The Velvet Underground - Another View

After listening to VU yesterday, of course, I pulled this one, the sequel, out, as well. I dunno, this one

might even exceed the original, with more great (then) previously unreleased material.

Lou actually sounds like he is having fun in the phenomenal "We're Gonna Have a Goodtime Together" - an uptempo rocker and a call to the audience to dig what the band was groovin' on. "I'm Gonna Move Right In" appears to be an instrumental jam, but a cool one, with some really fine, almost jazzy, guitar work from Lou (and classic Sterling rhythm git) and a simple, steady, incessant beat from Mo and I'm guessing Doug Yule on bass here, as it doesn't sound to me like Cale. (Wikipedia agrees with me). Cale does appear on "Hey Mr. Rain" on both bass and viola, giving it an earlier Velvet sound, although cleaner than the first two LPs. Still, the viola is sweetly demented, providing a whole 'nother dimension. A solid pop instrumental worthy of Loaded is "Ride Into the Sun" (which would later appear on Lou Reed), with a feel similar to "Rock and Roll" from that record. Drivin' drums propel "Coney Island Steeplechase", which kinda meanders a bit but is still a pretty striking number.

"Guess I'm falling in Love" is positively monstrous with its overdriven guitars and drums that sound like Mo is smashing a mallet against your skull! Vicious and fantastic in its simplicity! There's another take of "Hey Mr. Rain" - at first I didn't notice a lot of differences, but it is faster, the viola has some variation (and later gets a solo) and Reed takes a beautifully cacophonous guitar break, as only he could. "Ferryboat Bill" is bizarre, even for the Velvets, with a fast moving circular riff on guitar and keys, falsetto vocals and quick paced drums - very different from other versions I have heard. The record says that this "Rock and Roll" is the "original version" and there's been so many different takes released now that it's hard to remember which was heard first, but this is pretty damn great, with Lou's vocals having a bit more bite and edge than what I remember from Loaded and more of the electric Velvet sound - kinda like what Lou did later on a live radio broadcast but with its own cool variations.

Yeah, I think this is even stronger than the first volume of the series. Really terrific stuff!