White Light/White Heat

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White Light/White Heat
Studio album by The Velvet Underground
Released	January 30, 1968 (1968-01-30)
Recorded	September 1967, Scepter Studios, New York City, New York, United States
Genre	Experimental rock Protopunk Art rock Avant garde
Length	40:13
Language	English
Label	Verve
Producer	Tom Wilson
Professional reviews
Allmusic link Rolling Stone 1985
The Velvet Underground chronology
The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967) White Light/White Heat (1968) The Velvet Underground (1969)
Alternate cover
Alternate UK cover
Singles from White Light/White Heat
"White Light/White Heat" Released: 1968 (1968) "I Heard Her Call My Name" Released: 1968 (1968)

White Light/White Heat is the second studio album by the American rock band The Velvet Underground. The record was the group's last with bassist and founding member John Cale.

Recording

After the disappointing sales of The Velvet Underground's first album, The Velvet Underground & Nico, the band's relationship with Andy Warhol deteriorated. They toured throughout most of 1967. Many of their live performances featured noisy improvisations that would become key elements in White Light/White Heat.^[1] The band eventually fired Warhol and parted ways with Nico;^[2] and ultimately went on to record their second album with a new producer.

The album was recorded in just two days, and with a noticeably different style than The Velvet Underground & Nico. John Cale described White Light/White Heat as "a very rabid record...The first one had some gentility, some beauty. The second one was consciously anti-beauty." Sterling Morrison said, "We were all pulling in the same direction. We may have been dragging each other off a cliff, but we were all definitely going in the same direction. In the White Light/White Heat era, our lives were chaos. That’s what’s reflected in the record."

Reception

The album briefly appeared on the Billboard 200, although only peaking at number 199.^[3] Despite its poor sales, the distorted, feedback-driven, and roughly recorded sound on White Light/White Heat became a notable influence on punk and experimental rock.^[4] In 2003, the album was ranked number 292 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

Themes and composition

Nearly every song on the album contains some sort of experimental or avant-garde quality. "The Gift", for example, contains a recital of a short story and a loud instrumental rock song playing simultaneously, with the former on the left speaker channel and the latter on the right. "I Heard Her Call My Name" is distinguishable for its distorted guitar solos and prominent use of feedback.

The record's lyrics vary from themes of drug use and sexual innuendo, including the song "Lady Godiva's Operation", about a transsexual's botched lobotomy, and the title track "White Light/White Heat", which describes the use of amphetamine.

On the album's last track, "Sister Ray", Reed tells a tale of debauchery, while the band plays an improvised 17 minute jam around three chords.

Cover

The album cover to White Light/White Heat is a faint image of a tattoo of a skull. The picture of the tattooed arm was photographed, enlarged and distorted by Billy Name, one of the members of The Factory. It is difficult to distinguish the tattoo, as the image is black, printed on a slightly lighter black background. On this cover, the album name, the Verve logo, and the band name are all on one line.

An alternate cover was used for Polydor's mid-1980s reissues. This cover had a completely black background, without the arm in the background. On this version, the album name, Verve logo, and band name are printed on three separate lines.

There also exists a unique MGM UK cover, produced from 1976 until the early 1980s, featuring a white background and abstract toy soldiers.

Track listing

All tracks written by Lou Reed unless otherwise noted.

Side one

1. "White Light/White Heat" – 2:47
2. "The Gift" (Reed, Morrison, Cale, Tucker) – 8:18
3. "Lady Godiva's Operation" – 4:56
4. "Here She Comes Now" (Reed, Morrison, Cale) – 2:04

Side two

5. "I Heard Her Call My Name" – 4:38
6. "Sister Ray" (Reed, Morrison, Cale, Tucker) – 17:27

Personnel

The Velvet Underground

• John Cale – vocals, electric viola, organ, bass guitar, Medical Sound Effects on Lady Godiva's Operation
• Sterling Morrison – vocals, guitar, bass guitar, Medical Sound Effects on Lady Godiva's Operation
• Lou Reed – vocals, guitar, piano
• Maureen Tucker – percussion, drums

Production

• Gary Kellgren – recording engineer
• Bob Ludwig – mastering
• Val Valentin – director of engineering
• Tom Wilson – producer

References