10 '60s Albums Every Rock Fan Should Own
4. The Velvet Underground and Nico - The Velvet Underground
After the psychedelic revolution got underway, there was no real limit to where rock could go anymore. While a lot of bands stuck with the tried and true formula of fast riffs and bad attitudes, there were also a fair amount of people looking to expand beyond the three-chord teenage anthem. Just when the road had opened up, the Velvet Underground took their sound down a dark back alley.
Joining forces with famed New York artist Andy Warhol, the band set to work on their first album, with songs that sounded as uncomfortable as the topics they talked about. In lieu of the typical “love-you-baby” lyrics of rock, Lou Reed’s lyric sheet was a lot seedier than many were ready for, from the S&M fantasy “Venus in Furs” to the drug dealing scenester in “I’m Waiting for The Man.”
Though you could say the album is primitive and borderline amateurish at points, that off-kilter sense of swagger actually ends up being one of the album’s greatest strengths, almost as if you’re being given a street view of what modern living was like on the dark side of New York.
The Velvet Underground may not have gotten enough love in their time, but this may be one of the most forward-looking albums of the entire era.