An Ode to “Sister Ray”: The Velvet Underground At Their Most Violent

When you think of the Velvet Underground, the band’s banana-laden Warhol-produced debut is what will immediately come to mind. 1967’s The Velvet Underground and Nico is an absolutely iconic record – but has been talked about to death, rightfully so. Today, we’ll be shifting focus to the band’s follow-up record: White Light/White Heat.

“The first one had some gentility, some beauty,” founding member John Cale said. “The second one was consciously anti-beauty.” Ditching Andy Warhol and Nico, it seemed like the band aimed to make the noisiest and most unwelcoming album possible. Featuring songs about orgasms, methamphetamine, and botched lobotomies, White Light/White Heat is not for the faint of heart. But that’s not even the tip of the iceberg.

The album closes with the monolithic “Sister Ray” – a 17-minute long drug-fueled slab of pure debauchery noisy enough to challenge even the most devoted of fans. The track was recorded in one take live in-studio; and what Lou Reed, John Cale, Sterling Morrison, and Maureen Tucker put to tape that day is truly something of pure speed-fueled musical magic, foreshadowing the future of noise rock and punk to come.

Even 50 years since its release, there isn’t a song today that replicates the ferocity of the Velvet Underground’s most violent cut. We put together a minute-by minute companion piece to “Sister Ray” – adding a visual element to the sonic tour-de-force put to tape way back in 1968.

Are you ready?