The Velvet Underground (known among fans as “The Grey Album”)
What fans? I never heard anybody call it that before, and never want to hear anybody call it that again.
I really enjoyed the hell out of the Yule interview, though.
I don't know how I missed this thread before. The Velvet Underground had the greatest impact on my life of anyone in music bar the you-know-whootles. I really do believe that the third album in particular
saved my life on more than one occasion.
I feel like I've written more than enough about them on these boards and don't much feel like repeating myself, but reading this thread did excavate one memory: that of hearing the 1986 reissue of
The Velvet Underground And Nico for the first time. Thing is, it was my second time buying the album; the first one had been an early-'80s UK pressing (on the MGM label! - how odd!), and while I don't consider myself an audiophile as such, this was a
really crappy pressing. But
I didn't know that - how could I? I just assumed that that was how the album sounded, take it or leave it. And I took it, of course - happily. The only reason I bought the '86 reissues was because they were one of my pet bands and I was really happy that these things were coming out in their home country again after so many years and I kinda wanted to vote with my dollars, so to speak - reward the big record company for
doing the right thing (for a change). Anyway, when I put on
VU&N it sounded so amazingly much better that I remember bursting into tears of joy during "Heroin" (Side 2 of that UK pressing had been even crappier sounding than Side 1). That's what I just remembered.