The Velvet Underground
Loaded (Rhino/Cotillion)
When Rhino drops the latest of their High Fidelity re-releases, you know you're in for a treat and these latest offerings are two bonafide classics--genuinely vital slabs of proto-punk brilliance.
First up is Loaded, originally recorded in 1970 and the Velvet Underground's fourth album. Most fans consider it to be the Velvets' final true album; only 1973's Squeeze followed it and, by then, only Doug Yule was left in the band. No original members.
Loaded, however, is glorious. The hippy-dippy joy of "Who Loves the Sun" is swiftly followed by the cooler-than-cool "Sweet Jane." "Rock & Roll" is one of the band's best tunes, proving that there was plenty of life after John Cale and Nico.
The lesser known songs are great too, including the gentle "New Age" and the oft-misunderstood "Lonesome Cowboy Bill" is the sort of tune that Kinky Friedman would have killed for.
In new liner notes, David Fricke connects Loaded to the band’s earlier work: “Compared to the shoestring revolution of The Velvet Underground And Nico and the distortion-fueled White Light/White Heat, Loaded was Reed’s philosophy of song in focused arrangements and radiant vocal character.”
The Stooges
Fun House (Rhino/Elektra)
That same year saw The Stooges release their sophomore album and, again, it's an absolute classic. A triumph of drone, fuzz, raunch and roll.
Iggy Pop is at his charismatic, captivating best right from the start on "Down on the Street" and "Loose," a mass of writhing whoops and primitive crooning. Meanwhile, the Asheton brothers (Ron and Scott) sounded magnificent. Nobody played guitar like Ron, and he resented being shifted to bass for the following album, Raw Power.
"T.V. Eye," "1970," the title track -- all are rock 'n' roll gems, albeit gems that were dug up in the dessert and left dusty.
According to the press release, "Each album was cut from the original master tapes by Kevin Gray and pressed on 180-gram black vinyl at Optimal in Germany. Both releases feature glossy gatefold packaging with “tip-on” jackets and newly written liner notes. They are limited to 5,000 individually numbered copies and available today exclusively at Rhino.com and select Warner Music Group stores internationally."
