Description
Label Review.
Official standalone release of the unreleased fourth MGM album. Previously issued as part of the 45th anniversary box set of the third album.
Our Overview.
Following the release of their third album, ‘The Velvet Underground’ in 1969 the band gigged all over in order to promote the record but it fell to the same fate as their first two with minimal sales. Inbetween shows they laid down new numbers for their fourth album which showed the band moving in a more commercial direction. Unfortunately for the band their label’s new president took a harsh look at their roster and dropped all the acts who either didn’t sell or had drug references in their lyrics. VU fell foul of both crimes. The label however kept ownership of all their tapes and when the band got a new deal with Atlantic in 1970 the group started from scratch and released ‘Loaded’ later that year.
It wasn’t until the mid-80s with the Velvets now a bankable name thanks to Lou Reed and John Cales’ solo careers and with the punk and new wave scenesters picking up on their records, their old label now owned by PolyGram, looked at releasing an album of unreleased tracks from the vaults. Most of the tracks came from these 1969 sessions although they were mixed in some cases with an ‘eighties’ sheen. Despite this the album gave the band their highest chart positions in the UK and US! The following year, the rest of the unreleased tracks that had been found were issued as ‘Another View’.
In 2014 a new collection of these tracks were issued as part of the 45th anniversary edition of their third album. Where original mixes from the time couldn’t be located, new mixes were prepared but made to fit with the originals. Now, this collection is being issued on vinyl as a standalone release.