The Velvet Underground

This live set was released in 1974, when the first wave of Velvets-revisionism was taking shape. The recordings date from 1969 and show that not only did Lou Reed play guitar with rabid, blunted brilliance (try and deny the nine-minute take on "What Goes On") but also that Doug Yule helped turn the band into a solid rock band.

It's nice to have a decent-sounding live record of the legend, especially one that adds a few new songs--notably "We're Gonna Have a Real Good Time Together"--and choruses to the canon. This is a more impressive testimonial to Lou Reed than any of his solo LPs. And if it's not as essential as any of the four studio albums, it does provide an overview of the band's music: deadpan, demotic, jaded, oddly sensationalistic, primitive both harmonically and rhythmically and all but devoid of flourishes, always hard-edged and usually quick, never slow and heavy at the same time. (Grade - A-)