Putting my reviews in one place for ranking purposes.
| Sonic Youth |
2 |
Dirty |
Sept22. Of all the Sonic Youth albums, I am most familiar with this one, and yet, I still only know a handful of songs. I am listening to this again now as we explore their albums for 7Rock. '100%' is an absolute brilliant opener. I love everything about this song and I cannot explain why. It is sitting in my 1992 top 20. I just read a little about the story behind 'Swimsuit Issue' and it makes a bit more sense now. This song has its cool moments too, especially the wailing guitar. The long and brooding 'Teresa's Sound-World' actually grew on me. It has a nice little beat to it. The next couple of songs do not interest me and 'Wish Fulfillment' is okay. Then we get to the popular 'Sugar Kane' and it gets things back on track. Not sure it needs to be that long, but it is a cool song. My second favourite song is not long after: I love the cry of "It's the song I hate" in 'Youth Against Fascism'. 'Chapel Hill' is also a neat song that I have not taken much notice of in the past and I like the fast rhythm of 'Purr'. There is a fair bit of filler, but if you like the noise rock noodling then this is probably cool for you. In all, I liked the album and it remains my favourite Sonic Youth record. 4/5 |
| Sonic Youth |
0 |
The Eternal |
Sept22. Having just listened to a bunch of the more popular Sonic Youth albums, I am surprised to see this one got no votes in our 2009 Albums run and currently sits on a solitary vote in the Sonic Youth Albums Run. The songs here seem to 'pop' a little more and not get lost in the endless feedback of other albums. There might not be the absolute standouts, but overall, the songs and sounds here are pretty good, and less annoying overall, except for the 9 minute closer. Things start very well though, with the upbeat and quirky guitars of 'Sacred Trickster'. I like parts of 'Anti-Orgasm' too, but like a lot of their songs (especially longer ones), there are parts I do not gel with too. 'Leaky Lifeboat' is pretty cool. I am noticing shared vocals seem to be more the norm here. I don't know if Sonic Youth have been doing that more recently on later albums. Just something I noticed early on in this album. 'Antenna' is based on a solid, brooding riff. It has a little high-note that reminds me of Grinspoon's 'Chemical Heart' in there. One of their better longer songs. 'What We Know' and 'Thunderclap for Bobby Pyn' are a little heavier and quite interesting. 'Poison Arrow' has a nice bounce to it. So too does 'Malibu Gas Station' after the boring intro'. 'Calming the Snake' is okay. 'No Way' is an easy-listening track hidden away near the end. It would have been a good finish as the last two are long and mostly boring, though 'Walkin Blue' is the pick of the two. I quite liked this overall compared to some of their other albums that fluctuate more. That might be what the fans like, but I got into more songs here without actually loving (or hating) any. 3.5/5 |
| Sonic Youth |
13 |
Goo |
Sept22. I have always liked a few Sonic Youth songs, but have never really got into a whole album. That is the case here. There are just elements that I don't like, like the talking vocals and some needless feedback to end the longer tracks. Nonetheless, 'Dirty Boots' is a kicking start to this album. Someone also pointed out the excellent drumming on the track, and this holds true over most songs, actually. Not something I have really paid attention to with this band. The drums are certainly a highlight in the well-known 'Kool Thing' - the only track I had 'thumbed' coming into this listen. A very good tune, and one where I don't mind the spoken vocals, but after a few listens, even these wear a little thin. Still, the overall bounce to the track is awesome. 'Mote' was the track that got my attention among the songs I did not really know. It has an eerie Therapy? feel to it in parts. It could be cut in half, if you wish to ignore the feedback outro. I really like the distorted bass that kicks off 'My Friend Goo'. I normally like putting in the shorter tracks to break up the longer ones, but even some of these are just unecessary, like the minute of squealing feedback that is the track 'Scooter & Jinx'. I can certainly hear a lot of the sounds on here that Magic Dirt clearly liked. Their use of feedback was well-known too. Normally, some feedback, especially live, sounds very cool, but gets a bit tedious on studio recordings. Last song, 'Titanium Exposure' has some decent lo-fi moments to it. I like the distorted guitars in this one and it has some good changes of pace to take out the album. 3/5 |
| Sonic Youth |
7 |
Daydream Nation |
Sept22. I thought I would play this through a few times in the background and see what caught my attention. The song that leapt out at me immediately was 'Total Trash - just love the beat of that one. Far too many songs go for too long and devolve into wailing guitars and feedback. The middle part of opener 'Teenage Riot' is pretty cool. Third song in is 'The Sprawl' and things are definitely feeling that way. I liked most of 'Candle' too. An easy-listening feel to this one. There were some sounds throughout that I enjoyed, but these were often overdone. This is fine as background music, but just not something I can intently listen to and enjoy. Not a lot to sing along to or even tap your foot to. I liked the moments of melody and not a lot else. 3/5 |
| Sonic Youth |
1 |
Experimental, Jetset, trash & No Star |
Sept22. Going into these listens, I only really know 'Bull in the Heather', a song I like, but don't love. 'Winner's Blues' is a nice introduction to the album and third song in, 'Starfield Road', is pretty good, especially in the second half. Whilst I appreciate the overall shorter songs, there's just not enough of them that really grab me. There were several that I think warrant further listens though. 'Self-Obsessed & Sexxee', 'Androgynous Mind' and 'Waist' being three of those. The last few songs were pretty lacklustre, except for the crazy guitars in part of 'Tokyo Eye'. Again, with a Sonic Youth album, I like it overall, but there are several parts I do not. This does not have the standout tracks like Dirty, but just might have a good selection of decent ones. Again, I am middle of the road on this. 3/5 |
| Sonic Youth |
1 |
Bad Moon Rising |
Sept22. After one listen nothing stood out for me, but I went back for another dive. I read that some critics called the album 'morose', which seems apt, and more of a soundscape than collection of songs… and I would have to agree with both. This may work live, but the long segues got on my nerves. Very little gets my attention until the 8 minute 'I Love Her All the Time', and for all the wrong reasons. This song gets damn irritating. This style is certainly not for me. I was interested in 'Ghost Bitch' b/c I read it was about First Nation American People coming into contact with Europeans. Before you hear any of those lyrics you have to endure 2 minutes of squalling rubbish. Things do not better when the 'vocals' start either. I really wanted to like this song, but I could not wait for it to end. 'I'm Insane' has some of the best sounds I have heard so far, but again you have to wait through another annoying intro. Final track, 'Death Valley 69' has the best moments on here, but again the band are not content with that and have to take you on a journey through their guitar soundscape. This style, completely lacking melody, certainly is not for me. I would enjoy a few beers with this playing live in the background, but a big part of me would also want to shout, 'Get on with it'. I am not the most patient of people though, so long segues and instrumental meanderings are never going to do it for me. 1.5./5 |
| Sonic Youth |
0 |
In Out In EP |
Sept22. Okay, there is a reason this stuff was not released at the time of recording. The first two songs have some cool sounds, especially 'In & Out' but not enough to keep me interested for over 7 and 9 minutes. The three tracks following are just continuous noise. And this 5 song EP is 44 minutes long. Released apart on different albums some of these might work. But together, this is draining. This was released for hardcore fans only. Not my thing. 1/5 |
| Ciccone Youth |
0 |
The Whitey Album |
Sep22. I had no idea this existed, but I do not know a lot about Sonic Youth anyway. I had high hopes when I heard Mike Watt was involved. These hopes were soon dashed. What a shit start to the album. Having listened to a few albums now, I am very much over the 'talk over a slow (often annoying) soundscape' as music. Why the Hell would you put a minute silence in as the second song and call it 'Silence'? If it is a tribute for someone (which apparently it is), put it later and call it that. By the end of song four there are some water sounds and they came at the exact right moment, as I was about to write that I was drowning by this point… so maybe they got the feeling right? It is not until 'Macbeth' that I hear anything remotely close to what I would say I like. A cool little drum beat here that reminds me a bit of Therapy?. But of course the band make sure even this is not enjoyable. It goes for over 5 minutes with meandering guitars whining in and out. Oh yay, now we have talking/rambling as a seque. Mike Watt's cover of Madonna's 'Burning Up' is listenable, but forgetable. Then we get into mid-80s sampling rubbish. It is pretty sad when a piss-take cover of 'Addicted to Love' is the best thing so far on the album and I am 2/3's of the way through. The random sounds for the next four 'tracks' are completely shit and there is some attempt at rap in there. Then we get some lo-fi Devoish cover of another Madonna song to finish with, 'Into the Groovey'. When I read about how this album came about, who was involved and the fun(ny) covers, I was keen. Now the album has ended, I am not sure I want to hear this band again. This was terrible. 0.5/5 |
