242. The Velvet Underground, "Loaded"

 


Funny story about "Cool It Down," the fourth song on this album.  Back in the day, our pal Burrito Justice had a show on local radio powerhouse BFF.FM and one time me and my friend Olu went on the show and picked songs from our Top 20 Songs list and put them head to head and people voted on which song they liked better.  One of my picks was "Cool It Down," which swiftly dispatched Olu's pick, Blonde Redhead's "I Am Taking Out My Eurotrash."  And why not?  "Cool It Down" is just a great rock song (not that Blonde Redhead has anything to be ashamed of).  One of many on this album, Velvet Underground's last "official" studio album.

OK, not that funny.

Is the first song, "Who Loves the Sun," an answer song to the Beatles' "Here Comes the Sun"?  Sure, why not.  It's a blast of sugary pop, all harmonies and light, but with lyrics about the meaninglessness of life after heartbreak.  ("Who loves the sun?/Who cares that it is shining?/Who cares what it does/Since you broke my heart?")  Of course, "Sweet Jane" is an absolute classic, with a guitar part that launched a thousand garage bands.  If you were in a band in the 80s, you probably covered this song at least once.

The lesser-known songs are also bangers.  I'm not sure if "Rock and Roll" is lesser-known, but it lives up to its name.  The Strokes' entire sound can be found in this one song.  And they're all over the place!  "Lonesome Cowboy Bill" is Byrds-esque country rock, while "I Found a Reason" is smack addict gospel.

You can tell Lou Reed is already losing interest.  Bassist Doug Yule sings lead on several songs, and Reed was later critrical of the album.  The band was under pressure to produce a hit - contrary to popular belief, "Loaded" doesn't refer to being high, but rather an album that was supposed to be "loaded" with potential singles - and it sounds like it.  Giving up the scuzzy, screamy jams of White Light/White Heat in favor of tight 3-minute songs was a big deal.  Nevertheless, since this is the Velvet Underground, it never sold for shit and it took a bunch of record store rats in the 80s to finally get this band it's due.  Better late than never.

Does this album deserve to be in the Top 500? Yep.

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