The Complete Matrix Tapes

The Complete Matrix Tapes is a live album by the New York City-based experimental rock band the Velvet Underground, released on November 20, 2015. It features unexpurgated recordings of the band's two-night stint on November 26 and 27, 1969, at San Francisco club The Matrix, owned and operated by Jefferson Airplane's Marty Balin.

The Complete Matrix Tapes
Live album by
The Velvet Underground
ReleasedNovember 20, 2015 (2015-11-20)
RecordedNovember 26–27, 1969
VenueThe Matrix, San Francisco
Genre
Length285:00
LanguageEnglish
LabelPolydor/Universal

Background

The band's appearance represents one of the rare occasions on which the Velvet Underground was professionally recorded in a live setting, and while several of the performances in this set have been released in various fashions and configurations before (in particular, on the album 1969: The Velvet Underground Live and the 45th anniversary reissue of The Velvet Underground, as well as via much lower-quality audience recordings in Bootleg Series Volume 1: The Quine Tapes), it is the first time all of them have been collected together. Additionally, this represents the first time much of this material has been presented in a CD version sourced directly from the original tapes, which had been considered lost for decades, and nine tracks from this collection had previously been completely unreleased in any configuration.

Two of the songs from these performances, "Over You" and "Sweet Bonnie Brown/It's Too Much", have never been released as studio recordings by the band, and it is not known whether the band ever recorded them in the studio. Songs such as "Sweet Jane" and "New Age" feature significantly different or expanded lyrics from their eventual studio counterparts (which would both be released in 1970 on Loaded, while others such as "Sister Ray" and "White Light/White Heat" are substantially longer than their studio versions.

Reception
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic86/100[1]
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[2]
The Austin Chronicle[3]
Classic Rock[4]
The Guardian[5]
Pitchfork8.5/10[6]
Q[7]
Record Collector[8]
Robert ChristgauA-[9]
Rolling Stone[10]
Uncut[11]

The album – which received a Metacritic score of 86 based on 13 reviews (indicating "universal acclaim") – was widely praised both for its sound quality and for the power of its performances.[6][10][2]

Track listing

All songs written by Lou Reed, except where noted.

Disc 1 (Set One)
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."I'm Waiting for the Man" 13:07
2."What Goes On" 8:53
3."Some Kinda Love" 4:58
4."Heroin" 8:07
5."The Black Angel's Death Song"John Cale, Reed6:19
6."Venus in Furs" 4:37
7."There She Goes Again" 3:13
8."We're Gonna Have a Real Good Time Together" 3:20
9."Over You" 2:23
10."Sweet Jane" 5:11
11."Pale Blue Eyes" 6:05
12."After Hours" 2:56
Disc 2 (Set Two)
No.TitleLength
1."I'm Waiting for the Man"6:33
2."Venus in Furs"5:11
3."Some Kinda Love"4:04
4."Over You"3:02
5."I Can't Stand It"7:54
6."There She Goes Again"2:50
7."After Hours"2:30
8."We're Gonna Have a Real Good Time Together"3:40
9."Sweet Bonnie Brown / Too Much"7:50
10."Heroin"10:05
11."White Light/White Heat"9:27
12."I'm Set Free"4:46
Disc 3 (Set Three)
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."We're Gonna Have a Real Good Time Together" 3:15
2."Some Kinda Love" 4:38
3."There She Goes Again" 2:59
4."Heroin" 8:27
5."Ocean" 10:59
6."Sister Ray"Cale, Sterling Morrison, Reed, Maureen Tucker36:54
Disc 4 (Set Four)
No.TitleLength
1."I'm Waiting for the Man"5:30
2."What Goes On"4:31
3."Some Kinda Love"4:03
4."We're Gonna Have a Real Good Time Together"3:24
5."Beginning to See the Light"5:30
6."Lisa Says"5:59
7."New Age"6:28
8."Rock & Roll"6:54
9."I Can't Stand It"6:52
10."Heroin"8:17
11."White Light/White Heat"8:42
12."Sweet Jane"4:19

Total length: 4:34:42

Personnel
The Velvet Underground
  • Lou Reed – lead and backing vocals, guitar
  • Sterling Morrison – guitar, bass, backing vocals
  • Doug Yule – lead and backing vocals, bass, organ
  • Maureen Tucker – lead and backing vocals, drums, percussion

Additional credits
  • Bill Levenson – compilation producer
  • Meire Murakami – design
  • David Fricke – liner notes
  • Kevin Reeves – mastering
  • Tardon – mixing
  • Dan Rose – production manager
  • Monique McGuffin Newman – production manager
  • Peter Abram – recording
  • Sal Mercuri – research, production manager
  • Alfredo Garcia, Lau Buur Nielsen, Oliver Landemaine – photo research assistance

References
  2. Allmusic review
  6. Pitchfork review
  7. Q magazine, January 2016 issue, page 120
  10. Rolling Stone review
  11. Uncut, January 2016 issue, page 89
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