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Live MCMXCIII (1993)

Where the lyrics of Live MCMXCIII take you, and where it was really made.

This live record of the 1993 reunion was not followed by another album: the band split again, and Sterling Morrison's death in 1995 ended the story.

Key places

Three nights at L'Olympia (1993)

Recording site Olympia (Paris) — The album was recorded live at L'Olympia in Paris over three nights, on 15, 16 and 17 June 1993, during the band's European reunion tour. The venue is the place of the recording, so the point marks the city-level location of the performances. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Live MCMXCIII: live album by the Velvet Underground, released in 1993 by Sire Records
• Released 26 October 1993 in single and double CD and cassette formats at the same time
• The single CD version is an abridged edition
• Double CD: 23 tracks, mostly from the band's early records
• A VHS and laserdisc video album was released at first
• In 2006 a DVD, Velvet Redux Live MCMXCIII, came out through Warner Music Vision and Rhino Home Video

Background

• Late 1992: Lou Reed, John Cale, Sterling Morrison and Maureen Tucker, the 1965-1968 core line-up, suddenly decided to reform
• Relations between Reed and Cale had been sour since the late 1960s and hit another low after the 1990 collaboration Songs for Drella
• An impromptu one-song reunion at an Andy Warhol exhibition in Jouy-en-Josas, France, set the scene
• By 1993 the band was rehearsing for a world tour
• Sire Records, Reed's record company at the time, agreed to release a live album from the European leg
• Plans were also made for an MTV Unplugged appearance and a studio album; neither was realised
• During the six-week European leg, relationships soured again, and all other plans were dropped
• Sterling Morrison died in summer 1995, and the band's final breakup became permanent

Recording

• Recorded during a three-night residence at L'Olympia in Paris on 15, 16 and 17 June 1993
• Recorded by Eurosound Mobile 4; mixed at East Hill Studios in New York City; mastered at Gateway Mastering in Portland, Maine
• Emphasis on the first three records and the 'lost fourth album'; only two songs from Loaded
• Two new songs: Velvet Nursery Rhyme and Coyote (a Reed/Cale collaboration)
• Production credited to Mike Rathke; mixing by Mike Rathke and Roger Moutenot

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com · ko.wikipedia.org · fr.wikipedia.org · pt.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Formed in New York City in 1964; took the name The Velvet Underground in November 1965, from a 1963 book on atypical sexual behavior.
• Classic lineup: Lou Reed, John Cale, Sterling Morrison, Moe Tucker.
• Andy Warhol became the band's manager in 1966 and they were the house band at The Factory.

Members

• Lou Reed (singer, guitarist) and John Cale (multi-instrumentalist, Welsh) were the core partnership.
• Sterling Morrison (guitar) and Moe Tucker (drums) completed the classic four-piece.
• Doug Yule replaced Cale in 1968 and later led the band's final lineups.

Career

• Performed with Warhol's multimedia show Exploding Plastic Inevitable from 1966 to 1967.
• Debut The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967) sold poorly at release but is now widely hailed as one of the greatest albums.
• Ranked 19th on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time (2004).
• Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996; received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Mainstream rock press praised the reunion itself
• The reunion generated heavy publicity, and many European venues were sold out or near capacity
• The album itself received mixed reviews
• After release, Cale expressed disappointment in the album's mix
• Cale felt the mix did not use the ambiance of the room, and the band's noise was not as present as he and others had wanted

Reappraisal

• Cale said some of the bootlegs from the tour gave a truer picture of the band's sound than the well-recorded album
• French critics and fans found the band filling European stadiums strange, out of place, even opportunistic

Records

• Released as single CD, double CD and cassette at the same time
• VHS and laserdisc video album released
• 2006 DVD release Velvet Redux Live MCMXCIII by Warner Music Vision and Rhino Home Video

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · fr.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The band played Europe as an opening act for U2 on part of the tour, in a series of concerts after the reunion.
• The new song Velvet Nursery Rhyme is a short, tongue-in-cheek reunion theme in which Reed introduces the band members.
• Some tour bootlegs were said to capture the band's sound more truly than this official recording.
• The single CD edition is an abridged version of the double CD set.
• The recordings came from a three-night residence at L'Olympia, so the album documents one venue in Paris.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · fr.wikipedia.org

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