The Complete Matrix Tapes

The double album 1969: The Velvet Underground Live is the apex of live recorded rock n' roll for many (certainly for me anyway) ... one of the greatest live albums ever made. Unbelievably this new set makes most of it more or less redundant. This is the VU recorded live at the Matrix in San Francisco across two fine nights in November '69. A lot of the same tracks as on 1969 Live but superior mixes in better quality. The club had its own built-in recording studio and the sound reproduction is far, far better than 1969 Live. If you're familiar with 1969 then this will blow your mind.Lou is so droll on his introductions, he really makes me chuckle. You can tell he's having fun.... extemporising lyrics as he goes along and taking well-known songs into new areas. The band are super tight but also kind of confidently loose at the same time. I'm listening to it now and can't really believe the thing exists.I wish there was more live VU from 1967 and 1968 in this quality when the band were a bit more wild and jagged. I believe some tapes exist but the owners are reluctant to part with them for various reasons. Well - no matter, this is tremendous stuff and will more than satisfy for now. Pity 2 full cds of it came out as part of last year's Super Deluxe 3rd album but I guess that's how recordland operates nowadays.Stellar release anyway - highly recommended.>edit< Just noticed the price has dropped to £29.99 today - and I paid £44.99 just yesterday... bit of a buzzkiller. Oh well, just my tuff luck I guess :(

First of all I've never heard any of these recordings before (didn't buy the special edition 3rd album with part of this set included) and I must say they're fantastic. Sound quality is brilliant and it's like the VU are there in your front room with you. Whilst sound quality is important the thing that really appeals to me and the reason why I think these sets easily deserve five stars is the sheer quality of the performances. Whilst they all differ from the studio album versions they are great performances (Version 1 of Waiting For The Man is personally the best I've heard) and this gives you an insight as to how good Lou and the band were in what I consider to be their heyday. Packaging is pretty basic compared to some of the other more plush editions with just a basic box,card sleeves and a 21 page booklet but at £29.99 I think this is a bargain for as someone else here mentions one of the best live albums you'll hear. If you 're a fan of the Velvets then you should have this album in your collection.

It's almost criminal this hasn't been released before. Given the poor quality of the handful of tapes that have existed, and the 'racket in a bucket' of the officially released 'Live At Max's Kansas City' and 'Live 1969', the Velvets fierce old live reputaion might seem at best baffling.At last, I see what the point might actually have been. Over these four discs, the Velvets live reputation becomes obvious. The sound is crisp and clear, and you can hear everything in precise detail. Sure. By modern standards this might not be amazing, and by Velvets standards these probably werent the best shows the band ever played, but … imagine. After 46 years hiding in a box, finally, the Velvet Underground live can be heard as clearly as they were if you were actually there.Firstly, junk all your other Velvets live recordings, - or more correctly, if you only have the studio albums, get this and – at a push – the MCMXVIII live reunion release. Most of the performances on “Live 1969” are on this set ; and on “Live 1969” they were recorded using a cheap tape player as a bootleg : these are the professionally mixed sound coming out direct from the venue speakers, not a shoddy four generation 50 year old bootleg.The whole set features four full shows and over four hours of live Velvets recorded in pristine condition, - and whilst most of the shows have been released over the years on “Live 1969” and the “Quine Tapes” - put simply they are all absolutely redundant and useless when you hear this. Everything else sounds dreadful, and you only need these four shows.

This is a wonderful set. Truly. As most who have bought or will by this, I have known Live 69 for a long time and the upgrade on songs from that set is astounding. Then there are all the new versions to replace those on various bootlegs with the blistering WLWH Version 1 and WGO V1 being amongst the many highlights.There's just one thing and it is just a wee observation. In no way diminishes the 5 stars. The tracks that appear on both this set and the VU 45th Anniversary box set Velvet Underground: 45th Anniversary Deluxe are mastered (is that the word?) slightly differently. Just seems weird they are different. The 45th versions are slightly louder with the bass being slightly deeper and the treble bits slightly more trebly. I only noticed after a long time of listening as I well and truly have got my money's worth from all the VU reissues. Anyway, just thought I'd mention it.