The name of this box set comes from the instruction presented on vinyl copies of the band's debut album to peel back the banana sticker featured on the cover. The set includes all four studio albums by the Lou Reed-era line-ups of the Velvet Underground, alongside demo recordings and live performances, some of which had been previously bootlegged , and some of which had never before been released. Squeeze The Velvet Underground Lou Reed 's mix of the album that gives more emphasis to the vocals, and was the mix used on the original release.[ 4] Loaded Sweet Jane ", "Rock & Roll " and "New Age ".
Rolling Stone David Fricke wrote extensive liner notes in an accompanying booklet, which also pictured many items of Velvet Underground memorabilia from the collection of guitarist Sterling Morrison .
All tracks written by Lou Reed except as noted.
All tracks performed by the Velvet Underground except † by the Velvet Underground & Nico; and ‡ by Nico .
With the exception of "Prominent Men", the tracks on Disc One feature multiple takes of each song.
Disc two Title Writer(s) Original release 1. "All Tomorrow's Parties" (single version†) Single A-side 2:49 2. "Sunday Morning †" Reed, Cale The Velvet Underground & Nico 2:54 3. "I'm Waiting for the Man" The Velvet Underground & Nico 4:38 4. "Femme Fatale †" The Velvet Underground & Nico 2:37 5. "Venus in Furs " The Velvet Underground & Nico 5:10 6. "Run Run Run " The Velvet Underground & Nico 4:19 7. "All Tomorrow's Parties†" The Velvet Underground & Nico 5:58 8. "Heroin" The Velvet Underground & Nico 7:10 9. "There She Goes Again " The Velvet Underground & Nico 2:39 10. "I'll Be Your Mirror †" The Velvet Underground & Nico 2:12 11. "The Black Angel's Death Song " Reed, Cale The Velvet Underground & Nico 3:12 12. "European Son" Reed, Cale, Morrison , Tucker The Velvet Underground & Nico 7:47 13. "Melody Laughter" (live edit†) Reed, Cale, Morrison, Tucker, Päffgen Previously unreleased 10:43 14. "It Was a Pleasure Then‡" Reed, Cale, Päffgen Chelsea Girl 8:02 15. "Chelsea Girls ‡" Reed, Morrison Chelsea Girl 7:24
Disc three Title Writer(s) Original release 1. "There is No Reason" (demo) Reed, Cale Previously unreleased 2:12 2. "Sheltered Life" (demo) Previously unreleased 2:52 3. "It's All Right (The Way That You Live)" (demo) Reed, Cale Previously unreleased 2:48 4. "I'm Not Too Sorry (Now That You're Gone)" (demo) Reed, Cale Previously unreleased 2:17 5. "Here She Comes Now " (demo) Reed, Cale, Morrison Previously unreleased 2:46 6. "Guess I'm Falling in Love" (live) Reed, Cale, Morrison, Tucker Previously unreleased 4:10 7. "Booker T." (live) Reed, Cale, Morrison, Tucker Previously unreleased 6:30 8. "White Light/White Heat " White Light/White Heat 2:45 9. "The Gift " Reed, Morrison, Cale, Tucker White Light/White Heat 8:17 10. "Lady Godiva's Operation" White Light/White Heat 4:54 11. "Here She Comes Now" Reed, Cale, Morrison White Light/White Heat 2:02 12. "I Heard Her Call My Name " White Light/White Heat 4:46 13. "Sister Ray " Reed, Cale, Morrison, Tucker White Light/White Heat 17:27 14. "Stephanie Says " VU 2:49 15. "Temptation Inside Your Heart" VU 2:30 16. "Hey Mr. Rain" (version one) Reed, Cale, Morrison, Tucker Another View 4:40
Disc four Title Writer(s) Original release 1. "What Goes On" (live) Previously unreleased 5:34 2. "Candy Says " The Velvet Underground 4:04 3. "What Goes On " The Velvet Underground "Closet Mix"4:35 4. "Some Kinda Love" The Velvet Underground "Closet Mix"3:39 5. "Pale Blue Eyes " The Velvet Underground "Closet Mix"5:42 6. "Jesus" The Velvet Underground "Closet Mix"3:24 7. "Beginning to See the Light" The Velvet Underground "Closet Mix"4:47 8. "I'm Set Free" The Velvet Underground "Closet Mix"4:04 9. "That's the Story of My Life" The Velvet Underground "Closet Mix"2:02 10. "The Murder Mystery" The Velvet Underground "Closet Mix"8:55 11. "After Hours " The Velvet Underground "Closet Mix"2:09 12. "Foggy Notion" Reed, Morrison, Yule, Tucker, Weiss VU 6:47 13. "I Can't Stand It" VU 3:22 14. "I'm Sticking with You" VU 2:28 15. "One of These Days" VU 4:00 16. "Lisa Says" VU 2:57 17. "It's Just Too Much" (live) Previously unreleased 2:59 18. "Countess from Hong Kong" (demo) Reed, Cale Previously unreleased 3:17
Disc five Title Writer(s) Original release 1. "Who Loves the Sun" Loaded 2:45 2. "Sweet Jane " (full-length version) Loaded 4:06 3. "Rock & Roll (full-length version)" Loaded 4:43 4. "Cool It Down" Loaded 3:04 5. "New Age " (long version) Loaded 5:07 6. "Head Held High" Loaded 2:56 7. "Lonesome Cowboy Bill" Loaded 2:43 8. "I Found a Reason " Loaded 4:15 9. "Train Round the Bend" Loaded 3:21 10. "Oh! Sweet Nuthin' " Loaded 7:25 11. "Satellite of Love " Previously unreleased 2:58 12. "Walk and Talk" Previously unreleased 2:23 13. "Oh Gin" Previously unreleased 2:44 14. "Sad Song" Previously unreleased 3:30 15. "Ocean" Previously unreleased 5:43 16. "Ride into the Sun" Reed, Cale, Morrison, Tucker Previously unreleased 3:20 17. "Some Kinda Love" (live) Previously unreleased 10:22 18. "I'll Be Your Mirror" (live) Live at Max's Kansas City 2:06 19. "I Love You" Previously unreleased 2:03
The Velvet Underground John Cale – bass guitar , viola , keyboards (discs 1–3); lead vocal on "The Gift" and "Lady Godiva's Operation"; organ and viola on disc 5, track 15Sterling Morrison – guitar , bass guitar, backing vocals , co-vocal on "The Murder Mystery"Lou Reed – vocals , guitar, piano , harmonica Maureen Tucker – percussion (discs 2–5), lead vocal on "After Hours" and "I'm Sticking with You", co-vocal on "The Murder Mystery".Doug Yule – bass guitar, keyboards, guitars, drums (disc 4–5); lead vocal on "Candy Says", "Who Loves the Sun", "New Age", "Lonesome Cowboy Bill", "Oh! Sweet Nuthin'", "Ride into the Sun" and "I'll Be Your Mirror" (live).Additional musicians Nico – lead vocal on "All Tomorrow's Parties" (both single and LP versions), "Femme Fatale", "I'll Be Your Mirror", "Melody Laughter", "It Was a Pleasure Then" and "Chelsea Girls"; backing vocals on "Sunday Morning"Adrian Barber – drums on "Who Loves the Sun" and "I Found a Reason"Tommy Castanaro – drums on "Cool It Down" and "Head Held High"
Billy Yule – drums on "Lonesome Cowboy Bill", "Oh! Sweet Nuthin'", "Ocean", "Some Kinda Love" (live) and "I'll Be Your Mirror" (live).Technical staff The Velvet Underground – producers (disc 1; disc 3: 1–7, 14–16, disc 4, disc 5: 17–18)
Andy Warhol – producer (disc 2: 1–12)The Velvet Underground & Nico – producers (disc 2: 13)
Tom Wilson – producer (disc 2: 14–15, disc 3: 8–13)Geoff Haslam, Shel Kagan and The Velvet Underground – producers (disc 5: 1–10, 15–16)
Adrian Barber – producer (disc 5: 11–14, 19)
Brigid Polk – engineer (disc 5: 17–18)Spencer Drate, Judith Salavetz, Sylvia Reed, Smayvision – design 
