Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation
#329 on Rolling Stone's Top 500 Albums Of All Time List
Lineup:
Kim Gordon - Vocals, Bass
Thurston Moore - Vocals, Guitar
Lee Ranaldo - Guitar
Bob Bert - Drums
Mike Watt - Guest Vocals on Providence
Track Listing:
1. Teen Age Riot
2. Silver Rocket
3. The Sprawl
4. 'Cross The Breeze
5. Eric's Trip
6. Total Trash
7. Hey Joni
8. Providence
9. Candle
10. Rain King
11. Kissability
12. Trilogy: The Wonder/Hyperstation/Eliminator JR
This is Sonic Youth's 5th album released in 1988 on Geffen records.
This is definitely my favorite Sonic Youth album and it's the album that
got me into them. This album may not appeal to mainstream rock
listeners at first but after a few listens you will start to appreciate it. I will
now review this album track by track.
1.
Teen Age Riot - This is my favorite song on the album and probably
my favorite song by Sonic Youth, I think this was their first hit single on this
album. The song starts out with some mellow guitar chords and you can
faintly hear Kim's vocals in the background talking about a game of tag.
After that is where the song really kicks in with some really crunchy guitar
riffs which are used through out the song. Overall it is a great song, a bit
repetitive but really worth a listen.
5/5
2.
Silver Rocket - Another one of my favorite songs on the album. It starts out with a weird guitar riff that leads to a real thrashy sound, which isn't bad, after all they are Sonic Youth :-), about half-way through the song there is some really weird and distorted guitar noices that last for about a minute then the song kicks in with the same thrashy sound, the lyrics are pretty humorous and there is a really catchy chorus.
5/5
3.
The Sprawl - The song starts out with Kim singing some of the weirdest lyrics I have ever heard,
"To the extent that I wear skirts and cheap nylon slips, I've gone native, I wanted to know the exact dimension of hell, does this sound simple? Fuck you! Are you for sale? Does 'Fuck you' sound simple enough? This was the only part that turned me on, but he was candy all over." What the h
ell? I think the lyrics are about an actual experience but i'm not sure, but the lyrics don't make the song, the lyrics for the chorus are catchy also, Overall, it's great.
4/5
4.
'Cross The Breeze - The begining of this song is mostly melodic, there is no singing at the begining just melodic guitar chords for the intro, then it gets to more of a heavy sound which leads to Kim's vocals and strange lyrics. Towards the end of the song is my favorite part because it starts to get back to a more melodic song. Overall, not a bad song at all.
4/5
5.
Eric's Trip - On this song Lee sings, it's pretty much your basic Sonic Youth song except Lee is on vocals, there is lots of fuzzy guitar sounds toward the end just like most Sonic Youth songs. Overall, a pretty good song.
3.5/5
6.
Total Trash - The begining of this song reminds me of a Smashing Pumpkins song even though there is no Pumpkins song that starts out like this, Anyways, Thurston sings this song which is good because Thurston is my favorite vocalist out of Sonic Youth and he sings rather good on this song, This song is another one of my favorites on the album, great lyrics, great guitar, great bass, etc.
5/5
7.
Hey Joni - This song starts out with some really weird noices then it kicks really loud and it suprised my the first time I heard it, its's another song with loud, noisy, distorted guitars and overall great lyrics. It also features Lee again on vocals.
4/5
8.
Providence - This song features Mike Watt on vocals. The song starts out with distinct piano playing through out the begining of the song then when Mike Watt starts talking it sounds like something from an answering machine, very weird, it's not really a song so I wont rate it.
9.
Candle - Thurston sings in this song, the song starts out with some very melodic guitar playing through out the intro then kicks in with a suprise just like most Sonic Youth songs, the lyrics on the first verse are almost undecipherable or they might be undecipherable because I cant figure out what they mean. Overall, I like it, it is good.
4/5
10.
Rain King - This is another song sung by Lee, it starts out a loud with fuzzy guitar noices through out the whole song. There is not much to this song other than the awesome distorted guitar noices and the weird lyrics, Overall, it's still a good song.
3.5/5
11.
Kissability - This song features Kim on vocals, her lyrics are really good in this song, it shows she can really write a good song when she wants to. I really dig the lyrics.
4/5
12.
Trilogy: The Wonder - This song starts out with some weird guitar slides that lead to a weird guitar riff that I really like, I also really like Thurston's vocals in this song, it really fits well with everything else.
Hyperstation - This is probably the weirdest part of the trilogy, Thurston is singing about dreams that he has had and it's the song where he mentions Daydream Nation in his lyrics, I also dig the weird guitar riff that fits well with Thurston's vocals.
Eliminator JR - This song starts out with a weird punk guitar sounding riff that is used used in parts of the song, the end of this song is also very cool. I rated the trilogy as one big song.
5/5
I highly recommend this album for a person who is just getting into Sonic Youth and to any Sonic Youth who doesn't have it. Sorry I couldn't make a long discription for each song, it would be hard to make each discription sound different. I think a mainstream rock listener will somewhat enjoy this album, but for a Sonic Youth fan, I give this album a
5/5
