10 Hard Rock Albums Everyone Takes For Granted
3. The Velvet Underground and Nico - The Velvet Underground
Every so often, a band comes along that doesn't really like their from this time or planet. No matter what kind of justification you may think of, the idea of these kind of artists actually managing to gain a foothold in the industry feels like a fever dream than anything else. Even as strange as the psychedelic '60s were at the best of times, there was nothing quite as out there as the Velvet Underground.
Being informed as much from the art scene as rock and roll, Lou Reed led the Velvets through some of the most caustic rock that the genre had ever known. Aside from the more straightforward acts like Steppenwolf around the same time, this debut with German singer Nico wasn't afraid to test you from one song to the next, from the filthy subject matter on I'm Waiting for the Man to the carnal dungeon taking place on Venus in Furs.
Aside from the more abrasive sounds present here, Reed also incorporates an amazing sense of melody in between things, even when he's raining down fiery Armageddon halfway through the song Heroin. While The Velvet Underground and Nico sunk like a stone for being too weird for the Love Generation, the entire art rock and punk genres still live in its shadow to this day.