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Following three highly stylized Andy Warhol-influenced releases on the Verve label, The Velvet Underground signed with Ahmet Ertegun's Atlantic subsidiary Cotillion Records for their fourth and official final full-length, Loaded, a tongue-in-cheek title not about drugs but the label's request that the band produce a record "loaded with hits."
Released shortly after founder and frontman Lou Reed left the band, the hooky Loaded found the Velvet Underground headed in a more commercial direction yet still maintaining all of their cutting-edge trademarks and it stands as one of the warmest and most accessible efforts of their all-too-brief career. Includes the VU anthems "Sweet Jane" and "Rock and Roll" plus additional standout fare like “Who Loves the Sun,” “Cool It Down” and “Oh! Sweet Nuthin’”.
"Lou Reed quit the Velvets just before their fourth album was finished. But he left behind two perfect hits ("Sweet Jane," "Rock & Roll") and a record that highlights the doo-wop roots and Sun Records crackle buried in VU's noir-guitar maelstrom." - #110 on Rolling Stone's '500 Greatest Albums of All Time'
Released shortly after founder and frontman Lou Reed left the band, the hooky Loaded found the Velvet Underground headed in a more commercial direction yet still maintaining all of their cutting-edge trademarks and it stands as one of the warmest and most accessible efforts of their all-too-brief career. Includes the VU anthems "Sweet Jane" and "Rock and Roll" plus additional standout fare like “Who Loves the Sun,” “Cool It Down” and “Oh! Sweet Nuthin’”.
"Lou Reed quit the Velvets just before their fourth album was finished. But he left behind two perfect hits ("Sweet Jane," "Rock & Roll") and a record that highlights the doo-wop roots and Sun Records crackle buried in VU's noir-guitar maelstrom." - #110 on Rolling Stone's '500 Greatest Albums of All Time'