Matt’s Take
One of the biggest albums for me of the year in terms of anticipation, will “I’ll Be Your Mirror: A Tribute to the Velvet Underground & Nico” be “Loaded” with great covers, or will it “Squeeze” my expectations dry?
First off, I need to address the fact that the Velvet Underground is, in my mind, the greatest and most influential rock band of all time. The road that they paved is unbelievably wide and varied. As a result, I was super excited to hear this tribute album that collects covers by different alt-rockers of the band’s seminal debut “The Velvet Underground & Nico.”
Artists like Kurt Vile, Courtney Barnett, Iggy Pop, St. Vincent, Thurston Moore, and Michael Stipe giving their own interpretations of some of the greatest rock songs ever recorded sounds too good to be true! Sadly, that is just the case with this album, a concept too good to be true.
Right from the get-go, it is clear that the album is a hodge-podge collection that doesn’t stick nearly as well as it should given the source. Gone is the risky filthiness of the masterpiece track “Heroin,” and gone is the grimy style that is to be expected of Thurston Moore who covers the track.
Much like Metallica’s recent collection of covers by wildly different artists for their 30th anniversary re-release of “The Black Album,” this collection is just too different in terms of style and quality to provide an enjoyable listening experience. I’m sure many will dig this album for this reason, but for me I couldn’t find a good enough reason to really recommend this album even as an experiment.
Overall Rating: 6.8/10
Three Standout Tracks: “Femme Fatale” covered by Sharon Van Etten, “There She Goes Again” covered by King Princess, and “I’ll Be Your Mirror” covered by Courtney Barnett.