Sister

Firstly, Sonic Youth is a band I've played around a bit at the edges, a few mainstream tracks, some others based off recommendations but nothing off this album. Its post punk, its garage, there are elements of Avant Guard too. I mean its ok, but I prefer there more commercial stuff.

Sister is my first full-length album listen for Sonic Youth. The discordant nature doesn’t really appeal to me, so the album didn’t do much for me, but I found it decent and didn’t dislike it. The muffled vocals were a bit frustrating at first, but either they got better or I just got used to them. I liked tracks 3 and 8, which I added to my playlist. I’d have to say I enjoyed the drums the most, probably because I’m partial to rhythm. I appreciated Kim Gordon’s vocals out of the three singers. I’m glad I listened to this album as I’ve always been curious about the band, but never got around to checking them out.

A wild, noise-rock masterpiece.

This was all around a good album. I enjoyed the instrumentation immensely. I didn't enjoy the shout-singing as much. I would listen to this again. This genre is right up my alley. 4 out of 5.

Probably my favorite official Sonic Youth studio album. A lot of SY albums have a killer leadoff tune and then fall apart before the end of side one, but this one starts with a killer 1-2 punch - Catholic Block has a rockin riff and is a perfect 2-3 minutes or however long it is - and even side two is mostly good. This album also has a better sound/production than most of their studio recordings, which tend to lose the ferocity and generally don't rock hard enough. I think this is the third SY album on this list, which is probably 1-2 more than they deserve, and none of the ones selected are their best recording, the legendary The Walls Have Ears live bootleg from their Bad Moon Rising tour 1-2 years before Sister. They were really more of a live act and if there's one SY record to listen to, that's it, and I believe the band even finally officially released it recently. That recording is what should go into the Smithsonian/space capsule. Go listen to that instead of this. You will like SY more for having done that.

I *really* wish that I enjoyed some artists and bands in this collection more than I do; it would certainly make it easier to feel excited when we get the third/fourth/fifth/etc. album by someone like Sonic Youth. But at least this is number three of five for me, and it's not super long or anything, although also not all that appreciatively different from the later "Goo" or "Daydream Nation" albums. I'd say the highlights were the discordant noise of "Catholic block", the almost song-like "Stereo sanctity", and the almost mainstream-esque (and Kiss-dissing) bonus track "Master-Dik". (I'd hoped their cover of Crime's "Hot wire my heart" (which I'd never heard before) would be more Sonic-Youthized than it turned out to be.) I really like the idea that this is a concept album centering on the life and writings of Philip K. Dick, even down to the title, referencing Dick's fraternal twin that died shortly after birth and apparently haunted him the rest of his life (and is the (heavily adapted) subject of the opening track "Schizophrenia"?). But I only know this from the Wikipedia entry, because I can rarely make out *any* of their lyrics, and I'm not sure I would have caught the subtle references in some of the song titles.

Never really liked them: they just sound unpleasant, discordant to me. I'm just not into them.

Good album; will listen to again. 3.8/5

Listened to this for another list and was underwhelmed. On relisten, I am whelmed. It's decent. 3/5

No standouts

One of the many essential Sonic Youth albums! I’m sure I’ve written all my praises in previous SY reviews, so I’ll spare us all this time.

This deserves a second listen. One thing that does annoy me is that the music is often louder than the vocals, which is not ideal when you have sensory processing issues.

First time listening to this album and it's genuinely fantastic. Arty noise pop, what's not to love?

Feels like Sonic Youth were already in the nineties in 1987. This is one of their top ones for me. Particularly like "Pacific Coast Highway."

mid 6.68 2/5

Started off fairly interesting, and I was impressed they managed to get the sound of 'Schizophrenia' and '(I Got A) Catholic Block' in '87. Feels much more modern than that! But as the album progressed, the quality dropped. They lost their finesse and interesting melodies, and it turned more into a distorted atonal mess than something interesting. So while the first two songs were cool, the rest was not. Strong 2 for me.

This is the fourth album by Sonic Youth we've had and I'm pretty fed up with them. Sometimes the noisy rock is pretty decent - i particularly liked the intro track "Schizophrenia". The rest was just boring and pretentious. Here's to hoping this was the last Sonic Youth album on the list.

4/5

Vähän sellasta kaaottista mitä lie. En jaksa arvostella

New fav SY.

Another album I'm not cool enough for. I want to like this, but it's too noisy for me. I would be bummed if I had to listen to it again, ultimately.

This one tried to throw me off musically and lyrically. Either one, taken by itself, makes no sense, and though they complement each other, there's no synergy—they don't produce something better. Experimental for experimentation's sake. Noise.

Hard to hear the lyrics - mastering? I can see where emo bands got their inspiration

Not my favourite, sounded a lot like some of my old band practice sessions

I really wish I could like Sonic Youth.

Nice, not as catchy as I thought it would be, but not bad

Dude, this album is pretty dope for being older. PCH is pretty awesome! I've loved every song so far. They're so different than anything else that was out during this time. Definitely paved the road for grunge in the 90s. It's been a while since I had a 5 star album but this is one of them. I remember when I first discovered this type of guitar sound man it was magical.

Sonic Youth, an American rock band active from 1981 to - During their major label career from 1990 to 1999, Sonic Youth released several influential albums, including "Goo" in 1990, which became their best-selling record, and "Dirty" in - Their music incorporated elements of alternative rock, with collaborations and influences noted from figures such as Chuck D and Ian MacKaye. They were key tastemakers in the alternative scene, collaborating with Spike Jonze and contributing to cultural phenomena like the Lollapalooza festival and an episode of "The Simpsons." Artistically, they were known for their innovative use of multiple unconventional guitar tunings, using cheap guitars and various objects to create experimental sounds

this is not for me

Better than I remember but still some meh on it.

Not for me. Schizophrenia and hot wire my heart were fine, the rest was hard to listen to at times.

Previously rated: E.V.O.L. (1/5) Goo (4/5) Dirty (3/5) ******************** I have to admit, before listening, I was already not looking forward to this, a fourth freaking album from this band when several other deserving bands/artists haven't had a single album yet (924 albums in), and that may be reflected in the rating. It's art rock, something I just don't connect with very well. I just don't have much more to say than that. Better than E.V.O.L., worse than Goo. I recognized Paul Stanley's "I know" repeated in the last track, "Master Dik." If I knew it was a bonus track, I wouldn't have bothered. I'd rather listen to any Kiss album.

School kids still learning to play instruments.

Meh, didn't hate it. Didn't love it. Never was the biggest sonic youth fan.

Surprenamment, après avoir écouté les cinq albums des Sonic Youth se trouvant sur cette liste, il s'avère que j'aime toujours pas ça. Au moins j'ai essayé, Cyril. PS: Je t'ai répondu sur Sweetheart Of The Rodeo et System Of A Down!

World’s okayest Sonic Youth album.

Generally a fan of the band. This isn't their strongest work, but it's solid.

I really think this must have been a really cool stuff back in the day , but to me it just sounds awful. Everything sounds out of tune , and the composition is just deliberately annoying. To me it’s like cilantro, not a matter of taste , but pure physical rejection.

no thanks. was mostly noise.

eh

2/5

Like Tom Waits, I've gotten 3 of their albums, all fine but relatively indistinguishable in the scheme of things. This one has less kim singing, a mark against it.

Was better than the previous sonic youth album. I really liked the guitar work, but apart from that it was still only mid

Inte direkt för mig

It's a pretty fun album. It's noisy and abrasive, but it doesn't really sound as such. It took me a few listens to start enjoying Sonic Youth. This is a perfectly fine album by them, kind of in between the harshness of Evol and the sprawling beauty of Daydream Nation, both of which I prefer. Really influential band and good stuff.

I like sonic youth now Will I listen to again: 80%

Highlight Song/s: Beauty Lies in the Eye, Pipeline/Kill Time My second Sonic Youth album (first is Daydream Nation,) I've listened to songs here and there and I have a couple of favourite songs of theirs but haven't listened to too much of them. First impressions tells me that, there's this cool post-punk undertone to the songs, like the ringing guitars and the rhythm section is something you'd hear from any of the post-punk pioneers. I have been a recent enjoyer of white noise parts in songs and this is literally a gold mine for it. My Bloody Valentine was the band the turned me over to it; and they were heavily inspired by Sonic Youth. MBV's e.p. and first album, You Made Me Realise and Isn't Anything is very adjacent to this album if you turn down the pop-ness halfway I didn't know where to fit this next sentence, so I will just leave it here: Schizophrenia, to my ears has this yearning sort of sound; which I really like.

Fine.

I like a lot of bands that are in the same realm as Sonic Youth but there’s been 3 or 4 Sonic Youth albums on here by now and with every one, I wonder if this’ll be the one where it clicks for me and doesn’t just sound like distorted fucking garbage. Nope. Still distorted fucking garbage.

I like Evol better

Man. How did I miss this album? I listened to Goo a ton when I was a kid and I loved loved loved it. But never got this record and I regret it. It is REALLY good. Going to add it into regular rotation.

Better than I expected. I was into the Parquet Courts for a little bit without ever having listened to Sonic Youth, but now I know where they got that sound from.

This was not my cup of tea. I can see that it's trying to play with noise and push some musical boundaries, but the simple fact is that I don't really care for it.

Quite like some Sonic Youth without being very familiar with their pre Daydream Nation output. I had only heard Schizophrenia before and enjoyed that my enthusiasm for the record waned as it went on and I was really annoyed by Thurston's voice by the rather silly final track. Overall it's good but hovering between a 3-4 for this one.

Easy to listen to, for whatever reason Sonic Youth has never really done it for me

Nope. The big one is the only one you have to hear. This is superfluous. 1 star for time wasting.

I can essentially re-run my review from EVOL, although I enjoyed this marginally more. Sonic Youth are starting to learn to write songs, rather than just making a helluva noise. Now, don't get me wrong; I enjoy a helluva noise as much as the next man, possibly more. But, seriously, how many Sonic Youth albums do you need? There are five (five!) on this list, and I would argue that they don't really hit their straps until Daydream Nation.

This was interesting and definitely felt like something that didn't come out in the 80s. Will listen again!

responsible for 50% of the music I love (also fuckin rocks)

Start off good and then I didn’t like a lot of the ending

Great early sonic youth

Un album/band que je n’écoute pas assez, mais que je ne regrette jamais d’avoir écouté.

8/10 The first time I stuck this record on, I was drawn to some elements of it, but it kind of washed over me a little without dragging me in. After a couple more runs through, particularly after paying closer attention for a track by track breakdown and then letting it wash over me again, it just kept getting better and better. There’s so much to like about this. It’s brash, it’s noisy, but there are also hooks and melodic elements that just bubble out from the cacophony, or force their way out from the noise. In some ways, one could call it unfocused, but there’s an element of ‘stream of consciousness’ about it. It’s like a Kathe Koja novel in audio form, it’s grimy, punky and not the easiest thing to parse at first glance, but there’s so much life and experience poured into it that it feels like a very specific life, time and place distilled into a grubby piece of art that sometimes borders on horrific. You can definitely hear the influence of this on some of the more punky grunge bans like Mudhoney, L7 and Nirvana, so it’s really interesting to hear the genesis of that sound that would take on its own life only a few years later. The fact that the vocals are sparingly used adds to the sense of disorientation really works, because when they do appear they centre the record again before it spins off into more fire and fury. There are a few lulls here and there, and it’s not exactly the easiest of listening pieces, so it’s not going to get top marks, but it was a fantastic experience nonetheless. Schizophrenia - The way that the bass doesn’t just pick the obvious root notes for the chord choices and the impact that has on the feeling of the progression is really nice. It plays with song structure a little, but doesn’t drift so far as to become disconnected. They’re not afraid to be sparse, but they also never allow the momentum of the track to be lost. There’s a lot to like about this. There’s good grooves, hectic noise and great dynamic changes. Catholic Black - This comes out of the blocks with great pace. There are some solid riffs in here and it becomes pretty frantic in places. Again, they’re not afraid to make things a little experimental and have a drastic tempo change. It’s nice and hooky while still being brash and noisy. Beauty Lies in the Eye - This creates a very thick ambience with Kim Gordon’s voice barely revealing itself through the noise. It threatens to take off, but remains restrained. Stereo Sanctity - This is great. It takes that noise wash from the previous track and injects it with some real energy. The drumming, in particular, is great. It feels like he’s just about clinging on to the tempo, which really adds to the raw, frenetic, almost psychotic feel of the track. There’s more going on within the noise than there might initially appear too, and the slow build from the breakdown is great. Pipeline/Kill Time - More frantic energy and ebb and flow here in the first half. They tread a fine line, throwing memorable little riffs here and there, but never allowing things to take too mach of a focus. Then things drift into an echoing cloud of feedback. There are some great tones that they pull out of the guitars that just taste like anxiety. Tuff Gnarl - This one feels like they’re stretching things a bit far. The more traditional song elements don’t really connect with me and I don’t really gel with Thurston’s vocal delivery. When it drops to the noisy section, it’s a bit uninspiring until it starts speeding up, which is pretty good. But overall, it’s a bit meh. Pacific Coast Highway - There’s a lot of attitude here. I love Kim Gordon’s vocal delivery. Everything is so brash and threatening, and then we drift away to a more stripped back section. Things are almost pretty, but the distorted tones maintain that menacing edge. Hot Wire My Heart - This feels the most like a traditional song on the album. Turns out it’s a cover of a Crime song, which is why! It feels a little bit run of the mill compared to the rest of the album because of that. We still get the noisy cacophony of the Sonic Youth sound, but it loses a bit of the spaced out, avant edge that the album has developed until this point. Cotton Crown - There’s a lot of interesting work being done between the two guitars here and there on this track, with Kim Gordon and Steve Shelley keeping things just about pinned down with their rhythmic and tonal core. And the vocal sections that bookend the sludgy, noisy centre have enough hook to frame it all with something that you can cling on to after the track has ended. White Cross - The drumming here is fantastic. Again, we’re into frenzied fury territory. This is a really fantastic track. So much tempo, rage and some fantastic combinations of rhythm and attention grabbing riffs. Master-Dik - This has some great rhythms, not just from the drums, but some of the bass and guitar that just peek out from the wall of noise. The vocal is more prominent here than on most of the other tracks. It feels like it’s on the edge of collapsing quite a few times and then things just about cling back together again, which creates a really interesting effect. The ending is brilliantly weird.

ahhhh sound!!! too much sound

A lot of noise, which I dont love, with some redeeming qualities.

Pierwszy track obiecujący, ale im dalej w album tym bardziej nie da sie sluchac

At first I wasn’t liking this one, but I realized that this is a moody album and that’s what they’re going for. In that regard, they nailed it, but still not something I’d be looking for.

Not that bad, but not really interesting either.

I liked the first song on this album and the rest of it was good.

I did not enjoy this as much as Dirty, most likely because it's Sonic Youth and it takes a while to absorb them into your system. One thing remains true. I am not as cool as they are. I never was and I never will be. I am OK with this, and I am OK that to me, this rests comfortably at a 3.

Really dig the guitars in this album, but it does devolve a bit too far at times for my taste. Overall solid and I hadn’t spent too much time with this album relative to their other work. Still not a huge fan of Kim Gordon singing. Fave tracks: “Schizophrenia”, “catholic block”, “Kotton Krown”.

interesting

Slightly too noisy in parts to be a real winner for me, but the more sonic youth the hear the more I like it

I've still yet to really click with Sonic Youth... not a bad listen but I'll have to return to it

learning to love sonic youth, I think they kick ass but the conversion process is slow

Comes out like a house on fire, even if it, like Daydream Nation, suffers for having its unimpeachable masterpiece as the lead-off song, reaching a height that's impossible to match. Moore's verse in Schizophrenia is imbued with so much sorrow, and then Gordon's part somehow feels even sadder. Proto-shoegaze, but also so far ahead of its time that it would be revolutionary if it came out in 2026. Some scorchers on the balance of the record too — Catholic Block, Stereo Sanctity, White Cross. Some of the sillier stuff detracts, unfortunately, including (bonus track?) Master-Dik. Second-tier SY, still fantastic.

Tons of energy on this tight, packed LP. I love the post-punk brightness, and then songs dissolving to straight-up walls of noise and thrash, with driving drumming throughout. Kim Gordon’s vocals coming in add fantastic contrast to Thurston Moore’s. A very good to great record.

Who knew sounding so different could get so boring.

Loud, noisy, and a great indicator of where grunge was headed just a few years before the genre would really take off. You won't find the more well known Sonic Youth songs here, but this album is a good listen for some noisy, messy grunge.

First time I’ve heard this - unsure how/why because it’s right up my street

Just straight up really not for me, I didn't really get anything out of this one

This album stressed me out so bad.

Was it better than the last Sonic Youth album on the list? Yes. Did I enjoy it? No. Would I listen again? No. Enough said!

Sometimes you get that feeling with this list: you listen to an album you're just not in the mood for. I had the same experience with this album. I have to work too hard to appreciate it.

This album is great(if out shown by their follow up, Daydream Nation). Art Rock Power Noise with just the barest grip of control to keep it from spiraling into madness, just how I like my Sonic Youth.

That was ridiculous noise in the right places. I loved it.

Didn’t like this sound.

Post punk, pre-grunge and completely different to just about everything else happening in 1987. In a weird bit of synchronicity, I found out the track Schizophrenia was inspired by Philip K Dick, just after I finished reading The Man in the High Castle yesterday. It’s very fitting - the album manages to be cerebral and sonically challenging - this is definitely one I’ll be returning to.

This might be the best take away of this exercice (listening to 1000+ albums I apparently should listen to before I die, hopefuly later than sooner): Sonic Youth. I do love everything I've heard from them so far. This might be a tad bit more experimental than Goo, Daydream Nation and Dirty, but it's so good. Full of ideas, full of sounds, full of anger, full of live.

The album that was Sonic Youth going from "artsy and out there" to "trying to be more polished."

Aggressively experimental is a bit of an understatement here. It seems like it would be fun to just throw down some noise on a record and let it fly into production. I imagine every amp and speaker was absolutely dimed when recording this album. I gave Goo 2 stars and liked this album considerably less, but I like to save the coveted 1 star for albums that are absolutely unbearable. Unfortunately, Sister is not that guy.

I liked this overall and found it interesting, but it kinda just became noise after a certain point. Like the last SY album I got on here, it somehow wasn't very engaging to me as a listener even though I thought it was decent. Overall: 2.9/5

A bit of a damp squib - certainly doesn't contain anything on par with the best of Goo.

Okay but a bit rowdy for me

Not for me

I like the big time Sonic Youth albums, but this is just kinda there. Doesn't need to be on this list. 6/10

Feels fresh and relevant 40 years later still. Definitely a classic.

I was super into this album sophomore year of college, one of the first I taped during my first show at the college radio station. I remember trying to sell some friends on it back home and realizing I was really parting ways with them. The strummy riffs of “Schizophrenia” and the waterless surf of “Catholic Block” are what comes to me first when I hear the name Sonic Youth, though now I think they have better, more fleshed out material. “Hot Wire My Heart” might be their most fun song.

New York City is a common muse on the 1,001 list; I’ve referenced it in recent reviews of Television and Lou Reed, and I’m sure there will be plenty more examples to come. I’ve always felt the cityscape, with its hard edges, chaos and moods, was a main character in Sonic Youth’s early work from the 1980s. On Sister, the band evokes a Lower Manhattan that is dark, visceral and dangerous — a far cry from what it is today. The music on this release is exciting, thoughtfully paced and adventurous, with all four band members pulling equal weight and proving indispensable. Hints of melody and conventional song structure are starting to creep into the noise workouts, a pattern that would reach fuller blossom in their masterpiece follow-up, Daydream Nation.

Not as good as evol or daydream nation, but better than dirty and goo.

A solid Sonic Youth album. They make pretty solid albums.

as a whole album experience, this has everything I like about this band boiled down into something just really hooky and straightforward in comparison to some of the noisier stuff I'm used to hearing by them.

4.5 good early stuff from sonic teenage riot still better

Pretty good alt rock album

This was a cool album, I'm generally very opposed to the noise rock thing but this one was working for me *most of the time*. There were a couple moments in the second half where I was feeling stressed. A unique album that does it's own thing

4.5

3.5

*Sisters* Listen to it a second time as a whole this time around it actually confirmed what I thought the first four songs I'm really kind of fine with and was looking like I would probably put it in between *Evol* and *Nation* But quite frankly after the 4th song it just seems to run into the kind of noise Rock category that I find kind of interesting but also not anything I would pull out to just enjoy. Overall still a pretty high 3½ which will give it a 4 on the app. 7.8 ★★★½

Cool noise rock album. 4 stars

Thought this albums was pretty good, and kind of in-between EVOL and Daydream Nation in terms of my enjoyment. There's some stuff I really like here, like 'Schizophrenia", "Tuff Gnarl", and "Catholic Block". The songs where Gordon and Ranaldo take vocals are a bit less successful for me. Still pretty good overall. 3.5 stars.

Absolute bullcrap. Another unnecessary plop of Sonic Youth for the 1001 List. This is in the same ballpark of tetchy, tedious, tuneless, drawling hipster twonging as Daydream Nation but without quite the same ambition, scope or tiniest plausible claim to being as iconic or essential. Swing out this Sister from a tall window towards the nearest hyperactive volcano field.

Noise, garage und alternative. Bisschen eery und passend zum Herbstwetter, im Sommer würde ich es weniger fühlen. Kein Lied das besonders herausgestochen ist, aber ist ein Vibe.

I liked it a lot more than I expected. They’ve won me over

At first I just had it on as background and I hated it, but I decided to restart and try again when I got to Hot Wire My Heart because I did kind of like it. On the second listen I realized some of these tracks actually fuck severely if you give them a chance and pay attention.

Some really good songs I didn’t know. An obvious Trail of the Dead inspiration

my kid loved schizophrenic

Slightly better than the last Sonic Youth album I rated but still nothing special. Last time I wrote that it might have had more impact if there were fewer tracks. And it did! 3

I've been very hit or miss with the Sonic Youth albums on this list. Dirty and Daydream Nation have been standouts, but I was very underwhelmed by Goo. As for Sister, I liked it. I really wanted to love it, but the songs didn't grab me in the same way as Dirty and Daydream. Still, I love almost anything Kim Gordon does, and her songs again were the highlights. "Schizophrenia" and "Pacific Coast Highway" were my favorite tracks, but there wasn't anything on here that I didn't somewhat enjoy. This is closer to a 3.5 for me, but I'm going to round up because giving it a 3 just seems too low.

Classic Sonic Youth.

Better than I expected

Kind of bored by this one, much like the last Sonic Youth album I received not that long ago. It's just a load of noise to me, nothing musically interesting or memorable.

My second Sonic Youth of the wee and I do like it but I would find it hard to categorise as great.

Fuck sonic youth

Kinda cool

jobbat vártam.

No he entrado nada en el disco.

It felt like a lot of the songs were almost songs that would be my thing but there was always something else going on that made me not enjoy them. Fav song: Schizophrenia Least fav: Master-Dik

Was going back through this trying to figure out which one was my least favourite and I kept thinking each one was. That’s how shit this album was. Too edgy too grungy not for me. Specific rating- 1.1 Fav song- schizophrenia Least fav- tuff gnarl / all

Too much noise for me. Occasionally there was a hint of good music but mostly it was just annoying. Favourite song: Schizophrenia Least: Master-Dik

I guess it's time to accept it: I'll probably never 'get' Sonic Youth like I hoped I would. 4 albums now, and they've all offered glimpses of style, or the occasional good tune, but left me somewhat unsatisfied. Which is a shame because it often feels like they *could* be great, with a bit of refining. The more melodic, musical tracks are fine but completely unmemorable, while the abrasive, 'noise rock' elements aren't visceral or focused enough to really get the adrenaline pumping. Most of this particular album seems stuck somewhere between those two stools, and the result is a bit of a mess, to my ears. 2.5

Sign of the times. Straight up first bit of punk rock in the early 80s. Trail blazers.

I love the sound and variety. First time Sonic Youth have landed with me.

"Sister" by Sonic Youth is a pretty impressive record considering the time it was released. For a 1987 record, there's quite a bit of sound here that feels a good decade ahead of its time, especially as it relates to the record's more experimental sounds and punk/heavy metal fusion. The instrumentals here are very cool, featuring a great distorted guitar, an inconsistent (but often excellent) drummer, and lots of very neat distortion and ambient noises peppered throughout. It really feels like Sonic Youth are inventing a soundscape - not everything works, but it's all interesting, and super cutting-edge for its time. Where the album loses me a bit are the vocals. The singer doesn't have much of a presence to them, singing their lines without much passion or charisma, and offering little of the grit and edge you can find in the instrumentals. On top of this, the mixing is all off, leading to a vocal performance that is barely legible above the noise of the instruments at times. The final nail in the coffin for this aspect of the record is that the lyrics are generic rock humdrum at best, and nearly-incomprehensible at worst. There's definitely a lot of artistry going on here, but it almost feels like the songs have lyrics and a lead vocalist for no other reason than "that's how rock albums work." I found myself really dialed in for the sections of tracks that were wordless, allowing the cool drum beats and excellent guitar grooves to take center stage. If there's one other issue here, it's the moments of total cacophony, which happens at least once in nearly every song. It feels a bit like Sonic Youth were attempting to have their "Day In The Life" moment, but none of the songs on this record quite earn that cacophonic ecstasy the way the Beatles did in their song. There's a lot of angst behind the music, but you never get the sence that SY have done much of interest with it. Overall, I recognize this record as a foundational part of the punk/metal sound, and I respect its experimental format. But I didn't love any of the songs on it, and I can't see myself returning to anything from it again. Like the Quest album I listened to recently, this formula has simply been improved upon elsewhere by future practitioners, which makes returning to this sound's roots a bit more of a chore than I would like.

Good overall. Great moments here and there. Although if I’m in the mood for a Sonic Youth album then I’m reaching for Daydream Nation.

A top 5 SY release for me. Not my favorite but very nearly so.

I like the Sonic Youth.

Interesting, rather different from the mainstream, some fun.

Pretty chill alternative vibe. Not really something I would listen to again, but not bad.

This is an intense, weird, angular, discordant record with moments that are all gross and messy and explosive and moments that are crazily lovely. It's dark. Sonic Youth were never on my radar in the 80s, early 90s, and I have always felt like a loser that I don't know their music well, but a year or three back, Goo and Daydream Nation went into my rotation, and now this one will as well.

"Bro...your not into Sonic Youth." Man, I am not cool enough for this one. Tried to give this an intentional listen, but just could not connect. Just not meant to be.

I have respect for Sonic Youth on paper, but this was more visceral and accessible than I thought it would be. Particularly loved “Cotton Crown” and “Master-Dik.”

Album No. 0008 on my list. I have to admit that I was not at all familiar with Sonic Youth at all. Even though I regularly listen to a lot of Alternative Rock, I only knew very few Sonic Youth songs at all (Teen Age Riot of course), so "Sister" was a completely new listen for me. I recently reviewed a Pixies album - a band in a very much similar situation: infuential alt rock, something that I "should" like but never much listened to (and both with a female bass player!). Howver, I did not really enjoy the Pixies album ("Bossanova"). In contrast, I like "Sister" by Sonic Youth better. I have some doubts that it will ever become an all time favorite of mine, but compared to the pixies album, it's much better. The songs are more interesting, catchier, and feel more complex. Sonic Youth (based on this one album) feels more "charismatic" to me. "Catholic Block", "Beauty Lies in the Eye", and "Tuff Gnarl" are my favorites from this album. To summarize: not a great album, but a good one. 3/5 stars.

When you have one of greatest songs (in general not just for Sonic Youth) as your opener it sadly hampers the rest of the album. But still very good!

Fine

Industrial alt rock. Dissonant. Schizophrenia, Catholic Block, Pipeline/Kill Time, Tuff Gnarl, Cotton Crown sounds the best to me. Pretty good album, clearly influential to a lot of bands that would come after.

Not a fan, just noise

There was one or two alright songs, but mostly it wasn't particularly interesting.

Well that was "interresting". Mostly just a lot of awful noise. Don't really know why I needed to hear this. Mustn't question our musical overlords though. I'm a good citizen me and always do what I'm told so I listened to this. Now let's just hope I can forget it soon.

Ehhhh. This was okay.

They were okay.

Hmm, I don't know. Maybe I don't get it. This was fine, but just didn't seem all that great to me.

I personally think this is one of the defining albums that helped merge noise rock with the emerging alternative and indie rock scene of the late 80s and early 90s, and paving the way for bands like Dinosaur Jr., Pixies, and Pavement. This also feels like one of Sonic Youth’s key bridge albums, sitting between their NYC no wave and noise rock roots and the more grunge leaning alternative sound they’d explore later in their career.

schizophrenia- 6 catholic block- 5 beauty lies in the eye- 5 stereo sanctity- 5 pipeline/kill time- 5 tuff gnarl- 5 pacific coast highway- 5 hot wire my heart- 5 cotton crown- 5 white cross- 5 master dik- 5

#667. This album starts really strong, but doesn't quite maintain it throughout the entire thing. 3/5: decent

My third Sonic Youth album on this list, and it's completely fine. Just like the first two. I'm tired. There's plenty of dissonance to please even the most industrial of music fans, as well as some sick guitar riffs to appease the fans with correct opinions. Lots of screaming and weird chords, too. I didn't enjoy the vocals much, but then that seems to be a problem with my own listening preferences. I should really stop comparing everyone to Freddie Mercury. The drumming throughout the album is a strange combination of punk and math-ish metal, a set of genres I wouldn't normally place in a room together. It makes for some pretty darn interesting music even if it isn't particularly pleasant. Some of the tracks drone a lot, like Tuff Gnarl and Pacific Coast Highway. Others, like Master-Dik, are completely devoid of content and read like a proto-Endless, Nameless. A song called Schizophrenia immediately makes me think of Anxiety. The internet has broken me. (Obviously, Sonic Youth's one is better by a wide margin, being a sort of melancholy rock ballad that contrasts sharply with the death and destruction that follows.) That trippy psychedelic guitar solo closing out Pipeline/Kill Time is majestic, alien, magical. It's just a shame it comes after such a bland vocal performance. Kotton Krown, though technically consisting of a medium-length repeating riff for five minutes, does the best with what it has – and it's surprisingly enjoyable. Beauty Lies In The Eye is similar to the album opener and I quite like the distortion, which also surprised me. I think you have to be in the right headspace for this sort of music. 3/5 Key tracks: Schizophrenia, Beauty Lies in the Eye, Kotton Krown

It was ok. I agree with the quote from Juno that Sonic Youth is just noise aside from their cover of Superstar.

Its all the good noises that scratch some part of my brain.

Sometimes when I am served up an album by a band who have appeared multiple times on this list and I have also previously reviewed I go back to read my musings and to see if my opinions vary. I’ve cut and pasted these below. Saves me having to repeat myself but unfortunately not the torture of listening. Bugger me I’ve just checked the book and still have another two albums by these cretins to go. Is it really credible for at best a division 2 band to have 5 albums on this list? Or put it another way, nearly .5% of the whole list? As I progress through this list I’m realising that when I get an album which I like I find it easy to write about (which I guess I’m stating here the bleeding obvious) But when I get an album which I consider bad it’s harder to come up with comments and emotions that I have not used before. Sometimes a bad album might have been made by an icon and considered globally as a classic. In which case I can say it’s not my barrow but I can appreciate the impact it made on music and deserving to be on this list. Which brings me back to my original point and this bag of shite. I’ve already used all the expletives and dismissive’s for all the other crap I’ve had to listen to. I don’t just like saying ‘not my cup of tea’ in one line as I prefer justify why don’t like it. But as I’ve now waffled on and my review looks long I can now end without saying anything remotely knowledgeable or assessing the musicality of this album and thus fooling everyone except myself. Who reads this anyway? I always knew Sonic Youth were there but had no interest in them at all. Might have heard a track or two before but they must have washed over me as if they never existed. I set off to listen to this album positively hoping I would learn something new but to no avail I’m afraid. Found myself concentrating more on an ipad card game I picked up after track 1. 1/5 7/8/25

Not a fan

Post No Wave movement heavy influenced documentary of music.Raw and alive.Creative & experimental enough but gives you the idea it's their first album which it isn't.

все шумит пердит, иногда очень гармонично

I realized I haven’t listened to this album nearly as much as I should have. It’s quite different than the previous albums, but really good. This one leans more into that Velvet Underground sound.. which in typical Sonic Youth fashion, they completely tear open and rewire.

Not sure I ever listed to this one and now I’m not sure why. Lots of great tracks and some different sounds from SY.

A lot of Sonic Youth on this list. Like I've said with their other records, much better for me on this listen then when I tried listening to them in the past.

I like Sonic Youth but admit that this album hasn't gotten the spins it deserves from me. I really loved it this time around, maybe I was just in the perfect headspace for it or something. It's going to get a lot more listens from me.

There are some really cool songs on here. The Gordon songs are the standouts.

Nah

7/10. noise rock is honestly just not my favorite style of music. the chaotic and out of tune distorted guitar playing was interesting at first, but towards the end of the album the lack of structure and musicality in the jam solos were just hard to get through. that being said i actually did think the album was pretty solid, but a lot of the songs i could do without. rly liked hot wire my heart and a couple others. i think its worthy of a relisten at some point. Albums remaining: 1000

Great album!

Really enjoyed some of the songs: Schizophrenia, Catholic Block, Pacific Coast Highway, and White Cross all felt like a bridge between Joy Division and Interpol, which basically leads to the indie rock of the 2000s that I came of age listening to. Now I get why a lot of the bands I love cite Sonic Youth as a major influence. But the noise rock songs found elsewhere on this record are not my jam. For some of these tracks I shall return, but I’m probably not coming back for another full album listen.

Different, dissonant and slightly dystopian. Doesn’t mean I didn’t like it though

Was ok.

Did this album change my life? No but, I liked it enough to give it 3 stars.

Interessant aber nicht viel mehr um es höher zu packen. Master-Dik war das schlimmste zum Schluss. Das Dirty album hat mir mehr gefallen 3/5

I don’t know if this is the case for all Sonic Youth records, but Kim Gordon’s voice steals the show here imo - I wish there was more of it. Most of this was just passable post-punk that went in and out the ears. I could hear this being played over a record store soundsystem, which I’m still trying to figure out why it’s a compliment to say that. My pick from the record is “Beauty Lies In The Eye” or maybe “Master-Dik”. A decent subset of Gen X probably loved this one. Probably better Sonic Youth albums to be listened to so it’s a 2/5

This was good - at times it felt a bit noisy but nonetheless enjoyable. Don’t know if I would consider this a classic album but it was still engaging.

Noisy and experimental. I've a Sonic Youth fan from long ago, but my love is really with Daydream Nation and this has only hints of what was to come.

point8.

Let’s play a bunch of noise and make an album

Can’t decide wether to give it 3, 3,5 or 4.

SY's fourth album is more let's-make-weird-noises-with-guitars racket that sounds like it was more entertaining (?) to make than to listen to. The tortured-psyche lyrics on this record are also delivered in such a ponderous way that they're more laughable than anything else.

Not the best indie album I’ve heard, but it’s passable. Wanted to like this more. 3/5 Might listen again

As hard as I try I just cannot take to Sonic Youth. Legends they may be but their music does nothing for me. It doesn’t move me or excite me, I’m not blown away by the musicianship or the vocals. I don’t get it. 2.5

Le mete mucho sustain a la guitarra y luego juegan con capas de ruido. Me da vibes de música que escucharía un adolescente deprimido. No es mi estilo pero ha estado bien.

Zuhause, Heidenheim, Deutschland. Gefällt ganz gut.

Noise-rock som har inspireret mange store kunstnerne fra start og slut halfemserne. Det er sgu meget godt NGL, synes det er fedt men det er heller ikke noget man bare sådan lige spiller for folk synes jeg. Det er meget artsy. En del af alternativ rock movement. Det har sådan en speciel lyd til sig som jeg også har hørt i andre albums, men kan ikke sætte ord på præcis hvad. Men det er klart og tydeligt der er nogen som er inspireret af dem på dette album.

A hot mess - everyone doing something different yet on time and creating their own time. Not relaxing - Temse

przesluchany chyba z trzy razy, aby w koncu dojsc do konca, nie slyszalem tutaj konceptu, a bardziej dobre traki roznorakie, malo wokalowania od pani kim, ale zrobila robote na pacific coast highway ktory leci na plejke razem z openingowa schizofremia, ktora nadaje wolnego noisowego brzmienia calemu krazkowi, chyba wreszcie cos rownie sluchalnego jak daydream nation, ale w inny sposob

Better than any of the other Sonic Youth albums I've gotten from this list. They do better when the are more stripped down and raw. Less is more for them.

much nicer sound than the other sonic youth stuff. decent

Yeah pretty good

Good album. The tracks with Kim on vocals are sonically superior to the others.

Enjoyed it. Will try other Sonic Youth albums.

Sonic Youth is survived, not enjoyed

With a lot of these songs I feel so close to really enjoying them but some aspect of them is holding me back. Maybe this is something that will diminish with time and further listening. The Wikipedia articles I read about this album and it's loose influence, Philip K Dick, were very interesting. Cotton crown was probably my favourite.

Not that enjoyable to listen to. Maybe they actually are cooler than everybody else, just sounds like songs that arent good are the point?

It started off so well and descended into "noise"

my first exposure to sonic youth was absolutely pretty crappy but this album is actually decent 6.5/10

Gah! Noise! Wailing, screeching guitars! Wailing, screeching vocals! Gah!

In terms of sound, this album is a few years ahead of its time. It sounds more like the grunge scene of the early/mid 90's. But in terms of songs/hooks, it's just OK.

I might be rounding up a bit here, because while there is some stuff to enjoy here, I think I like the idea of Sonic Youth more than I like a lot of their songs. But, the fact that they were making mid-90s sounding music in the mid-80s is pretty impressive.

Like but unlike the Pixies in that this feels like grunge before grunge. Experimental enough to feel timeless, but still traditional enough in structure and format to feel accessible. Added Schizophrenia and Catholic Block to playlists, laughed at how old school Hot Wire My Heart sounded amidst the more avant garde, angst-y rock, and only occasionally felt like things were too experimental to enjoy.

I don't know what I was expecting - - thought they were supposed to be such a cool band, however... meh

Pretty bad

Unpopular opinion: Sonic Youth is a fundamentally important band. And they’re not very fun to listen to.

Some of the sounds reminds me of Blur circa self-titled. Or The Velvet Underground. But way more annoying and random. At least I can now properly judge the pretentious people who extol Sonic Youth

I find a lot of albums from the 70s have a really unfinished feel. Vocals were really faint but the tracks themselves were cool.

I have run out of things to say about solid Sonic Youth albums. Sister is good, and makes perfect sense as a successor to EVOL moving towards what was to come on Goo and Dirty.

It’s Sonic Youth so it’ll be noisy. On Sister it seems as if the noise is more controlled though and the melodies gets to take center stage. It’s the perfect lead up to Daydream Nation.

Partially melodic and listenable, but mostly too harsh and noisy to enjoy

Garbage Noise

Yup, sounds like 1987 alright

Very modern sound

Never listened to a whole Sonic Youth prior to today, only a song here or there. Yeah they live up to their reputation.

kinda messy, but nice to have in the background

Go to hell persia

Day532 - the longer i listened the more i liked it. this is the second sonic youth album and i kind of get the hype now

Noisy, raw and somewhat chaotic. I approve

Eh not my vibe at all, music was fine. 3.1/10

This album is the closest I’ve come to truly “getting” this band, though I still feel like I’m not quite getting the point. Best song: Catholic Block

Best Song: Schizophrenia. This track had a nice compromise between the low droning of the rhythm section and the lighter, floating guitar melodies. Really wished the whole album was more like this. Worst Song: Kotton Krown. This kind of nasal, sullen-teenager style of delivery is not doing it for me. Overall: A sleepy, medicated album that showed basically everything it had to offer in the first three songs, but the longer you listen to it, the more it feels like you're listening to the album underwater, and you begin to suspect you drank too much cough syrup.

ok . Not sure what I was expecting but it was ok

I got this one ages ago when I was doing this solo and didn’t like it at all, it was a 1 star. I actually revisited this a few weeks ago after I gave Daydream Nation 5 stars and it definitely clicked with me second time around. Listening to it today and again I really enjoyed it although not quite as much as Daydream Nation. Top Track - Hot Wire My Heart

I love albums that clearly influenced other albums I love

Banger.

There are great moments but it washes over me exactly the way it did in the 80s.

I saw Sonic Youth in a small club in Boston in 1990 and have long enjoyed Daydream Nation and Goo when I'm in the right mood for it, but I'd never listened to Sister before. Some good stuff.

I've been determinedly not listening to Sonic Youth since the 80s, so I was surprised by how tolerable this was. It turns out they are capable of tunefulness and sometimes the noise is interesting.

Sister, along with their previous album EVOL, shows Sonic Youth starting to make actual songs (seriously, if you think this is abrasive and tuneless, check out their early stuff). The first half is great. The second half, not as much. 4.5

Not sure how to feel about this album... or Sonic Youth for that matter, since this was my first impression of them. The sound of the album was slightly too discordant for my taste, there were no songs that really grabbed my attention or made me want to listen to more of their music. It's like the further into the album I got, the more it just sounded like... random sounds to me. I've heard people talk favourably about Sonic Youth before, so maybe I just need to go listen to a different album of theirs.

1. zchizo - 1.5 2. block - 0 3. eye - 1.5 4. ztereo - 1 5. kill - 1 6. tuff - 1 7. pacific - 1.5 8. hot - 1 9. kotton - 1 10. crozz - 1.5 11. mazter - 1

there is some beauty in the abrasiveness, even if it does get a bit samey-sounding. i'm kinda just happy this isn't what I think of when I hear "noise rock" (usually something akin to a broken radiator) even if I would rather be listening to the pixies, there's still a lot I can get out of this. favorite song: "pacific coast highway" overall: 7/10?

Boring.

The beats intrigued me but none of the songs came together.

Most of the album sounds like incoherent noise. Very meh.

2 or 3 good songs here sandwiched in between a load of crap A shit sandwich if you will 2 ⭐️

That was certainly a Sonic Youth album. Noisy jangle -- odd tunings -- lyrics with an edge -- lots of screaming. But not what I needed today.

No mal, pero me gustó mucho más el Dirty. A este lo sentí bien, pero con mucha menos personalidad.

Nice

Super atmospheric and has a brooding energy. Abrasive at times but I just keep coming back for more. Now I need to hear more by them

23/1001. Third album from my shelf, and I think the first band I've sen live (missed Nirvana in LA in 1991 and in Finland a few years later...) For some reason I tend to always pick Goo, Dirty or Daydeam Nation if I want to listen to SY. I don't really know why, this is a solid sonic youth album which sounds like the sonic youth. Perhaps that is also a bit of an issue: no songs really stand out. But still I love the bands sound with alternative tuned guitars screeching out and in the middle of the noise beautiful melodies suddenly pop out. Gotta love them.

Perfect album

Threatening, full of energy, tuneful.

This feels like the kind of band and music that could be really enjoyable to me if I liked the voice of the singer. Unfortunately I like neither Thurston Moore’s nor Kim Gordon’s voice and it really hurts the album for me. I think this is the kind of thing about an album that can certainly grow on you, but as it stands this is a 2 for me.

After the first song, Schizophrenia, I thought, maybe I am going to like this more than I thought. But as the album played on, it became more and more like work to listen to it. By the last song, I couldn’t wait for it to be over. Two disappointing stars.

Added up to more than a some of it's parts for me. Weird chord structures and out of tune vocals!! No problem!! Different for sure. Wasn't aware of much before Daydream Nation before this. Will be adding to my library

Was hoping to like this one a little more given some of my recent noise based reappraisals. That said, this week I am mainly listening to albums on really poor quality laptop speakers so it's probably hard for anything to sound good - will bookmark and give this another listen when I am back around higher fidelity...

I wanted to like this album, I really did. I had high hopes for it, but like a bottle of wine that you’ve kept well stored for a special occasion that ultimately falls flat of expectations, I ended up underwhelmed and disappointed. If this was a wine review there’d be new world notes of The Velvet Underground and Iggy Pop, but also classic old world structure akin to The Fall or The Wedding Present. It’s not a bad vintage, but the field blend of songs don’t hang together for me and the structure is off. I see no reason to revisit this.

Not their best work

Gonna be real, most Sonic Youth outside of Goo is pretty mid

This is as close to perfect noise rock ever got. The best Sonic Youth album.

I love mindless noodling, but I like it a lot more when queens does it. This album was way better than I thought it was going to be when I went into it but I have a treble headache. If I played this 5 times in a row I’m sure I would love it and think it’s genius but on one listen I got a little bored and it did truly hurt my ears. It makes sense that so many bands that I love idolize them though. Schizophrenia might be my favorite but it’s hard to pick out anything else as it all kind of melts together in a sound collage. Cotton Crown was great but again felt like spikes being nailed into my head. I need the scooped highs version of this album. Master dik is vocally weak. I have no idea what to give this album. It’s like a 3.5 on the dot. I’ll go 4 but that feels too high and 3 is too low.

Decent album. Many elements that I enjoyed. Definitely a lot of random noise (which I don't necessarily hate). Wanted to like this more than I did, but still not bad. Decent 3.

Like it don’t love it. Definitely gonna have to listen to it more and then it’ll be a great album, it’s one of those. I liked pacific coast highway, especially when Kim wasn’t singing. Opener was good too, idk I know this is something I’ll get into, give me another sonic youth album dimery and I swear I’ll give it a 5. Knocking 1 point off because these turkeys bullied nardwuar not once but twice. Going with a 3/5.

I took 2 listens of this album because despite being very familiar with sonic youth , I had never listened to this album. I have mixed opinions. Every song has elements that are fantastic along with elements that are repetitive. The best part of the album is the mid section instrumental for pacific coast highway. After that the album kind of wanes. I want to give it a 4 , but it is more like a 3.5

In high school, I thought maybe being into Sonic Youth would get me in with the hipsters, but they all - to the extent took the time to look - saw the truth that I was really a Soul Asylum guy. I have a feeling Grave Dancer's Union is not on this list, but if it were, instant 5 stars.

I like how this album blended together the post-punk with the early indie/alternative songwriting structure as they began to open up their appeal as a band to a wider audience. While still loose in construction, this album really begins to show the massive influence the band had on music going into the 90's and early auts

Meh

Hearing Sonic Youth as a teenager was such an exciting moment for me as it really opened my ears to what guitar music could achieve. This album still gives that feeling. Really great to revisit this one, there’s just something about that scratchy lo-fi sound I love and will always have time for.

# Album Name: Sister # Artist: Sonic Youth # Rating: 3/5 # Comments: Honestly, it started off well. The first four tracks are enjoyable. Then it just went downhill from there. Pretty fast. # Top Tunes: Schizo / Catholic block / Stereo / # Would I listen to it again? Only parts

Not the best Sonic Youth, but still enjoyable. 3.5/5

Heard of Sonic Youth but never listened to them. This album was a good place to start. I give it three stars because half of the album came across as brilliant and the other half came across as a little rough around the edges. Still left me with the impression that it is a band worth exploring further.

I'm so glad Sonic Youth got better as they got older. This is pretty much random noise disguised as "music" by critics and thinking it's good. Critics say this album is punk music in spirit. I love punk music, and pretty much every punk song has rhythm, hard driving beats, easy guitar riffs and usually politically charged lyrics. This shit has none of that. Just Thurston Moore trying to learn how to play a guitar. Awful. 1.77 stars out of 5 is what my ratings came up for this album. I'll be deleting it and keeping one song from it, (I Got a) Catholic Block, because it at least sounds like a decent song.

Vocals are mixed too quietly, instrumentals a bit too experimental. The songs kinda go everywhere and not pleasant to listen to. 2

A little more listenable than some of the other noise rock albums I've heard, but still not my thing.

Female vocal sonic youth songs are much better and theres like none on this one. Overall im not crazy about their music. Its fun but its not blowing me up.

It was okay.

It was not bad, but not memorable.

It's always so interesting when a band has The One Before THE One. Everything that works so perfectly on Daydream Nation is falling into place here.

Some songs were a little much, but some I very much enjoyed. 6.5/10

Discordant, thrashy, noisy, chaotic but still very listenable.

2/10…noise rock

Pretty good. I prefered a couple of their albums more.

..

Vocals sounded a bit quiet or drowned out. Would like to listen again on something with equalizer settings. But what I could hear had good punky energy. Not sure when I'll listen again, but there will be a repeat and it'll be in days not weeks or months.

I listened to Sister a few times yesterday. Sonic Youth walks a careful line between chaos and structure, and that tension gives the album its power. The distortion and noise are constant, but they feel deliberate. This isn’t just feedback for its own sake. There’s something thoughtful underneath it. Sister is often seen as the point where Sonic Youth began to shape their sound into something more focused. It bridges their early experimental work with the more refined songwriting they would develop on Daydream Nation. You can feel them pulling things into place without sanding down the edges. “Schizophrenia” is the clear standout. It’s eerie, hypnotic, and somehow both distant and intimate. Other tracks, like “Pacific Coast Highway” and “Tuff Gnarl,” push deeper into disorientation and darkness without losing control. The literary influence of Philip K. Dick adds another layer. The title is a reference to his twin sister, Jane, who died in infancy. Her death haunted him for the rest of his life, and themes of fractured identity, loss, and shifting reality show up throughout his work. While Sister is not a concept album, that mood lingers over everything. I can only take so much noise rock before I need a break, but Sister makes the chaos feel meaningful. It’s an essential piece of the underground-to-mainstream pipeline that shaped alternative music in the late 80s and beyond. Solid 4 out of 5. It earns its place.

Their impact on the postpunk emo era is evident. Bands like mineral, sunny day real estate, etc. reflect this sound.

In my younger years this type of rule breaking music really got me going. In reflection in my Middle-Aged years, you got to have rules to be able to break them. If it's just breaking rules all the time, it's really kind of a mess. Though I will say generally speaking, I do like Sonic youth. This was not my favorite of their albums for sure. I also love when the female singer sings. I can't remember her name right now. Kim Something. I would give it 3.5 Stars if I could.

I thought I would like this album more. I should have liked this album more. But I just didn't. The album didn't do much for me and thought it was just solidly mediocre.

4/5

Well, this is the best Sonic Youth album I have ever heard, but that would be a pretty low bar. It started off "not explicitly bad," but on the back halg moved into maybe something like "couldn't be this bad on purpose." I'm just not into their style. Or noise. Or droning, one-note vocals. 🤷 ⭐⭐

sorry

1987. Noise Rock. 8/10 Schizophrenia

I have heard of Sonic Youth but was not really familiar with their music or anything on this album. I wasn't really sure what to expect. It's pretty far out there as alt rock goes. I liked some, did not like some. Overall I would say it's not something I would likely come back to, but I am glad to have heard it once.

Sonic Youth is the bridge between punk and indy rock. It's right in the sweet spot - more sophisticated and thoughtful than 70s punk, but still pretty edgy. It's cool.

it's not simple to listen to a Sonic Youth album from 1987 and understand what the type of sound meant then—pioneering, different—compared to what it means now. In fact I'm not sure I can make the distinction properly. It's a good listen but without anything specific that would draw me back.

Punk, noise, new wave vibes. I can’t say that I like the genre much, but I appreciate what they’re doing. It’s not a good sign that I can’t recall many songs, save for “hot wire my heart” which is objectively a badass song name.

No es un álbum que me allá despertado demasiado interés. Aprecio los aspectos experimentales que utilizaron en la producción. Pero no es algo que me sorprenda demasiado. Sí me parece relevante su existencia, en tanto que históricamente representó una nueva forma de presentar el rock. Dentro de este estilo de rock alternativo y noise music prefiero más el trabajo de Radiohead, pero esta es simplemente una cuestión de gusto personal.

Maybe their best album or possibly their not quite as bad album?

This was pretty noisy. I think I liked this better than others I've listened to by them.

Still love Sonic Youth. But can never tell if I love them because of the music, or if I love them because, as a music snob, I'm supposed to.

It would be cool if I liked Sonic Youth, but I don't

4/5

Jättebra!

alright s. youth

Really good album, I’m surprised I never heard much more of their stuff before. It’s got me interested in looking more into Sonic Youth, I’ll give it a five out of five.

I get it, I grew up in around the same era as this album came out, it was really not cool to care and it was really cool to piss people off by making shitty, low effort music. That being said, there is a part of this that really hasn't aged well. I appreciate it more of a cultural artifact of the beginning of people not giving a shit for the next 20 or so years rather than a musical album.

Not bad but not that excited to listen more.

I appreciate Sonic Youth more than I enjoy Sonic Youth. My second SY album on the list. (Which is wild because this is only my tenth album.) I much preferred Goo.

3.5