The Best of the Best: The Velvet Underground's "The Velvet Underground & Nico"

    I have listened to so many albums. So many albums. Probably thousands. Not even joking. I have a job where I can listen to music for the whole 8 hours if I want to, and I usually do. I remember listening to The Velvet Underground & Nico for the first time though. I was very excited to dive into it because it's ranked fourth on Acclaimed Music's list. And also the Wikipedia article for it is an intriguing read. So I listened to it on the drive home from work and... Yeah. My excitement dropped pretty quickly. 

    To summarize, the record was ahead of it's time so much it's considered "the original alt-rock" record. If you can't tell by the Andy Warhol album cover, it's one of those artsy, avant-garde records. Lyrically, it's ahead of its time with themes of drug abuse, prostitution, and sexual deviancy. Which is a big thing for a record released in 1967. Not so much now where artists can talk about anything and everything under the sun, and no one bat an eye at it. 

    This record... polarizes me. To say the least. I don't get it. I'm like Peter from Family Guy that it insists upon itself. Like I get it. From an artistic standpoint, it's high art. It's just not for me. I barely managed to finish songs on this one. That's just me. You can appreciate what it does well. You can appreciate its approach to art. That's about it for me.

    There are some records you listen to once, appreciate it for what it is, and then never listen to it again. Maybe even take away some of its influences and put into your own art. That is The Velvet Underground & Nico for me. So many artists have cited it as an influence. I don't do drugs. Perhaps that's why it doesn't click. 

Personal Rank: E Rank

Artistic High-Eyebrow Ranky Rank: S (I guess)

Recommendation: when you feel like creating the art-iest of art.