The Velvet Underground & Nico: The Velvet Underground & Nico 45th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition 2012

 

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

comprised singer and guitarist Lou Reed, Welsh multi-instrumentalist John Cale, guitarist Sterling Morrison, and drummer Angus MacLise. In 1965, MacLise was replaced by Moe Tucker, who played on most of the band's recordings. Too far ahead of their time for pop music's mainstream, the VU made a profound impression on thoughtful listeners, many of whom would go on to make groundbreaking music of their own, and they would belatedly be acknowledged as one of rock's most important groups.
                   

The Velvet Underground were largely ignored during heir original run from the mid-'60s into the early '70s, but few bands would cast as long a shadow in terms of innovation and influence. Though their

integration of rock and the avant-garde resulted in little commercial success, they became one of the most influential bands in rock, underground, experimental, and alternative music. Their provocative subject matter, musical experiments, and nihilistic attitude was also instrumental in the development of punk rock, new wave and several other genres.
                 

     
The group performed under several names before settling on the Velvet Underground in 1965, taken

from the title of a 1963 book on atypical sexual behavior. In 1966, the pop artist Andy Warhol became their manager. They served as the house band at Warhol's studio, the Factory, and his traveling multimedia show, the Exploding Plastic Inevitable, from 1966 to 1967.
                   

Their debut album, The Velvet Underground & Nico, featuring the German singer and model Nico, was released in 1967 to critical indifference and poor sales but later drew widespread acclaim. They

released three more albums: the abrasive White Light/White Heat (1968), and the more accessible albums The Velvet Underground (1969) and Loaded (1970), with Doug Yule replacing Cale for the latter two. None performed to the expectations of record labels or Reed, the band's leader. However, like the band's debut, all albums later achieved critical acclaim.
               

One would be hard-pressed to name a rock album whose influence has been as broad and pervasive as The Velvet Underground & Nico. While it reportedly took over a decade for the album's sales to crack six figures, glam, punk, new wave, goth, noise, and nearly every other left-of-center rock movement

owes an audible debt to this set. While The Velvet Underground had as distinctive a sound as any band, what's most surprising about this album is its diversity. Here, the Velvets dipped their toes into dreamy pop ("Sunday Morning"), tough garage rock ("Waiting for the Man"), stripped-down R&B ("There She Goes Again"), and understated love songs ("I'll Be Your Mirror") when they weren't busy creating sounds without pop precedent.
               

Lou Reed's lyrical exploration of drugs and kinky sex (then risky stuff in film and literature, let alone

"teen music") always received the most press attention, but the music Reed, John Cale, Sterling Morrison, and Maureen Tucker played was as radical as the words they accompanied. The bracing discord of "European Son," the troubling beauty of "All Tomorrow's Parties," and the expressive dynamics of "Heroin" all remain as compelling as the day they were recorded.
                   

While the significance of Nico's contributions have been debated over the years, she meshes with the

band's outlook in that she hardly sounds like a typical rock vocalist, and if Andy Warhol's presence as producer was primarily a matter of signing the checks, his notoriety allowed The Velvet Underground to record their material without compromise, which would have been impossible under most other circumstances. Few rock albums are as important as The Velvet Underground & Nico, and fewer still have lost so little of their power to surprise and intrigue more 50 years after first hitting the racks.

           

The Velvet Underground is regarded as one of the most influential bands in rock history. In 1996 they

were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Critic Robert Christgau considers them to be "the number three band of the '60s, after the Beatles and James Brown and His Famous Flames". AllMusic wrote that "Few rock groups can claim to have broken so much new territory, and maintain such consistent brilliance on record, as the Velvet Underground during their brief lifespan.
                  

On August 30, 1995, Sterling Morrison died of non-Hodgkin lymphoma after returning to his

hometown of Poughkeepsie, New York, at age 53. On October 27, 2013, Lou Reed died at his home in Southampton, New York, aged 71. He had undergone a liver transplant earlier in the year. John Cale responded to Reed's passing by saying, "The world has lost a fine songwriter and poet…I've lost my 'school-yard buddy'"
                   

VENUS IN FURS LYRICS

            

"Venus in Furs" is a song by the Velvet Underground, written by Lou Reed and originally released on the band's 1967 debut album The Velvet Underground & Nico. Inspired by the book of the same name by LEOPOLD VON SACHER-MASOCH, the song includes sexual themes of sadomasochism and bondage.

Shiny, shiny, shiny boots of leather
Whiplash girl child in the dark
Comes in bells, your servant, don't forsake him
Strike, dear mistress, and cure his heart

Downy sins of streetlight fancies
Chase the costumes she shall wear
Ermine furs adorn the imperious
Severin, Severin awaits you there

I am tired, I am weary
I could sleep for a thousand years
A thousand dreams that would awake me
Different colors made of tears

Kiss the boot of shiny, shiny leather
Shiny leather in the dark
Tongue of thongs, the belt that does await you
Strike, dear mistress, and cure his heart

Severin, Severin, speak so slightly
Severin, down on your bended knee
Taste the whip, in love not given lightly
Taste the whip, now bleed for me

I am tired, I am weary
I could sleep for a thousand years
A thousand dreams that would awake me
Different colors made of tears

Shiny, shiny, shiny boots of leather
Whiplash girl child in the dark
Severin, your servant comes in bells, please don't forsake him
Strike, dear mistress, and cure his heart.

The Velvet Underground & Nico – The Velvet Underground & Nico
Label: UMe – B0016946-02, Polydor – B0016946-02
Series: 45th Anniversary Edition
Format: Box Set, Limited Edition, 45th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition
Country: UK, Europe & US
Released: Oct 30, 2012
Genre: Rock
Style: Art Rock, Avantgarde,Rock & Roll
                 

THE VELVET UNDERGROUND & NICO (STEREO VERSION)        

                 

  
01. The Velvet Underground & Nico – Sunday Morning   2:55
Written-By – John Cale, Lou Reed
02. The Velvet Underground & Nico – I'm Waiting For The Man   4:39
Written-By – Lou Reed
03. The Velvet Underground & Nico – Femme Fatale   2:38
Written-By – Lou Reed
04. The Velvet Underground & Nico – Venus In Furs   5:12
Written-By – Lou Reed
05. The Velvet Underground & Nico – Run Run Run   4:23
Written-By – Lou Reed
06. The Velvet Underground & Nico – All Tomorrow's Parties   5:59
Written-By – Lou Reed
07. The Velvet Underground & Nico – Heroin   7:13
Written-By – Lou Reed
08. The Velvet Underground & Nico – There She Goes Again   2:41
Written-By – Lou Reed
09. The Velvet Underground & Nico – I'll Be Your Mirror   2:14
Written-By – Lou Reed
10. The Velvet Underground & Nico – The Black Angel's Death Song   3:12
Written-By – John Cale, Lou Reed
11. The Velvet Underground & Nico – European Son   7:47
Written-By – John Cale, Lou Reed, Maureen Tucker, Sterling Morrison

ALTERNATE VERSIONS        

    
12. The Velvet Underground & Nico – All Tomorrow's Parties (Alternate Single Voice Version)   5:57
Written-By – Lou Reed
13. The Velvet Underground & Nico – European Son (Alternate Version)   9:06
Written-By – John Cale, Lou Reed, Maureen Tucker, Sterling Morrison
14. The Velvet Underground & Nico – Heroin (Alternate Version)   6:17
Written-By – Lou Reed
15. The Velvet Underground & Nico – All Tomorrow's Parties (Alternate Instrumental Mix)   5:51
Written-By – Lou Reed
16. The Velvet Underground & Nico – I'll Be Your Mirror (Alternate Mix)   2:20
Written-By – Lou Reed

Flac Size: 434 MB

THE VELVET UNDERGROUND & NICO (MONO VERSION)        

                  

  
01. The Velvet Underground & Nico – Sunday Morning   2:55
Written-By – John Cale, Lou Reed
02. The Velvet Underground & Nico – I'm Waiting For The Man   4:46
Written-By – Lou Reed
03. The Velvet Underground & Nico – Femme Fatale   2:38
Written-By – Lou Reed
04. The Velvet Underground & Nico – Venus In Furs   5:13
Written-By – Lou Reed
05. The Velvet Underground & Nico – Run Run Run   4:24
Written-By – Lou Reed
06. The Velvet Underground & Nico – All Tomorrow's Parties   5:59
Written-By – Lou Reed
07. The Velvet Underground & Nico – Heroin   7:14
Written-By – Lou Reed
08. The Velvet Underground & Nico – There She Goes Again   2:41
Written-By – Lou Reed
09. The Velvet Underground & Nico – I'll Be Your Mirror   2:14
Written-By – Lou Reed
10. The Velvet Underground & Nico – The Black Angel's Death Song   3:12
Written-By – John Cale, Lou Reed
11. The Velvet Underground & Nico – European Son   7:57
Written-By – John Cale, Lou Reed, Maureen Tucker, Sterling Morrison

THE SINGLES:        

    
12. The Velvet Underground & Nico – All Tomorrow's Parties   2:49
Written-By – Lou Reed
13. The Velvet Underground & Nico – I'll Be Your Mirror (Alternate Ending)   2:17
Written-By – Lou Reed
14. The Velvet Underground & Nico – Sunday Morning (Alternate Mix)   2:56
Written-By – Lou Reed
15. The Velvet Underground & Nico – Femme Fatale   2:37
Written-By – Lou Reed

Flac Size: 202 MB

NICO - CHELSEA GIRL        

                

  
01. Nico – The Fairest Of The Seasons   4:10
Written-By – Gregory Copeland, Jackson Browne
02. Nico – These Days   3:34
Written-By – Jackson Browne
03. Nico – Little Sister   4:27
Written-By – John Cale, Lou Reed
04. Nico – Winter Song   3:20
Written-By – John Cale
05. Nico – It Was A Pleasure Then   8:06
Written-By – Christa Paeffgen, John Cale, Lou Reed
06. Nico – Chelsea Girls   7:27
Written-By – Lou Reed, Sterling Morrison
07. Nico – I'll Keep It With Mine   3:21
Written-By – Bob Dylan
08. Nico – Somewhere There's A Feather   2:20
Written-By – Jackson Browne
09. Nico – Wrap Your Troubles In Dreams   5:10
Written-By – Lou Reed
10. Nico – Eulogy To Lenny Bruce   3:46
Written-By – Tim Hardin

Flac Size: 244 MB

DISC 4. SCEPTER STUDIOS SESSIONS        

           

  
01. The Velvet Underground & Nico – European Son (Alternate Version)   9:02
Written-By – John Cale, Lou Reed, Maureen Tucker, Sterling Morrison
02. The Velvet Underground & Nico – The Black Angel's Death Song (Alternate Mix)   3:16
Written-By – John Cale, Lou Reed
03. The Velvet Underground & Nico – All Tomorrow's Parties (Alternate Version)   5:53
Written-By – Lou Reed
04. The Velvet Underground & Nico – I'll Be Your Mirror (Alternate Version)   2:11
Written-By – Lou Reed
05. The Velvet Underground & Nico – Heroin (Alternate Version)   6:16
Written-By – Lou Reed
06. The Velvet Underground & Nico – Femme Fatale (Alternate Mix)   2:36
Written-By – Lou Reed
07. The Velvet Underground & Nico – Venus In Furs (Alternate Version)   4:29
Written-By – Lou Reed
08. The Velvet Underground & Nico – Waiting For The Man (Alternate Version)   4:10
Written-By – Lou Reed
09. The Velvet Underground & Nico – Run Run Run (Alternate Mix)   4:23
Written-By – Lou Reed

THE FACTORY REHEARSALS        

    
10. The Velvet Underground & Nico – Walk Alone   3:27
Written-By – James N. Smith*, Jerry Pellegrino, Jr., Lou Reed, Terry Philips
11. The Velvet Underground & Nico – Crackin' Up / Venus In Furs   3:52
Written-By [Crackin' Up] – Bo Diddley
Written-By [Venus In Furs] – Lou Reed
12. The Velvet Underground & Nico – Miss Joanie Lee   11:49
Written-By – Lou Reed
13. The Velvet Underground & Nico – Heroin   6:14
Written-By – Lou Reed
14. The Velvet Underground & Nico – There She Goes Again   2:09
Performer [With] – Nico
Written-By – Lou Reed
15. The Velvet Underground & Nico – There She Goes Again   2:56
Written-By – Lou Reed

Flac Size: 372 MB

DISC 5. LIVE AT VALLEYDALE BALLROOM, COLUMBUS, OHIO, NOVEMBER 4, 1966        

                 

  
01. The Velvet Underground & Nico – Melody Laughter   28:26
Written-By – Christa Päeffgen, John Cale, Lou Reed, Maureen Tucker
02. The Velvet Underground & Nico – Femme Fatale   2:37
Written-By – Lou Reed
03. The Velvet Underground & Nico – Venus In Furs   4:45
Written-By – Lou Reed
04. The Velvet Underground & Nico – The Black Angel's Death Song   4:49
Written-By – John Cale, Lou Reed
05. The Velvet Underground & Nico – All Tomorrow's Parties   5:03
Written-By – Lou Reed

Flac Size: 154 MB

DISC 6. LIVE AT VALLEYDALE BALLROOM, COLUMBUS, OHIO, NOVEMBER 4, 1966

        

01. The Velvet Underground & Nico – Waiting For The Man   4:50
Written-By – Lou Reed
02. The Velvet Underground & Nico – Heroin   6:42
Written-By – Lou Reed
03. The Velvet Underground & Nico – Run Run Run   8:43
Written-By – Lou Reed
04. The Velvet Underground & Nico – The Nothing Song   27:56
Written-By – Christa Päeffgen, John Cale, Lou Reed, Maureen Tucker

Flac Size: 152 MB

Velvet Underground - Loaded Deluxe Edition on Urban Aspirines HERE
Nico - Drama On Exile on Urban Aspirines HERE