Nico - The Classic Years

 

This 1998 release is a compilation of Nico's work, starting with her Andrew Loog Oldham-produced solo 60's singles (represented by the orchestrated pop of "I'm Not Saying" and the acoustic folk number "The Last Mile") through her brief time with the Velvet Underground ("I'll Be Your Mirror", "Femme Fatale", "All Tomorrow's Parties"), selections from her initial post-VU solo album, Chelsea Girl, that included most of the Velvets yet harkened back to her earlier folk-y/pop work (two Jackson Brown numbers, one from Cale and one cowritten by Lou and Sterling), and the three subsequent releases that were her truly original, personal records, The Marble Index, Desertshore and The End. While I generally believe that her work should be experienced in the complete form, this is a nice overview of her various musical excursions up until the mid-70's for the novices.

While some people fault her low-key, almost baritone, almost monotone voice, I always dug it in a weirdly haunting way although I do have to say that it works better on her original material than it does on the songs written for her - I suppose she understood better than others how to utilize her vocals. That is not to say that the other songs are not good songs - in fact, the tunes written by others are more fully realized "songs", in a more mainstream "pop" sense, and are quite good - but when left to her own devices (with the help of John Cale's production), she truly came into her own. Backed by her droning harmonium, her melodies are fairly minimal, but are well-written, with poetic lyrics referencing her various lovers, situations, her son, and more.

This is a great place to start for those unfamiliar with Nico's work, but there are no real surprises or unreleased nuggets here ("All Tomorrow's Parties" is the single mix - that's the biggest variation), so if you're a fan, you probably already have everything here, although it's a pleasant mixed tape, in any case.

(The CD does include a small booklet with some photos and a bit of history of the singer and the album, as well.)