VU
is an album
by the
American
rock band
released in
February 1985
by Verve Records
and consisting of
material recorded in
1968 and 1969.
Sources disagree on
whether
VU
should be classified
as a compilation album,
archival collection of outtakes,
or a long-delayed
studio album,
though others avoid
categorizing
the album entirely.
VU
has been
critically acclaimed
both in
contemporary
and
retrospective reviews.
Background
When the
Velvet Underground
moved from
Verve Records
(which had released their first two albums)
to parent company
MGM Records,
they signed a
two-album deal,
releasing their third album
The Velvet Underground
in March 1969.
This was their first record
with multi-instrumentalist
Doug Yule,
who replaced
John Cale.
Later that year
there was a
management change
and
MGM Records'
new CEO,
Mike Curb,
was brought in
to try to rescue
the financially struggling label.
He decided to purge
the record company
of its unprofitable acts.
The Velvet Underground
were already inclined
to leave the label by then
and would later sign
with Atlantic Records,
which released their
fourth studio album,
Loaded,
in November 1970.
In the meantime,
in 1969,
the band recorded
fourteen tracks
for possible release
as their second MGM
(and fourth overall)
album.
All of these were shelved
and forgotten by
the record company
until the early
1980's
Release and Contents
In the early 1980s,
as Verve
(by then an imprint of Polygram)
prepared to re-release
the band's three
Verve/MGM albums
on vinyl and CD,
they found nineteen
previously unreleased tracks:
five Cale-era tracks
and the fourteen
"lost album" tracks,
some of them in
two-track mixdown format,
some of them even
on multitracks.
The cream of the
nineteen tracks
was released in 1985
as VU;
the rest was
released as
Another View
in 1986.
VU
is a selection from
the 1969 tracks
as well as
two previously
unreleased songs
recorded with Cale:
"Temptation Inside Your Heart"
and
"Stephanie Says".
Since most of
the material was available
on multitrack only
"Ocean"
is included in its original
1969 mix
engineers were able
to clean up
and remix
the tracks.
As the
Velvet Underground
moved from MGM
to Atlantic,
they re-recorded
two of the songs on
VU
("Ocean" and "I'm Sticking with You")
for possible inclusion on
Loaded
. Neither made the cut,
but six of the
VU songs
were recycled
by the band's leader
Lou Reed
during his solo career:
"I Can't Stand It",
"Lisa Says"
and
"Ocean"
on his debut album
Lou Reed
(1972);
"Andy's Chest"
on
Transformer
(1972);
"Stephanie Says"
(as "Caroline Says II")
on
Berlin
(1973),
and
"She's My Best Friend"
(which was originally sung by Doug Yule)
on
Coney Island Baby
(1976).
VU
is called a
compilation album
by some sources,
an archival album
by other,
and a Velvets'
unofficial studio album
("A Basement Tapes for the '80s")
by Robert Christgau.
Most avoid classifying
the album in any of
the mentioned categories.
TRACKLIST
Stephanie Says
She's My Best Friend
Lisa Says
Ocean
Foggy Notion
Temptation Inside Your Heart
One of These Days
Andy's Chest
I'm Sticking With You
I Can't Stand It
(Vocal Mix) [*]
She's My Best Friend
(Vocal Mix) [*]
Lisa Says
(Just Vocals) [*]
Temptation Inside Your Heart
(Just Vocals) [*]
No comments:
Post a Comment