| | Full Review | Ratings (617) |
Give your Rating |
| 2.5 average | Iai EMERITUS | March 24th 08 |
Some people would have you believe that Sonic Youth were at their peak before any of their canonical albums; that Confusion is Sex and Bad Moon Rising are more pure distillations of what made Sonic Youth so special than, say Evol or Dirty. They're idiots. Bad Moon Rising is largely a poor album made by a band who haven't yet found a solid ground on which to operate. It's unsure, unmemorable, and given what was to come in the two decades after this, underwhelming. Only "Death Valley '69" and "Brave Men Run (In My Family)" are worth salvaging.
3 Bumps | Bump |
| 2.5 average | jsaf7 | November 26th 20 |
Could barely make it halfway through this album, it wasnt bad but I did not enjoy it at all. Its too forgettable and an unfocused mess, the lack if songwriting quality wouldn't be a problem if it was a more riveting listen, and the noisy and droney vibe the album has is nice but it doesn't go far enough in that direction to stick with me and often sounds contrived.
Bump |
| 3.4 great | Erwann S. STAFF | August 12th 20 |
A blazing jack-o'-lantern-headed scarecrow set in front of a city skyline. Coupled with the infamous Bad Moon Rising title, it perfectly matches the record's discourse, delving into the darkest undersides of American culture ("Brave Men Run", "Society is a Hole"). It was truly countercultural for the time: the USA feared Japan's economic power and terrorism coming from Arab countries. The country thus became ultranationalistic and celebrated the Americana. Sonic Youth didn't care about all that, delivering a fucking weird record, morosely repeating guitar "riffs" to death. It's forbidding: 3 listens in and I feel I need WAY more time to fully grasp this one.
Bump |
| 4.0 excellent | ElviGemini | July 12th 18 |
very dark album, fucking badass for 1985. this is rhythmic dissonance, not one melody to be found here except the clean guitar intro, then its pure musical hell
Bump |
| 5.0 classic | confusionissex | August 10th 15 |
10; I think this album is WAY too overlooked. This album shows a lot of evolution in the bands sound which would later evolve into other classics such as EVOL, Sister, and everyone's favorite, Daydream Nation. But besides what this album did in terms of improving their sound, it's a damn good record. Try it out, you'll either love it, or not care for it. Hopefully you feel the same about this record as I did.
Bump |
| 4.5 superb | Riviere | March 2nd 13 |
Fucked up and spacey. Probably their most interesting work.
Bump |
| 3.0 good | Spectrum | August 26th 07 |
There is something inescapably barren and desolate about Bad Moon Rising, an ineffable, pervasive, gloomy darkness - and perhaps this is part of its attraction. This album is about as nocturnal as you get. The amazingly lo-fi, almost-in-tune aesthetic of the album simply adds to the experience somehow, and helps overcome the rather hindering simplicity of Sonic Youth's early writing. The album's flow is steady and droning, mostly quiet and afraid, though saturated with assertive, rallying yells and sensual moans that punch right through the heavy fog settled in throughout. The only real standout amongst the windswept wasteland is "Death Valley '69", aided by the shrieking, esoteric Lydia Lunch, though the hopefully dark opening riffs of "Brave Men Run" make a strong case as well.
Bump |
| 4.0 excellent | foxxxy | February 10th 24 |
| 3.5 great | doofy | January 7th 24 |
| 4.0 excellent | A.R.O. STAFF | November 15th 23 |
| 4.5 superb | gabba | September 14th 23 |
| 3.5 great | Bren80 | August 27th 23 |
| 3.0 good | Jalapeno CONTRIBUTOR | August 20th 23 |
| 3.5 great | Polvo | August 16th 23 |
| 3.5 great | Timmy | January 12th 23 |
| 3.5 great | MvdW | October 29th 22 |
| 3.5 great | Luna | October 20th 22 |
| 3.0 good | Prole | September 27th 22 |
| 3.0 good | Paint | August 29th 22 |
| 3.5 great | ZIG | February 19th 22 |
| 4.0 excellent | Grungil | January 18th 22 |
| 4.0 excellent | ovisamsa | December 12th 21 |
| 3.0 good | Yotimi | November 7th 21 |
| 4.0 excellent | gilly | August 8th 21 |
| 4.0 excellent | Roidv | June 29th 21 |
| 4.0 excellent | Thomm | May 15th 21 |
| 4.5 superb | Ryus | April 8th 21 |
| 4.0 excellent | Brabiz | October 12th 20 |
| 3.5 great | Tib | July 4th 20 |
| 3.5 great | Sowing STAFF | May 11th 20 |
| 3.0 good | TOBD | March 28th 20 |
| 4.5 superb | yoil | January 1st 20 |
| 4.0 excellent | Corney | October 26th 19 |
| 3.5 great | Lassie | September 22nd 19 |
| 4.0 excellent | pjraven | April 2nd 19 |
| 3.5 great | Oof | December 25th 18 |
| 3.5 great | Uzumaki | December 10th 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | NateMa | August 22nd 18 |
| 3.5 great | aew100 | April 19th 18 |
| 3.0 good | Jan555 | April 15th 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | skronk | March 28th 18 |
| 4.5 superb | kloo | March 25th 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | jdubbs11 | February 25th 18 |
| 5.0 classic | kb3984 | December 2nd 17 |
| 4.0 excellent | facundo | November 23rd 17 |
| 2.5 average | adios | November 5th 17 |
| 3.0 good | wg98 | September 29th 17 |
| 4.0 excellent | foxblood | September 21st 17 |
| 3.5 great | bentl | July 31st 17 |
| 2.0 poor | rrodf | March 12th 17 |
| 1.5 very poor | Luisito | February 7th 17 |
| 4.5 superb | bSmith | January 10th 17 |
| 5.0 classic | El Olam | December 19th 16 |
| 4.0 excellent | UpSimbaX | November 30th 16 |
| 3.5 great | Wolfe | November 7th 16 |
| 3.5 great | adr | August 15th 16 |
| 2.0 poor | Gueero | August 13th 16 |
| 3.0 good | PaabL | August 3rd 16 |
| 3.0 good | Lanas | July 23rd 16 |
| 3.5 great | xxm | July 15th 16 |
| 3.5 great | Henry | July 14th 16 |
| 2.5 average | marggy | April 22nd 16 |
| 3.5 great | elry2k | April 21st 16 |
| 3.5 great | dtcgb | April 20th 16 |
| 5.0 classic | Yep321 | March 20th 16 |
| 4.5 superb | Jekub | March 12th 16 |
| 1.0 awful | loulou | March 11th 16 |
| 4.0 excellent | Artax36 | February 15th 16 |
| 4.0 excellent | bobby72 | February 12th 16 |
| 3.5 great | bungy | February 4th 16 |
| 3.5 great | heck | February 2nd 16 |
| 3.5 great | CARLAS | November 15th 15 |
| 4.0 excellent | rajtako | October 14th 15 |
| 4.0 excellent | fuzzbutt | December 29th 14 |
| 4.0 excellent | cb123 | December 7th 14 |
| 4.5 superb | yep123 | September 21st 14 |
| 4.5 superb | ethos | April 27th 14 |
| 4.0 excellent | arcane | March 6th 14 |
| 5.0 classic | Meruem | February 21st 14 |
| 4.5 superb | Bug | February 12th 14 |
| 4.5 superb | maoam | November 29th 13 |
| 4.5 superb | COSM | November 9th 13 |
| 3.0 good | unkle | November 6th 13 |
| 3.5 great | KILL | November 6th 13 |
| 4.5 superb | Glider | October 21st 13 |
| 4.0 excellent | inajar | October 18th 13 |
| 4.0 excellent | sungam | October 3rd 13 |
| 4.5 superb | Playm | October 1st 13 |
| 4.0 excellent | jtswope | July 10th 13 |
| 3.5 great | MrElmo | April 10th 13 |
| 3.5 great | heisl | February 21st 13 |
| 2.5 average | SamPJ93 | February 17th 13 |
| 2.0 poor | LC437 | December 18th 12 |
| 4.0 excellent | Doxxman | November 26th 12 |
| 3.0 good | Agape | October 23rd 12 |
| 4.0 excellent | nivniv1 | October 13th 12 |
| 4.0 excellent | Melanin | October 6th 12 |
| 1.5 very poor | bobbi | October 5th 12 |
| 3.5 great | Koda90 | September 14th 12 |
| 4.0 excellent | Lovegood | September 9th 12 |
| 4.0 excellent | Yakman | April 28th 12 |
| 2.5 average | Eons | March 21st 12 |
| 4.5 superb | Foaming | February 12th 12 |
| 3.5 great | sehguh | January 4th 12 |
| 2.5 average | jlech | November 21st 11 |
| 4.0 excellent | Draven65 | November 15th 11 |
| 3.5 great | petrrr | October 18th 11 |
| 3.5 great | stfrnz | August 17th 11 |
| 4.5 superb | krkat | June 17th 11 |
| 4.0 excellent | zoso33 | February 25th 11 |
| 3.5 great | SCope13 | December 22nd 10 |
| 3.5 great | Janson | December 9th 10 |
| 4.0 excellent | Timon87 | November 19th 10 |
| 3.5 great | Matski | September 16th 10 |
| 2.5 average | noisy | August 22nd 10 |
| 2.0 poor | ShyGuy | August 17th 10 |
| 3.5 great | Cavs | August 15th 10 |
| 3.5 great | IAJP | August 14th 10 |
| 3.5 great | cuki92 | July 19th 10 |
| 5.0 classic | quaoar | May 25th 10 |
| 2.5 average | Moraff | April 28th 10 |
| 3.5 great | FLRTE | March 10th 10 |
| 4.0 excellent | twenty3 | March 2nd 10 |
| 4.0 excellent | kitsch | January 9th 10 |
| 2.5 average | purvis | April 29th 09 |
| 4.0 excellent | Krampus | April 19th 09 |
| 3.0 good | Tater | January 26th 09 |
| 3.5 great | arnie2 | August 8th 08 |
| 3.0 good | Bhima | July 22nd 08 |
| 3.5 great | tuff | October 30th 07 |
| 2.5 average | jambian | August 19th 07 |
| |
Give Your Opinion on Bad Moon Rising
|
