John Cale-Guts (1977)

During his brief stint with the Velvet Underground, John Cale shared leadership with Lou Reed, and although Reed largely monopolized the band's songwriting, Cale became the catalyst for the more experimental side of this New York group. John Cale was always a multifaceted and spontaneous musician, and his subsequent career was marked by the exploration of cutting-edge music. Examples of this can be found on his albums "The Academy In Peril" (1972) and "Church of Anthrax" (1971), the latter a collaboration with American composer Terry Riley. However, his first solo album was actually "Paris 1919" (1973), one of his best works, from a period in which he showcased his visceral and schizophrenic side with albums like "Fear" (1974), "Slow Dazzle" (1975), and "Helen of Troy" (1975). After those recordings, Cale took several years off, until 1981 when he released "Honi Soit". But before the release of this album, John Cale was still signed to Island Records, and to finalize his contract, he decided to release the compilation album "Guts" in 1977, thus concluding his association with the label. Featuring several tracks from the three aforementioned albums, as well as an unreleased song ("Mary Lou"), this compilation emphasized the most energetic material from those records, with absolute bangers like "Helen of Troy", "Pablo Picasso", "Gun", "Dirtyass Rock 'n' Roll", one of his most popular songs, and a devastating and unrecognizable version of Elvis Presley's "Heartbreak Hotel", which was always a staple of his beloved concerts.