White Light/White Heat (Super Deluxe) [45th Anniversary]

A legendary album and one of the loudest ever committed to tape, 1968's White Light/White Heat took the mystical sounds of the band's debut album, The Velvet Underground and Nico, and broke them open with a sledgehammer. Take two guitars turned past 11, an organ with its expression pedal stuck at the top, and a drummer who stood up to pound her floor toms, and you have the setting. This reissue also includes the sessions' gentler songs that didn't make the album—“Stephanie Says,” “Temptation Inside Your Heart,” “Hey Mr. Rain.” (They were initially saved for compilations that appeared in 1985 and 1986: VU and Another View, respectively.) Another bonus track, “Beginning to See the Light,” is performed in a slower, less manic version than the well-known cut from the band’s third album, The Velvet Underground. The original album is presented here in both speaker-stretching stereo and blunt, in-your-face mono (preferred), with the live NYC performances from 1967 showing the roots of every alternative band to follow. There's even a touch of the blues (Velvet Underground–style) on “Booker T.”