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Monday, December 12, 2022

The Velvet Underground: Loaded 1970 (Re - Loaded 45 th Anniversary Edition) Box Set (5 CD) - Deluxe Edition 2015

 

The Velvet Underground was an American rock band formed in New York City in 1964. The original


line-up consisted of singer/guitarist Lou Reed, multi-instrumentalist John Cale, guitarist Sterling Morrison, and drummer Angus MacLise. MacLise was replaced by Moe Tucker in 1965,
who played on most of the band's recordings.
                                

             

Their integration of rock and the avant-garde achieved little commercial success during the group's
existence, but they are now recognized as one of the most influential bands in rock, underground, experimental, and alternative music. The group's provocative subject matter, musical experiments, and often nihilistic attitudes also proved influential in the development of punk rock and new wave music.
             

In 1965, after being introduced to the Velvet Underground by filmmaker Barbara Rubin, Andy Warhol

became the band's manager and suggested they use the German-born singer Nico (born Christa Päffgen) on several songs. Warhol's reputation helped the band gain a higher profile. He helped the band secure a recording contract with MGM's Verve Records, with himself as nominal "producer", and gave the Velvets free rein over the sound they created.
                          

During their stay with Andy Warhol, the band became part of his multimedia roadshow, Exploding Plastic Inevitable, which combined Warhol's films with the band's music, which made use of minimalist

devices, such as drones. Warhol included the band with his show in an effort to "use rock as a part of a larger, interdisciplinary-art work based around performance" (McDonald). They played shows for several months in New York City, then traveled throughout the United States and Canada until its last installment in May 1967. During a short period in September 1966, when Cale was ill, the avant-garde musician Henry Flynt and Reed's friend Richard Mishkin took turns to cover for him.
                        

Their four studio albums -- 1967's The Velvet Underground & Nico, 1968's White Light/White Heat, 1969's The Velvet Underground, and 1970's Loaded -- are all essential documents, and 2015's The

Complete Matrix Tapes is superb evidence of their power as a live act. After The Velvet Underground cut three albums for the jazz-oriented Verve label that earned them lots of notoriety but negligible sales, the group signed with industry powerhouse Atlantic Records in 1970; label head Ahmet Ertegun supposedly asked Lou Reed to avoid sex and drugs in his songs, and instead focus on making an album "loaded with hits." Loaded was the result, and with appropriate irony it turned out to be the first VU album that made any noticeable impact on commercial radio -- and also their swan song, with Reed leaving the group shortly before its release.
                         

With John Cale long gone from the band, Doug Yule highly prominent (he sings lead on four of the ten

tracks), and Maureen Tucker absent on maternity leave, this is hardly a purist's Velvet Underground album. But while Lou Reed always wrote great rock & roll songs with killer hooks, on Loaded his tunes were at last given a polished but intelligent production that made them sound like the hits they should have been, and there's no arguing that "Sweet Jane" and "Rock and Roll" are as joyously anthemic as anything he's ever recorded.
                        

And if this release generally maintains a tight focus on the sunny side of the VU's personality (or would that be Reed's personality?), "New Age" and "Oh! Sweet Nuthin'" prove he had hardly abandoned his

contemplative side, and "Train Around the Bend" is a subtle but revealing metaphor for his weariness with the music business. Sterling Morrison once said of Loaded, "It showed that we could have, all along, made truly commercial sounding records," but just as importantly, it proved they could do so without entirely abandoning their musical personality in the process. It's a pity that notion hadn't occurred to anyone a few years earlier.


The Velvet Underground – Loaded (Re-Loaded 45th Anniversary Edition)
Label:    Cotillion – 081227953737, Rhino Records  – 081227953737, Atlantic – 081227953737
Series:    45th Anniversary Edition
Format:    CD, Reissue, Remastere, DVD, DVD-Audio, Box Set, Deluxe Edition
Country: Europe
Released: 2015
Genre: Rock, Pop
Style: Rock, Garage Rock, Ballad

CD1. LOADED (REMASTERED) 
      

                          

  
01. Who Loves The Sun   2:46
Drums – Adrian Barber/Written-By – Lou Reed
02. Sweet Jane (Full-Length Version)   4:06
Written-By – Lou Reed
03. Rock & Roll (Full-Length Version)   4:43
Written-By – Lou Reed
04. Cool It Down   3:05
Drums – Tommy Castanaro/Written-By – Lou Reed
05. New Age   5:10
Written-By – Lou Reed
06. Head Held High   2:57
Drums – Tommy Castanaro/Written-By – Lou Reed
07. Lonesome Cowboy Bill   2:44
Drums – Bill Yule/Written-By – Doug Yule, Lou Reed, Sterling Morrison
08. I Found A Reason   4:16
Written-By – Lou Reed
09. Train Round The Bend   3:21
Drums [Maybe] – Adrian Barber, Bill Yule/Written-By – Lou Reed
10. Oh! Sweet Nuthin'   7:29
Drums – Bill Yule/Written-By – Lou Reed


SESSIONS OUTTAKES       

                                 

  
11. I'm Sticking With You (Remix)   2:53
Vocals – Maureen Tucker/Written-By – Lou Reed
12. Ocean
Drums – Bill Yule   5:45
Written-By – Lou Reed
13. I Love You 2:54
Written-By – Lou Reed
14. Ride Into The Sun   3:26
Written-By – John Cale, Lou Reed, Maureen Tucker, Sterling Morrison

MP3 @ 320 Size: 136 MB
Flac  Size: 358 MB

CD2. LOADED (PROMOTIONAL MONO VERSION) (REMASTERED)
           

                                 


01. Who Loves The Sun   2:45
Drums – Adrian Barber/Written-By – Lou Reed
02. Sweet Jane   3:15
Written-By – Lou Reed
03. Rock & Roll   4:38
Written-By – Lou Reed
04. Cool It Down   3:03
Drums – Tommy Castanaro/Written-By – Lou Reed
05. New Age   4:46
Written-By – Lou Reed
06. Head Held High   2:55
Drums – Tommy Castanaro/Written-By – Lou Reed
07. Lonesome Cowboy Bill   2:42   
Drums – Bill Yule/Written-By – Doug Yule, Lou Reed, Sterling Morrison
08. I Found A Reason    4:14
Written-By – Lou Reed
09. Train Round The Bend   3:18
Drums [Maybe] – Adrian Barber, Bill Yule/Written-By – Lou Reed
10. Oh! Sweet Nuthin'   7:24
Drums – Bill Yule/Written-By – Lou Reed

MONO SINGLE COTILLION 45-44107, RELEASED MARCH 1971       

                           

  
11. Who Loves The Sun   2:48
Written-By – Lou Reed
12. Oh! Sweet Nuthin'   7:26
Drums – Bill Yule//Written-By – Lou Reed

MONO SINGLE COTILLION 45-44133, UNISSUED       

                               

  
13. Rock & Roll   3:05
Written-By – Lou Reed
14. Lonesome Cowboy Bill   2:40
Drums – Bill Yule/Written-By – Lou Reed

MP3 @ 320 Size: 134 MB
Flac  Size: 204 MB

CD3. LOADED (DEMOS, EARLY VERSIONS AND ALERNATE MIXES)         
    
DEMOS:
 
      

                          

  
01. Rock & Roll (Demo)   4:42
Written-By – Lou Reed
02. Sad Song (Demo)   3:31
Written-By – Lou Reed
03. Satellite Of Love (Demo)   3:00
Written-By – Lou Reed
04. Walk And Talk (Demo)    2:25
Written-By – Lou Reed
05. Oh Gin (Demo)   2:45
Written-By – Lou Reed
06. Ocean (Demo)   6:05
Organ – John Cale/Written-By – Lou Reed
07. I Love You (Demo)   2:09
Written-By – Lou Reed
08. Love Makes You Feel Ten Feet Tall (Demo) (Remix)   4:15
Written-By – Lou Reed
09. I Found A Reason (Demo)   3:17
Percussion – Maureen Tucker/Written-By – Lou Reed

EARLY VERSIONS      

                            



10. Cool It Down (Early Version) (Remix)   4:20
Written-By – Lou Reed
11. Sweet Jane (Early Version) (Remix)   5:31
Written-By – Lou Reed
12. Lonesome Cowboy Bill (Early Version) (Remix)   3:19
Written-By – Doug Yule, Lou Reed, Sterling Morrison
13. Head Held High (Early Version) (Remix)    2:56
Written-By – Lou Reed
14. Oh! Sweet Nuthin' (Early Version) (Remix)   4:04
Written-By – Lou Reed

ALTERNATE MIXES       

                             

  
15. Who Loves The Sun (Alternate Mix)   3:05
Written-By – Lou Reed
16. Sweet Jane (Alternate Mix)   4:23
Written-By – Lou Reed
17. Cool It Down (Alternate Mix)   3:28
Written-By – Lou Reed
18. Lonesome Cowboy Bill (Alternate Mix)   2:42
Written-By – Doug Yule, Lou Reed, Sterling Morrison
19. Train Round The Bend (Alternate Mix)   4:39
Written-By – Lou Reed
20. Head Held High (Alternate Mix)   2:15
Written-By – Lou Reed
21. Rock & Roll (Alternate Mix)   4:40
Written-By – Lou Reed

MP3 @ 320 Size: 184 MB
Flac  Size: 487 MB

CD4. LIVE AT MAX'S KANSAS CITY (REMASTERED)
           

                                     


01. I'm Waiting For The Man   4:44
Written-By – Lou Reed
02. White Light/White Heat   5:15
Written-By – Lou Reed
03. I'm Set Free   6:27
Written-By – Lou Reed
04. Sweet Jane   6:17
Written-By – Lou Reed
05. Lonesome Cowboy Bill   4:20
Written-By – Doug Yule, Lou Reed, Sterling Morrison
06. New Age   6:38
Written-By – Lou Reed
07. Beginning To See The Light   5:42
Written-By – Lou Reed
08. I'll Be Your Mirror   3:27
Written-By – Lou Reed
09. Pale Blue Eyes    6:01
Written-By – Lou Reed
10. Candy Says   5:50
Written-By – Lou Reed
11. Sunday Morning   3:39
Written-By – John Cale, Lou Reed
12. After Hours   2:58
Written-By – Lou Reed
13. Femme Fatale   3:09
Written-By – Lou Reed
14. Some Kinda Love   11:03
Written-By – Lou Reed
15. Lonesome Cowboy Bill (Version 2)    4:17
Written-By – Lou Reed

MP3 @ 320 Size: 192 MB
Flac  Size: 273 MB

CD5. LIVE AT SECOND FRET, PHILADELPHIA, 1970 (PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED)
       

                             

  
01. I'm Waiting For The Man   6:12
Written-By – Lou Reed
02. What Goes On   5:26
Written-By – Lou Reed
03. Cool It Down   6:06
Written-By – Lou Reed
04. Sweet Jane   7:08
Written-By – Lou Reed
05. Rock & Roll   7:31
Written-By – Lou Reed
06. Some Kinda Love   4:24
Written-By – Lou Reed
07. New Age   7:29
Written-By – Lou Reed
08. Candy Says    5:05
Lead Vocals – Doug Yule/Written-By – Lou Reed
09. Head Held High   4:15
Written-By – Lou Reed
10. Train Round The Bend   8:51
Written-By – Lou Reed
11. Oh! Sweet Nuthin'   7:36
Written-By – Lou Reed

MP3 @ 320 Size: 169 MB
Flac  Size: 282 MB

 

6 comments:

  1. Craziness ! I just bought the "Loaded" 2 weeks ago as a simple cd. I didn't think they were particularly good for years. That was a mistake and now a whole box from that time that i knew nothing about. A real discovery. I hope the quality of the live recording from Philadelphia 1970 is good too.
    THANKS FOR THIS GREAT POST KOSTAS.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They were based on a specific sound based on droning notes, which was John Cale's thing, and when he left they took a more straightforward direction. I think this direction is shown more clearly in RnR Animal. I think that sound is something that you have to be in the right state of mind to connect to.

      Some of the demos might not be the best form of the songs though.

      Quite a monumental post, thanks Kostas!

      Delete
  2. Thanks Kostas! Appreciated and Cale with new album out (MERCY) getting great reviews and still touring, playing a UK dates ( in-between covid breakouts for the band and crew!)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Absolutely crucial band. Thanks much for this reissue!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thank you very much for this big Loaded set, and for running such an amazing blog! The amount of research, curating, and work keeping links working that you do is truly appreciated by this music fan. Cheers!

    ReplyDelete