While the overall level of quality on Universal's "Millenium Collections" has been a bit dubious, this is actually one of the better ones. By that I mean that it is clearly intended to provide a reasonably priced introduction for those who are not very familiar with the artist in question. Taken as such, this compilation is pretty solid.

As one of the previous reviewers noted, the VU were not a hit-oriented band. They were, however, very much a song-oriented band, and that is something that comes through in this collection. There are a few glaring ommisions ("Femme Fatale" and "I'll Be Your Mirror" in particular), but overall it is an accurate if not overly thorough portrait of the band.

The usefulness of this collection ultimately hinges on your an inexpensive cheap sampler of some of the 20th Century's most exciting rock-music, you won't go wrong with this one, and you'll probably move on to their albums. If you are a devoted fan, then you know enough to know that this was never intended for you and therefore hardly represents a rip-off attempt on the part of the record company, however greedy they might be.

Well, at least "Best of the Velvet Underground" has this going for it: It's a good place to start with the Velvet Underground. The legendary rock band is the grandfather of modern indie rock, and for those who are just getting into their music, this is a fairly good way to be introduced.

This compilation includes the top songs from their four studio albums, such as "Heroin," the enchanting "Sweet Jane" (a live version, not the album one), catchy "White Light White Heat," and several more. Generally these are the songs that people think of when they think of the Velvet Underground, and so are fairly obvious choices.

In that area, it does a good job of covering the career of Velvet Underground, from 1967's "Velvet Underground And Nico" to 1970's "Loaded." And unlike most "Best of" compilations, the various songs are presented in more or less chronological order, rather than being jumbled in a sonic heap.

However, there are quite a few omissions -- and boy, are they glaring ones. The sexy "Femme Fatale" and "I'll Be Your Mirror" are among them, as is the poignant ballad "Candy Says." It's hard to know why some of these omissions are present, except that perhaps the people compiling it shrank from including songs about transsexuals and S&M, although a pair of drug-related songs are included.

What is more, there is a distinct lack of Nico from the first few songs -- the German chanteuse's throaty monotone was one of the highlights of the Velvets' debut, yet she's conspicuously absent. And with her go some of the best songs of that debut as well, such as the offbeat, teasing ballad "Femme Fatale."

"Best of the Velvet Underground" is a somewhat deceptive title -- it has some of the best, but skirts the edgier, sexier and Nico-centered songs. It's a beginning point, but it cannot measure up to what came later.

There are a couple better collections than this, but this seems to be the only one in print. "Best of the Velvet Underground" is 15 tracks, and better, but out of print. Then the others are all imports. But, what's on here is great, even though it's short. The "Velvets" had such a cool sound, and pretty much were all the rave in New York at the time. They've probably influenced as many bands as "The Beatles" or "Bob Dylan". At least of these 11 tracks you get "I'm Waiting for the Man", the classic "Heroin", and a live "Sweet Jane". You may be better off getting the debut album "Velvet Underground and Nico", depending on what songs you want. Whatever you do, play "VU".

That's all I really need to say. It applies to many of these "millenium collections", but particularly to this one, because the Velvet Underground were such a not-hit-oriented band. Why did the company even BOTHER putting this out? If you're interested in the V.U., be brave and buy one of their albums. It will almost certainly be better than this.

HUGE Velvet fan. I won;t go into the whole music dynamic but man this CD sux camel b@lls. And the sister ray recording? THAT'S THE only reason I bought this. Ugh! better of starting with their The Velvet Underground as an intro- much better. If you want the venus in fur it's on the Nico album along with heroin which is included here. I thought they could have done a much better job. Get the import best of or the bootleg recordings. Warning- once u understand where Reed and the Velvet's coming from u WILL become addicted. 15 years later since I bought their album and I still play this in my car. And everyone around me was listening to pop and rap. For me rap as I grew up in the inner city but this opened up MY LIFE! as an individual. enjoy!