The Velvet Underground's self-titled 3rd album, released in March 1969, was a departure from the band's previous work. Gone was co-founding member John Cale, and in his place was a 21-year-old with Long Island roots named Doug Yule, who stepped right in. As the late rock critic Lester Bangs put it, "How do you define a group like this, who moved from "Heroin" to "Jesus" in two short years?"