Search - Various Artists :: Unpiecing the Jigsaw: Velvet Underground

Not Quite Heaven and Hell, Rather...Purgatory

Eric DiStefano | 03/07/2010

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This is a tough one. Basically, this is the Heaven and Hell Vols 1-3 tribute set from 1990, a truly superior tribute set; I'm over the top on how great it was, each a 5 out of 5 worthy of loop play. For those that missed out on it when it came out, this is the only shot you have at it, you're stuck, get it, or pay loads more for the few originals to be found. Do so now, because it looks like a small batch again.



The bad... it seems like at least some of the tracks were pulled from an LP rather than any master or even the original CDs and maybe subjected to some (minor) auto pop-click filtering which also shed a bit of sound (Run,Run,Run and I'm Set Free to name two). But it is more than acceptable if you have no alternative source for this work. Track order is different, but so what. The "bonus" material of the two Nico live tracks are fully discardable and pointless, pulled from poor recordings and poor copies; there are much better Nico live outings than these, though I cannot speak to the uniqueness of these particular ones; I don't really mind, but hardly a valued bonus. The additional one tribute track by the Prank is not a tipper, but fine nonetheless. The bonus disk of the Lou Reed Interview didn't make it with my package; in it's place was a duplicate of the first disk with some glitch in the track title recognition. Again, no real loss for me. I am certainly no fan of a somewhat misleading representation of the material either - as if renaming what is virtually the same content as the original Heaven and Hell Vols 1-3 is some new idea. So, if you already have the set, avoid this of course; there is nothing that it will really add. But... if you don't have Heaven and Hell Vols 1-3, get this by all means.



Back to the good...as the now cliche saying goes, The Velvet Underground only had a few hundred fans in and around their time, but every one of them went out and started their own band. And here are a bunch of them doing stuff they like. These are great interpretations of Velvet tunes from talented bands for most of whom this set was my introduction (i.e., Heaven and Hell). Most are not straight up takes, but instead are channeled and re-made through the creativity and style of each of the contributors. Interestingly enough, the Nirvana Here She Comes Now is one of the less re-interpreted pieces of the bunch, but it is true to Nirvana, a perfect fit. Special highlights for me are Some Kinda of Love by Levellers5, Foggy Notion by Echo and The Bunnymen, Beginning to See the Light by Into Paradise, What Goes On by the Screaming Trees, All Tomorrow's PArties by Buffalo Tom, European Son by Ride, and Sister Ray by Badgeman, the latter two alone are worth the price of the set for me and led me to venture further into the wall-of-noise/shoe-gaze genre - to which White Light White Heat must be credited as an inspiration in part.



There is no tracklist in the listing at the time of this writing, so here you go.



1. Run Run Run - Motorcycle Boy

2. Here She Comes Now - Nirvana

3. Pale Blue Eyes - The Mock Turtles

4. Sister Ray - The Badgeman

5. Lady Godiva's Operation - Chapterhouse

6. She's My Best Friend - The Wedding Present

7. I'm Set Free - Terry Bickers Bradleigh Smith

8. Who Loves the Sun - Shelleyan Orphan

9. All Tomorrow's Parties - Buffalo Tom

10. Foggy Notion - Echo and The Bunnymen

11. Sweet Jane - Hurrah

12. Some Kinda Love - Levellers 5

13. Sunday Morning - James



CD2

14. Femme Fatale - Beef

15. White Light Whit Heat - Revenge

16. Stephanie Says - Lee Renaldo

17. Candy Says - The Telescopes

18. I'm Sticking With You - Jellyfish Kiss

19. Beginning to See the Light - Into Paradise

20. Lonesome Cowboy Bill - Bill Nelson

21. European Son - Ride

22. I'm Set Free - The New Fast Automatic Daffodils

23. Head Held High - The Original Sins

24. What Goes On - The Screaming Trees

25. I Heard Here Call My Name - Half Japanese



CD3

26. Jesus - Swervedriver

27. Ocean - The Eleventh Dream Day

28. Who Loves the Sun - The Dylans

29. Lady Godiva's Operation - Fatima Mansions

30. All Tomorrow's Parties - The Reegs

31. Murder Mystery - The Prank

32. Femme Fatale - Nico - Live

33. All Tomorrow's Parties - Live



CD4 (A dice roll whether you get it?)

34. Lou Reed Interview



If you want to see how various bands that list Velvet underground as an influence sound and or weave your path through derivative music, this is a great item for you. If you are/were a fan of one of the bands doing a song here, you probably have heard the VU; if not, sure I recommend this, but I recommend you get into VU directly - check out reviews to find your way (but I rate Velvet Underground and Nico is a stand-out great among greats).



Yes, there's a lot one could complain about here, and I do. But keep the good in mind; it's great music and a great path to related music. If a release is managed again in the future with the original masters, I'll be crazy enough to get that too.

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