4/10/2023 0 Comments The velvet underground![]() It is Warhol who casts a shadow over both The Velvet Underground the band and the documentary, as the pop artists managed the band and helped promote them - perhaps his biggest contribution was introducing the band to singer Nico. ![]() Indeed, the film is as much about the band itself as it is about the New York art scene that birthed the band, especially Andy Warhol's Factory scene. Haynes leaves no stone unturned when it comes to the duo's upbringing, and how their unique backgrounds helped make their art so distinct. The story focuses mostly on two band members, the notorious singer/songwriter Lou Reed, and the classically trained John Cale. Rather than opening the documentary with a montage of talking heads praising the legacy of The Velvet Underground or with a cheesy quote, it takes us back to the very beginning and trusts that the audience will both care enough to follow along, and recognize the journey they are in and that a little patience is required on good journeys. Thankfully, Todd Haynes isn't interested in following standards, as his documentary debut The Velvet Underground manages to encapsulate what made the eponymous band great all while making you feel like a part of the movement that created it. Frustrated by elusive commercial success the leader of one of the most decadent bands in history bailed out and went home to live with his parents, before re-emerging a couple of years later to solo superstardom.Most music documentaries, but especially rock documentaries, focus on following the beats - remembering the greatest hits or the biggest failures, examining the scandals and generally making the audience feel like they just missed out on the coolest party ever, only to remind them that thinks will never be this cool again. ![]() But despite containing some of Reed’s greatest compositions the hits did not materialise. What is most evident throughout Loaded, and in contrast with the more primitive quality of their earlier (albeit more influential) recordings, is this band can really play. Again the half ends with a stadium-like anthem, the beautiful epic Oh! Sweet Nuthin’ with multi-instrumentalist Doug Yule’s lovely bass lines, and his brother Billy’s scatter gun drumming. The power subsides slightly on “side two” with the country rocker Lonesome Cowboy Bill, a pretty ballad I Found a Reason, and Train Round the Bend which is more characteristic of the Velvets’ earlier sound with Reed yearning for a return to the neon lights of the city. Something’s got a hold of me, but I don’t know what. The first half ends with the anthemic New Age that builds gradually to a thrilling singalong climax: The next three songs roll into each other almost indistinguishably - each a classic of efficient straight forward rock with infectious hooks and great lyrics: Sweet Jane (arguably Reed’s greatest ever song) Rock and Roll (“her life was saved by Rock and Roll!”) and Cool it Down (“she’s got the power, to love me by the hour!”). She’s got the power, to love me by the hour! The change in style is evident immediately on Who Loves the Sun which is so reminiscent of the hippie pop coming out of California in the late 60s (and ironically the complete antithesis of early Velvet Underground) that somewhere there must be undiscovered kaleidoscope video footage of the band performing this single in flower shirts standing on circular podiums.
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