The Velvet Underground was little known during its lifetime; now, more than thirty years after the band collapsed, it has a world-wide following--but the band's music still tends to divide listeners. You either get it or you don't. For those who DO get it, this recording, with its Andy Warhol-designed "Peel Slowly and See" cover, is a must-have.

Both Lou Reed and Nico possessed flat sounding voices, and John Cale compensated for this by down-tuning his various stringed instruments--and then the band as a whole down-tuned to Cale's pitch. This creates a slightly off-kilter, droning tone... and the result is a strangely hypnotic, frequently dark, and often unnerving sound that swirls around the songs' street-tough lyrics. At worst, it is at least interesting; at best, it is completely original. Several of the cuts have a distinct pop inflection, but the band subverts them; "Femme Fatale" has a mocking tone, and both "Sunday Morning" and "I'll Be Your Mirror" have a decidedly paranoid quality. But the cuts for which this album is most famous are about as far removed from pop as you can get: the strange exotic stutter of "All Tomorrow's Parties;" the pitch black and street scary tone of "Heroin" and "I'm Waiting For My Man;" and the whip-like accompaniment on the S&M-oriented "Venus In Furs"--all of them frequently imitated but seldom equaled. The most extreme edge of the band is captured in such selections as "The Black Angel's Death Song," a piece so far out that The Velvet Underground were actually fired from a bar gig for playing it one time too many for the management's liking.

If your taste in music runs to bouncy dance music, pop standards, or even what passes for experimental among the top 40--you might want to give The Velvet Underground a miss. On the other hand, if you have an ear tuned to the truly cutting-edge (as in Patti Smith, one of several artists who were heavily influenced by the Velvet Underground), you owe it to yourself to give this band, and this recording in particular, a try. For those who have an ear to hear it, The Velvet Underground is an essential.

This is by far the best reissue of the year, perhaps of all time. Truly glorious packaging: a weighty coffee-table-sized book, magnificently illustrated and penned by Velvet Underground authority, Richie Unterberger (although there are more photographs than words). Obviously made for profit, but also a labor of love.

Disc One: An incredibly-clear remastering, better than any that have gone before, the equal of the long out-of-print MFSL version. Finishes with bonus tracks: the familiar single-voice All Tomorrow's Parties and a previously unheard instrumental backing-track of the same. Also has alternate versions of European Son and Herion, and a great alternate mix of I'll Be Your Mirror with Nico's laughter at the end.

Disc Two: As with disc one, the best-sounding mono version yet with the two mono singles as bonuses. This is the way the album was originally recorded, so this is the definitive version. Thunderous.

Disc Three: Chelsea Girl, put here because on Nico's firt solo album, she was backed by Reed, Cale, Morrison and Jackson Browne. They wrote the majority of the songs too. Kind of like a gentle version of VU&N, but unfortunately, originally ruined with spurious and later added bogus strings and a flute, which could not be removed here because they could not find the original master, but yet again, the best sounding version yet.

Disc Four: The Scepter Studio version. Never mind the bootlegs; here the sound improvement is very dramatic, now elevated to nearly the same sound quality as the official mono version. Please note there a couple of seconds of pop and click during Run Run Run. Maureen Tucker's one of only two existing acetate records served as the main source for these. This is followed by Factory rehearsals, again, previously bootlegged, but now sounding almost as if they were professionally recorded. My only complaint is the Factory tapes are only half (the January 3, 1966 session) of what is on the bootlegs. The omissions would have fit on shortest disc, disc three, but I suppose they were trying to keep each one a themed whole.

Discs Five & Six: Once again, never mind the bootlegs. This is (albeit still in mono), the very best version ever committed to disc. They did a spectacular job of perfecting the sound. Think of the Melody Laughter edit from Peel Slowly And See. That's what this sounds like, only now, it is the complete concert. Yea! At times, it sounds professionally recorded (even though sourced from an audience tape), but be aware there are a few short passages which are not entirely clean. The Black Angel's Death Song suffers from some moderate distortion as does the middle section of the concert, which could not be repaired. Otherwise, sound-quality throughout is a point-blank miracle compared to all that has went before.

This set is absolutely essential for Velvet Underground collectors. Together for the first time is nearly every relevant Velvet Underground and Nico recording, and they ALL sound better than they ever have before. Yes! Buy it again! It will never be done better than this. Will there be a Super Deluxe 45th Anniversary edition of White Light / White Heat coming in December of 2013? One can only hope such will be the case.

Each V.U. album featured (all the originals are here) is riveting, legendary and seminal, each demanding their own review so I will focus on the extra stuff in this box. I will NOT focus on the countless bootlegs and other material out there that did not make it in this set (I would recommend getting the Quine Tapes, a 3-CD box set full of killer extended renditions of VU classics. Less than great sound quality but worth hearing).

DISC 1: early home demo recordings mostly useful to fans who obsess over the group, but very interesting. "Heroin," great, crucial song that it is, sounds good. These versions are somewhat folksier yet still intense and Lou Reed plays around with different lyrics. Watch out for aborted takes!

"Waiting for the Man" sounds downright Ten Pan Alley. Reed even blows a harp on it. "Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams" had potential even though the Velvets abandoned it. "Prominent Men" isn`t bad either although it was left behind for better material as well. "Venus in Furs" sounds like a strange tune from the Middle Ages at this stage and it is stunning to hear "All Tomorrow`s Parties" with its folk/country roots laid bare. In addition, it`s a kick to hear John Cale, Sterling Morrison and Lou Reed interact between takes. One gets the impression that Reed was the man in charge right from these early days.

DISC 2: Starts with a single version of "All Tomorrow`s Parties," but who wouldn't want to savor the longer album version? "Melody Laughter" is a crucial document from an early Exploding Plastic Inevitable performance, which was a traveling extension of Andy Warhol's wild and weird world. It`s only an amateur audience recording, but also one of the coolest things in this box. The music is a meandering journey without a map and quite a bit longer than an old copy I have. 2 tracks from Nico`s solo debut CHELSEA GIRLS are good songs featuring actual Velvets and are thus included.

DISC 3: offers a handful of demos that show more potential but their crude, raw condition renders them a difficult listen. However, the "Here She Comes Now" demo is a dense and hazy alternate version that is worthy of regular listening. The "Guess I`m Falling in Love" live cut offers a nice, loping performance, but I`ll always take the studio version which totally rocks out even with no vocals (and I don`t see why Lou doesn`t just add some to the track now - he`s still a Velvet!) "Booker T" grooves. And in some better, more just parallel world, "Stephanie Says" is a number 1 single and timeless classic around the globe. You probably won`t listen to the weak "Temptation" more than a few times, and I prefer version 2 of "Hey Mr. Rain" (version 1 is featured here) which has distorted guitar parts and a more insistent vocal. The lyrics are kinda lame, but Cale`s viola is trippy.

DISC 4: My favorite Velvet track, "Foggy Notion" is one of their rockin`-est tunes. All the extra-album studio tracks on this disc have been released and are already classics. The 2 live tracks are great and the "Countess From Hong Kong" demo is a lounge-y little beauty punctuated by another rare appearance of Reed on harp.

DISC 5: the mother load of nuggets: 7 studio treasures that haven`t seen daylight before this box came out (unless the liner notes are lying). "Satellite of Love" sounds like a joyous rocker here, despite its soul-eating subject matter - jealousy. In the liner notes Lou beats himself up for using "Winkin, Blinkin and Nod" (it would later become "I`ve been told/that you`ve been bold/with Harry Mark and John" on the daintier TRANSFORMER version). But he should give himself a break because: 1)the names ridicule the men she`s been "bold" with. 2) they could be code words. and 3) they`re funny. It's certainly a funny way to refer to people you've slept with! Yes Lou, naming almost every day of the week in a song IS lame, but it`s appropriate for this song because it illustrates how unfaithful the love interest has been.

"Ocean" may be even more majestic than "All Tomorrow`s Parties" and features a brief return of John Cale that didn't last. "Ride into the Sun" is a beautiful song of quiet longing sung sweetly by Doug Yule. As low as Yule`s stature has sunk in V.U. history, he was undeniably a wizard of melody and that's apparent all over discs 4 and 5.a

In addition, there are 2 more guerrilla recordings. One ended up on LIVE AT MAX'S KANSAS CITY and the other, from the same show, is previously unreleased. Again, crude recording, excellent music. Considering how unpopular the Velvets were during their time, we`re lucky considering how much of their music has survived.

Addendum: The idea of a lost Velvets album is a tantalizing myth for Velvet Heads. For the sheer fun of it, I`ve constructed my own lost V.U. album. I find it to be surprisingly cohesive with unifying themes that weave together and form a narrative, your imagination permitting. In fact, I think my Bizarro Earth Velvet album could be a strong contender for their best! Not sure what to call it though . . . how about:

LOVE`S LABOUR`S LOST VU

Side 1

We`re Gonna Have a Real Good Time Together

Guess I`m Falling in Love (studio version without vocal)

I Can`t Stand It

Lisa Says

Sad Song

Oh Gin

Foggy Notion

Ride into the Sun

Side 2

One of These Days

She's My Best Friend

Hey Mr. Rain (version 2)

Walk It, Talk It (that's the title I think it should've been given! Sounds much cooler)

Satellite of Love

Stephanie Says

Ocean

I Love You

Was the Velvet Underground the greatest American band? With all due respect to the other serious contenders (Beach Boys, Creedence, Ramones, Talking Heads, REM, Pavement), you have to go with VU. Their career touches the deepest roots of rock'n'roll and the most nether edges of the avant garde, with equal command. Dion fits into their scheme as much as Warhol. What other band encompasses so much?

Despite a few caveats, this magnificent box set is VU's one-stop shopping place if ever there was one. First, the drawbacks: the band's live recordings are under-represented, tasty out-takes that did appear on earlier compliations have been mysteriously dropped, and Lou Reed has decided to go with the so-called "Closet Mix" of the third album (sorry, Lou, but I gotta disagree with you -- it defintely *isn't* the superior version). That said, this is still a mind-blowing edifice of great American music. We all know that each of the band's four official releases is a masterpiece, and it sure is convenient to get them all in one purchase (especially if, like me, you're replacing old vinyl copies). But what may surprise some folks is how great the previously unreleased material is. These cuts are very generous, accounting for more than half of the set. There are early, VU versions of songs that later turned up on Reed's solo albums, such as "Satellite of Love" and the glorious "Ocean." But there are also crazy little songs, left in the vaults for years, that astonish me with their inventiveness, humor, and detail -- from the bass line on "The Way That You Live" to the viola on "Sheltered Life." The bonus tracks attached to the 'WL/WH' and 'Loaded' disks are so good, in fact, that they threaten to upstage their hosts. Bottom line, folks: Like Dylan's 'Basement Tapes,' the out-takes here transcend the genre and are as essential to VU's legacy as the official releases.

Lou is dedicated enough to promoting his reputation -- he doesn't need any help from me -- but I'll chime in nonetheless: this a great American artist, caught in his (short-lived) prime.

Velvet Underground fans pay attention--The Rarities Edition of The Velvet Underground & Nico merely contains the second disc from the 2002 double-disc Deluxe Edition of the 1st album, the mono mix -- along with mono single versions of "All Tomorrow's Parties," "Sunday Morning," and "Femme Fatale," plus an alternate take of "I'll Be Your Mirror". This CD contains NO previously unreleased material. If you are a die-hard VU fan, as I am, you probably already have this material, either from The Deluxe Edition, or from the Australian Bootleg Box Set that came out about 15 years ago, so check your CD stacks before ordering. The material in this disc is Five Stars, but re-labling previously released material is a shoddy practice, and Polydor is also currently re-releasing similar product for a dozen other artists under the title "Rarities Edition." Caveat emptor!