Sonic Youth Album: “Daydream Nation [Limited] [Slipcase]”

I remember the day well. It was the day after Thanksgiving, 1989, and I was out shopping for CDs. "Rolling Stone" had just listed their top 100 albums of the '80's, and #45 on that list was "Daydream Nation." I liked what I had read, so I picked up the CD, and was blown away. From the opening track "Teen Age Riot" to the final "Trilogy," it's a non-stop stream of consciousness ride. The sheer guitar power of the duo of Thurston Moore and Lee Renaldo make this a tour de force of white noise and feedback. Many groups thought that Sonic Youth would be the group that led the "alternative" wave of the early '90's that was instead championed by Nirvana, and in a way, Sonic Youth had a hand in that, since Nirvana were proteges of the band. Indeed, Courtney Love met Kurt Cobain through Sonic Youth bassist (and Thurston Moore's wife) Kim Gordon, who produced Hole's first album. Although I believe that "Sister" is the best Sonic Youth album, this one is likewise a masterpiece, an excellent starting point to discover one of the most underrated bands in rock history.

Daydream Nation is considered a classic album, but it never makes those "100 Greatest Albums" lists because they need to save room for the 18 Beatles albums that will undoubtedly be on there (Nothing against the Beatles, it's just like, "How many spaces do you need?!?"). Anyway, like I was saying, it's thought of as a classic album and rightfully so. Simply put, this is the most perfect collection of sounds I have ever heard. Everything on this album is exactly as it should be. A balance between chaos and structure. Blah, blah, blah. You know the deal.

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Another good thing about this album is that music snobs like it, so you can bring it up in casual conversation and be accepted into their elitist scene. Cos there's nothing cooler than hanging out with a guy who pretends to like Radiohead. And Sonic Youth influenced a lot of Grunge-era bands, so if you meet someone who's really into Nirvana or something, you can sniff and tell them how derivative you think Kurt Cobain and the Gang were.

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So ... shell out the $$. Trust me. It's worth it. Just promise to give it a couple listens before you make up your mind. Cos it's a really complex album like that. And if you don't like it? Well, forget you! Go listen to Papa Roach or something.

Daydream Nation is widely considered as one of the great alternative masterpieces of the 80s. I bought this album having heard only one song (Teen Age Riot) and reading the huge praise of the album. And this is one great sound: the energy, wit and rawness of punk mixed with the epic scope of progrock/artrock. It does take more than one listen to get. Here's a trackbytrack:

1. Teen Age Riot - Utterly brilliant. Great lyrics, riffage, drumming, craftsmanship - everything. Sums up everything DN is about. Rating: 10/10

5. Eric's Trip - Sounds drug-fuelled. Very atmospheric and dark. Rating: 8/10

Daydream Nation is my favorite album at the moment.It is a divine excursion into indie rock.Combining the usual noise with breathtaking melodic guitar solo's this is the ultimate art rock album.All songs are great,no superb! The album starts of with an unforgettable 1,2,3,4 knock out that goes from sublime to indie rock heaven.

1: Teen Age Riot> probably the most famous track on the album.A true anthem for every rock fan.Combining fierce guitar work and the attacking drums of Steve Shelley with the revolutionary message of Thurston Moore.

2: Silver Rocket> pure punk rock with an unbelievable noise explosion in the middle of the track. Again combining the instrumental genius of the band with strong lyrics sung by Thurston Moore.

3: The Sprawl: Like the title says,this is a sprawling track.Starting of as seemingly a regular rock song,it then changes after about 3 minutes into a hauntingly beautiful feedback of guitars with Lee Ranaldo and Thurston Moore playing superb here.Brings tears to your eyes,but it has to be heard a couple of times to really appreciate it.

4: 'Cross the Breeze: welds into the prior song so easily that both songs can be seen as one. this track though is Sonic Youth at their very best.Combining perfect guitar work (just before Kim Gordon starts singing there is one of the most brilliant guitar riffs in music history) with the screaming voice of Gordon (I wanna know!!!).Absolute great lyrics also: Let's go walkin' on the water, now you think I'm Satan's daughter... has got three sections really,an opening instrumental part,the singing mid section and a vicous instrumental finale.It ends just like it starts.7 minutes of rock perfection!

5: Eric's Trip: Sounds less great to me than it is,since you've just been blown away by the first 4 songs.Still,it is a great rock song with the usual speaking voice of Lee Ranaldo.Very noisy and very trippy.

6: Total Trash: Just like all the other songs on this album,it has surprises.Starting of as a "standard" rock song it goes down into an unbelievable noise jam in the mid section.Pure improvised trash by the masters of noise rock.

7: Hey Joni: Raunching rock song with strong and attacking guitar work.Again great lyrics sung by Ranaldo.

8: Providence: Seen by a lot of people as the lesser song of the album.Not correct! It is very dreamy and very experimental with beautiful piano sound and a stormy background combined with hallucinating words.

9: Candle: Starts off beautifully calm and stays that way for quitte a while,but it isn't calm at all.Yet,in comparison with the other tracks it looks that way.

10: Rain King: Brilliant exploding start and it doesn't back down one bit.Superb floating voice by Lee Ranaldo and guitars.

11: Kissability: If there was ever one slightly lesser song on the album then I think it's this one.Maybe a little bit to commercial in comparison with the other tracks.Looks in that way a bit like Bubblegum on the EVOL album.Still, a great song.

12: Trilogy: The perfect closer.Like all masterpieces in music this album ends with a masterpiece of it's own.A long epic track that lasts 14 minutes and contains 3 levels.A hard rocking opening (The Wonder),a post rock like mid section (Hyperstation) and a vicious and raw finale (Eliminator Jr.).

Daydream Nation is seen as one of the musical milestones of the eighties and quite rightly so.It combines different styles of rock music although always concentrating on underground indie rock.Therefore,it is not as famous as commercial albums of that time.Even worse,not a lot of people know of this album which is a shame.Sonic Youth were not just innovators,they were top of the bill.Together with Velvet Underground (and maybe Pink Floyd) they are the most important rock band in history,no doubt about that for me.They laid the path for bands like Nirvana and paid the price for it,since they remained pretty unknown in mainstream music world.If you listen to this album though,you can hear the importance of the band on all future rock bands as did The VU in the late sixties.Sonic Youth is my favorite band and Daydream Nation is their absolute masterpiece.Listen to it a couple of times to discover the secrets and become captivated by it's brilliance.

For everyone who loves rock music!!!

I can't describe the total grip this album had on me when I first bought. At the time I was a complete XTC fan. I got hooked on this the first time I listened to it. I was in college at the time and it sounded like I felt. Slow guitar intros into mindbending songs where little snippets of lyrics/truth can be made out. Little bits of truth/lyrics keep coming through the static haze of the songs. Its as if Sonic Youth were there with me on my journey peering into the darkness/abyss and describing it and guiding me. This album continues to surprise me, noone else will ever come close to this sound. I sometimes feel the power and surge of the guitars on this album are the best ever recorded or maybe I was just high. This is Sonic Youth at full power barrelling down the highway, heading off the cliff into the abyss .... thanks for the ride. Anyway, If you are a new fan get this and Sister and Thousand Leaves.