The Velvet Underground & Nico

The Velvet Underground & Nico is the debut album from the Velvet Underground released in 1967 by Verve Records. The album is recognized as one of the most influential rock albums of all time. Upon release, it was not a commercial success. It has however gained recognition over the years, appearing at number thirteen on the Rolling Stone magazine's list of 500 Greatest Albums of All Time and was added 

to the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress.

 The band's producer was the famous American artist Andy Warhol, and their debut album was recorded during his Exploding Plastic Inevitable multimedia tour. The album was recorded with the bands original line-up which consisted of Lou Reed, John Cale, Sterling Morrison, and Maureen Tucker. German singer/actress "Nico" also contributed to the album by recording vocals for the tracks "Femme Fatale", "All Tomorrow's Parties", and "I'll Be Your Mirror". Andy Warhol helped propel the band into the spotlight due to his fame, and despite being their producer, he gave them full control over their music. 

The band's lyrical content was mostly written by Lou Reed, drawing inspiration from many different poets and authors. Reed was an English major who studied at Syracuse University and was quoted as saying the joining of dark subject matter and rock and roll was "obvious." The album's lyrics tackle dark themes such as drug abuse, prostitution, and sexual deviancy. The content and lyrics of the album are considered very revolutionary for the time. 

The instrumentation and arrangement of the music was handled by member John Cale. Cale was a classically trained musician who came to the United States to further his music education and work with many renowned composers. Many of the musical concepts of The Velvet Underground was based around using new ways of producing sound, as well as experimenting with unique tuning modes. Cale contributed the "Ostrich" guitar tuning (All notes tuned to same note) for the songs "Venus in Furs" and "All Tomorrow's Parties." He also played viola on a few tracks, using drones to create a unique sound. 

This album has many unique traits that stand out to me as a listener. One track that I really appreciate upon listening to the album closely is "Venus in Furs." The tones that are created by the viola drone create a nice background for all the other instruments. The song has a slight repetitiveness to the melody,  but it manages to create a very visual type of sound. It's easy to feel like your traveling while listening, which is something I really admire and strive for when I create music. I also really enjoy "Heroin" for many of the same reasons. The string drone as the main base of the song manages to drive the song forward, especially mixed with the simple percussion. The lyrics are simple and fit well with the odd arrangement of the song, which continues to build and slow down repeatedly. It is a very unique songwriting style on this song as well as the other songs that made this album revolutionary and an inspiration for many great artists that came after.