#13 on Rolling Stone’s 2003 list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time and inducted into the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress

Vinyl Picture Disc

This album features the first professional line up of The Velvet Underground: Lou Reed, John Cale, Sterling Morrison and Maureen “Moe” Tucker, plus Nico singing on three tracks (“Femme Fatale,” “All Tomorrow’s Parties” and “I’ll Be Your Mirror”). Most of the songs were recorded in April 1966 in a run-down recording studio before the band even had a contract. They were turned down by big-name labels such as Columbia, Atlantic Records and Elektra. Since Verve had just decided to include alternative music to their label, they picked up the group’s recordings, put polish on some of the tunes and added “Sunday Morning,” which was the prospective single for radio play.