10 More Perfect Rock Albums Of The 70s With No Bad Songs
8. Loaded - The Velvet Underground (1970)
Despite the mans obvious genius, taking Lou Reed's back catalogue as a whole is going to reveal a lot of less than brilliant endeavours. The 2011 collaboration with Metallica springs to mind... , but when Reed struck gold it really paid off.
Loaded was alas the last Underground record to feature Reed, but it was an example of some of his most accomplished musical endeavours. His earlier ventures with the band explored the sordid underbelly of the New York creative scene. This album was a marked shift away from the murky experimental sound of White Light/White Heat but it was arguably just as brilliant, albeit for different reasons.
Although there is a certain allure to listening to more out there tracks tracks like Venus In Furs - which feels like slipping into a hazey stupor of heroin binges and sadomasochism - this record is a more accessible instalment from the band.
It's full of solid, more conventionally structured song writing. With tracks like Sweet Jane and Cool It Down your in for a listen that doesn't require too much work to get into, you can be in any mood and these tracks will hit the spot. And has there ever been any better bookend to an album than Oh Sweet Nuthin'?