| Artist: | The Velvet Underground |
| Studio: | 5 |
| Live: | 6 |
| Compilation: | 14 |
| Option: | 6 |
| Option Name: | Box sets |
| Singles: | 11 |
The discography of the American rock band The Velvet Underground consists of five studio albums, six live albums, 14 compilation albums, six box sets and eleven singles.
The first line-up was formed in New York City consisting of Lou Reed on vocals and guitar, John Cale on several instruments (viola, keyboards and bass), Sterling Morrison on guitar and bass and Angus MacLise on percussion (replaced by Maureen Tucker in November 1965). On March 12, 1967 they released their debut album The Velvet Underground & Nico featuring German singer Nico. The album charted in the United States and originally peaked at number 171 on the Billboard album charts and produced two singles, "All Tomorrow's Parties" and "Sunday Morning", which did not chart anywhere. The album, produced by artist Andy Warhol,[1] recharted in 2013 peaking at number 129.
VU released their second studio album White Light/White Heat, which peaked at number 199 of the Billboard charts. The album was more experimental than their first album, featuring a loud and aggressive musical style. The album was produced without Warhol and Nico for the first time.[2] In March 1969 they released the third studio album The Velvet Underground, their first project with Cale's replacement Doug Yule. It did not chart upon its original release. However, when reissued in 1985 it peaked at number 197 in the Billboard chart.[3] One year later, Loaded was released by Atlantic Records, the first time by a major label. Compared with VU first releases, Loaded was produced for the mainstream, without thematizing sex and drugs. Although the songs were successful and popular in several music radios, neither singles, nor the album itself peaked in any music chart.[4] It was the last album featuring Lou Reed, the last remaining founder of VU. After his departure, Yule became the new frontman of The Velvet Underground and toured together with Willie Alexander (keyboard), Walter Powers (bass guitar), Maureen Tucker (drums) and other musicians. In 1973, he recorded their fifth and last regular studio album, Squeeze,[5] which for some time dropped out of the official discography. After their break-off, several compilation albums were released, some of which feature outtakes from their previous studio sessions, most notably VU, which peaked at number 85 on Billboard and 47 on the UK Albums Chart.
| Year | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [6] | FRA [7] | GER [8] | NLD [9] | NOR [10] | UK [11] | ||||||||||||
| 1967 | The Velvet Underground & Nico | 129 | 164 | 89 | 58 | 40 | 43 | ||||||||||
| 1968 | White Light/White Heat
| 199 | — | — | — | — | — |
| |||||||||
| 1969 | The Velvet Underground
| 197 | — | — | — | — | — |
| |||||||||
| 1970 | Loaded
| — | 188 | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||
| 1973 | Squeeze
| — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart. | |||||||||||||||||
Notes
| Year | Album details | Peak chart positions | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | NZ [13] | UK | |||||||||||||||
| 1972 | Live at Max's Kansas City
| — | — | — | |||||||||||||
| 1974 |
| — | 31 | — | |||||||||||||
| 1993 | Live MCMXCIII
| 180 | — | 70 | |||||||||||||
| 2001 | Final V.U. 1971–1973
| — | — | — | |||||||||||||
The Quine Tapes
| — | — | — | ||||||||||||||
| 2015 | The Complete Matrix Tapes
| — | — | — | |||||||||||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart. | |||||||||||||||||
| Year | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | NZ | NOR | UK | ||||||||||||||
| 1970 | Velvet Underground | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||
| 1971 | Andy Warhol's Velvet Underground featuring Nico
| — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||
| 1985 | VU
| 85 | 16 | — | 47 | ||||||||||||
| 1986 | Another View
| — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||
| 1989 |
| — | — | — | — |
| |||||||||||
| 1991 | Chronicles
| — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||
| 1995 | The Best of Lou Reed & The Velvet Underground
| — | — | — | 56 |
| |||||||||||
| 1997 | Fully Loaded
| — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||
| 2000 |
| — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||
| 2001 | Rock and Roll: An Introduction to The Velvet Underground
| — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||
| 2002 | The Velvet Underground & Nico (Deluxe Edition)
| — | — | 40 | 59 | ||||||||||||
| 2003 | The Very Best of the Velvet Underground
| — | — | — | — |
| |||||||||||
| 2005 | Gold
| — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||
| 2008 | Playlist Plus
| — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart. | |||||||||||||||||
| Year | Album details | |
|---|---|---|
| 1993 | What Goes On
| |
| 1995 | Peel Slowly and See
| |
| 2001 | Final V.U.
| |
| 2012 | The Velvet Underground & Nico 45th Anniversary
| |
| 2013 | White Light/White Heat 45th Anniversary
| |
| 2014 | The Velvet Underground 45th Anniversary
| |
| 2015 | Loaded 45th Anniversary
|
| Year | Song (A-side and B-side) | Album | Ref(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1966 | "All Tomorrow's Parties" (edit) b/w "I'll Be Your Mirror" | The Velvet Underground & Nico | [15] | |
| "Sunday Morning" b/w "Femme Fatale" (FRA #174) | ||||
| 1968 | "White Light/White Heat" b/w "Here She Comes Now" | White Light/White Heat | ||
| "I Heard Her Call My Name" b/w "Here She Comes Now" | ||||
| 1969 | "What Goes On" (edit) b/w "Jesus" (radio-only single - mono versions)[16] | The Velvet Underground | ||
| "The Velvet Underground" (radio ad distributed to radio stations with excerpts from The Velvet Underground) | ||||
| 1971 | "Who Loves the Sun" b/w "Oh | Sweet Nuthin'" | Loaded | |
| "Who Loves the Sun (mono)" b/w "Who Loves the Sun (stereo)" | ||||
| "Who Loves the Sun" b/w "Sweet Jane" (UK-only release) | ||||
| 1973 | "Sweet Jane" b/w "Rock and Roll" (FRA #96) | |||
| "I'm Waiting for the Man" b/w "Run Run Run" b/w "Candy Says" (UK-only release) | ||||
| "I'm Waiting for the Man" b/w "Candy Says" b/w "White Light/White Heat" (NLD-only release) | ||||
| 1985 | "Foggy Notion" (edit) b/w "I Can't Stand It" (promo) | VU | ||
| 1988 | "I'm Waiting for the Man" b/w "Heroin" (UK-only release) | Non-album singles | ||
| "Venus in Furs" b/w "All Tomorrow Parties" (UK-only release) | ||||
| 1993 | "I'm Waiting for the Man" b/w "Pale Blue Eyes" b/w "White Light/White Heat" b/w "Sweet Jane" (UK-only release, promo) | |||
| "Venus in Furs" b/w "I'm Waiting for the Man" (FRA-only release) | Live MCMXCIII | |||
| 1994 | "Venus in Furs" (live edit) b/w "Sweet Jane" (Live), "Heroin" (Live), "I'm Waiting for the Man" (Live) (UK #71) | Non-album singles | ||
| 2009 | "We're Gonna Have a Real Good Time Together" b/w "If You Close the Door (After Hours)" | |||