Loaded (Velvet Underground album)

Loaded is the fourth studio album by the American rock band the Velvet Underground, released on November 15, 1970 by Atlantic Records subsidiary Cotillion. It was the final album recorded featuring any of the band's original members; the lead singer and primary songwriter Lou Reed left the band shortly before the album's release, and the guitarist Sterling Morrison and the drummer Maureen Tucker left the band in 1971. For this reason, it is often considered by fans to be the last "true" Velvet Underground album. The multi-instrumentalist Doug Yule remained and released the album Squeeze in 1973 before the band's dissolution the same year.

Though the album was intended to appease Atlantic's request that the Velvet Underground produce hit songs, none of the singles originating from Loaded nor Loaded itself succeeded in entering the charts. It has retrospectively gained critical acclaim; Loaded was ranked number 110 in 2012, and number 242 in 2020, on Rolling Stone's list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time".