By turns fiercely confrontational, literate, primitive, and heartbreakingly melodic, The Velvet Underground remain one of the most influential bands in the history of rock, inspiring everyone from David Bowie to The Jesus and Mary Chain. Surprisingly, the group was unsuccessful in its day, selling small numbers of records, largely because its monochrome look and photo-realist lyrics were at odds with the garish colors and peace fantasies of the hippie era. It was only when Bowie started to champion the band in the early ‘70s, after the group had split up, that the VU’s reputation started to spread. In White Light/White Heat, noted rock writer and historian Richie Unterberger analyzes the band’s career and influence in forensic detail, drawing on dozens of new interviews with band members and associates, previously undiscovered archive sources, and a vast knowledge of the music of the times. The result is an articulate, authoritative, immensely detailed history, the most thorough work on the band yet published.
