This one's been quite often hailed as the 'Great Lost blah blah blah', but it certainly depends on what exact sense you include in the expression. Me, I suppose that to a certain extent it is great, not to mention lost (and found), but I can't help comparing these outtakes to the four studio regulars and the subsequent recordings of many of them on some of Lou Reed's solo albums, and a slightly noticeable 'eeh' escapes my lips. Now and then...
See, when these outtakes, most of them destined for the Underground's fifth regular album that never happened due to Lou's and the band's record company's obstinacy, were discovered by the record company in the early Eighties, the world was already hungry for more fresh Velvets' recordings, and the critics and the public fell upon them and extracted them and praised them with the highest praise. How could they do otherwise? By then, everybody with a more or less significant status in rock music had already proclaimed themselves descended directly - if not from Lou Reed's guitar, then from John Cale's viola. The album and its successor, Another View, were bound to be deified. But never worry - here I go to save the world and debunk the myth!
A clear example of how much this album is overrated is how all the critics who used to praise Lou Reed's solo albums suddenly turn their backs on him and say that all of these outtakes are superior to the later versions on Lou's solo albums. Dude, if that's how it really is, either I don't deserve to live or everybody else has got cotton wads in their ears. More probably, nobody has ever really compared the two groups of songs. To my notion, at least five of the ten songs on here have later been included by Lou on his solo projects: 'I Can't Stand It', 'Ocean', and 'Lisa Says' ended up on his debut album (Lou Reed), 'Andy's Chest', as everybody knows, got re-recorded for Transformer, and 'She's My Best Friend' turned out to be put on Coney Island Baby - six years after the 'rough mix' of VU. And, all right, so 'Ocean' kinda sucks: but it sucks on both versions, and at least the one on Lou Reed has enough 'static power' to make it seem impressive.
But 'I Can't Stand It'? It begins its life on VU as a catchy, solid, but very crude demo (and what's with that drum sound? I bet you anything it was re-recorded in the Eighties - it sounds electronically enhanced!), only to be tightened up and hardened up on Lou Reed to make a truly unforgettable experience. 'Lisa Says'? Great song, but who on earth would prefer the hoarse, out of tune screams 'Lisa sa-a-a-a-a-ys' on the VU version to the moody, gentle, so unbelievably charming 'Lisa says... oh noooo... Lisa says' of Lou Reed. (It's the 'oh no' part I miss so much, understand that). Same thing goes for 'Andy's Chest' and 'She's My Best Friend'. The overall problem with all these versions is understandable: They Are Not Moody. That's very important. On Lou's solo records, all of these songs took over an independent, breathing life of their own - small autonomous worlds in their own rights. Here, it's just a bunch of solid, guitar-driven demo versions with interesting, but not ideal melodies. I'll admit that 'She's My Best Friend' may be a bit more catchy and bouncy than on the slow, dreary version on Coney Island Baby, but it's also more generic (Mark Prindle said it reminded him of the Association, and I couldn't agree more).
But don't get me wrong. This is still quite a good little record. Quite simply, there ain't a single truly bad song here - and so, if you're afraid of the Velvets' weirdness, this will be the natural thing to buy after the self-titled record and Loaded. All of the above-mentioned songs, with the possible exception of 'Ocean' and 'She's My Best Friend', are still first-rate material, and that's not all.
Only two of the tracks here date to the Cale era, but it shows: 'Stephanie Says' is a gorgeous ballad that reminds me a little of 'Sunday Morning' because the melodies are similar (yet it's not a rip-off) and there's a glockenspiel part on both, but it's also highlighted by some moving, strangely inobtrusive violin playing by John, and it's a great highlight of the band's 'softest' side. And 'Temptation Inside Your Heart' has Lou and Sterling Morrison exchange some bizarre dialogue lines in between the lines of the song (which is a rather generic rocker by itself), such as 'Motown! You don't look like Martha and the Vandellas' and 'Lock the door this time', which roll on at great speed and great fun.
As for the Doug era, there's some more angry rock'n'roll (the never ending, but quite infuriating 'Foggy Notion'), some more routine, but pleasant pop ('One Of These Days'), and even a Moe Tucker-sung album conclusion - a great three-chord piano ballad called 'I'm Sticking With You' that she sings in the same childish, naive, charming little 'voicelet' of hers. In other words, the record's pretty diverse, and hardcore fans will definitely get a blast out of it. I do like it - get this, I do like it - but I do have the complaint I just voiced. The album's not finished, and that is a bad thing: turns out that the Velvets did depend on the arrangements and production after all, no matter how people like to emphasize the rawness and 'purity' of their sound. Get this record at all costs, but I wouldn't really advise you to do that until you've assimilated the first two Lou Reed solo albums - at least, that way you won't be accused of giving in to all the hype. (from George Starostin's Reviews)