50 Years Ago: “Loaded” by The Velvet Underground

Today in 1970, on the verge of break-up, Lou Reed & co. released one of their most iconic records

Some records have the animosity of their creation woven into their fabric. Rumors sounds like couples sharpening exquisite knives on each other. The White Album evokes a band on the brink of self-immolation. But the fourth and final Velvet Underground album, Loaded, contains none of that rancor, despite the seams of the band tearing apart during its recording.¹ 

If anything, Loaded resembles a band having the time of their life poking fun at the music industry. “Who Loves the Sun?” seems to be taking the piss out of the blithe optimism of The Beatle’s “Here Comes the Sun.” “Sweet Jane” has an excitable dude simply exclaiming “me, I’m in a rock ’n roll band!” And “Rock & Roll” recounts the life of Jenny, whose “life was saved by rock and roll.” Good times!

Even the album title derives from enthusiasm. The record label told the band to produce an album “loaded with hits.” But like all prior VU records, it had difficulty even making it into the charts. (The highest a VU album ever got on the Billboard 200 was their debut at #171.)

If albums can be assigned days of the week, Loaded is surely a Sunday album. So kick back and imagine it’s, 50 years ago today.…

It was alright. Yeah, it was alright.

¹ Surely someone out there is yelling, “Actually no, there was a fifth VU record.” Hello pedant! No one likes you! That album doesn’t count because zero original band members were involved.

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