Live MCMXCIII

by

The Velvet Underground

Edit

I cannot understand the reason for any negative reviews of this

release... All previous recordings of this wonderful, creative,

original, exciting band's great material were shoddy,; mostly due

to the lack of technology in that time period; it is simply a

BLESSING to be able to HEAR these four musicians playing together

and being recorded using modern equipment. This recording is certainly much better on the ears than anything available

previously. Why carp and nitpick about little things. AMG's

2 star rating is preposterous! At last I can hear what everyone's

playing! And the tunes sung by John Cale are refreshing, especially "the Gift". We VU fans have very few recordings to enjoy - I appreciate all their discs and this is also a very important one. Buy it before it goes out of print.

Yes, I am a VU nut. I have a hard time giving any of their output anything less than 5 stars. This, however, is the exception to the rule.

Lou's maniacal control of the band during their reunion shows make the songs sound forced and fake. Listen to "Some Kinda Love" and you'll hear Lou trying to play his guitar so hard that he forgets the words to the damn song! The control issues reached into the mixing booth as well, where Lou's loyal sideman, Mike Rathke, put Lou WAY in front of the mix, leaving the oft-Stellar Sterling in the background somewhat. The Velvet Underground could make some very touching and emotional songs, but here, when played in front of a stadium-sized crowd, you just get the impression that everyone was just going through the motions.

Yes, there are some rarities here, like "Mr. Rain," which can be found on the Peel Slowly and See box set, and "Coyote."

What I am most gratified about regarding this CD is that Sterl and Moe finally started to collect some royalties.

If you are a longtime VU fan, I would urge you to get this if only to listen to the VU's last document. Yes, there will be DVD's and remasters and further commercially available bootlegs, but this was the whole band interacting together for the last time (well, not THE last time, but you get it). If you are new to the VU, DO NOT get this. It is not a good introduction to the band at all. If you were looking to purchase your first Rolling Stones album, would you pick Steel Wheels over Sticky Fingers? NO!