10 Legendary Rock Albums That Were Produced Terribly

There's the famous line from critics back in the '60s that the Velvet Underground was one of the most unprofessional rock bands that have ever come on the scene. For Lou Reed though, that may as well be a badge of honor, having some quality tunes in between layers of guitars and feedback that paved the way for the likes of alternative and punk rock later. Their debut may have already been a bit rough to stomach for some critics, but White Light/White Heat dares to ask the question of just how unprofessional they could go.

From the first notes of the opening title track, this is a much more blown out sound than before, as Lou cranks all of the amps up as far as they can go, where you can actually hear the instruments clipping in the mix. While he may have been going for a Frank Zappa level of weirdness on some of these tracks, the songs almost sound like they don't want to be listened to, like the muffled vocals on the song The Gift or Lou Reed's vocals coming in louder than John Cale on Lady Godiva's Operation.

Then again, this isn't just noise for the sake of being noisy. If you listen to a song like Sister Ray, the 17 minutes of guitar feedback can get pretty hypnotic after a while, as you start to slowly sink into the groove that they're going for. The Velvets were always supposed to be against the grain from the moment they started, but this is the kind of record that you have to reserve for when you're looking for something a little more grimy.