The Rewind Button is a group blogging project instigated by Rachel Tynan. As part of her New Years’ Resolutions for 2012, she set out to listen to Rolling Stone’s top 50 albums of all time. I thought it would be fun if a group of bloggers listened to the same albums at the same time, then posted their reactions. We’re going through the Top 40 and will be continuing with a new album every Thursday. Want to join in? We’d love to have you. Email me if you have a blog, or just offer up your two cents in my comments area below.
This week: The Velvet Undergound and Nico (1967) and Abbey Road (1969)
I dragged my feet writing this (now extremely tardy) post, mostly because of The Velvet Undergound. Nico, too.
I just didn’t know what I was going to say about this album. My boyfriend and I even had a heated debate about it as we walked a 10k loop around a lake. It was a long 10k.
Once again, I find myself not liking an album that is near the top of a supposedly legendary list. Velvet Underground sits well above Madonna, Michael Jackson, Buddy Holly and many others that I think are far more deserving of the spot. But then again, who am I to sit here and blather on? Maybe I know nothing. Maybe my liking of La Roux is just as baffling to a Velvet Undergound devotee.
The album is followed by Abbey Road, a record that came out just two years later.
Maybe a showdown is in order, I thought (all of five minutes ago, as I stressed about how to catch up in this blogging project).
So I used a randomizer to pick three rounds. Velvet Underground versus Abbey Road. Is there a single song by Velvet that can trump one of these Beatles tunes? Screw “influence.” Would you play this song aloud in your house, sheerly for pleasure (even self-wallowing pity type pleasure)? Let’s all be the judge. Leave your thoughts in the comments – I’ll go first.
ROUND 1: I WANT YOU (SHE’S SO HEAVY) vs HEROIN
Who else rewound Abbey Road?
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ROUND 1 : Great choice, randomizer! Two songs that exceed 7 minutes. I Want You is far more of a snooze than I recalled. Definitely more effort in the lyrics department from Heroin. Does singing about things that are taboo make a song better though? Like, if Justin Bieber sang seriously about genital warts would we all go “wow, what a deep artist?” It’s not enough for me. Song decays into intolerable noise pollution at 6 minute mark. Beatles win, but not with a lot of glory.
ROUND 2: The Beatles’ hokiest song against a tune that sounds like it rolled in on a gypsy cart from Eastern Europe. Randomizer is testing me by throwing my least favourite Abbey Road songs at me. Why couldn’t I have had Polythene Pam? Venus in Furs could work if you were barefoot, dancing and incredibly high. Actually, same goes for Octopus. Tie because Octopus is so lame I can’t possibly crown it champion of anything.
ROUND 3: Paul is so soft and gentle, then the next minute he’s giving himself a raging sore throat. You’ve got to love the way he goes from lullaby to full out wailing. Run Run Run is one of Velvet’s better songs, but only because the “take a drag or two” bit sounds vaguely playful. The rest is pretty standard and I don’t enjoy having my ears stabbed with squeaks. Run can take a hike.
Here are my votes:
“I Want You (She’s So Heavy)”–it has a lot more dynamics than “Heroin,” which I find very one-note.
“Octopus’s Garden”–Exactly the same criticism as above. I think “Venus in Furs” is quite boring.
“Run Run Run”–Just as I get into “Golden Slumbers” it’s over.
I love both bands equally. With VU, I feel cool. With The Beatles, I feel more worldly.
I hate the Velvet Underground. Terrible stuff.
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