Daydream Nation

I could listen to the intro to teenage riot for probably a solid hour.

Something of a masterpiece. It starts off with not only one of the best opening songs on any album, but arguably the best Sonic Youth song, period. This is the alternative album you're looking for. The one where Kim Gordon, Thurston Moore and company put everything together and were so prolific they had enough gems to merit a double album. And this things takes you on a freaking journey. Sonic Youth might be like good scotch in that they're something of an acquired taste, but once you're into them, you're all in. Look no further to hear why Kurt Cobain and several others were so inspired by Sonic Youth. Just say yes.

While I'm a fan of Sonic Youth in theory, this one didn't do it for me. It was very experimental and... noisy. Just really noisy. Not very enjoyable to listen to. That said, I can ABSOLUTELY hear the foundations of a hundred other bands in this one album. It's a critical album to the american music scene. Just not one I'd want to listen to on a regular basis. It does earn bonus points for having several William Gibson allusions including a whole song inspired by Gibson's Sprawl Trilogy. Not enough to lift it past a 3, though. Did I mention it was noisy? It's just so damn noisy...

Why so much random guitar distortion? Why the voices so far away? Sounds like a demo or live recording. Not really my thing I guess.

Nothing like another excuse to listen to this unparalleled collection of 80's alternative rock. I've listened to a lot of Sonic Youth, and they're really in a league of their own - their music ranges from the insanely catchy to absolutely deranged and borderline unlistenable, and I feel they found the perfect balance of the two on 'Daydream Nation'. With that said, I will caution that the first song on this album is, at least in my opinion, far and away the best song on the album, the best song Sonic Youth ever wrote, and one of my all-time favourite songs in general. The hazy dream-pop-y intro, the relentless energy and drive, Thurston's vocals - it's just a brilliant accomplishment of a track. With that said, it's worth sticking around - you get a lot more of the band's tendency towards the more experimental later on in the album - distortion-heavy breakdowns and weird tunings are evident on such tracks as 'Total Trash' and 'Rain King', but at the end of the day, each of these tracks is enjoyable in its own way.

hold on to your butts

10 Albums You Actually Need to Hear Before You Die Chapter 9 Does “Fuck You” Sound Simple Enough?: Sonic Youth’s “Daydream Nation” Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: A corrupt Republican presidential administration, lead by a B-List celebrity and flanked by the religious right takes power with the aim of “Making America Great Again”. What? No, not him. I’m talking about Ronald Reagan. (Seriously, the whole MAGA thing was originally a Reagan Campaign slogan in 1980. You can’t say the right hates the environment…they are clearly into recycling.) People like to talk about the 1980’s as though it was a perpetual good time with neon excess and everyone living without a care in the world. In some respects that might be true, but it also ignores how much of the 1980’s set the stage for the current situation we find ourselves living here in America. With Trickle Down Economics and unfettered capitalism, shady deals with dictators for personal gain, religious influence in law making and a disdain for science and intellect…We are still living in that world and, in two days time, it’s likely going to be pushed into overdrive. Emerging from Lower Manhattan’s No Wave scene in the early 80’s, Sonic Youth represented an almost wholesale rejection of modern musical convention. With their guitars set in tunings of their own design, drum sticks under their strings, fuzz pedals working overtime and a healthy appreciation for the avant garde, they were hell bent on tearing down convention, picking up the pieces and rebuilding it in their own image. Daydream Nation, ultimately, is where Sonic Youth’s efforts to destroy and rebuild convention fully coalesced for the first time. Though they had made excellent records previously, like 1987’s “Sister”, Daydream Nation should be considered their Mission Statement: a full and total encapsulation of what Sonic Youth “is”. It also serves as document of the waning years of Reaganism in the United States and the counterculture it bred. It was a counterculture founded with a spirit of self-sufficiency, that rejected reliance on corporations and prized artistic freedom and expression. Awash with extended soundscapes and otherworldly guitar noise, Daydream Nation is a singular, untamed proclamation of the arrival American underground. Nowhere is the rejection of Reaganism’s embrace of unimpeded capitalism more explicitly evident on Daydream Nation than it is in Kim Gordon’s opening lines of “The Sprawl”: “Does this sound simple? Fuck you. Are you for sale? Does fuck you sound simple enough?” It is a pretty effective message to live your life by: Your values and sense of self should not carry a price tag. Musically, Daydream Nation couldn’t be more out of step with the popular music of its time. It is unpolished, challenging, unorthodox and uncompromising. As a result, it is truly an alternative to the status quo and it may be worth keeping this record in mind as we navigate the next few years, which are sure to be rife with hyper-capitalism and a society that increasingly demands compliance. Daydream Nation is the sound of freedom: Freedom from conformity, freedom from outdated norms and ideas…It is the freedom to do whatever you please.

Possibly the greatest album of the 1980s. This sprawling record is expansive, unsettling, ponderous, noisy, and driving. Sonic Youth. This album has had an immeasurable influence on grunge, indie, DIY, etc. which continues to this day.

It’s very rare that I don’t get to the end of an album but I had to turn this off after around 30mins when I saw I wasn’t even half way through. Mostly pretty generic garbage/garage punk but then breaking into complete nonsensical twatery. Deeply unpleasant.

Uninspiring and frankly boring. Heard of this band but luckily I never listened before and I won't again. Kind of like deep sea fishing. Only need one go to know it's not for you. And I appreciate that.

Dead good innit.

Daydream Nation melted my 16-year old brain and fused itself to my taste: I cannot review this fairly. Five stars, there you go. . The songs that stand tall to me are few: Teenage Riot, The Sprawl, Providence (love a good interstitial), Rain King and Hyperstation. That’s not a bad haul, but low for one of the big boys. I know every squeak and flinch on this record, but mostly as part of a continuum: I had to play the start of Candle to remember which part of the record the title labelled. More than any other record I love, I know this as an assemblage rather than a discrete sequence of songs. I think it's something to do with the abundance of unique, fleeting peculiar guitar and amp sounds - haunted electronics. The Sprawl is my favourite due to the long, especially ghostly outro, a gorgeous motif repeated to disintegration. Returning to it for the first time in a few years was tremendously moving. This was the first SY LP I heard, so I didn't realise how glossy it was compared to the earlier classics. After I'd spent a while memorising it (could have been just a month!), I sought out others, starting with Sister, I think, and was taken aback by how freakish those records sounded. Bad Moon Rising, EVOL and Sister are flying saucers; Daydream Nation is a manmade spaceplane painted by Chesley Bones. This is a bittersweet album, as it marked their move to Geffen, and I don’t think any of their later records are as great as this and the three that preceded it. But they are all laudably different. . I've seen Sonic Youth around five times; Shellac are the only band I've seen more of. Curiously, the songs they played never decided how much I enjoyed a gig. My favourite performance was mostly songs from Washing Machine, which never snagged me (Diamond Sea apart), and they were incredible. Ten years later, I saw what was close to a greatest hits playlist at the Shepherd Bush Empire and they were lacklustre, the only detail I remember being when I pointed out Bruce Gilbert from Wire to my youngest brother, and my brother went up and got his autograph. I miss my youngest brother.

Sonic Youth looks set to be another band I just don't get the hype for. Maybe a few relistens would improve my outlook but nothing about this album was interesting to me. Also, if your fourteen track album has FOUR seven minute tracks then you need to start cutting.

I don’t know, shit like this hits some kind of sweet spot for me like this is some weird shit but I can’t help loving it, 10/10 album

A true 80s alt-rock classic. Sonic Youth can be hit and miss for me, particularly in album form, but not here. Opening with the best track they ever wrote, Daydream Nation somehow manages to perfectly balance their noisy, weirdly-tuned distortion-heavy brand of alternative, with a layer of polish and accessibility.

I would typically vouch for this being one of the best of its era, although upon playing my copy today I was embarrassed to discover loud CD skipping noises in the middle of "Teen Age Riot"; evidently I haven't chosen to listen to this recording in over twenty years since the mp3 was first created. Shame on me.. So, basically I'm approaching Daydream Nation fresh and, frankly, it is fantastic. All the songwriters have their distinctive flavors and the result is unique (for the time) and genre-defining (for the rest of their peers). So much I love in later work (e.g., Pavement) can be found here for the first time, full of great tunes and great noise. Kim Gordon's book deservedly ruined Thurston Moore for me, but even that only knocks this classic down to 4.9* And, don't worry - I ripped another copy of "TAR" for the future

I listened to this album for about 2 years solidly in my 20s - the sound spoke to me - and it still does.

What an insane trip Daydream Nation is. Sonic Youth grips my by the first notes of the extraordinary “Teen Age Riot” and doesn’t let go until after “Trilogy”. Shelley’s drum and Gordon’s bass goes together perfectly and provides more than just the backbone of the songs, but it’s Moore’s and Ranaldo’s whirling, disorienting and unorthodox guitars that stands out as the main characters of the album. Even after dozens of listens I’m still blown back by “‘Cross the Breeze”, “Eric’s Trip” and “Hey Joni”. There’s simply no denying the greatness of this entire thing - even though they’re probably pushing the limit with the 70 minute runtime.

They're a band who's reputation is entirely build on other musicians saying they're great. But it largely sounds like uncrafted noise... and I guess there's something to be said for that. Regardless, this will be my first and last listen.

I've listened to this album before, and loved it (knew it would be an instant 5* the second it popped up) probably a few times, but I've never really *listened* to it. But damn is this thing perfect. You can probably credit this album/Sonic Youth for a good majority of the 90s alt rock bands on this list, along with a bunch more that aren't on the list, but are shockingly missing. Sleater-Kinney, Nirvana, Modest Mouse, Slint, even Portishead for their album Third, etc. Hell, the opening of Silver Rocket sounds like a riff that would be used in a dissonant black metal track, something Deathspell Omega would come up with (Cross the Breeze verges on dissonant black too, as well as my previous comparison to Portishead's Third). What strikes me the most is the guitar tone and drumming on this album. Especially on songs like Teen Age Riot (probably the best song on the album, but thats not to discount the quality of the rest of the album. That song is just transcendant) and Cross the Breeze. The drummer really loves his 16th notes, and I appreciate that. Love how Cross the Breeze starts off with a more uplifting sound only to devolve immediately into a harsher, dark vibe. And don't discount the bass, that is not always super prominent, but when it is, is always fantastic (see Teen Age Riot). Total Trash where it takes the main riff and devolves it into a dissonant noise bastardization of itself. Honestly that's kinda a story on quite a few songs. Not only do they do some of the loud quiet loud, but they switch vibes up at the same time. Nice here, dissonant and dark there. Candle does the same thing. But probably my favorite thing about this is how much drive it has. Obviously Teen Age Riot, but The Wonder is amazing for that with the anxiety it has while just MOVING. So yeah. An absolute alt rock masterpiece that singlehandedly charted the course for alt rock through the 90s.

Came into this album thinking Sonic Youth was a pretentious band. Came out of listening to this album thinking they are a pretentious band that is also very good. I watched the documentary, 1991: The Year Punk Broke, about Sonic Youth and other bands of that era after listening to this, and boy is Thurston Moore a dickhead. Also, I read they would bring upwards of 50 guitars to a gig because of all the funky tuning and modifications they would do. I mean I'm all for experimentation but give me a break. Roasting aside, I did really like this album. The songwriting seemed strong throughout and I read that some of it was inspired by The Neuromancer, which I'm currently reading, so that got me geeked. The most impressive thing to me though was the guitar on this album! It shred of course, and even the droning noise rock bits on the outros of a lot of tracks felt interesting to me and not too overindulgent. As eye roll as it may be, the modifications to the actual hardware of the guitars and alternative playing styles made for some really interesting sounds. A sound that seems to have been a blueprint for so so many indie bands in the 2000s and 2010s, which made this seem a little less fresh to me than I'm sure it was at the time. I really liked "Teenage Riot," but I think I liked the Kim Gordon songs more because again, too cool, disinterested sounding indie white guy has been beat to death. I do think Sonic Youth contributed a lot to modern rock sensibilities and I can see myself exploring their discography further.

Let it be known I don't care anymore if I'm not cool enough to get Sonic Youth. I am not angry and 15 years old trying to get the attention of the skaters in the parking lot by blasting "Kissability" or "The Sprawl" from my dad's car. I'm not a freshman art student trying to fit in to the art crowd. I am not that indie darling or that hipster or too cool for school. I am almost 49 years old and I have a shit ton of fucking anxiety and I take Pepcid for my bad stomach and drink Metamucil for regular poops. I have a teenage daughter who sometimes hates me and I work in a public 6-12 school and I live in a world of screaming and complaining and crying and brain rot and constant bullshit so my cortisol levels are always raised, my jaw is permanently clenched, I don't sleep well, I have daily panic attacks, and my heart has palpitations on top of palpitations. Daydream Nation is just too dense, inaccessible, and demanding; like a 7th grade classroom, I just can't deal with this loud shit right now. I don't enjoy being hit with a wall of noise when I turn on a song. No real melody, no singing, just straight noise that makes me feel panicky and old. And while I do enjoy some Sonic Youth hits, like "Dirty Boots", "100%", and the Cypress Hill colab "I Love You Maryjane", I know now most of it is garbage. In fact, a lot of it sounds like the sound that the garbage truck makes outside my house at 6am. Screeching and squeaking and motorized and the monotonous hum of the back of the truck compressing this week's neighborhood trash. And that's ok. Let it be known I don't like Sonic Youth and I turned off Daydream Nation during the second song when this enjoyable project turned into something offensive and meaningless to my ears. I then pressed play on the remaining tracks until the wall of noise happened on each one so I could feel like I didn't give up completely. Just fucking noise. And it's not that I dont appreciate loud music or chaotic music; Sepultura was loud and fast but it was pretty. It's just that damn ZHUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUZZZZZZZZZZZZHHHHHHHHHH... I think it was mostly hive mind mentality that convinced a lot of us that this band was the shit back in the 80s and 90s; there's no way I REALLY enjoyed any of this, is there? Maybe it's the fact they're just so New York so they must be cool. Ugh. I'm over it and I'm being honest with myself for the sake of this list of 1001 albums I must hear before I die. Nah. I can die without this one. Now, they get a 2 from me because it's not ALL noise and I understand their significance in shaping the music of my youth. I want to save my 1 star for the worst thing I have ever heard, and this is not it. I just don't particularly like it.

No matter what happens and how evolved I become in this life, I don’t think I’ll ever be into punk. Even the more “musical” punk such as this. Bangy bangy yelly yelly done.

I seem to only get great albums on here, and this is no different. One of the essential listens for all fans of Alternative Rock. Absolutely perfect!

fuck yea i'm gonna be listen this more often

I was hooked from the first chorus-laden guitar chords. They built such a distinct and influential sound with this album, while still keeping enough variety to keep the album engaging through it's longer runtime.

An all-time classic!!

Sonic Youth read some William Gibson novels, dropped some acid, and made a noisy, distortion-heavy, socially conscious album. It sounds exactly like you might expect. An album you have to listen to more than once, or you'll miss a ton. Best track: Candle

I didn’t stop listening to it on the way there, but it wasn’t particularly noteable.

im pretty sure this is what was playing that time I was kidnapped and tied to a radiator for a week?

Better than Coldplay

Magnificent from beginning to end. Easily one of the greatest albums ever.

I think I like “Sister” a little more, but this one does contain the iconic Teenage Riot and lots of (SY trademark) guitar textures.

Probably their best record, loads of great driving guitar parts, loads of energy, has that feel of an album that needs to be listened through start to finish.

I liked this one, though wish it had been a little shorter. Much better than some of their other albums.

This is the perfect Sonic Youth album. On earlier releases, they got too noisy at times and the songwriting was a bit lacking, while on later releases they get a bit too mainstream sounding, losing a bit of what made them special in the first place. Daydream Nation falls right in the middle and perfectly balances the noisy experimental rock tendencies of their early work and the more accessible song structures and riffs of their 90's work. Without a doubt their best. Key tracks: Teen Age Riot Silver Rocket Candle Kissability

Sonic Youth is such a cool fucking band but I’ve never been able to get into them. I tried a couple albums and this one easily hits the hardest for me. Killer fuckin blown out clean tones on a jazzmaster with blaring noice and catchy hooks. Every time I put on this album I don’t remember a single song. Do I have some sort of disease? I’d give it five but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Sonic Youth has a unique sound. Weird tunings, odd chord progressions, dirty production in spots, and it's awesome. I love the guitar tones on this album. It's dirty, metallic and muddy. I like Z) Eliminator, Jr. as the final track because of that, it's like the guitar sound throughout the album progressed and culminated in that harsh tone. So many of the songs have such pretty progressions, though, and it makes for a cool contrast. I enjoy how long some of the tracks are. It creates a kind of soundscape for me that I can fall into and it doesn't feel like I get pulled out of it too early. Favorite tracks: -Teenage Riot -'Cross the Breeze -Total Trash - the chaos in the middle might be my favorite part of the album -Rain King - this got borderline sinister -Kissability - I wish more songs were led by Kim's vocals like this track -Z) Eliminator Jr. is my top track. Least favorite track is easily Providence. It didn't have enough going on to be interesting. Not related to the music at all but it's a drag they were so mean to Nardwuar. Very few artists have done that and it's a real bummer.

This was one of my favorites in my alt rock-obsessed phase from high school/early college, and it’s probably my favorite Sonic Youth album. It still sounds so big and fresh, the rare double album that doesn’t overstay its welcome… mostly. A-

I know this band a bit but never listened to an album. I get that some will say it's noise. I agree it's noise but I like it anyway.  Teen Age Riot kicks off the festivities in style and is as close as they  get to a song that people without a deranged taste in music might like. Total Trash  isn't in that user friendly zone. It's noise but it's meant to be noise. They are playing fucked up sounding guitars on purpose to create "noise art". One minute I get it and the next minute I say "C'mon".  It comes so close to going over the edge and landing in a cesspool of noise that can't be listened to  but, imo, it doesn't go over that edge.  I realize 70 minutes is a lot of any band in one sitting. I surprisingly didn't do my first "K - how much is left?" time check until midway through the trilogy.  . . . and I'm 60 for christ's sake. Full transparency: I tapped out 30 secs into when Eliminator Jr.  I like these guys and wish I had listened to their albums years ago.

It ebbs and flows from high energy to a more calm trance like rock. Heavy experimentation occurs throughout. This is a very good album.

Love the guitar through most of this album. Lyrics and vocals are average and tend to break my focus when they take center stage on the song. Caught myself thinking this part sounds like XYZ band a couple times, which I realized it was actually just that band sounding like Sonic Youth which was a cool realization.

This classic guitar-grinding, beat-driving, angst-spilling, iron-pumping album is not for the faint of heart or ear! It always gets under my skin and triggers fist pumps of rebellion and release!

To me this is where Sonic Youth really start to shine. Their songs got more expansive and yet feel more focused and infectious than before. Perhaps it was the pressure of the higher dollar studio time? I love them most when they give their songs room to breathe with extended instrumental passages. Kinda punk-prog. I'm also a fan of the jam to song method they developed these songs with. Perfect balance of capturing that wild vitality but refining it into something more structured.

Moody, noisey and cool. Can hear where lots of bands have drawn influence like Slint, Pavement Car Seat Headrest etc. Seems like the very early days of dad rock without actually being dad rock. Highlights are The Sprawl (love the spoken word) and Eric's Trip.

I really liked this album more than I thought. You could hear the punk influence in a lot of songs, which was of course distorted and experimented with. I preferred Kim's songs, but thought Teen Age Riot was a great opener. Despite it's long songs, I was engaged the whole time. Really enjoyed this and of course, bonus points for half the name coming from Fred 'Sonic' Smith of MC5. Very cool homage.

Noise but good noise, one of their really great albums but does lack the subtlety to make it really great.

Some good sounds with a lot of junk.

Some high highs but overall to me, Daydream Nation is an awkward and sometimes ponderous transition from the underground era that ended with what may be my favorite SY album, Sister, and the major label period that began with the excellent Goo. I would have given this more stars if there were fewer tracks between the classic "Teenage Riot" and humorous ZZ Top tribute "Eliminator, Jr" that bookend this album. This didn't need to be a double album. In any case, I don't think SY is going to age well, because they make so much more sense as live band than on these records. You lose a lot of the sense of humor and it's replaced with a smartass rich kidz from Connecticut type vibe. Also, you have to play this super duper loud to fully appreciate the nuances of the guitars and who is really going to do that?

Daydream Nation No 3 of the 5 Sonic Youth albums on the list. I can’t really recall much about Dirty and EVOL, but looking back at my reviews I seemed to have enjoyed them without really loving them, and I think I feel the same about this one. I definitely think they are one of the most interesting US alt rock bands, their looseness and surf pop sensibilities marry well with the interestingly distorted and scuzzy guitar noise, particularly on Teen Age Riot, the standout track. It may be that I can’t really remember the previous albums well enough but I thought you could particularly hear how influential this, for good and for ill, was on lots of the bands that followed. And despite it definitely being overlong it seemed to be more melodically interesting than the other two albums - the guitar noise framework meshing well with more conventional songwriting, and the bass and drums creating lots of good grooves, like The Sprawl and Total Trash (which the Manics must have liked). I also liked Candle and Eliminator. I think I preferred this to EVOL and Dirty, although truthfully I’d have to listen to them again to be sure. I don’t quite think though it reaches a 4, so it’s a high 3 for now and I’d like to revisit when I don’t have 11 albums to catch up on. 🕯️🕯️🕯️ Playlist submission: Teen Age Riot

I admit I went into this with a bias against Sonic Youth. They seemed to me to be the definition of style over substance, and they seemed like they viewed themselves as the coolest people ever. (See their interview with Nardwuar) Already in the first song I could hear that they were pretty innovative, as they sound like a 90s band despite the fact the album was made in the 80s. I could hear how the instrumentation(particularly the guitars) influenced great bands and albums (Loveless, The Bends) I would say they sound like an assortment of important 90s bands, but in reality I guess many 90s bands sound like them. Despite that, listening to the album confirmed some of my prejudices; the spoken word sections are meaningless and pretentious. The social critiques (lyrically) sound really basic and the album is excessively long. Still there are really interesting moments musically, particularly in the instrumental sections. The music sounds raw and at the same time very clear and layered. It sounds DIY but sophisticated and even when it's noisy and wild they create an interesting atmosphere. 3.5/5 because while it's innovative and interesting, it has it's drawbacks and to my ear's doesn't have that much replay value.

Influential but doesn’t quite do it for me

Great in places, but not the whole album

One of those albums that I'm supposed to like (a man of such discerning musical taste!) but have never got into. Some decent tracks but the amount of reverb always gives the feel of style over substance, but its interesting enough to keep my attention. Never been that keen on the vocal on some of the tracks. Having said that a solid and probably quite influential album. Highlights: Teenage Riot, Hey Joni, Kissability

For some reason I didn't enjoy this one as the previous Sonic Youth albums. I think I like the female vocalist more than the guy. It got a little better as it went on. I like the long noisy instrumental at the end of The Spawl, for example. It sounds very mid 90s post-punk so I guess at 88' they maybe defined this sound? With more heavy distortion front-and-center, 'Cross the Breeze would sound like a metal song interestingly. Lyrically it feels a bit juvenile, very HS writing feeling. I will say this album has quite a range of styles in terms of instrumentation and it's all interesting to me. 3.5 down to 3.

I love some Sonic Youth songs and I hate others. Really weird.

its not a bad album but less of few songs i didnt really clicked with it. +Nardwuar -1Point bcs yall need to be humble to interviewers especially for him

Cool band name. I gave up after the 3rd song, and that after skipping the first 2.

I listened to this when my friend came over, chained himself to the radiator, and wouldn’t leave for a whole week!

Every song is way too long- the average one is about 6 minutes and change, and they’ve done nothing to earn that kind of runtime with this unfocused, noisy, samey sound. Not to mention that nearly every one of them has this long run up intro where it starts with some garbage flanger effect and just strumming around until they get into it, like a jam band. The outros aren’t much different - drawn out for absolutely no reason. Did I mention how noisy this album is? And not in a good way. The guitars are overdubbed on top of each other in a way that makes a sonic wall, but it’s distorted, atonal, and messy. Sounds like shit. At least 2/3 of these songs could all be the same song too (and what a coincidence one is called Total Trash). What an unfocused mess this is, but without a doubt influential on 90s alternative acts. I really was expecting to enjoy this, because it informed so much music I love, but this was an absolute chore to get through. I’m glad they weren’t commercially successful, because they didn’t deserve it. This sucks. ⭐️

Why on Earth are there five Sonic Youth albums in this book? This is the third one I've been asked to endure and it's equally as dire as the last two. Gave up.

Let us all bow our heads and pray for those who played all 152 minutes of the Deluxe Edition. May we forever keep them close to our hearts.

When I first moved down to Bournemouth in the mid 1980’s, whenever I went into town there was a vagrant/tramp/down-and-out who used to stand on a corner strumming a beaten up old ukulele at super high speed. Just the open strings mind. 

 CHING!-CHING!-CHING!-CHING!-CHING!-CHING!-CHING!-CHING!-CHING!-CHING!-CHING!-CHING! He thought he was a legit busker and that passers by would give him cash. He was totally deluded. CHING!-CHING!-CHING!-CHING!-CHING!-CHING!-CHING!-CHING!-CHING!-CHING!-CHING!-CHING! Some people would occasionally give him loose change. Not because they thought he was talented, but because they wanted other people to see them do it. But, of course, it just made him carry on. Every time I went into Bournemouth he’d be there CHING!-CHING!-CHING!-CHING!-CHING!-CHING!-CHING!-CHING!-CHING!-CHING!-CHING!-CHING! Sonic Youth remind me of that old tramp guy.

Never forget what they did to Nardwuar

Wow, got into this even less than Phrenology. Again, the flow is a major issue with me, but in this case it feels very disjointed within individual songs (outside of Teen Age Riot) and across the album. Nothing spoke to me. Glad to be experiencing music outside of what I generally like, though.

eh, boring.

After rating one of the other Sonic Youth albums we've gotten so far 1 star and another one 4 stars, my expectations for this one were pretty uncertain. Unfortunately, this one is a major dung heap again. It's just chaotic noise to me.

I hate Sonic Youth. GRANTED it might be the foundation for a lot of things to come, I just don't give a shit about any of the songs on this album, or the band in general.

I love the proto-90s grungy guitar distortion sound bleeding through in one of the best bangers to come from the 80s that wasn't just synth noise.

This album really put in work to win me over.

5 Honestly Sister was better than I was expecting but not anything special for me and so when I saw this (and that it was 70 mins long) i wasn't super enthused. But this is genuinely sick, so much better than what I've heard from them before

i waited 1071 albums to get to this one. this is a 5, i think i probably have 10 favorite tracks, my burned copy of the CD that lives in my old car has been played so much it barely works. Rain King is maybe my single favorite track.

Fantastic album from an enormously influential band. What often gets overlooked among the experiments with noise, distortion and alternate tunings is how melodic a lot of the songs are. "Teenage Riot" is a perfect example. Once the song kicks off, it's an earworm.

From the top drawer

To lead with: This album fucking rocks. It just sounds good all the way through, the guitars are excellent. Second, every song sounds like another song from another band because it seems like every other act in the 90s cribbed from this. Such an impact to be consonant and dissonant and copied and original. Thurston's vocal delivery gets a little one-note (Kinda malkmus-y, if I'm being critical) but not so bad that it goes full-on. Kim's parts are better. The whole thing just drips cool. And it fuckin' rocks. Look, I listened to it twice back to back. Half the songs on here are still stuck in my head when it's submission time. Banger.

I didn't really know what to expect from Sonic Youth. Obviously, I know of them. I know that they are held in really high regard ... but they have never been on my radar. They firmly are now. I loved listening to this. It doesn't sound like it's from 1988 at all. They were way ahead of the game. It's fuzzy, and vibrant, and fresh, and real. I would absolutely by this on vinyl. Seeing a picture of a burning candle really creeps me out. And I would still buy this. It's an easy 5. And a really timely reminder why I keep plugging away at this project.

Ощущение что я мчусь по дороге когда слушаю этот альбом, такая неудержимая музыка, интересно сыграна

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh i love

Never has pure noise and dissonance sounded so accessible.

Rating: 10/10 Sonic Youth make their most accessible work yet after spending the decade experimenting with noisy dissonant feedback guitar music, not really giving a fuck if they didn't resemble actual songs. And yet Daydream Nation is definitely their magnum opus and one of the coolest albums of the 80's. The raw and experimental DNA is still here, with more of a touch of melody to their hypnotic rhythms. Noise rock with a rebellious punk spirit. There's maybe a couple weaker moments here, like Eric's Trip and Rain King (still good songs), but I could listen to shit forever. Teen Age Riot became a big hit for good reason, and I love Silver Rocket and Cross the Breeze. I could keep naming other great tracks like Candle, Kissability, and the closing epic Trilogy. Kim Gordon is one of my favorite bassists and musicians. They may have never outdone Daydream Nation, but they would also go on to make a lot of great albums after this

SY was a revelation for me in my senior year of high school, and this album was a big part of that. They're famous for their noise, yes, but it was their tunefulness that grabbed me. These are damn catchy songs. I remember playing Teenage Riot for people, expecting them to get it the way I did, and being utterly shocked by their visceral reaction. Even yesterday, listening to Total Trash in the car, my wife uttered a "Jesus Christ" with a shudder. She said it was like a spike being driven into her brain. Later, I caught my son humming the same song quietly to himself. Funny how something can be so divisive. So, yeah, I love these guys. They tickle my brain in a way no other band can. For a while, this was my favorite of theirs, but now I think it lacks the edge of their earlier work, and Teenage Riot aside, it doesn't hit quite the high highs of some of their later albums. Still, it gets 5 stars from me. If I were compiling this book, I'd only include one SY album, and that would be Sister, but this one's a beast.

There is not enough time in just one day- to truly understand all of the nuances of this album. Noise rock is hard for me - i appreciate the endless amount of musicality and it sure does rock, the more noise tracks I won’t go back to but the layers and layers. Just redefining what guitar rock can be.

Teen Age Riot is one of the best songs ever made and it could only have been made by a band like Sonic Youth

Should have listened to this decades ago

I think I'm finally cool enough for Sonic Youth.

Can't deny it's a masterpiece. Punished it a bit much in my 20s. Review review: "deeply unpleasant" *submits a Jack Johnson album*. What a jackass!

Easily Sonic Youth's best album and foundational to 90s alt rock

ALBUMNAZO VIEJO CIERREN LA PAGINA AGUANTE SONIC YOUTH

Pour moi quasiment tous les albums de Sonic Youth méritent 10/5. Estifi qu'on les aime.

C'est du lourd! Ah ben c'est ça Sonic Youth, moi qui pensais que c'était du punk pur et qui ai jamais vraiment investigué. J'ai été très charmé par l'aspect noise rock et la richesse harmonique. Les gros jams. Ça sonne aussi vraiment moderne, ça m'a fait pensé à la phase 'A ghost is born' de Wilco. J'adhère!!

Classique! On sent toute l’influence que ça a eu sur la musique des 90s. Petite pensée pour mon vieux chum Gabriel, probablement le plus gand fan ever de Sonic Youth!

daydream fr

An easy five stars from one of my top five bands. Teen Age Riot is iconic. Other top track contenders are Candle and Cross the Breeze which is a perfect example of the Sonic Youth's ability to draw you in with a little beauty before abraiding you with noisy chaos. I love this band so much.

Finalmente

Every rock/indie/alternative band has something to thank Sonic Youth for. Sonic Youth reinvented the rock genre by playing and singing about what they wanted, all while perfectly capturing their rebellious energy. They did not give a F about major rock label musical standards which in turn gave artists the blueprints to make their own music on their own terms. The noise rock might not be for everyone. But it pushed the boundaries as to what people can consider music and art. For that this album is genius.

The more of these I get, the more I realize I need to do a deep dive on these guys. This is music that is absolutely my jam.

Didn't listen. Didn't need to. Five stars. Changed all my work passwords to the name of the album to commemorate this day.

low 5 man its so sad but this album is just too long. ive been listening to it for years yet before yesterday id never fully taken in the tracks in the second half. the entire second half should of been cut besides candle. if it had this would be a high 5 album. the first half up to providence is unbelievable, especially the first 4 tracks. but they just insist on including all these incredibly similar tracks which really reveals the formula, takes away the magic and frankly makes it boring. rain king and the last 3 tracks definitely need to go!

Daydream Nation is an essential, immersive listen that defined an era of independent rock and continues to influence generations of guitar-driven bands

In 1988 while Rick Astley and Belinda Carlisle were burning up the charts, Sonic Youth were laying the framework for alternative rock in the 1990s. Daydream Nation is a true window into the future, bringing together dischordant harmonies and crunchy guitar driven noise to the forefront. Once again, Sonic Youth establish their claim as one of the most influential bands of all time.