Velvet Underground & Nico (45th Anniversary Version) LP

According to legend, although the Velvet Underground’s debut LP only sold about 100 copies when it was originally released, every one who did buy a copy were inspired enough to form their own band. Partly as a vehicle for native New Yorker Lou Reed’s songwriting, and part pet art project for artist Andy Warhol (who designed the groundbreaking “peel slowly and see” banana album cover), the band also featured Welsh émigré John Cale, percussionist Mo Tucker, guitarist Sterling Morrison and teutonic, iconic chanteuse Nico. Recorded in 1966 and issued a year later, it’s widely regarded as a precursor to punk and alternative music a decade later. Now rightly hailed as an undisputed classic, the dark subject matter and progressive sounds explored on ‘I’m Waiting For The Man’, ‘Venus In Furs’ ‘Heroin’ and ‘The Black Angel’s Death Song’ did little to help propel this experimental group into the mainstream. Q regarded it as “a flickering, unforgettable band performance”, whilst it rated at #6 of the NME’s ‘Greatest Albums Of All Time’.