man", "Run Run Run", and the epic drug reflection "Heroin". Years after parting ways with Brooks my interests circled back to Lou and co., prompting me to pick up the 5 cd Velvets box set Peel Slowly and See. The highlight of the set for me is the Velvet Underground's second album, 1967's White Light/White Heat. In a sense the record brings to fulfilment Lou Reed's intention to turn the music industry on its head. The noise that was flirted with on their self-titled debut is brought to the forefront. The title track is another Lou love song for drugs (in this case, speed), with Reed's lilting vocals accenting guitars overdriven far beyond clipping, smeared on top of Moe Tucker's pounding drum beat. The second song, "The Gift", is my favorite ... a twisted John Cale love story read over a rolling bass line punctuated with guitar noodlings and swells of feedback. "Lady Godiva's Operation" and "Here She Comes Now" represent the two softer elements of the album, albeit embodying the differing approaches of Cale and Reed, respectively. "I Heard Her Call My Name" lurches through four minutes of guitar wailing, but is only a prelude to the now legendary closing track "Sister Ray". The 17 minute epic begins with a three chord rhythm guitar, highlighted by a Farfisa organ and a rambling lead guitar piece. "I'm searchin' for my mainline, i said i couldn't hit it sideways, oh just like Sister Ray said, whip it on". Lyrically and musically the song (d)evolves into a wall of feedback, noise, and Reed's howling. Legend has it the engineer walked out of the recording ten minutes in, disgusted with the proceedings. A fitting mythology for the band that foretold many of the musical trends of the next 30 years.

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