White Light/White Heat

White Light/White Heat is the second studio album by the American rock band the Velvet Underground. Released on January 30, 1968, by Verve Records, it was the band's last studio album with multi-instrumentalist and founding member John Cale. Recorded after band leader Lou Reed fired Andy Warhol, who had produced their debut album The Velvet Underground & Nico, they hired Steve Sesnick as a manager and hired producer Tom Wilson, who had worked on the band's debut. White Light/White Heat was engineered by Gary Kellgren.

Like The Velvet Underground & Nico, the album includes lyrically transgressive themes, exploring topics such as sex, amphetamines, and drag queens. Reed was inspired by a variety of authors, including William S. Burroughs and Alice Bailey, and the lyrics create a cast of characters, such as in "The Gift" and "Sister Ray". Musically, he took influence from avant-garde jazz musicians such as Ornette Coleman. Warhol conceived the album's cover art, although he is officially uncredited.

White Light/White Heat was recorded quickly and modeled after the band's live sound and techniques of improvisation, since they often played loud with new equipment from an endorsement deal with Vox. However, the final product was compressed and distorted; most of the band was dissatisfied with this, and the album was followed with the less experimental The Velvet Underground the following year. Reed had Cale fired later in 1968. The album's extensive use of distortion became a prototype for later punk rock, shoegaze, and noise rock. The 17-minute "Sister Ray" is widely considered the standout track by critics and fans.

White Light/White Heat sold fewer copies than The Velvet Underground & Nico, and peaked at 199 on the Billboard Top LPs chart. The album's only single, "White Light/White Heat", failed to chart, which the band blamed on airplay bans and lack of promotion from Verve. The album was dismissed by many contemporary mainstream music critics, although underground newspapers took notice; ultimately, White Light/White Heat had a significant impact on early forms of punk rock and no wave and has appeared on several lists of the greatest albums of all time, including being placed at number 272 on Rolling Stone's list of the "500 Greatest Albums of all Time" in 2020.