The mid 70s double LP release of the Velvets live – just past the uber prime point, in 1969 after Doug Yule had steeped in for the departed John Cale! Includes very solid live versions of benchmark numbers, with the VU sounding remarkably sharp on stage on the classics and more. Includes "Waiting For My Man", "Lisa Says", "What Goes On", "Sweet Jane", "We're Gonna Have A Real Good Time Together", "Femme Fatale", "New Age", "Rock And Roll" and "Beginning To See The Light". LP, Vinyl record album

This 1970 live recording arrived at the end of the line for the true Velvet Underground – before latter-day bassist Doug Yule took over the name for a short and (thankfully) long-forgotten stint, in a performance that became known as the group's last live set! Maureen Tucker and John Cale were indeed MIA at this point, making it Lou's show all the way, performing his soon to be seminal songs from throughout the REAL band's too-short existence – and tracks include "I'm Waiting For My Man", "Sweet Jane", "Lonesome Cowboy Bill", "Sunday Morning", "Femme Fatale", "After Hours", and "New Age". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the most far-out, freaked-out albums ever from the Velvet Underground – easily the most experimental set the group ever recorded! The album's awash in really unusual sounds and styles – from the sonic blast of the title cut "White Light/White Heat", to the 17 minute garage/psych jam of "Sister Ray" to the very odd "The Gift" – which is a creepy story about cuckolding, told with voice and instrumentation split over different stereo channels! Other tunes offset the darkness with an eerie touch of sweet – and include "Here She Comes Now", "Lady Godiva's Operation", and "I Heard Her Call My Name". Arguably one of the Velvets' most influential moments – even if it's also one of their least commercially successful! LP, Vinyl record album

The incredible third album from The Velvet Underground – and maybe our favorite of all their albums together – even though this one is far less weird or experimental than the rest! After their initial foray with Nico, and their bombastic sonic experiments on White Light/White Heat, the VU hit this wonderfully subtle territory here – these really personal, moody songs that still have all the knowledge of the wilder sounds of previous records, but which take those farther reaches and bring them back to more focused songwriting – with results that are completely sublime! There's no side-long jams, nor any fuzzy freakouts – but instead, the album's filled with these wonderful songs that really show Lou Reed really honing his craft – able to touch on all the seamy edges of late 60s counterculture, without ever having to hit you over the head – and likewise, the band's instrumentation has this way of using all their wider knowledge of noise and sound in these really refined ways – at a level that opened the door for so many other generations to come. The result is a masterpiece all the way through – and every track is a landmark of dark genius – on titles that include "Pale Blue Eyes", "After Hours", "I'm Set Free", "That's The Story Of My Life", "Candy Says", "What Goes On", and "Jesus". LP, Vinyl record album

The end of the road for the Velvet Underground – but a set that's also one of the group's best-remembered albums too! The record marked a big shift for the group – a move to Atco from Verve, continuing to work without John Cale – and the sound is possibly more rockish and straight ahead than some of their previous efforts (certainly compared to White Light/White Heat) – but always with that dark edge that Lou Reed could bring to the music! In a way, the whole thing's almost a recasting of all the advances made in 60s rock, but seen through a lens that shows the darker corners and shadows that have crept up alongside – that kind of subtle, yet extremely powerful quality that Reed would bring to his long run of solo albums in the 70s – but served up here with more of an edge, in the definite VU fashion. Titles include the seminal classics – "Sweet Jane" and "Rock & Roll", plus "Cool It Down", "New Age", "Head Held High", "Lonesome Cowboy Bill", "Oh Sweet Nuthin", and "I Found A Reason". LP, Vinyl record album

With selections by Steppenwolf, Santana, Blind Faith, Humble Pie, Traffic, Chambers Brothers, Cream, Velvet Underground, Byrds, Quicksilver, Spirit, and Big Brother. LP, Vinyl record album

The first solo album from John Cale – and a record that's about as different a statement as he could have made from his previous work in the Velvet Underground! There's an approach here in both the songwriting and instrumentation that's instantly Cale-like – sounds that have a knowledge of all the newer ideas that have been brewing up in the underground throughout the 60s – both in rock and more "serious" forms of art music – yet a way of putting over the tunes with undeniable charm, and which have Cale rising to the forefront as a surprisingly strong lead. A few steps further, and John might well have been a compelling crossover pop singer with a record like this – yet it's also his way of holding back that really makes things interesting – especially given all the different directions his career would take in the next few years – all hinted at here, but hidden in some surprisingly tuneful songs. Titles include "Ghost Story", "Amsterdam", "Charlemagne", "Hello There", "Gideon's Bible", "Adelaide", "Cleo", and "Big White Cloud". LP, Vinyl record album

A really great slice of unissued material from Lou Reed – demo recordings done in October of 1971 for RCA – initial material that would launch Reed's solo career on the label, with some familiar songs done in stripped-down versions that are totally great! At some level, the album's actually a perfect bridge between late Velvet Underground and early solo Lou – as there are some shared songs here, delivered by Reed with a surprisingly personal tone at times – especially unfettered by some of the larger production modes of the albums to come. Titles include two takes on "Ocean" and "Perfect Day" – plus versions of "I'm So Free", "Wild Child", "I Love You", "Lisa Says", "Berlin", "Kill Your Sons", "New York Telephone Conversation", and "She's My Best Friend" – and second takes of "Ride Into The Sun", "Going Down", and "I'm Sticking With You". LP, Vinyl record album

One of John Cale's greatest moments as a solo artist – a wonderfully dark record that also features lots of great guitar from Chris Spedding, plus electronics from Brian Eno too! There's a stark, flat tone to Cale's lyrics here – a quality that almost echoes some of Eno's albums from around the time, especially the first two – but which takes on some shapes and phrasing that are definitely in the spirit of John's larger body of work too. But man, there's some very spooky bits here – even where you wouldn't expect them – that sense of surprise that Cale could always bring to sweeter moments with the Velvet Underground, re-focused here wonderfully for his own needs. Titles include "Cable Hogue", "Engine", "Save Us", "My Maria", "I Keep A Close Watch", "Helen Of Troy", and "Sudden Death" – plus a cover of Jonathan Richman's "Pablo Picasso". LP, Vinyl record album

A record that blew the world away when it was first released – and still continues to delight all these many years later! Brian Eno had first rose to fame in Roxy Music – where his sonic sensibilities and ear for electronic experimentation really added a lot to their initial albums – and here, on his own, he's in somewhat side-stepped territory – mixing things up in the art/glam generation of Roxy and Bowie, but also already showing a darkness that really sets him apart from the pack! The first three songs alone are a hell of a statement from any musician in the 70s, and the titles alone almost get at their impact – "Needles In The Camel's Eye", "The Paw Paw Negro Blowtorch", and "Baby's On Fire" – all songs that offer a rare blend of ferocity and humor that wouldn't emerge elsewhere until the punk movement. Yet Eno's hardly the forerunner of punk, but he's also not glam, metal, or anything else – a supremely impactful artist with this record, completely in his own space – like a rare breed that might include The Velvet Underground, Gram Parsons, or Bowie. Titles include "Needles In The Camel's Eye", "The Paw Paw Negro Blowtorch", "Baby's On Fire" "Blank Frank", "Some Of Them Are Old", "Cindy Tells Me", "On Some Faraway Beach", and "Dead Finks Don't Talk". LP, Vinyl record album

A huge record in its day and it hasn't aged a minute since! On Psychocandy the Reid brothers took all the underground Brit indie psych revival modes and filtered them through the Velvet Underground at their noisiest, then paired melodies learned from sources as sweet as 60s Wall Of Sound pop and the Beach Boys to ferociously fuzzy guitars – and stunning found a way to spring this onto to fringes of the mainstream on both sides of the Atlantic! Hugely influential – a record that points the way towards sounds so many would soon follow. Titles include "In A Hole", "The Hardest Walk", "Taste The Floor", "Just Like Honey", "Never Understand", and "You Trip Me Up". LP, Vinyl record album

Maybe the most classic of all the Mott The Hoople albums of the early 70s – thanks in part to the classic title track, which was given to the group by David Bowie! Yet that hit is only one of many gems within – all delivered in a style that shows that Ian Hunter and the group were maybe in the territory of Mick Ronson and Bowie before they find their way with Ziggy – delivered here perfectly on tunes that have all the best elements of glam, but maybe more hard rock permanence and lyrical sensitivity too! In addition to "All The Young Dudes", the set also features a great remake of the Velvet Underground's "Sweet Jane" – and the cuts "Soft Ground", "Sea Diver", "Sucker", "Jerkin Crocus", and "Momma's Little Jewel". LP, Vinyl record album

Both solo and tracks from the Velvet Underground. Includes the songs "Waiting For The Man", "White Light White Heat", "I Heard Her Call My Name", "Pale Blue Eyes", "Beginning To See The Light", "Sweet Jane", "Rock And Roll", "Heroin", "Femme Fatale", "Walk On The Wild Side", "Berlin", "Men Of Good Fortune", "The Kids", "Coney Island Baby", "Temporary Thing", "All Through The Night", "So Alone", "How Do You Speak To An Angel", "Keep Away", and "Street Hassle". LP, Vinyl record album

Not the first solo album from Lou Reed, but definitely the one that established him as a major force away from the Velvet Underground – and a record that still stands as one of the best from this groundbreaking early 70s moment in music! Part of the record's strength is its resonance with the Ziggy Stardust world of David Bowie – who produced the record, and had Spiders From Mars guitar genius Mick Ronson adding some extra guitars to the whole set. Yet at the same time, it's Lou Reed's brilliance with both songwriting and delivery that really makes the whole thing amazing – capturing a moment when New York was rotting out from the inside, when danger seemed to come from simple moments, and when the rules were changing faster than anyone could keep up with. A fantastic example of this is the amazing "Perfect Day" – but the whole album's incredible, with titles that include "Hangin Round", "Satellite Of Love", "Andy's Chest", "I'm So Free", "Vicious", and the always-classic "Take A Walk On The Wild Side". LP, Vinyl record album

The second album from the young Iggy Pop and The Stooges – and the record where the whole thing really comes together – a set that was an instant legend, even though it hardly sold many copies at the time! Instead, the album's like work by the Velvet Underground – probably every copy that was sold went into the hands of someone who took the music as a key influence, then went on to create something amazing of their own – drawing key inspiration from Iggy's vocals, the guitar work of Ron Asheton, and the overall frenzy of the album's approach. Titles include the paranoid genius of "TV Eye", the romping "Down On The Street", the insane "Fun House", and the cuts "Loose", "Dirt", "1970", and "LA Blues". LP, Vinyl record album