The Price Of Art, Or Music?
Normally I don’t buy LPs (long-play vinyl records for you kiddies), but I did pick one up on eBay a couple days ago. I paid $321.89. That price is certainly not just for the music, although it does have some good tunes, but for the artwork contained on the album.
The album, The Velvet Underground & Nico, was released in March 1967 on Verve records. Rumor says it took more than ten years for this album to sell into the six figures in total units. To say it wasn’t the success sought is an understatement. But decades later, many people look back and see an influential project in experimental rock and punk.
The Velvet Underground was little known during its lifetime; now, more than thirty years after the band collapsed, it has a world-wide following, but the band’s music still tends to divide listeners. You either get it or you don’t. For those who DO get it, this recording, with its Andy Warhol-designed “Peel Slowly and See” cover, is a must-have.
– Gary F. Taylor, Amazon.com review
