“The first Velvet Underground album only sold 10,000 copies, but everyone who bought it formed a band”: Why this cult classic was hailed as one of the most influential albums of all time

Lou Reed of The Velvet Underground.

Released in 1967, The Velvet Underground & Nico has been described by Rolling Stone magazine as “the most prophetic rock album ever made”.

But nobody put it better than Richard Goldstein, writing in the New York World Journal-Tribune: “The sound is a savage series of atonal thrusts and electronic feedback. The lyrics combine sadomasochistic frenzy with free-association imagery. The whole sound seems to be a product of a secret marriage between Bob Dylan the Marquis de Sade.”