15 Landmark Albums That Changed The Face Of Music Forever
14. The Velvet Underground - The Velvet Underground & Nico
To be honest, with the exception of Loaded, any Velvet Underground could be considered a game-changer in music history. On their own, they brought something thats often been imitated and never duplicated. Its shocking that this debut album was not well received on its initial release but its not hard to see why: nobody had heard anything like it before. Musically, it was an effortless fusion of rock and roll with experimental music. While guitars are often a staple of rock and roll, violas and drones certainly were not. Listening to the Velvet Underground put them together, and it was a happy marriage. Lyrically, the late, great Lou Reed was writing songs with subject matter that rock and roll only hinted to at the time. He wrote about junkies, S & M, and prostitutes. The lyrics read more like passages out of a Beat novel; they were hardly I Want To Hold Your Hand. The greatest thing about the Velvet Underground and their debut album in particular is that they werent going out of their way to reinvent rock and roll; they were just making music that made sense to them. It would be like watching Van Gogh paint Starry Night and having him tell you its just one of his doodles. They werent trying to radically change music, but this albums ongoing legacy and influence proves that they did. Album Highlights: All Tomorrows Parties, The Black Angels Death Song, Im Waiting For The Man.
