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I've listened to The Velvet Underground on a number of occasions, but for the most part I only really know The Velvet Underground and Nico, which I sort of dig. I've only listened to this album once and I wanted to recheck it out...
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An album let down by Nico's shocking voice on the songs she sings, I usually get some hate when I mention that on a VU thread.
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I've been trying to figure out how to talk intelligently about the song structures for about thirty minutes now, but I know fuck all about song structure or time signatures and in the end I don't really know what I'm talking about.
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I don't either, so I just bluff it. Most of these proggers that harp on about the in and outs and complexities of time signatures and other some such stuff........... I'm sure are winging it as well.
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Even so, I can still tell that this album has a very free approach to songwriting. Much of it is very simple and repetitive, but it often turns into jamming or free form experimentation. I can't help but think that the songs on here don't really even feel like songs so much as they do an R&B band (or insert more relevant reference) just playing all out in a piano bar. It gives the whole thing a sense of freedom and fun that along with the warm, fuzzy production makes you feel comfortable and at the same time challenged. It's an experimental album that feels nonthreatening and unpretentious (with the exception of "The Gift") in its experimentation.
If I had to have a problem with this on the first go round, it would be that "The Gift" is cool the first time you hear it, but after that it just becomes unnecessary. I can appreciate how ground breaking it might have been to release a song that talked so honestly and intelligently about modern sexuality in 1968, but in 2013 it doesn't have the same impact. So all we're left with is the music, which gets old. Not that it's a chore to listen to, but it's definitely not a highlight for me. The fact that it's eight minutes long doesn't help.
I am but a humble, half-retard metalhead, so I can't comment on just how good "Sister Ray" is, but I still loved it. It's simple beat is hypnotic, and even though I didn't concentrate on it the whole time thanks to my short attention span, I kept getting drawn back in to enjoy the song over and over again. It just has this infectious energy that grabs a hold of you and makes you feel like you're at the world's coolest party. And the last two minutes are more punk rock than the Clash's entire discography.
I'm sure that I didn't do VU any particular justic with that review, but I am still totally stoked at having really listened to this album. I might have to go back and really give Nico a better listen as well, not to mention their other albums.
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For somebody that doesn't think they know how to write a review for this kind of music, you've done a pretty good job. Try listening to some of the Krautrock bands from this period and you might enjoy.