The Velvet Underground (1969): 45th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition
Today a professional reviewer opined that the The Velvet Underground “still holds up, after 45 years.” Easy money, reviewin'. Of course it holds up. But does The Velvet Underground (recorded 1968, released 1969) hold up to the extent of a 6 CD reissue? Actually, it does. I’m going to concentrate on the last three discs, because those represent not one but two dreams come true for VU fans. But first, in brief, the three LP mixes. Aficionados know that Lou Reed supervised the dank and idiosyncratic “Closet mix,” released in some countries on LP; and that veteran producer Val Valentin created the “Val Valentin” mix, released in the other territories on LP; and they may know there is a mono mix, released on a radio promotional record. The power of imprinting is very great; the LP from which I got to know this record was a mispress that had the Closet mix on side A and the Val Valentin mix on side B. Those still sound right to me. So on the first three discs, the present set giv...