Despite All The Computations

The fact that this post is about The Very Best of the Velvet Underground makes it obvious that on this occasion I have taken the route of getting a compilation disk instead of one definitive album. It is a representative selection of tracks with no obvious omissions, my only quibble would be with track sequencing which is a bit all over the place both chronologically and stylistically. The Velvet Underground are one of the most written about bands, appealing as they do to the sensibilities of rock critics. I don't propose to go into the history, influence and mystique of the band since I wouldn't have anything new to add. But some things did strike me about the music revisiting it in this fashion. One thing was how little of the music was in any way a sonic assault on the senses despite the hard core reputation the band had. Secondly, I was struck by the fact that every track was written by Lou Reed. Not being a lifelong devotee of the band, I had expected that one or two of the iconic numbers may have come from John Cale. Instead, I presume the Cale influences came in the musical additions of his violin contributions and the almost English ( Welsh ? ) folk like melodies of All Tomorrow's Parties and Venus In Furs. Looked upon as being quintessentially New York, I did nevertheless also pick up one or two psychedelic west coast inflections that again possibly came from Cale. What could never be confused with the west coast however are tracks like Heroin, which must be one of the most genuinely scary rock songs ever written with the refusal to be judgemental and instead to illustrate in both words and music the attraction of that rush.