The Velvet Underground
White Light/White Heat

THE REVIEW

Boredom, that's what drives me at 4:26 in the morning to write this review, the review of an album that has nothing to do with boredom, in fact "White Light/White Heat" is an album that has absolutely nothing to do with boredom.

An album that Scaruffi has placed in second place among the best psychedelic albums of all time. The first is the eponymous one by The Doors.

The first track is a pounding boogie like "Waiting for the Man" from their previous, legendary first album. Quite cloying. It's called "White Light/White Heat."

The second track consists of a viola-guitar loop in the background that knits things together haphazardly, and a lazy yet relentless drum. Meanwhile, a guy's voice tells an engaging (eight-minute-long) and entertaining story on the left channel. A shorter and understated version of track number six. This is called "The Gift."

The third track is one of the best on the album, much more psychedelic than the previous one, with a background viola like an ambulance siren, the tam-tam of the tambourine and two voices recounting a chilling test of courage by a man who wants to change sex, anxiety oozes from everything the ear can hear. Before the end, you hear velociraptor mergers, heartbeat, and various whistles making it clear that the situation becomes increasingly heated and oppressive, yet there remains a veiled and subdued lavender atmosphere. The man dies on the stretcher with his bloody penis cut like a salami. This one's called "Lady Godiva's Operation." Reminds one of "Heroin."

The fourth track is very, too unsettling despite its vaudeville tune and chorus. Similar to "Sunday Morning." Not much to say. It's called "Here She Comes Now." It's a breath of fresh air compared to what's to come.

The fifth track is impossible to describe as it is pure cutting noise, not noisy noise like "European Son" but close. It's called "I Heard Her Call My Name."

"Sister Ray" is the title of the legendary sixth track, legendary enough to rank among the hundred most legendary songs of all time. Legendary enough to be categorized as a drug. "Drugs here, drugs there"/"metaphysical journey here, metaphysical journey there" and I've secured my place as the greatest critic of all time, NO! (Besides, "metaphysical journey has nothing to do with it, anyway...) This is truly a drug, potent enough to give the listener energy, energy to eat, energy to build a library, or to race like a rocket in the park. It starts off slowly but seems to get faster every minute that passes, and the song from the beginning slowly transforms into a psychotic babbling delirium, to shout to the whole world... BUT! But, to shout something like this to the whole world requires a force of impact/shout and a speed so high that it remains exclusive to the Saiyans of Japanese cartoons. You can only listen to it and try to vent in the most controlled way possible. You can't resist the lustful sixth track of this album. No. A track that has something primitive, actually much more than something, it is based on animal instinct, the one that gives you the strength to survive in any way to hurricanes and earthquakes. The first thing that strikes the ear about these songs is the extreme simplicity, simplicity so simple that it can be offensive, because they made money with this simplicity; they became very famous and acclaimed, so you're left a bit sour.

What did I forget to say? Mmmh... Must buy!