– Best Ever Albums score: 15,634
– Rank all-time: #94
– Rank in release year (1969): #6
The Velvet Underground’s eponymous third album was a significant departure from the band’s prior sound, featuring love ballads and straightforward rock songs rather than the gritty, distorted sound of “White Light/White Heat.”
This made it a hit with critics—who widely praised the band’s new approach to their music—but despite the critical acclaim, the album struggled to gain commercial success—due in large part to the band’s own record label failing to promote it, as well as the subsequent dissolution of the band as singer Lou Reed moved forward on his own with 1972’s “Transformer.”
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