The Fat Angel Sings

Rhino has a fully loaded slate for this autumn. On October 30th, the same date as the recently-announced 20th anniversary edition of Alanis Morissette’s “Jagged Little Pill”, the label will give the deluxe treatment to The Velvet Underground’s fourth studio album. Loaded: Re-Loaded 45th Anniversary Edition will follow in the footsteps and format of the deluxe sets previously released by UMe for the VU’s first three albums The Velvet Underground and Nico, White Light/White Heat, and The Velvet Underground. This 6-disc box will feature:
•The original 1970 album remastered in both its stereo and mono mixes;
Demos, singles, early versions and alternate takes from the Loaded era;
•A previously unreleased Philadelphia concert from May 1970 featuring seven songs from Loaded;
•A newly-remastered and re-edited version of Live at Max’s Kansas City containing tracks from the original 1972 album plus selections from Rhino’s expanded 2004 edition; and
•Stereo and surround mixes of the original Loaded album on DVD.

By the time of the original release of Loaded on Atlantic Records’ Cotillion imprint in November 1970, Lou Reed had already departed The Velvet Underground. But the album contains some of his most beloved songs for the band including “Sweet Jane” and “Rock and Roll.” With the increased participation of Doug Yule (including on the lead vocals on four songs) and without the credited Maureen Tucker, who was pregnant at the time of the album’s recording, Loaded has a very different – and unabashedly commercially-oriented – feel than its predecessors in the group’s catalogue. (VU guitarist Sterling Morrison does play on the record. Guest drummers including Doug Yule’s brother Billy subbed for Tucker.) Remastered stereo and mono versions of the album fill out the first two discs, along with various outtakes, and the mono mix for the unissued single: “Rock & Roll” b/w “Lonesome Cowboy Bill.” The third disc explores the creative process behind many of the songs on the album with more than 20 demos, early versions and alternate mixes. An unreleased club performance feature on the fifth disc. It was recorded on May 9th, 1970 at the Second Fret in Philadelphia. The band was down to a trio that night: Lou Reed, Sterling Morrison and Doug Yule, who alternated between bass and drums to fill in for Moe Tucker, who was pregnant at the time. Loaded, which came out six months after the show, is well represented with seven songs, including: “Cool It Down,” “Oh! Sweet Nuthin’” and “Sweet Jane”.

In 1997, Rhino Records released the Fully Loaded 2-CD reissue, with 23 outtakes, demos and alternate mixes. This release forms the basis of the additional material on Disc Three of Re-Loaded, with the outtakes appended to Disc One and the single versions (including two previously unreleased mono single mixes) on Disc Two. Note that, per Rhino, for the surround and stereo downmix on the DVD, the original album track listing has been slightly re-sequenced to include the segue originally planned for “I Found a Reason/Head Held High.” The press release also indicates that the album’s surround mix (the first surround release for the Velvets) will be playable in DTS and Dolby Digital.

Rhino re-loads on October 30th with this deluxe set. You can peruse the track listing and pre-order below! A single-disc remastered edition of the album will also be available at Amazon U.S. that same day. (Amazon U.K. link is TBD.)

The Velvet Underground, Loaded: Re-Loaded 45th Anniversary Edition (Rhino/Atlantic, 2015) Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. TBD)

CD 1: Loaded – Remastered Stereo LP plus bonus tracks
1.Who Loves the Sun
2.Sweet Jane (Full Length Version)
3.Rock and Roll (Full Length Version)
4.Cool It Down
5.New Age
6.Head Held High
7.Lonesome Cowboy Bill
8.I Found a Reason
9 Train Round the Bend
10.Oh! Sweet Nuthin’
11.I’m Sticking with You (Outtake – New Remix)
12.Ocean (Outtake)
13.I Love You (Outtake)
14.Ride Into the Sun (Outtake)

CD 2: Loaded – Promotional Mono Version, Singles and B-Sides
1.Who Loves the Sun
2.Sweet Jane (Full Length Version)
3.Rock and Roll (Full Length Version)
4.Cool It Down
5.New Age
6.Head Held High
7.Lonesome Cowboy Bill
8.I Found a Reason
9.Train Round the Bend
10.Oh! Sweet Nuthin’
11.Who Loves the Sun Single)
12.Oh! Sweet Nuthin’ (Single)
13.Rock and Roll (*)
14.Lonesome Cowboy Bill (*)

CD 3: Demos, Early Versions and Alternate Mixes
1.Rock and Roll Demo)
2.Sad Song (Demo)
3 Satellite of Love (Demo)
4.Walk and Talk (Demo)
5.Oh Gin (Demo)
6.Ocean (Demo)
7.I Love You (Demo)
8.Love Makes You Feel Ten Feet Tall (Demo)
9.I Found a Reason (Demo)
10.Cool It Down (Early Version – Remix)
11.Sweet Jane (Early Version – Remix)
12.Lonesome Cowboy Bill (Early Version -Remix)
13.Head Held High (Early Version – Remix)
14.Oh! Sweet Nuthin’ (Early Version -Remix)
15.Who Loves the Sun (Alternate Mix)
16.Sweet Jane (Alternate Mix)
17.Cool It Down (Alternate Mix)
18.Lonesome Cowboy Bill (Alternate Mix)
19 Train Round the Bend (Alternate Mix)
20.Head Held High (Alternate Mix)
21.Rock and Roll (Alternate Mix)

CD 4: Live at Max’s Kansas City – Remastered and Re-Edited
1.I’m Waiting for the Man
2.White Light/White Heat
3.I’m Set Free
4.Sweet Jane
5.Lonesome Cowboy Bill
6.New Age
7.Beginning to See the Light
8.I’ll Be Your Mirror
9.Pale Blue Eyes
10.Candy Says
11.Sunday Morning
12.After Hours
13.Femme Fatale
14.Some Kinda Love
15.Lonesome Cowboy Bill (Version 2)

CD 5: Live at Second Fret, Philadelphia 1970 (*)
1.I’m Waiting for the Man
2.What Goes On
3.Cool It Down
4.Sweet Jane
5.Rock and Roll
6.Some Kinda Love
7.New Age
8.Candy Says
9.Head Held High
10.Train Round the Bend
11.Oh! Sweet Nuthin’

DVD: (*)
1.96/24 Hi-Resolution Surround Sound Mix (DTS, Dolby Digital)
2.96/24 Hi-Resolution Stereo Downmix
3.96/24 Original Stereo Mix

(*) denotes previously unreleased track