Talk:The Velvet Underground (album)/Archive 1

Grey album
The article The Grey Album has a dab link here. Is this album so referred ? --Beardo 07:33, 18 February 2007 (UTC)
 * I've never heard anyone call it that before.Pele Merengue 16:54, 10 May 2007 (UTC)

Influence Statement
The passage While the album in either version is considered a significant influence on indie rock, the Closet Mix is thought to be a progenitor of the lo-fi genre of indie rock troubles me in that no reference is used to back up this statement. By whom is this this considered a "significant influence"? And what, exactly, is "the lo-fi genre of indie rock"? --Satyricrash (talk) 08:15, 10 January 2008 (UTC)


 * I think that was the BS of a self-styled, would-be rock journalist, or -- the only worse thing I can imagine -- an indie snob. Fortunately, this has been removed from the article. Good call on your part!
 * Folks, anytime you find yourself writing phrases like "is considered" or "is thought to be", stop, look at your hands, and quietly say "I'm bullshitting myself and everyone else, but I don't have to." Then, stop editing Wikipedia for the day, and go fix yourself a sandwich or something.
 * --Ben Culture (talk) 03:24, 28 January 2013 (UTC)

The "Closet Mix"
I removed the following from the article and bring it here for discussion. Sterling Morrison thought Reed's mix had a small, closed in, cramped sound. The phrase "Closet Mix" was coined by Morrison, who said, "We did the third album deliberately as anti-production. It sounds like it was done in a closet – it's flat, and that's the way we wanted it. The songs are all very quiet and it's kind of insane. I like the album." Overall, the songs on Reed's mix of the album sound different from the Valentin Mix in that the vocals are brought to the foreground, as opposed to the more "even" mix of Valentin's version. Drums and percussion on the Closet Mix are generally panned to one stereo channel only (typical of many other 1960's rock recordings.) On the Valentin mix drums are usually placed in the center.

Notable differences in the music can be heard on the two different versions. "Some Kinda Love" is a completely different performance. The Closet Mix uses a slower, quieter take, while the Valentin Mix is a slightly more upbeat and closer to the way the band performed the song in concert. The Valentin version of "Some Kinda Love" is about 20 seconds longer. There are different guitar solos on "What Goes On". "Jesus" is slightly longer in the Closet Mix, with a noticeable echo on the final refrain of "Jeeee-sus." "Beginning to See the Light" fades out 15–20 seconds later in the Closet Mix. On "The Murder Mystery," the vocals in the Closet Mix are brought to the front in an even more extreme fashion, drowning out the music almost entirely. There are also other less obvious differences.

This is completely unreferenced, and the analysis of the differences between the mixes reads like original research. Unless and until this analysis is sourced to reliable sources, it should not be readded to the article. ---  RepublicanJacobite  The'FortyFive' 01:37, 6 February 2011 (UTC)


 * Well, for the record, the editor who wrote that wasn't wrong. Except for the part about different guitar solos in "What Goes On". Both mixes feature a "solo" that is actually multitracked, a number of guitars playing the same thing with variations in timing, creating an almost-bagpipe sound by the end. The two mixes handle that differently, fading out the last, sustained notes of the solo sooner in the "Valentin mix"..
 * Other than that? sounds about right. And there doubtlessly ARE sources out there saying this. If anybody feels like doing something constructive . ..
 * --Ben Culture (talk) 03:33, 28 January 2013 (UTC)

Regarding the publication history of the "Closet Mix" there is something missing. I know this is anecdotal but I question if the Valentin mix was always used in Britain. I purchased this album as a British import #2353 022 Select MGM marketed by Polydor sometime in the early 1980s and it most definitely the "Closet Mix." as I was completely shocked when I heard the Valentin version of "Some Kind of Love" after the 1985 re-release.

Candy Says lead vocal
The article says Doug Yule sang the track "at Reed's insistence". Source? The story I have read is Reed's voice was horse that day so he asked Yule to sing.Fashoom (talk) 09:01, 9 February 2013 (UTC)
 * Here's one http://www.popmatters.com/feature/yule-doug-021105/  'Lou asked me if I wanted to sing and I said sure. In fact, the first time that happened was on “The Gray Album” he asked me to sing "Candy Says" and at first I didn’t want [to], but then I did and it was fun. But he was singing every song and he wanted to get away from that.'  Woodywoodpeckerthe3rd (talk) 08:58, 3 December 2013 (UTC)

The Velvet Underground and Nico
I don't know how to do this, but shouldn't this article have a thing at the top that says in italics "Not to be confused with The Velvet Underground & Nico"? 72.67.179.128 (talk) 23:41, 10 July 2013 (UTC)

"another bummer experiment"
This is a minor point, but I think whoever wrote this article is misinterpreting the Robert Christgau review that leads off the Reception section.

His review:

"Contains another bummer experiment, some stereo mystery, but otherwise their best--melodic, literate, compellingly sung; Paul Williams loves it."

The article's interpretation:

"...music critic Robert Christgau viewed it as the band's best album and found it tuneful, well-written, and exceptionally sung, despite "another bummer experiment" in "The Murder Mystery" and some questionable stereo recording."

"Some stereo mystery" doesn't mean "some questionable stereo recording". It's his description of "The Murder Mystery", the "bummer experiment". It's called "The Murder Mystery", and the music is mixed with distinct stereo separation of different elements; hence, a "stereo mystery". — Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.62.194.89 (talk) 11:24, 30 September 2016 (UTC)

Songwriting credits
Why is Lou Reed listed as the sole songwriter? The original record says "All Selections Comp. By The Velvet Underground." However valid the claim from some other source that at base it was Reed, shouldn't this particular source take primacy? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2601:245:4200:F240:F08A:2034:EC33:3ADF (talk) 20:44, 4 December 2021 (UTC)