Audio CD review:
Velvet Underground - 20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of the Velvet Underground

Velvet Underground - 20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of the Velvet Underground

Band: Velvet Underground Title: 20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of the Velvet Underground Rating: Release Date: 2000-10-10 Media: Audio CD Tracks: 1: I'm Waiting for the Man 2: Run Run Run 3: Heroin 4: White Light/White Heat 5: Sister Ray 6: Beginning to See the Light 7: What Goes On 8: Pale Blue Eyes 9: I Can't Stand It 10: Sweet Jane 11: Rock & Roll

A mediocre introduction to a great band Yeas, they made some of the most incredible and groundbreaking music ever. Yes, the Velvet Underground were brilliant. Yes, your rock collection isn't complete without at least a few of their masterpieces. The thing is, this isn't the disc to buy. Sure, it has some brilliant music on it- "Pale Blue Eyes," "Heroin," "What Goes On," and "I'm Waiting For The Man" are utter classics, as is the heroic monstrosity that is "Sister Ray" (over a quarter of an hour long, and worth every moment)- but there are plenty of omissions: "Sunday Morning," "Venus In Furs," "All Tomorrow's Parties," "Candy Says," "Foggy Notion," and "Who Loves The Sun" come to mind, among others. Besides, this disc's versions of "Rock And Roll" and "Sweet Jane" aren't even the (historical) studio versions! Look, the band only put out four studio albums (all of which you can get fairly cheap), and if you're a fan of rock, you owe it to yourself to get your hands on at least a couple of them. I recommend their self-titled third album, as well as their similarly titled debut (The Velvet Underground & Nico) to start with. This is a collection of great songs, but if you can afford chewing gum, you can afford a better introduction to the Velvets. Millenium Fools Even when the artists are great, as are the Velvets, this label can't do anything right. Avoid any Millenium title. They give you the bare minimum. Buy every Velvet album you can. . . but not this one. A budget-price introduction with a few good tunes Get them instead. But uh, guys, aren't we missing a few key songs? Sunday Morning? Venus In Furs? Here She Comes Now? Candy Says? What Goes On? Some Kinda Love? After Hours? Studio versions of Sweet Jane and Rock and Roll? Who Loves the Sun? Oh Sweet Nuthin'? VU only put out four albums, and they're all good ones. Great songs, but whats the point? But why have a greatest hits for the Velvets? Every album of theirs is essential, and every album was unique in its own way. Like I stated in the title, the songs are all classics. Thats the main flaw of this compilation, because you can't get the feel for the band. If you are a fan of 60s rock, you really should own all the albums instead of a cheap sampler. And if you only want to buy one VU album, pick up "Velvet Underground & Nico". Its about the same price, and will immediatly have you addicted to the band. This is a well compiled sampler, but theres no need for a sample of the Velvets. If you buy it and decide you need to get everything this band has done, you will have no use for it. The Velvets are the ultimate cult and underground band, and the first real "alternative" to the mainstream. This is a poor representation of why they are possibly the greatest rock band ever. A Very Good Collection of some of the Velvets Essentials And at first i was shocked 2 not see any songs with Nico in them, but as i listened more i realized to someone new to the Velvets this is the ESSENTIAL COLLECTION beacause even if u buy the gold cd u get some songs that i wonder how they got on there, so i would highly recommend this to any1 starting out on the velvets or to anyone who wants to have their greatest songs on one cd. well i bought this the other day not knowing what to think since i already had the box set. and it seems this album doesnt get much positive reviews but i really cant see why since i actually probably like this better than the box set since the box set gets about 45% medicore songs on there and with this u get the best songs on one disc which is great. to greats on this collection like "What Goes on", "beginninng to see the light", "heroine" and much others and i will be the first to admit this could have had some more songs and another thing is i guess they just put the 2 live tracks to give u a taste of thier live shows but to a new person the studio versions would b much more appealing. You can see a complete list of all Velvet Underground discography, or go back to the Velvet Underground tabs