White Light/White Heat

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White Light/White Heat
White Light/White Heat cover
Studio album by The Velvet Underground
Released January 30, 1968
Recorded Scepter Studios, New York September 1967
Genre Proto punk
Experimental rock
Noise rock
Length 40:13
Label Verve (V/V6-5046)
Producer Tom Wilson
Professional reviews
The Velvet Underground chronology
The Velvet Underground and Nico
(1967)		 White Light/White Heat
(1968)		 The Velvet Underground
(1969)

White Light/White Heat is the second album by The Velvet Underground.

Contents

After the disappointing sales of The Velvet Underground's first album, The Velvet Underground and Nico, the band's relationship with Andy Warhol weakened. The Velvets toured most of late 1967. Many of their live performances featured noisy improvisations that would become key elements in White Light/White Heat.[1] The band eventually fired Andy Warhol and Nico,[2] and went on to record their second album with a new producer. The album was recorded in just two days, noticeably different in style than The Velvet Underground and Nico. It briefly appeared on the Billboard Top 200, only managing to reach the 199th position.[3] Despite its poor sales, the distorted, feedback-driven, and roughly recorded sound on White Light/White Heat has since become a large influence on the punk rock movement.[4] It ranks at #159 at Rate Your Music's Top Albums of All Time.[5] In 2003, the album was ranked number 292 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

Nearly every song on the album contains some sort of experimental or avant-garde quality. "The Gift", for example, contains a recital of a short story and a loud instrumental rock song playing simultaneously in two separate stereo channels. "I Heard Her Call My Name" is notable for its aggressive, heavily distorted guitar solos and prominent use of feedback.

The album is also memorable for Lou Reed's lyrics, which often focus on themes of drug use and sexual absurdity, including the song "Lady Godiva's Operation", about a drag queen's botched lobotomy, and the title track "White Light/White Heat", which glorifies the use of amphetamine.

The album ends with "Sister Ray", a noisy, seventeen-minute rock improvisation.

The album cover to White Light/White Heat is a faint image of a tattoo of a skull. The subtle picture of the tattooed arm was photographed, enlarged and distorted by Billy Name, one of Andy Warhol's "Factory" members. It is difficult to distinguish the tattoo, as the image is black, printed on a slightly lighter black background. On the 1996 Polydor CD reissue of the album, a clearer picture of the tattoo is printed on the disc itself.

  1. "White Light/White Heat" (Reed) – 2:47
  2. "The Gift" (Reed, Morrison, Cale, Tucker) – 8:18
  3. "Lady Godiva's Operation" (Reed) – 4:56
  4. "Here She Comes Now" (Reed, Morrison, Cale) – 2:04

  1. "I Heard Her Call My Name" (Reed) – 4:38
  2. "Sister Ray" (Reed, Morrison, Cale, Tucker) – 17:27

  1. ^ Velvet Underground History and Facts at Music Babylon
  2. ^ Andy Warhol 1967 at Warholstars
  3. ^ 292) White Light/White Heat, The RS 500 Greatest Albums of All Time at Rolling Stone
  4. ^ White Light/White Heat at PopMatters
  5. ^ White Light/White Heat at Rate Your Music
v • d • e
The Velvet Underground
John Cale · Sterling Morrison · Lou Reed · Maureen Tucker · Doug Yule
Willie Alexander · Angus MacLise · Walter Powers · Walter De Maria
Studio albums The Velvet Underground and Nico · White Light/White Heat · The Velvet Underground · Loaded · Squeeze
Live albums Live at Max's Kansas City · 1969 · Live MCMXCIII · Final V.U. · The Quine Tapes
Box sets and outtake compilations VU · Another View · What Goes On · Peel Slowly and See
Related articles Discography · Songs · Chelsea Girl · Exploding Plastic Inevitable · Lou Reed · Nico · Steve Sesnick · Songs for Drella · Tom Wilson · Andy Warhol · Billy Yule
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Light/White_Heat"
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