The Velvet Underground & Nico - Heroin (1967) reaction commentary

Today I listen to American rock band, The Velvet Underground & Nico perform Heroin from their 1967 self-titled album.


Chapters
0:00 - Intro
0:21 - Heroin
7:36 - My thoughts
11:56 - Who are The Velvet Underground?


Links
Original video:    • Heroin  

Velvet Underground playlist:    • The Velvet Underground  

Garage Rock playlist:    • Garage Rock  

Avantgarde playlist:    • Avantgarde  


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. 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 Velvet Underground & Nico is the debut studio album by the American rock band the Velvet Underground and the German singer Nico, released in March 1967 through Verve Records. It was recorded in 1966 while the band were featured on Andy Warhol's Exploding Plastic Inevitable tour. The album features experimental performance sensibilities and explicit lyrical topics, including drug abuse, prostitution, sadomasochism and sexual deviancy.

The Velvet Underground & Nico underperformed in sales and polarized critics on release due to its abrasive, unconventional sound and controversial lyrical content, but later became regarded as one of the most influential albums in rock and pop music and one of the greatest albums of all time. Described as "the original art-rock record", it was a major influence on many subgenres of rock music and alternative music, including punk, garage, krautrock, post-punk, noise rock, shoegaze, goth, and indie. The album was ranked number 13 on Rolling Stone's list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" in 2003, re-ranked to number 23 on the 2020 updated list. In 2006, it was inducted into the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

Heroin is a song by American rock band the Velvet Underground, released on their 1967 debut album The Velvet Underground & Nico. Written by Lou Reed in 1964, the song, which overtly depicts heroin usage and its effects, is one of the band's most celebrated compositions. Critic Mark Deming of Allmusic writes, "While 'Heroin' hardly endorses drug use, it doesn't clearly condemn it, either, which made it all the more troubling in the eyes of many listeners." In 2004, it was ranked at number 448 on Rolling Stone's list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time", and was re-ranked at number 455 in 2010.

Lou Reed:
It wasn’t pro or con, It was about taking heroin from the point of view of someone taking it. I’m still not sure what was such a big deal. So there’s a song called “Heroin.” So what?
— Rolling Stone