Their mid-80s run (Bad Moon Rising/Evol/Sister/Daydream Nation) is great, Goo is a misstep, Dirty is crap, Experimental Jet Set, Trash and No Star is almost good, and everything afterward is completely irrelevant.
― Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Jr, and Violent J (誤訳侮辱), Friday, May 12, 2017 2:22 PM (seven minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
also otm
― marcos, Friday, 12 May 2017 18:30 (seven years ago) link
Hah hah, not touching this thread. Range of opinions on SY evidenced over and over again to be too varied. Last stretch of comments all as correct or wrong as any other. Good luck.
― grandavis, Friday, 12 May 2017 18:33 (seven years ago) link
i've never liked the production on daydream nation: everything seems masked, sister has a much richer sound
― mark s, Friday, May 12, 2017 2:29 PM (three minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
yeah this is otm, Sister sounds much more saturated.
― flappy bird, Friday, 12 May 2017 18:34 (seven years ago) link
Never really got why so many people think Dirty is crap tbh
― Colonel Poo, Friday, 12 May 2017 18:46 (seven years ago) link
They became interesting with 100% and should have called it quits after Creme Brulee.
― how's life, Friday, 12 May 2017 18:46 (seven years ago) link
We've got a sound! = EVOL, Sister, DYWe've got a modern rock/MTV audience! = Goo, Dirty, EJTSLet's jam! = WM, ATY, NYCG&FWe've learned to combine these things! = MS, SN, RR
― the Rain Man of nationalism. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 12 May 2017 18:49 (seven years ago) link
I like to love every one of these albums except WM and the one released in 2009.
― the Rain Man of nationalism. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 12 May 2017 18:50 (seven years ago) link
murray st and sonic nurse are my favs so i guess 00s
― ciderpress, Friday, 12 May 2017 18:54 (seven years ago) link
Murray Street was the biggest disappointment for me because they brought in the two saxophonists from Borbetomagus on one song, and then just had them bleat softly in the background for like a minute.
― Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Jr, and Violent J (誤訳侮辱), Friday, 12 May 2017 18:56 (seven years ago) link
much too long, yes
― mark s, Friday, 12 May 2017 18:59 (seven years ago) link
Sister sounds much more saturated.
Oh, totally. It was done on an all-tube analogue board, which I'm pretty sure they pushed/saturated. Such a pleasantly warm and in-the-red sound.
― My Body's Made of Crushed Little Evening Stars (Sund4r), Friday, 12 May 2017 18:59 (seven years ago) link
"Kotton Krown" and "Theresa's Sound-World" are my favorite let's-simmer-in-sound-for-its-own-sake SY moments.
― the Rain Man of nationalism. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 12 May 2017 19:00 (seven years ago) link
Daydream Nation was the peak, but the biggest dropoff didn't come until after Goo.
― 20-lol pileup (WilliamC), Friday, 12 May 2017 19:05 (seven years ago) link
i love the diversity of opinions itt :)
― flappy bird, Friday, 12 May 2017 19:16 (seven years ago) link
which are the LPs not yet repped for?
― mark s, Friday, 12 May 2017 19:16 (seven years ago) link
whichever they are they are are the best
― mark s, Friday, 12 May 2017 19:17 (seven years ago) link
I still love all those 80s records.
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Friday, 12 May 2017 19:20 (seven years ago) link
― mark s, Friday, May 12, 2017 3:16 PM (three minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
Confusion is Sex & SYR series
― flappy bird, Friday, 12 May 2017 19:21 (seven years ago) link
Washing Machine and A Thousand Leaves are my favorites and the ones I return to most often though being in my teens when they were released is no doubt a contributing factor.
― evol j, Friday, 12 May 2017 19:22 (seven years ago) link
Confusion was included in this:
those five main studio albums still seem another-level to me
― My Body's Made of Crushed Little Evening Stars (Sund4r), Friday, 12 May 2017 19:22 (seven years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=506nWs6Wi-U
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Friday, 12 May 2017 19:23 (seven years ago) link
EVOL is apex for me. it's the one where it sounded like they could be almost anything at all, and most of the tracks on it feel less 'received' or stereotyped in terms of structure than Sister and later records. That would become their biggest weakness to my ears, ditty after ditty...
― fish louse (Jon not Jon), Friday, 12 May 2017 19:24 (seven years ago) link
My favorite albums from Sonic Youth are Daydream Nation and Goo.I pretty much like to imagine a world where Sonic Youth is a pop band.So in my little world they peaked from 1988-1990. Not sure how that translates to the poll answers tho.
― Loud guitars shit all over "Bette Davis Eyes" (NYCNative), Friday, 12 May 2017 19:35 (seven years ago) link
eh... 80s
― flappy bird, Friday, 12 May 2017 19:39 (seven years ago) link
80s but hey they were no Live Skull
― del esdichado (NickB), Friday, 12 May 2017 19:40 (seven years ago) link
This is really tough, there's stuff I love and stuff I'm not fussed about in each decade. EVOL through to Dirty is the classic run but I love Sonic Nurse as well. I think I'd have to say '80s. Also for what it's worth I've never had a problem with the production on the '80s records and I first heard them in 2002.
― Gavin, Leeds, Friday, 12 May 2017 19:45 (seven years ago) link
i find the idea of bands (or filmmakers) 'peaking' not at all consistent with a perfect rollercoaster curve in all cases. (esp those who last ~ 30 years)
― Supercreditor (Dr Morbius), Friday, 12 May 2017 19:47 (seven years ago) link
There are some v sublime songs on WM like Saucer-like, Washing Machine, Unwind, and Skip Tracer. even No Queen Blues features some super-saturated, all-strings-tuned-to-the-same-frequency, trembling/beating freq's -lushness going on.. the album is some kind of turning point for them, with the subsequent SYR series (silver sessions, hey!), their old equipment getting stolen, and then the near demo-like quality (muddled-ass/immediate version of Ineffable Me) of A Thousand Leaves. ATL is lush as hell, summer of '98 (goin' nuts), phaser/flange excess, Wildflower Soul, Hoarfrost, Snare, girl et al. ATL is raw and beautiful, their last great album, imo. maybe they peaked with Sweet Shine.
― braunld (Lowell N. Behold'n), Friday, 12 May 2017 20:12 (seven years ago) link
I Love ATL despite the longeurs. "Hoarfrost" is my favorite Ranaldo song on any album.
― the Rain Man of nationalism. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 12 May 2017 20:14 (seven years ago) link
xp yeah my favorite Lee song is Saucer-Like despite that wackass beat poetry bridge
― flappy bird, Friday, 12 May 2017 20:21 (seven years ago) link
Karen Koltrane, too. lot of neat sounds and weird, dank atmosphere going on in that track.. and the pretty part of it, towards the end.
― braunld (Lowell N. Behold'n), Friday, 12 May 2017 20:28 (seven years ago) link
'Daydream Nation' and 'Goo' feel like the peaks with 'Murray Street' firmly establishing their high quality but very Sonic Youth Template form since 2001. Even the latest Thurston Moore album sounds like it's a child of 'Murray Street' to me.
Still a big fan.
― yesca, Friday, 12 May 2017 20:30 (seven years ago) link
it's not so much that I think the initial run is incomparably better as it is that I find Daydream like 2 standard deviations better than *anything* else they did.
― campreverb, Friday, 12 May 2017 20:31 (seven years ago) link
― Supercreditor (Dr Morbius), Friday, May 12, 2017 3:47 PM
much less poets
― the Rain Man of nationalism. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 12 May 2017 20:35 (seven years ago) link
lmao
― flappy bird, Friday, 12 May 2017 20:39 (seven years ago) link
1985-1988
― Master of Treacle, Friday, 12 May 2017 20:41 (seven years ago) link
I always listened to this band for sheer texture and a kind of weird animal vibe and for me Sister is it
― illegal economic migration (Tracer Hand), Friday, 12 May 2017 20:47 (seven years ago) link
I used to manage a really creepy middle aged guy who was really heavily into Sonic Youth and Swans. He was a teacher and would openly hit on the (adult) students. I would've sacked him but he was quite seriously ill and possibly only surviving due to the company's unusually generous health insurance, so I let him transfer to a different city instead.
Pretty sure I had a point I was making here but it's completely escaped me. 80s.
― Camaraderie at Arms Length, Friday, 12 May 2017 20:59 (seven years ago) link
I long wondered what they would sound like if they used DI guitars and then they went and did it on Rather Ripped.
― My Body's Made of Crushed Little Evening Stars (Sund4r), Friday, 12 May 2017 21:21 (seven years ago) link
alfred otm, NYC G&F thru Rather Ripped is easily their best run.
― flappy bird, Friday, May 12, 2017 6:14 PM (four hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
― On Some Faraday Beach (Le Bateau Ivre), Friday, 12 May 2017 22:48 (seven years ago) link
i celebrate the entire catalog, but calling NYC G&F their best album is an impressive #challop
― tylerw, Friday, 12 May 2017 22:49 (seven years ago) link
the only sy *album* i can still be bothered with is brave men run,
i kiss you
― rip van wanko, Friday, 12 May 2017 22:52 (seven years ago) link
Ha, I noticed that too. He can't even be bothered with the whole album.
― My Body's Made of Crushed Little Evening Stars (Sund4r), Friday, 12 May 2017 22:54 (seven years ago) link
Oh, fun poll.
― Let’s just do it and be legends, maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan (Raymond Cummings), Friday, 12 May 2017 23:00 (seven years ago) link
Went with 90s, which may be because that's the decade when I jumped onboard and really FELT SY
― Let’s just do it and be legends, maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan (Raymond Cummings), Friday, 12 May 2017 23:04 (seven years ago) link
― tylerw, Friday, May 12, 2017 10:49 PM (twenty minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
Don't think anyone said that. NYCG+F-Murray Street-Sonic Nurse-Rather Ripped is a helluva run though. Myself I wouldn't mind adding Washing Machine and A Thousand Leaves at the beginning of that run, too.
― On Some Faraday Beach (Le Bateau Ivre), Friday, 12 May 2017 23:11 (seven years ago) link
dlp said it in the third post!
― My Body's Made of Crushed Little Evening Stars (Sund4r), Friday, 12 May 2017 23:14 (seven years ago) link
Not being a dick either. I saw them live in the 80s, have followed them forever, and it's a completely amazing album. Just not what people wanted at the time. Not to sidetrack things. I still vote 80s.
― dlp9001, Friday, 12 May 2017 23:22 (seven years ago) link
Re NYC Ghosts & Flowers - there seemed to be a bit of a Sonic Youth backlash around that time. I think the NME was quite anti-SY around then, at least I remember reading about some Steven Wells hatchet job although I didn't actually ever read that article. That might've been about A Thousand Leaves actually but somewhere around then anyway. It's not one of my favourites, but I do have a soft spot for it I saw them live for the first time on that tour. Friend I went with was negative about their recent stuff before we went but he was converted after seeing them do it live.
― Colonel Poo, Friday, 12 May 2017 23:30 (seven years ago) link
Epic dissonant jams, clean-tone prepared guitar improv, and laptop glitch pretty much was what I wanted from them at the time; I was hoping they'd integrate the ideas from SYR3 and SYR4 into one of their major label 'song' albums. I really like the ideas on it but I don't think they really realised all of them on that album. A lot of it worked better live. It's a shame they didn't come back to those ideas.xp
― My Body's Made of Crushed Little Evening Stars (Sund4r), Friday, 12 May 2017 23:31 (seven years ago) link