Though not my (only) favorite, I consider this to be the album I've heard that is the best, and the most complete. As well as being universally acclaimed and approved of, it's had an incredible impact on music. It, along with their later White Light/White Heat, was important inspirations for the creation and reinvention of many genres, such as punk rock, noise rock, shoegaze and post-rock. The latter might be hard to realize, but "Sunday Morning" is often regarded as the first post-rock song; and though it is an underdeveloped incarnation of the genre, it contains post-rock elements such as the dreamy drones and the classical influence.
The Velvet Underground & Nico wasn't produced by Andy Warhol - as credited - but his managing the band gave them complete creative control, which was important to maintain their experimental nature. As the band's main figures, classically trained John Cale pursued his previous work with Theatre of Eternal Music, including instruments such as the viola and the celesta, while Lou Reed provided elements such as alternate guitar-tunings (for instance he invented the "ostrich guitar," where all the strings are tuned to the same note - included in "Venus In Furs" and "All Tomorrow's Parties") and radical lyrics about drugs and trans-sexuals. Nico provides her beautiful, unique german-american vocals for some songs, but sometime after this album, she was forced out of the band. Her appearance on the album is always debated. My opinion is that she is wonderful and essential.
The album-closener, "European Son," is basically where The Velvets picked up on their second album, White Light/White Heat being their noisiest album and their last with John Cale.
The Velvet Underground & Nico
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