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Critic's Review
Sean Westergaard, All Music Guide
Wow, at the dawn of the 21st century does anyone really need An Introduction to the Velvet Underground? The answer is probably yes, but it's difficult to imagine. This is one of several VU compilations out there, and despite some obvious shortcomings, it's one of the better ones. At 16 tracks, it's a better deal than the 11-track 20th Century Masters, and a track more than Best of the Velvet Underground, but the versions of both "Sweet Jane" and "Rock and Roll" are live, when presumably someone looking for an introduction to the band would want to hear the well-known original (studio) versions. And the omission of an important track like "I'm Waiting for the Man" is somewhat puzzling. Overall, it's not a bad compilation, just one that could have used a bit more thought.
