Sonic Youth is fuckin amazing!

[Kevin Davis]

Man, "Tom Violence," "Shadow of a Doubt," and "Starpower" might be my favorite SY opening salvo ever.

[Birds in Hell]

Just re-listened to EVOL. It's just a mixed bag for me. It just gets off to a rocky start, with a handful of "meh" songs.

Man, "Tom Violence," "Shadow of a Doubt," and "Starpower" might be my favorite SY opening salvo ever.

Seriously!

[darth_vedder]

Haha, maybe I'm the stip of SY

[tragabigzanda]

Top 10 maybe?
Hello Morning
Close Captioned
The Kill
Place/Position
Do You Like Me?
Latest Disgrace
Recap Modotti
Nightshop
Break
Life & Limb

I'd maybe bump Life & Limb for Epic Problem

[darth_vedder]

I'll take Daydream, Sister, Dirty, Experimental Jet Set, Sonic Nurse, and Goo over EVOL. Maybe Murray Street too. Probably not The Eternal or Rather Ripped though.

I remember not liking A Thousand Leaves and NYC Ghost & Flowers as much either. I guess I should just go re-listen to all their albums.

[Birds in Hell]

Rather Ripped is great but The Eternal might be their worst record.

Not a fan of Murray Street either.

[tragabigzanda]

[Kevin Davis]

"Murray Street" is a fairly low-slotting record for me too. "Sonic Nurse" and "Rather Ripped" on the other hand...

[epilogue]

I've only heard 5 Sonic Youth albums. I would rank them thusly:

Goo
Daydream Nation
A Thousand Leaves
Washing Machine
Murray Street

[tragabigzanda]

[bada]

I think Unmade Bed is my favorite SY song. I think.

[tragabigzanda]

Top 10 maybe?
Hello Morning
Close Captioned
The Kill
Place/Position
Do You Like Me?
Latest Disgrace
Recap Modotti
Nightshop
Break
Life & Limb

I'd maybe bump Life & Limb for Epic Problem

[bada]

I think Unmade Bed is my favorite SY song. I think.

Great choice. Effing amazing, that one. A four-minute epic. From the gentle, bittersweet beauty of the intro to the scuzz-prog freakout in the bridge, it's many of their greatest strengths packed into a tight little song.

Yeah that and Catholic Block sum up everything I love about SY in like 4 min.

[rick malone]

I'll pick Sister as their best(haven't heard Evol). It feels more intense as the noisey parts seem to build and build in a more immediate way than Daydream Nation(also great).

Go listen to Evol, right now. Please. Just do it. If I weren't grading oral exams I'd put it on right now.

Ok will do the first chance I get.

Listened to Evol last night. Doesn't impact me the same as Sister or Daydream but still good. Bad Moon Rising is a pretty good "zone out" album if that makes any sense. It really draws you in.

[matt reeder]

I'm not going to rank the albums since that's an exercise I usually find distasteful. I'm not really into ranking anything. That being said, these are probably my 10 favorite SY songs:

Brave Men Run
Brother James
Expressway to Yr Skull
Teenage Riot
Shadow Of A Doubt
Wildflower Soul
Incinerate
Pattern Recognition
Rain on Tin
The Diamond Sea

At least 5 of those change on a regular basis, though.

[Kevin Davis]

I wish I could resist the temptation to rank things. I realize the pointlessness of the exercise. But time and again I find myself doing it. I think I subconsciously perceive it as a way of ordering my life. It probably isn't healthy. I should be able to just let things be, you know?

[matt reeder]

And while we're at it, I just want to publicly state that Murray Street is my favorite Sonic Youth album. I bought it in France the week it came out and it's been on repeat for me ever since. "Rain on Tin" is a top 3 SY song for me.

[matt reeder]

I wish I could resist the temptation to rank things. I realize the pointlessness of the exercise. But time and again I find myself doing it. I think I subconsciously perceive it as a way of ordering my life. It probably isn't healthy. I should be able to just let things be, you know?

To every man his own code. I can usually pick a favorite, but I can't rank things easily because it so often depends on the mood. I said above that Murray Street is my favorite SY album, but it could just as easily be Sister, Daydream Nation, Washing Machine or even Bad Moon Rising depending on my mood.

[Kevin Davis]

Especially bands with large discographies, I feel like the top and bottom two or three usually reveal themselves pretty effortlessly, but the middle gets messy. Definitely the case wity SY. You are right that mood is just such a huge factor.

[tragabigzanda]