10 Rock Bands EVERYONE Tried To Copy
5. The Velvet Underground
The Velvet Underground is one of the few bands of the '60s that never really got their just due. While most of that decade is heralded with having some of the greatest pop music ever created, the Velvets' twisted way of writing rock tunes never really found too much of an audience in their heyday. Even though business was dry at the time, the entire landscape of rock music going forward is the product of the band's foundation.
Looking to toy with the idea of composing, the band experimented with everything from distortion to spoken-word poetry to even avant garde noise to suit the songs they were playing. As if the actual sound wasn't weird enough, Lou Reed's vocals and lyrics ended up dealing with unsettling material, with everything from S&M to drug use being fair game for song topics.
The Velvets may have been weird for their time, but as the '70s opened up the playing field, the world of art rock, new wave, and punk wouldn't be here if not for the band's first few records. Even Reed's esoteric style of writing ended up seeping into the rock landscape, with everyone from David Byrne to David Bowie taking a page out of his playbook.
There was a lot of ugliness to the Velvets' sound early on, but if you listen hard enough, you'll find the beautiful sonic portrait that we know today.