I Just Don't Get the Hype

[TallGuyCM]

I would also opine

Seriously? Are we trying to show off our vocabularies now?

[bmack86]

I have similar feelings about VU. I think each of their albums has fillers but the sheer greatness and sentimentality of their brighter moments makes it easier consumed.

I would also opine that they are not nearly as musically influential as others think they are, but I know most would behead me over the mere thought.

I think that they are very logically placed for their influence. I think the Stooges were probably more of an influence on punk and all that, but VU pushed the art side of rock.

[SoulDischarge]

Their influence was less of every band copying their style in whole than inspiring a thousand weirdos to start their own noisy garage bands.

[zenidogx]

What am I missing here?

I could never really have enough patience to listen to it all the way through.

[faxman75]

An episode of one of the greatest T.V. shows ever, Freaks & Geeks was dedicated to this album. Not that I get any of the hype or the insane following but this album in particular gets praised by even the non dead heads.

American Beauty.

[TomAz]

I think appreciating the first Velvet Underground record on a pure impact level as opposed to a historical context level just comes from experience. One of these days, "Sunday Morning" will hit you like a ton of bricks.

Pet Sounds is great because it is simultaneously one of the sunniest and one of the saddest pop albums in existence.

Patrick wins the thread.

to pancakes: I love the Velvet Underground, they are part of the core canon of music to me. I find The Velvet Underground and Nico to be more uneven than their later 3. Loaded I will take with me to my grave.

[buddy]

I agree that Revolver, Abbey Road and (especially) the White Album are all better than Sgt. Peppers. I'll never hear Dark Side without it sounding like childhood, so there's that. Rey, Sloop John B is my favorite track on that album, but there's a reason behind that.

The Acapella version of Pet Sounds blows me away with how much great vocal work they did. Sloop John B is so self-contained vocally that the backing track is unimportant now in my mind. The A Capella record is actually what made me love Pet Sounds for what it's worth.

a co-worker let me borrow the pet sounds sessions box set. amazing listen. being able to hear how it came together. i listened to the acapella version of sloop john b, after you mentioned it, and you're right it's great stuff. i guess i just don't like it in context of the album. it doesn't seem to fit, at least in my opinion. maybe a large part having to do with it being a cover. god only knows and caroline no are my favorites on the album and maybe all-time for the reason patrick stated being sunny yet sad at the same time.

[JamesMills]

I think that they are very logically placed for their influence. I think the Stooges were probably more of an influence on punk and all that, but VU pushed the art side of rock.

So funny that you mention the Stooges because they were the first band that I mentioned in a drunken argument about VU's influence on punk rock.

And yeah, I know VU took the art side of rock to a whole new level, but it was an arbitrary form of art-rock that I'm not sure ever really caught on. Yeah, bands like Pink Floyd adapted these bohemian qualities as well, but they used it to substantively say something as well. They cared, while VU's whole artistic side was seemingly about not caring; but therein lies the punk influence, I guess.

In that sense, I guess I'd say that I think VU was much more culturally influential than musically. But I'm only 23 years old so everything I'm saying might be complete drivel to someone who was around to see their uprising and musical influences propagate. If there were a lot of bands that imitated that style at the time, they unfortunately didn't go on to make stuff historically significant enough for me to ever hear. I think the best bands that were musically influenced by VU went on to further potentiate that artistic style of their music.

[Still-ill]

I don't understand the love for Cannibal Ox much. I know I haven't read it on here, but all of my friends who like good hip hop love that one Cannibal Ox album that got great reviews, and they always seem to get good press. I listen to it and I just can't find a good entry point on the album (The Cold Vein? The Blue Vein? something like that).

I literally finished listening to The Cold Vein for the first time whilst reading this. Eeeeeerie.

[TomAz]

Wow. Have you ever played an instrument? Take that instrument home and start playing chord progressions from the Beach Boys, then try writing a song with as many key changes that somehow convolutes coherently. Only Bowie and the Beatles did it as often and as fluidly imo.

These arguments never work for me. I don't give a fuck about the technical side. I just care about how it sounds. If I was more technically proficient I could find an album with odd time signatures and unusual chord progressions that sucks eggs. Yes and Kansas come to mind.

[TomAz]

And yeah, I know VU took the art side of rock to a whole new level, but it was an arbitrary form of art-rock that I'm not sure ever really caught on.

sigworthy. have you ever been to coachella?

[BlackSwan]

I actually like this album a lot. It's really good. but in my book.. it's like the Beatles' 4th or 5th best album. all the "greatest album of all time" hype confuses me. Yes, it's orchestrated, but, so what; oh, it's a rock album, so it's not supposed to be orchestrated, but it is, and that's what makes it great. huh? Give me Revolver or the White Album or Abbey Road over this.

I've always felt the same way. Revolver is my all-time favorite.

[JamesMills]

sigworthy. have you ever been to coachella?

I meant it never caught on musically, not culturally. Read the rest of my post.

[hacking my dreams]

Cannibal Ox is a good example, geez even the name smacks with "hitting you over the head hype" (I'm a cannibal ARRRGH! and an OX!!) and the music never clicked with me, and i love good hiphop (& all the cannibal ox predecessors that should make me like "him" - but i don't, and i stopped trying).

Sgt. Pepper was Beatles' first album post-Ken Kesey / KoolAid Acid Test, that is, it's their LSD album, and you can't beat that cover art. Which is why it makes all the lists! The white album's cover art...wait, there isn't any.

Going to give Pet Sounds a big chance, never heard it, love the acclaim from y'all on here, and I think the beach boys deserve *some* mentioning as they were the first band to use that flourishing vocal harmony. They have influenced plenty of talented musicians, Cornelius comes to mind.

Freaks & Geeks was for children, boring, and I couldn't watch past the pilot. Lame.

[JamesMills]

These arguments never work for me. I don't give a fuck about the technical side. I just care about how it sounds. If I was more technically proficient I could find an album with odd time signatures and unusual chord progressions that sucks eggs. Yes and Kansas come to mind.

Well, that's you. I appreciate creative writing as it doesn't get repetitive as quickly and I find it more interesting and intriguing. It's even more appealing to me when it's done fluidly and almost not even noticeably at times (like I said The Beach Boys, Beatles, and Bowie have done).

If the key changes suck eggs, it's because key changes are supposed to suck eggs in that they're usually unnatural and transgressive from fundamental musical theory. I'm obviously not into these shitty types of "creativity" because anyone can play a bunch of different chords that sound like shit together.

[J~$$$$]

Anything from Arcade Fire or Animal Collective.

[hacking my dreams]

J~$$$$ both these deserve the hype, as they are the top 2 rock bands in North America.

[RedThom]

[mountmccabe]

Don Giovanni

You just said this because people might know it. You'ren't actually saying that this fits here in this thread. All the other bullshit records mentioned are one thing, fucking Don Giovanni is another entirely. The places that opera goes, good damn.

Hellhound on My Trail

I don't think this needs any historical context either. That voice, those lyrics... nothing more.

[hacking my dreams]

TomAz didn't like the fucking DoLab this year. his opinion is not to be considered when it comes to taste.

[bmack86]

I meant it never caught on musically, not culturally. Read the rest of my post.

I completely disagree with this. The Velvet Underground were one of the first bands to perfect the rhythmic rock jam what was perfected by the Krautrock groups and later by post-rock. Plus the droning sounds, coldness and lyrical darkness on Venus in Furs and Heroin are hugely influential on lots and lots of post rock.

Although Iggy said that he hadn't heard the Velvet Underground, the early Stooges shows (from the few descriptions I've read of them and clips of recordings I've heard) sound remarkably similar to '66 VU shows (at least the two I've tracked down.)

[hacking my dreams]

blah blah blah

[SoulDischarge]

TomAz didn't like the fucking DoLab this year. his opinion is not to be considered when it comes to taste.

Who the hell is this motherfucker?

[bmack86]

Anything from Arcade Fire or Animal Collective.

I'm kind of surprised you didn't enjoy Merriweather Post Pavilion. It seems like something you might have really enjoyed.

[SoulDischarge]

It's got hippie bullshit and dancey bullshit.

[TallGuyCM]

Plus the droning sounds, coldness and lyrical darkness on Venus in Furs and Heroin are hugely influential on lots and lots of post rock.

This. Part of my appreciation for the VU is due to the fact that they addressed things in their lyrics that were very taboo back then. You weren't supposed to say things like that. And Lou did, thank god. He seemed to really open a lot of doorways for other frontmen to do the same later on down the line.

[higgybaby23]

I didn't really appreciate the Stooges until I heard Funhouse while pissed drunk. Listening to the same album sober was boring and repetitive to me. Listening while inebriated made me want to smash all the furniture in my house.

To "get" certain albums one must be in the right state of mind. I'm not saying it requires drugs and alcohol, just that a persons mood and the setting are big factors in understanding certain albums and artists.

[TallGuyCM]

To "get" certain albums one must be in the right state of mind. I'm not saying it requires drugs and alcohol, just that a persons mood and the setting are big factors in understanding certain albums and artists.

Well said. Yeah, when I listened to Pet Sounds today it was on a drive between Sacramento and Fresno. Not the ideal environment for that.

[obzen]

blah blah blah

You're fucking stupid esé.

[Mr. Porter]