Loaded by The Velvet Underground

Loaded, the fourth album from the Velvet Underground, came out in November 1970 on Cotillion, a subsidiary of Atlantic, and it's the sound of a band built on noise and shadows being asked, politely, for some hits, and very nearly delivering them. Atlantic wanted songs for the radio, and the band obliged with the brightest, most straightforward rock and roll they ever cut.

Lou Reed, guitar, piano and lead vocals, was still the main songwriter, and Doug Yule, who could play just about anything with keys or strings, sang and filled in the gaps on bass, guitar, organ and piano. "Sweet Jane" is a lazy, loping strut with a riff so simple it's almost a dare; "Rock & Roll" is all swagger and release; "Who Loves The Sun" floats on a sunny pop bounce, and "Oh! Sweet Nuthin'" rolls out a long, weary, gorgeous sway. It's proto-punk with the snarl sanded down to a smirk.

The irony is that none of it charted, not the album and not the singles. Reed quit shortly before it was released, and Sterling Morrison and Maureen Tucker were gone by 1971, which is why fans tend to call this the last real Velvet Underground record, even though Yule kept the name going through Squeeze in 1973. History has been kinder than the charts were: the album has since earned wide critical acclaim and turns up on all-time greatest album lists.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.