The Velvet Underground

The hippies and the marketplace both passed on this NYC classic, which proved as prophetic stylistically as Sgt. Pepper was conceptually. Its flat beats, atonal noise, bluesless singing, "urban decadent" subject matter and bummer vibe proved the wellspring of punk - which, culturally if not stylistically, leads directly to the entire alt-rock subculture. Great songs here include the disillusioned "Sunday Morning" and "There She Goes Again" and the jonesing "Heroin" and "I'm Waiting for the Man." "Venus in Furs" and "The Black Angel's Death Song" remain subcultural in a rather specialized way.