Six Degrees of Loaded
It used to be easier to pretend that an album was its own perfectly self-contained artifact. The great records certainly feel that way. But albums are more permeable than solid, their motivations, executions and inspirations informed by, and often stolen from, their peers and forbearers. It all sounds awfully formal, but it's not. It's the very nature of music — of art, even. The Six Degrees features examine the relationships between classic records and five other albums we've deemed related in some way. In some cases these connections are obvious, in others they are tenuous. But, most important to you, all of the records are highly, highly recommended.
The Album
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As in, "loaded with hits." That was the prime directive reportedly put forth by Atlantic Records and dutifully followed by the band for the Velvet Underground's fourth and final studio album. 1970's Loaded wasn't the first (and certainly wouldn't be the last) rock 'n' roll album to invoke art-versus-commerce debates and hand-wringing among proprietary fans, but it was the first one to matter: Lou Reed and Co. began their careers as Factory-wrapped... avant-garde action figures, incubated in a Ludlow Street loft and sealed off from the rest of the chart-topping rock groups of the late '60s. The Velvets used to treat pop culture as a distant, Warholian toy; now they were openly participating in it. Loaded can be seen as the archetype for the Sellout Album or the product of a band in its twilight years taking a Last Stab at Commercial Success. But it can also be viewed as the Velvets' biggest earner the album with radio hits "Sweet Jane" and "Rock And Roll" on it and proof that Reed could conquer any songwriting territory he wanted. In short, the Velvet Underground achieved the rare rock 'n' roll feat of going out on top. It's easy to point out the differences between the Velvet Underground that produced the terror and cacophony of 1967's "The Black Angel's Death Song" and the one that recorded the downcast, puppy-love pop of Loaded leadoff track "Who Loves The Sun." The song titles alone advertise the sea change. The fractured lineup circa 1970 only magnifies things: Drummer Maureen Tucker was on maternity leave from the band, replaced by bassist Doug Yule's 16-year-old brother, Billy. Reed had one foot out the door (he exited the group a month before Loaded was released, leaving in his wake much criticism and speculation about the album's final sequencing and mixing), intent on pursuing a solo career. Even so, the Velvets are fully recognizable here, especially on "New Age" and "Oh! Sweet Nuthin'," downer hymns to fame and loss, respectively. The Stones-y, Western-wear "Lonesome Cowboy Bill" and '50s teen-idol crooning on "I Found A Reason" seem like songwriting exercises for Reed, the former novelty tunesmith for Pickwick Records. But the tinny guitars and Reed's not-so-slight sarcasm when he deadpans lines like, "I've walked down life's lonely highways" give the game away. As for the well-known moments on Loaded, there is only this left to say: When the opening guitar chords to "Sweet Jane" bound in, it is the most thrilling few seconds in the Velvet Underground's discography, more exciting than the looped piano of "All Tomorrow's Parties" or any snippet of noise from "Sister Ray." It must be heard in the context of the album to be appreciated. If this represents the sound of a band changing from early-period nihilism to last-gasp commercialism, the punk and indie-rock puritans who followed the Velvet Underground have much to learn.
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The Death of Cool
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One year prior to the release of Loaded, the jazz world's complex and troubled genius manufactured his own sellout album. In A Silent Way marked the beginning of Miles Davis' fusion period, an all-electric approach that earned raves from rock critics ("This is the kind of album that gives you faith in the future of music," wrote Lester Bangs at the time) and jeers from the jazz corners, prompting writer Stanley Crouch... to call it "an abject surrender to popular trends." While the Velvet Underground had no sizable fanbase to betray in 1970, the anger directed toward Davis for abandoning jazz traditionalism was very real. And unlike Dylan's electric turn in '65, Miles changed not only the method of amplification but his entire compositional style, relying on producer Teo Macero to edit the recording tapes into long, structured suites. The two sides of the album ("Shh/Peaceful" and "In A Silent Way") are searching and sprawling, but they explore for a purpose, and there are tangible rewards within. Follow-up album Bitches Brew took Miles' fusion to greater success and sales, but the revolution started with In A Silent Way.
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The Prog Kings
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There is a long and convoluted history to Genesis (the band) that rivals the long and convoluted history found in Genesis (in the Bible). There are just a lot fewer "begat"s. By 1980, the heavily costumed days of Peter Gabriel were long over, but Genesis stood proudly in the prog-rock ranks alongside Yes and King Crimson, titans of instrumental proficiency and labyrinthine arrangements. The trio of Phil Collins, Mike Rutherford and Tony... Banks made a bid for the pop charts with Duke, introducing a drum machine on "Duchess" and scaling back the ponderous grandeur of earlier efforts. Still, there is considerable synth grandstanding on Duke (not to mention a song in 13/4 time), but its landmark is "Misunderstanding," an iron-clad hit that should have alerted FM radio of Phil Collins' imminent arrival and sometimes unfortunate ubiquity. While Judd Apatow fetishizes his teenage Rush fandom in his movies, a large number of real-world teens from that same era were relating heavily to Genesis' Duke in their wood-paneled basements.
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The Punk Variation
The Bastards Out Of Minnesota
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"Your phony rock 'n' roll/We don't wanna know," sneered Paul Westerberg on 1984 anti-MTV screed "Seen Your Video." Five years later, Westerberg and the Replacements were aiming for the buzz bin with a glammed-up clip for "I'll Be You," featuring bassist Tommy Stinson in lipstick and eyeliner, and guitarist Slim Dunlap standing and hitting all the notes in the spot where Bob Stinson used to vomit and fall down. Of all the... bands in rock history to stab wildly at a hit record, the hard-luck Replacements deserve the biggest break. Not only did the 'Mats shoot their career in the foot too many times to count, they also watched contemporaries such as R.E.M. rocket past on the way to stardom. Don't Tell A Soul doesn't need your sympathy "Achin' To Be" and "Talent Show" are among the best songs in the Westerberg catalog it just needed more sales. Like Lou Reed, Westerberg would transition into a solo career and take up the mantle of cranky elder statesman to a generation of followers.
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![Don't Tell A Soul [Expanded Edition] album cover](http://images.emusic.com/music/images/album/117/505/11750525/155x155.jpg)
The Ohio Players
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One of the most compelling things about the indie-rock '90s was Guided By Voices' rags-to-nicer-rags story, a tale of a Dayton, Ohio, schoolteacher and his beer-soaked buddies rising from their basement clubhouse to the nation's hippest stages and record labels. Frontman Robert Pollard's crew had seemingly plateaued, however, after initial efforts to spruce up GBV's lo-fi sound (the Steve Albini mulligan Under The Bushes, Under The Stars and the harder-rocking Mag Earwhig!)... failed to translate the pop hooks into popular songs. At the behest of supermodel wife and GBV fan Paulina Porizkova, the Cars' Ric Ocasek stepped in to have his turn at producing Pollard and Co. at the expense of a major label (initially Capitol, but eventually released on TVT, the imprint built with Nine Inch Nails). To a limited extent, the gambit worked: Pollard's songs shined up nicely, and the Cars-like "Teenage FBI" and power ballad "Hold On Hope" were duly placed in network TV shows. But a bona fide hit album was far from realistic. Most GBV fans reveled in the obscurity of their heroes, and the notion of a band "selling out" is mainly a result of the relationships, real or imagined, that listeners develop with their coveted artists. It would only be appropriate to point out that the finest song on Do The Collapse isn't a single or a focus track, but rather "Dragons Awake!," a song about conquering heroes and the spoils that await them. Or, as Pollard sings it, "Softer tits will greet you."
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