I'm a massive music fan, so when I saw that my mate owned the whole Sonic Youth back catalogue I decided to investigate and educate myself in Sonic Youth ways. The first Sonic Youth album I listened to was 'Goo', but I think 'Daydream Nation' is far more accessible for first time listeners for Sonic Youth. 'Daydream Nation' was originally released in 1988, but considering this was nearly twenty years ago now it doesn't sound dated at all.
A new deluxe edition of 'Daydream Nation' is out this year (2007), but the original version is still knocking about and this is the one I'm reviewing. According to Amazon this original version of the album is a penny shy of £5, whereas the new deluxe version is nearer to £15, so I think its worth investing in the cheaper one while its still avaliable - especially if you're not a die-hard fan.
~~First Impressions~~
I think the thing I liked most about this album was the atmosphere it envoked: moody, dark and pensive, yet with an open and magical tinge to the edges. All the chords seem to create a large space around the music and the range of songs on the album mean that emotional bases from positive to begative and back again are all covered. This is a great teenage angst album, but its also an amazing piece of musical mastery and experimentation.
The album works because of this range and the experimentation and definite style presented by Sonic Youth have inspired musicians for years since. The first bands I
would liken it to include the Smashing Pumpkins and the Pixies. Considering the range of this album I think its helpful to make a breakdown of the tracks here...
~~The Tracks~~
'Teen Age Riot' - A great title and a great opening track. The open chords are played over an effects pedal that makes the sound seem to sway in the wind. Kim Gordon's almost chant-like vocals waft over the whole sound-image and make a great build up to the main vocal entry. At this point the movement of the song shifts and an upbeat tone pervades the music as the same riff is upped in tempo. A great track.
'Silver Rocket' - This is not one for me I'm afraid. The sound is dark, and seems to be what Courtney Love was vainly aiming for in some of the darker songs by Hole. However, I just found the riff repetitive and annoying and the song just didn't go anywhere. It does end in lots of screaming and shouting I suppose!
'The Sprawl' - This track is awesome. The riff feels like a classic and the beat on the drums and bass slowly build up behind very Pixies-like spoken word vocals. This is no William Shatner! (Despite feeling terribly American).
''Cross The Breeze' - I think this is one of the stand out tracks on the album. This may possibly be because it sounds so much like the Smashing Pumpkins at the outset, but then heads into something really quite intense and would be really fun to dance to in a rock club as the rhythms jump about all over the place.
'Eric's Trip' - This track is very abrupt in its openning, but the vocals are strong. However, this track doesn't work for me as again there seems to be no progression.
'Total Trash' - I wasn't expecting to say this on a Sonic Youth review, but the openning riff to this track sounds A LOT like early Manic Street Preachers music. It starts off as pretty classic song writing (well, for Sonic Youth) and then breaks up a bit in the guitar parts as it progresses. About three minutes through the song (ironically at the point where most traditional pop songs would end) the track takes a subversive twist and plays out the main riff in a dischordant fashion that slowly breaks down into a jam with the drummer. This is again another track that Pixies fans will love.
'Hey Joni' - Midway through the album and everything dies back... But not for long! This track has an awesome use of harmonics on the guitars half way through and is probably my favourite track on the album. Again, I can imagine dancing along to the breaks in this and shouting 'Hey Joni!'.
'Providence' - This track again begins quietly, with a piano track and what sounds like a thunderstorm (or very heavy traffic). The atmospheric vocals over the walkie talkie really remind me of the Lemon Jelly track that records the astronauts, but this is playful in a different way seeing as it seems to be the Sonic Youth members talking to each other. However, that is all this track is.
'Candle' - If I had to recommend any track off this album to a new listener on ciao then I'd recommend this one. For those unused to experimentation this one begins the most melodically and yet retains much of the Sonic Youth spirit. A nice track with a nice refrain.
'Rain King' - This song works almost oppositely to 'cansle' as it drags melody and order out of the dischordant openning. Its pretty exciting with lots of cymbal crashes and whinning guitars and produces a very dark sound.
'Kissability' - Now the title of this track reminds me of the Idlewild track 'Rosability', but obviously is nothing like this. I think this is one of the least successful songs on the album musically, but the lyrics are very strong. "You're got kissability, you're got twistability" and "You're driving me crazy, give us a kiss".
'Trilogy' - You might think you can't call one track something that means three, however Sonic Youth have solved this problem. This track is listed as being split into sections a) The Wonder, b) Hyperstation, and z) Elluminator Jr. (z being a now rather cliched, but still kind of effective subversive comment on classification and rebelling against anything thats going) And theres a definate progression between these three sections as the song moves along. In a way its rather like a classical symphony, where themes and ideas blur into all the sections, but each section retains a theme.
~~Conclusions~~
I think 'Daydream nation' is a fantastic album with an incredible range of music and a great atmospheric sound. There are a couple of filler tracks, but I think these work within the grander scheme of the album.
This is definatley NOT an album for those with an aversion to dischords or experimentation. Equally, listening to that twanging reverb on the guitar for longer than the length of the album is liable to cause a headache.
On the whole this is a complete bargain for your money. For just under a fiver you can experience over seventy minutes of alternative music history. So many bands seem to have been influenced by Sonic Youth and I think they are worth a listen even if you don't become a fan instantly afterwards. This album is a good accessible start, or you could even pick a track of choice from the list above and check it out on Itunes. Definatley worth the money.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Super duper but have run out of Es! One band you forget who are influenced are my heroes My Bloody Valentine. I also started off with Goo, this is a great album tho. Great review!
sonic0209 31.08.2007 21:28
Great review, great band, great album. Went to see them last night doing a retrospective of this album, but they came back and did an encore of new material, must have been 7 or 8 tracks worth! They're certainly no longer 'youth'ful, but they are still fresh.
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