Goo

“Goo" by Sonic Youth actually starts promisingly with “Dirty Boots.” As it progresses, however, the usual weaknesses of 90s alternative rock come to the fore: the same riffs over and over again (because they're afraid of real hooks), the hectic drums (because, for some inexplicable reason, the eighth notes stay on the hi-hat even in uptempo songs), undefined bass (so that it doesn't sound like new wave) and whiny vocals (to avoid metal associations). You can do all that, but in the long run it just gets annoying. There are some better tracks in between, e.g. “Kool Thing,” but overall it's just mediocre.

Goo is Sonic Youth's big record label so they tone down the feedback and screeching a bit, but it's hardly a sell-out. There is beat droning a la Velvet Underground, a quirky tribute to Karen Carpenter and the intensely annoying 'My Friend Goo'. 'Mildred Pierce' is the closest they get to the screechy thrashing you'd most associate with them. Personally think they've done better, both before and after.

Very odd at times, very cool at times. I really liked parts of this record and there were times I wasn’t a fan of. I think I have a favorable opinion overall. 3.5/5

I was enjoying this for the first few songs and then I kind of lost interest until the last song.

3.3 I think this album shows how much of a lightning in a bottle moment Daydream Nation was. The first half of this album, up to Goo, feels like they were tying hard to distance themselves from DN, and it doesn't really work imo. Kool Thing the only highlight, but there are some pretty dross tracks in the mix. After that though, the last few songs are more reminiscent of the sound and atmosphere of DN and therefore land much better to someone hoping for more of the same. May have done it for other people, but not so much for me.

Scooter and Jinx sounds like what I would name my cats 10 years from now

Didn't quite sound like mainstream rock. Felt a bit more punk or underground. Enjoyed it. For all the people that I admire at have said they liked sonic youth, but I never actually listened to the band, this is the sound and vibe I hoped for.

C'est.... original

Endnu et meget cool album fra et meget cool band, men må indrømme at jeg lidt ventede på at det blev færdigt til sidst

Sonic Youth make me feel like I'm not cool enough to get it.

Väldigt experimentellt och emellan åt helt GALET. Definitionen av alt-rock, jag skulle slänga in noise rock där? Dissonans ööööverallt. Och för min del, lite för mycket ibland

My favorite of Sonic Youth albums, and they only one, in my opinion, that belongs on the list at all. I discovered this album in 1990 when I heard "Titanium Expose" on the PUMP UP THE VOLUME film soundtrack. Their noise rock seems perfect for this cover album image of teen lovers/murderers. The passionate, urgent, teenage angst and yet the detached noise with little real signal conveys the naïveté. Favorite track: "Titanium Expose"

I got from thinking this is an incredible record, to thinking it's a bunch of arty wank. It's probably somewhere in the middle. Incredible arty wank.

probs a bit heavy for me and i prefer male voices in rock

Much better than the album that came after! Feels much more focused en with purpose. Still quite abrasive though.

A little too much art noise rock to rate a 4. An ok album and some part were really great.

Fairly unmemorable.

Why don't I like this band more? I think it is a me problem for some reason. I should. Like a ton of similar music.

For some reason, I don't feel I have much to say about this one. I can see how it was formative--the sound is very much underground rock and roll--but it just didn't resonate with me. None of the songs particularly stuck out to me, except for "My Friend Goo," which I really just wasn't a fan of. I think the songs blended together a bit too much for my taste. Overall not bad, but not for me.

I can see the significance but it’s not for me

Sonic Youth is OK but I can't get really into them. I like the grungy sound and energy, it's somewhere between Pixies and Helmet. But the songs themselves are just OK.

So close to a 4 but i'll keep that for daydream ★★★½☆

I wish Iiked Sonic Youth more than I do.

I'm not a huge fan of Sonic Youth in general, but I really liked this album.

Musically great but not sold on the vocalist. 3.5 stars

Cool but a bit same same

I enjoyed large portions of this. Then there were the droning, industrialized, cacophanous bits which I liked a lot less.

Most of this was 3 stars for me, some pretty annoying vocals and noise but the peaks and valleys evened out to a 3 I suppose.

I was previously familiar with Sonic Youth, but not this album. This was a pretty interesting listen. It is taking alternative rock pretty far into noise territory, but without harshness (ok maybe a little, but it's not that much or that bad). They have figured out how to use dissonance melodically, as strange as that sounds. I enjoyed hearing this and I would listen again but I might not be in a rush to do so.

Kind of hit or miss for me. But a good album overall.

Solid up until My Friend Goo, it started to all mesh into a similar sound after but stayed listenable at least.

Pretty representative of 90s alt rock. Couple good songs. Couple to screechy for me.

It was good because it’s early punk. Just not my daily jam.

Overall, it'd give it a 3. There are some songs I would skip though.

Couldn’t name an album or song by the band. Always thought I’d get around to listening one day and today was the day. Not too shabby.

The album is ok, still not my band at all

This is a perfectly average good album. I'm sure there's plenty to read into this but unfortunately I didn't get much on my listen. I will say that they go all over the place on this album, some good, some shit. It's better that way than average all the way through. A perfect 5/10 but I will round up.

I guess this was more of a big deal at the time, but I feel like I'm a touch too young for Sonic Youth in general to make the kind of impact it did on a lot of my barely older Gen X friends. I like when Kim sings on this, and I like the relatively raw sound of it, but things like the middle and end of "Mildred Pierce" just sound like shit. For all the platitudes of being pioneers in the experimental guitar department there isn't much in this that wasn't done by a lot of shittier punk bands at the time and before. Maybe that's it - they brought that raw and feedback filled sound in to alternative rock. Nothing I really will remember about this album, but maybe I just lack the context. It's fine, I'm sure we'll get the older stuff at some point on here.

I understand why Goo is important — it’s noisy, experimental, and helped shape an era — but it’s really not for me. There are a few moments of energy that break through (“Kool Thing” and “Dirty Boots”), but too much of it feels self-indulgent, like noise for its own sake. The two-minute feedback stretch at the end of “Mote” was my breaking point. I respect what they were going for, but I won’t be revisiting this one.

Enjoyed half of that a lot.

Better than I remember it. Groovy, discordant cool guy music. Disaffected, chain smoking hot girl music. 3/5

Some nice progressions and layering. But it felt pretty average overall, not that interesting.

The first track is pretty good. The second track sounds similar. Then track 3 sounds kinda the same too. Not much variety here. Some of the lyrics are just downright nonsensical. It’s fine, nothing special.

They could not be bothered with actually trying.

I like the name. Not exactly my type of music or one that I could say I would have listened to before but not bad! I liked seeing how much Radek enjoyed this.

von melodiös bis chaos.

Manchmal erträgt man es besser manchmal weniger. So ist das halt mit dem Indie Rock

Not bad but not memorable.

Not bad. I’ve consistently maintained that these guys want to be cooler than they want to make good music.

I preferred dirty, felt like the whole " i am cool and live in nyc and smoke cigarettes" vibe was much more palpable on this one for me Fav song: Titanium Expose

Chill rock

★★★½

I give whoever writes this book criticism on occasion for having so many British bands represented, and draw attention to the failure to add some super obvious bands that are more deserving from elsewhere, notably the United States, naturally. That being said, when I found out that American Indie Rock band Sonic Youth of all bands has a whopping FIVE albums on this list, I was really, reeeeeeally confused. Why on Earth do they need to have 5?? They’re exceptionally average. Just monumentally, aggressively ok. 5?? Why?? So many other deserving bands don’t have any at all. Are these guys huge in the UK and that’s why they’re on here so much?? I don’t know. I already listened to Dirty, and this is comparatively better. In my review for that, I also mentioned how average it was. I’m likely to mention it as well for the other 3. With all that being said, this album has their big hit, and likely the only song of theirs I’m going to recognize, “Kool Thing.” That one I’ll admit is a certified banger. I still like the male singers voice better, “My Friend Goo” is proof enough of that, it’s unlistenable garbage, and yet “Kool Thing” is the exception to the rule and ends up being the best song on the album by far. There’s a ton of down time and filler here as well which is all just inoffensive noise and adds to my overall reasoning in why this is like a 3.65/5.

not my favourite sonic youth album

I've heard of this band, not really sure if I have listen to much of their stuff. I am aware of their stature. Not my style of music.

Lots of great sound here and love the energy, but it's let down by its weird pretentiousness at times. Don't need to have several minutes of noise and feedback at the end of a song, this was true of many tracks. My friend Goo is just really cringe.

My fourth(!) album by Sonic Youth on this list. I'm still tired. The group seems to struggle in deciding whether they want to commit to a tonal or an atonal sound. Tunic, My Friend Goo, and Scooter & Jinx are their three primarily atonal tracks (the latter being just a minute long), and they're fine – but only as artifacts of the album. Tunic and My Friend Goo have particularly terrible singing and it's a bit difficult to listen to them. And yes, I'm aware that that's the point – but that doesn't make it enjoyable, or necessarily good music. The song Tunic reminds me of the Velvet Underground's The Gift from their sophomore record, but simply worse (darn). Throughout the album, lots of distorted, echoey guitar, paying homage to a lot of 80s and late 70s hard/stadium rock. I do think Sonic Youth pulls this sound off a little better. The interplay between the two vocalists, like in Titanium Expose, is actually one of my favourite parts, and I wish they'd utilised it more. Great strong sound in Kool Thing. It's almost mainstream-poppy in the way it uses riffs. Sounds like the Pixies, or *maybe* an earlier version of Radiohead's noodlage on their first two records. Mildred Pierce is a high point too. It's essentially a very (and I mean very) well done punk instrumental. Foreboding, atmospheric, and yet still very energising. Good stuff. Only two minutes as well. Dirty Boots, the album opener, is also a standout, though I have trouble articulating why. The rise and fall of textures/dynamics, maybe. And the stupid but excellent chorus delivery. Dirty boots. Dirty boots, baby. Dirty boots! Unfortunately, the rest of the album is inconsistent (quality-wise) at best. And I only have so many stars in my sack of stars. 3/5 Key tracks: Dirty Boots, Kool Thing, Mildred Pierce

As the album progresses it's clear they haven't polished the usual garage-slacker approach, including the introspective, emo vocals, and they haven't really sharpened many edges. This all sits between ungrounded experiment and the 90s alt-rock boom. When a bit more thought is put into the composition it really is good, like 'Disappearer' which has the atmosphere of doom alt-rockers like Joy Division and Interpol. The Youths are good at doing disposable though and their Joy Divison-adjacent 'Mildred Pearce' is enjoyable and entirely throwaway at the same time, as is the disposable power-pop of 'Mary-Christ'. I found the ambience of much of 'Daydream Nation' rather compelling, tightening up the ideas on Evol. I don't favour this album over that, but it was a very listenable album. It has some great moments, but whether it's that different from the other Youth albums we've listened to to merit inclusion here, is highly questionable.

i wonder how music like this is produced. probably more off the cuff than traditional songwriting. id guess whatever problem in the state of the world or in their personal lives which has a reflection on the human condition but mainly their own emotions would form the basis of the message they're trying to convey. let me find some of evidence of this. nah fuck it I'm too lazy. but they're also kind of above it all a little. I liked Kool Thing. I liked the distorted guitars and shit like too. This review is about as cohesive as the messaging in this album. The end.

Probably very cool for its time, but it didn't really tickle me.

Sound album.

Goo’s reputation as the ultimate sellout is a little ridiculous in light of what they delivered to DGC...just not on this album. There’s a whole thesis that could be written on the white person cool affect, its intersection with and borrowing of Black culture, what it achieves for inspiring/devaluing subsequent art, how much of a cynical con it can be, etc. Ultimately, Sonic Youth the band just has never been that interesting to me aside from feeling like I instinctively knew what Moore and Ranaldo were up to with noise. It’s like meeting a twin you never knew you had, seeing they have the same back of their hands as you, and...well, what more is there? I saw them a few times in the early 90s, usually by accident, and if you asked me where I got my early guitar ideas from, I could probably reference them in a general sense, but I was not spending a lot of time listening to Goo, Daydream, EVOL, and Dirty. It just kinda happened that way. Goo has one of my favourite SY songs, which is Ranaldo’s Mote. I like a lot of later Moore and Gordon tunes (especially as she began singing with more melody), but Mote’s still the one. But also gets undercut by the noise denouement. On that note, Daydream and maybe Schizophrenia aside, what cultural purchase does SY have in the mid 2020s? As people, Kim’s status seems like the fair-minded truth teller, wise elder, emboldened post-divorce, but her solo effort only went so far. Thurston has been up his own ass since at least his first solo record and the other two show up from time to time guesting on tracks, sometimes keeping on good terms with canceled types long after that was in any way a fashionable conceit. Trail of Dead could rightly be criticized as a Daydream rip-off band, but they found their own way by Source Tags. That “Kool Thing” is...well, a bit confused makes a lot of sense from the intersectional perspective but maybe these folks weren’t all that smart? It’s a very white feminist take and deserves respect but also...gets some power dynamics and broader understanding not only wrong, but just doesn’t seem to care and that’s maybe the SY story in miniature, or at least the Kim story. And a personal sidenote, Chuck D providing the “Black man voice” happens only because he was in the same studio recording Fear of a Black Planet (I guess the feature spot door did not swing both ways), an album I knew about long before giving SY the time of day.

Yuh

First time listening all the way through from top to bottom and have mixed thoughts. The first half is where the album shines, “Tunic (Song for Karen)” and “Kool Thing” are the best tracks on the album, no doubt thanks to Kim Gordon’s distant, eerie vocals and that hypnotic bass line with the steady groove which was a hit with my toddler. However, things start to slip towards the midway point and some of the songs felt like filler and, despite the noise, quite flat. Overall a mixed bag, couldn’t listen to it often aside from a few tracks so giving it a 3. Good, but overrated.

It felt good to finish this album, but there were mixed feelings throughout. Part of me has heard this band a hundred times before. I'm standing at the back of a dingy venue (and not because there is no room up the front, there's plenty of room!) holding a pint, pretending I am enjoying myself. The band has put together a series of droney/dischordy riffs together, but with little melody (or at least what I can hear, the PA is crap. So is the vocal mix on this record...). The band ends, and I try to find a part I like in the set to compliment them on. Now, Sonic Youth are very progressive in this regard, and there's some cool stuff. They beat 'Tritone' and a selection of bands of that nature that I have since forgotten. But, amongst the dischord and feedback intros, there's not a lot of melody to keep me entertained. And if there is, it's inconsistent. On the matter feedback intros, there seemed to be a lot. Too many? I know that Sonic Youth have gone on and have an extensive back catalogue, and they are a band that come up in list of influences for lots of bands I like. Yes, I did enjoy the album, but I'm not sure what part. I won't be diving into their discography. It's like the TV show 'It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia' or 'Curb Your Enthusiasm', there's just too much, I'm too far behind and not everything is that easy to enjoy. 3 Stars.

This album is like a new girl starting at your school. She is dressed in black jeans and a black hoodie, with a denim vest over the top. She has hi-top Doc Martens on, and safety pins in her vest. Some of them are there to attach anti-war patches onto the back of her jacket. She doesn't seem to have washed her hair in a while, and she definitely isn't wearing makeup. You are not sure why, but you are infatuated with her. You talk to her, and she makes it instantly clear that she isn't interested in your sweet-talking and bullshit. After a while, you manage to convince her that you also don't care about the cool kids at school, and that you understand the bigger picture of life. You hang out more and more, but she never lets you make a move or anything. This goes on for a while until you start to think, maybe this girl is actually pretty annoying? Like, yea she is hot and you appreciate her anti-establishment confidence. But at the same time she does carry on a lot about how the underlying theme of Star Wars is the religious indoctrination of Luke Skywalker and you just want to tell her to give it a rest.

Some good tracks hidden amoung the noise. And there seems to be plenty of noise for the sake of noise. Needed someone in the studio who had not drunk the "hip" Coolaide to maybe ask some production questions amd cut back a few things.

It has very good songs, but overall it falls flat and it's not that interesting besides these 2-3 songs

Bitvis rätt svårtuggad materia, denna mix av punkrock och dronermusik. Gillar Sonic youth bäst i låtar som Dirty boots och Kool thing, där de är både melodiösa och mothårs. Bra skivomslag - som ser ut som musiken låter.

Jag har aldrig tagit mig tid att lyssna in mig på sonic youth. Jag hade förväntat mig mer oljud. Tycker det låter som rätt ordinär indierock. Det kanske inte är rätt val av album? Hitills verkar listan vara väldigt inriktad på kommersiella genombrott. Dirty boots och Titanium expose gillar jag. Cinderella's big score kanske är mer intressant än bra. Jag tar gärna emot tips om det är andra album med sonic youth som man ska lyssna istället.

I don't think I've listened to this exact kind of music before. It's kind of punk, but also not really punk. And I don't know if that makes it better or worse. It was good enough that I didn't mind listening to most of the tracks, and the ones that I enjoyed less weren't terrible. It's not in the high end of 3, but I also don't think it's quite a 2 Standouts Tunic (Song For Karen) 3/5

it's alright, easy ish to listen to. a lot of rhythm guitar

I come away with the same conclusions as i did with the last two Sonic Youth albums. I respect them from afar and think Kim Gordon specifically is excellent. "Tunic (Song for Karen)" didnt necessitate any research to know this song is about Karen Carpenter and the hardships she endured with her image, being a woman drummer, etc. Really nice tribute. "Kool Thing" was a really unique song I dont think i'll ever hear another one quite like it. Lastly, I liked the instrumental on "Disappearer" the best. 3/5

pretty good! didn't feel as noisy as i wanted it to, but still pretty good

Erm cool ig

I have seen the album cover for this dozens of times because i would often type in "goo" to my browser's address bar and then press Enter and sometimes I would stroke the key (no homo) before the browser autofilled "google.com" and the browser would return this Sonic Youth album as the result every time. Never listened to it but was always curious just because I saw it so often. It's good.

I am way too enamored with the early-90s alt stuff. Was bordering on a 4 but went with 3.

Yeah, I think Sonic Youth is not for me

I remember a few years ago I went thru Sonic Youth's discography and just really enjoyed their music, but most particularly I had an obsession with Goo that probably lasted a few months, I had the album and some songs on a loop basically. But after a while the album, and really all of SY's music kinda fell to the wayside for me, I would occasionally listen to them but I never really truly felt like listening to their music the same way I would return to some of my favorite music and feel like I was back to some kind of normalcy with it. Even more I kept forgetting more and more how their songs went, which granted makes sense for music you listen to once and basically never again but even the albums I listened to a lot (except for Evol but I'll talk abt it when I get it) I just forgot the way the songs went and just remember very few parts about them. That feeling over time made me realize that maybe I am not as huge on Sonic Youth as I thought I was and I think this current listen of Goo cemented that feeling even more. Although I don't doubt that I might feel differently for other albums of theirs, I think the fact that Goo felt like such dud after thinking I still loved the album left me disappointed, because suddenly all the sounds in it... well were the same but I didn't find them nearly as interesting or exciting like I once did, some choices wound up annoying me more than it helped their songs. I think part of the problem is that the sort of 90s "2cool4you" or general gen x we don't give a shit attitude feels very played out and just expected in a lot of instances? I mean things like Tunic's whole section with Kim Gordon singing as Karen Carpenter ironically saying goodbye to Hollywood and hello to all the big musicians in heaven or the Chuck D feature in Kool Thing, they feel like they are there for a half ironic half sincere reason but in the end the don't feel like they add much to the songs beyond being The Things that you remember as opposed to idk the instrumentals or something. The Tunic vocals specially felt very weirdly tacked on the song because Kim's vocals just feel too loud compared to the instrumentals instead of this ghostly apparition that she is supposed to be thematically. I think another problem is that yeah they have a lot of cool guitar riffs and things going on in the music which sound like the best shit ever, but then these get lost in the shuffle of everything else that's going on in their music and wind up becoming aimless, like... Dirty Boots for example has one of the better riffs but I can't seem to recall how it went and the only thing I remember is the stupid "I GOT SOME DIRTY BOOTS" line which after it made the song worse or Dissappearer which was one of my absolute favorite songs, it ebbs and flows in a cool way but it also feels like it's all over the place that I can barely place what the song is going for by the middle even if it's enjoyable. That aimlessness is fine obviously, I won't come here and say that Sonic Youth's signature style is also their biggest issue because c'mon, but I do feel like it is a double edge sword where they can write some truly iconic riffs and songs and other times they are cool but not at all memorable, with the only memorable bits being the very part of the song that I really wish weren't there... It's tough because I don't wanna sit here and pretend like this isn't worth people's time but like... I feel like there's 90s bands that were able to embody cool and write songs that felt more memorable, or hell even the Sonic Youth alikes sometimes did SY better because they had more restraint whereas I don't think SY ever felt like they had to have some more executive direction to their music. Is it good? I guess so yeah, do I love it anymore? Certainly not, it's on the level of Amnesiac by Radiohead being a disappointment to me

Sonic Youth were bullies to Nardwuar and I don't appreciate bullying. But I will judge this album on my own with a clear mind. I do like wall of sounds on some songs. I don't know if it is their best album or what for me it sound good and I like it. Fav. tracks Tunic Kool Thing Mote My Friend Goo Cinderella's Big Score 3,5 to 4/5

Some really strong stuff here wrapped in a lot of noise noodling. Not what I needed yesterday.

Didn't grab me

Nie umiem się przekonać do tego zespołu. Wiem, że byli wielcy, ale dla mnie raz są nudni a raz chaotyczni. Ta płyta mi się strasznie dłużyła, raz nużyła, raz irytowała ani razu nie chwyciła za serce. Doceniam część kompozycji, ale nic nie zostanie ze mną na dłużej. 5/10

I like the raw energy of this album. The noise and ambient stuff works for me more than the experimental and no-wave stuff. I'm hearing the Lou Reed and Pattie Smith influence which I am not that into. Still an enjoyable album over all.

Hey its the coolest thing ever. Gen xers aren't going to be happy with me and to be honest im not too happy with myself. I just dont vibe. Like Kool thing is good and the insanity of Mildred pierce. Every other song just melts together. I should like this alot. Its loose, kinda messy, has 2 interesting vocalist, it has some speed to it. It should be a home run but its just not. Maybe I need to check some other albums but today its not it. Its still getting a positive look cause I can see myself loving this and ill just buy in this speculative market real quick. Maybe someday I'll love sonic youth. I really hope so

Nice musik men inte alls något speciellt i dess genre

I enjoyed the instrumentation on Tunic (Song for Karen) but it is 6 minutes of spoken words over the instrumentation. If anyone reads my reviews religiously, which I assume would be all of you, then you may be aware spoken words over instrumentation is not my favorite song type. You can give me every Sonic Youth album that has ever been released (this the fourth one I received) and I am probably not changing my mind about them. The album started off really strong and I thought maybe THIS is the album that I change my mind about them. This is the album where I see the genius and don't view them as a good band whose music I can either take or leave. Then the back half of the album devolved into random guitar noises and songs I didn't enjoy as much. I don't know if there is another Sonic Youth album in this book, but at this point, I'm not sure what can change my mind about the band. My favorite songs are: Dirty Boots Tunic (instrumentation-only) Kool Thing Disappearer Mildred Pierce

Mix of rock, post-punk, indie/garage. Not a bad sound, but not hugely distinctive. By the end it was quite a lot of noise.. Best track - Kool Thing, Titanium Expose 3 stars

Not my cup of tea but I get why people like it

Liikaa pörinää loppua kohden, korvia särkee. En tajua, miksi niin halutaan kuulijalle tehdä. A-puolella ja puolivälissä tykkään kyllä joistain nätimmistä melodioista, ja grunge kyllä vetoaa. Siitä tavoittaa snadisti yli kaks ja puol tähteä.

Dad- NA Mom- 5 Mike- 6 Lori- 6 Michael- 6 Miles- 6 Cole- 7.5 Avg- 6.08

Listens: 3 Standout Tracks: Tunic (Song For Karen), Kool Thing, My Friend Goo I wasn't blown away by any of the tracks; the latter half especially (with the exception of Mildred Pierce) was nothing to write home about. I thought Tunic was weird at first, this girl talking about how she's making it on her own, but it grew on me after a few listens. My Friend Goo was kind of weird, but in an enduring way? I wasn't left with any lasting impressions of the music itself. A lot of guitar heavy tracks, a ton of making noise experimenting with the guitar, but none of it particularly mind blowing.

Good album

Ive really struggled with american college rock of this era but this seemed like a cut above the rest. There was some really good melody and tune in between the screeching. It also came across as a proper album rather than a collection of singles.

Given the music I was into back then, and how revered they were, you would think I would be right in to Sonic Youth. Turns out I’m not. None of the three albums on here have grabbed me. There are glimmers of hope but they don’t turn in to anything particularly interesting or enjoyable. And underwhelming 3

I thought I was going to rock out to this album. I did not, maybe I'm getting old

posers

Argh--I just re-discovered that this is only #2 of 5 Sonic Youth albums in this collection. And sadly, my enjoyment of them isn't much changed from listening to "Daydream Nation" (or for that matter owning "Dirty"). This does seem like a better album overall than "Daydream Nation", with a little less sonic wall overall, but it still doesn't hook me the way I know it should. This album has a shocking number of videos for most of the tracks (all but one, in fact), nearly all of which I don't really recall having heard before, although with Sonic Youth it's a bit hard to tell at times--I feel like I might have heard both the Karen Carpenter-homage "Tunic" and the LL Cool J diss track "Kool thing" before, but they sound like so many other Sonic Youth tracks, it's hard to remember (although kudos to them for getting Chuck D to do the call-and-response on "Kool thing"). This definitely seems like one of if not the best Sonic Youth albums; I just wish I enjoyed them more than I do.

I enjoyed this album more than Daydream Nation--more interesting, nice rough sound--but I'm still peeved that we there are FIVE sonic youth albums given how many solid artists aren't represented at all. Getting back to Sonic Youth, I think I'm more of a greatest hits girl wrt their output--when they're on, I really like them, but on every album there are usually only one or two songs I really like.

I’m a pretty big sonic youth fan and this album starts out great “dirty boots”, but does tend to fall off at the end. Not their best stuff despite some of their biggest commercial hits. Dig “kool thing” too.

Once again, Kim Gordon proves she’s the most talented member of Sonic Youth. Her songs on this album are way above the rest, with “Tunic (Song For Karen)” and “Kool Thing” being the standouts of the entire album. As a record, this isn’t as strong as Daydream Nation or Dirty, and I’m not sure it needs to be on here. Not a bad album, just doesn’t feel like Sonic Youth at their best.

It was good. I have forgotten how enjoyable they ae to listen to.

dirty boots- 5. i hate his voice. tunic- 5 mary christ- 5 or 6 kool things- 5 mote- 4. im bored my friend goo- 5 disappearer- 5 mildred pierce- sure whatever. 6 cinderella's big score- 5 scooter and jinx- 5 titanic expose- 5 it just doesnt hit for me the way it seems to for others but everyone has their thing. and there are sonic youth songs i like. they just.... seem to be missing from this album

Ok not sure I get the hype

Some songs were cool. Others were just okay. 3/5

Fairly noisy rock record. It has a nice energy and cohesiveness to it, but the bloody-raw edge is not really my thing. It sounds like a band's first record, before they ascended to major-label success or crashed and burned, whichever. I was surprised to see they were already long-time veterans when they put this out.

Not bad, but nothing jumps out.

Continuing to enjoy my Sonic Youth education. Not one of their albums (four down so far) has been easy to rate or even really listen to and gather my thoughts on. And I’ve really appreciated that. It’s just the right level of challenge and interesting for my musical curiosity. Goo is, like its successor and predecessor, full of great guitar work and far-too-cool vocals, it evokes a load of great indie and post-punk bands of the 90s and 00s (Ash, Placebo, Interpol…) but throws out curveballs to jolt your attention back. I plan to spend more time with this one and the others, when I have a bit more time. It’s just a shame I didn’t do so 30 years sooner. Better late than never.

Не знаю, для меня как-то мрачно по вайбу сейчас, в подростковом возрасте по другому ощущалась эта музыка. Сейчас не могу такое слушать. Хотя конечно культовые чуваки своего воемени

didnt realy catch me (thou I havent finished it) it's just not the soundscape I'm lookin for atm

Ein Album wie ein flackernder Röhren-Fernseher um 2 Uhr nachts – halb Kunst, halb Chaos, und vollgeladen mit Noise, Ironie und Subversion. Es ist eines dieser Werke, das zwischen Genie und Zumutung balanciert – und gerade das macht seinen Reiz aus. Tracks wie „Kool Thing“ (mit Public Enemy’s Chuck D!) oder „Dirty Boots“ sind Highlights: rebellisch, melodisch, ikonisch. Sie tragen die DNA des Alternative Rock der 90er in sich und mischen politischen Biss mit coolem Desinteresse. Dann wiederum gibt es Songs, die sich so tief in Noise-Rock-Experimente stürzen, dass man sich fragt, ob sie überhaupt gefunden werden wollen. „Scooter + Jinx“ zum Beispiel ist eher Klanginstallation als Song – die die Grenze zur Lärmbelästigung überschreiten.

Aldrig riktigt lyssnat på SY. Gillar musiken jävligt mycket. Men sången å lite dippar gör att det "bara" blir en trea. Tror möjligen att fler lyssningar skulle hjälpa. Men hinner inte nu :/

adequate

Sometimes their songs feel very unique and sometimes they sound a lot the same, and this album hit my kinda flat.

Didn't enjoy it as much as Daydream Nation, but still good.

I overall enjoyed the sound of this album, blending the anger and apathy of 80s punk with what eventually became 90s alt-rock. But, for good chunks of the album, all I could think was "wow, these folks sure do love their effects pedals." The album would have been better without several minutes of just different effects over the guitars without much going on musically.

wasn't for me

Pretty average ig

Alt rock, with some heavy "noise" guitar at times

isch sonic youth nöd au mega ide grunge szene es ding gsi oder han ich das nur s gfühl? dirty boots isch voll ok karens song klassische fall vo "ja schono cool aber auchli langwilig" mary christ isch sehr pönkig I like ok es isch recht langwilig disappearer findi na cool, er singt chli andersch und wies schneller wird git echli e dynamik hahah mildred pierce DE SCHLUSSSSSS titanium expose hetmer no gfalle pfff ja was sölli sege, die zweit hälfti wo stellewiis recht punkig gsi isch, hetmer sicher chli besser gfalle, und d lieder wod kim gordon gsunge het, sind e willkommeni abwechslig gsi. 3 DE EINT GUY HEISST THURSTON ZUM VORNAME???

I appreciate Sonic Youth, but they've never been my favourite of bands. They have songs that I love, but none of them are on this album. Good for background music and makes a cover makes a good tshirt

It feels very middle of the back album no songs that are great and none that are complete stinkers.

Interesting to hear the progression from EVOL. A little more traditional song structure and rocks a little harder. I still have no idea what they’re singing about but I’d definitely come back to this one. 3.5

I respect this more than I like it. Maybe with further listens I could eventually like it.

Kool thing awesome! Album did drag on a bit though

Some of it I really liked, some of it not so much. The dissonance is pretty cool, but it does come across as pretty unpolished. I know that’s what they were going for, and in some spots it worked well, but not always.

Pretty solid album. Mid 3s for me. So much more polish.

Rating: 6.5/10 The highlights are amazing and masterfully blend their trade noise rock sound with amazing riffs and songwriting. A lot of is noisy just to be noisy and the album suffers for it, this band has a great sense of melody but only uses it for a handful of songs.

It’s decent, just don’t think Sonic Youth is for me

Not really for me but pretty good nonetheless

Need more listens, but liked what I heard so far

I'm desensitized to Sonic Youth after three albums. At the same time, Goo isn't the usual noise rock I have come to associate with Sonic Youth. I mean, they definitely incorporated some discordant notes that border on noise rock, but mostly this album comes across as alternative and punk. The songs are silly and fun, like "My Friend Goo," and I do admire a band that doesn't take themselves too seriously. Music is supposed to be fun, and there's something enjoyable and playful about Goo.

Yet ANOTHER Sonic Youth album, and yet another crotchety entry in my "did we really need this many albums from this band?" rant. I liked this Sonic Youth album about as much as their others on this album (that is to say, a 2 or 3). My complaints about their music in the past has been around the level of noise rock they implement. I can at least say this album generally felt more alternative and less noise, and I liked that (excluding the VERY noisy "Scooter and Jinx").

Yeah

No standouts but a solid listen throughout

Definitely a 90's feel. Meh

not bad, not bad at all

Rounding up from 2.5 stars… the extra half star is because they influenced so many of my favourite bands. File this one under: “I wish I loved this.” Major respect to Sonic Youth for cranking up the distortion and pioneering noise rock. Their fingerprints are all over my favourite bands, from My Bloody Valentine to Yo La Tengo to Radiohead to post-Britpop Blur. I just don’t particularly connect to SY’s iteration of this sound. It kind of all blends together into a blur for me. Kool Thing rules though.

I really want to like Sonic Youth. I get how important they are. I know that many bands I love have cited them as an influence. And I've tried many times to get into them... but their music just never clicks with me. Unfortunately, today was no exception. I've tried to pinpoint the problem and here's what I've come up with: 1) the vocals are mixed too low in a shoegaze-y sort of way... but it doesn't work for them 2) his voice isn't distinct or interesting... its kind of just there (her voice is way better) 3) the songs are a bit too long... when they have a good or bad idea, they repeat it to death... really drag it out (that cinderella track was a slog) 4) the melodies are lacking... the hooks aren't hooky enough Really, the biggest problem of all is that so many bands that came after sonic youth did their sound better. They took the parts i like (the distortion, the vibes, the instrumentals, the abrassiveness etc) and incorporated them into better songs. Kurt Cobain is the biggest winner of this approach. Bleach specifically reaks of Goo worship... but I like Bleach better. Nirvana is basically just Sonic Youth meets the Pixies filtered through the John Lennon songbook. And i'm greatful that Sonic Youth existed at that time to influence Nirvana and many other great bands... i just don't love their music. If i could, i'd score this record a 2.5. But i'll round it up to a 3 because it inspired so man great grunge, punk and alternative bands that i love. Highlights: Mary-christ - good energy Kool thing - great track... except for that bridge Mote - nice and warm if you ignore the 5 minute noise jam section My friend goo - good silly fun Disapearer - catchy chorus Mildred pierce - i love a good oldfashion gutteral scream Titanium - great catchy sour riff

Can’t deny it’s good but sonic youth never hits for me like I expect it to

Better than I expected

More like 3.25. A lot of good here. Didn’t quite connect fully with me. The title track and Tunic were my faves.

I like it - but too disjointed for me to love it.

Best Sonic Youth I've listened to. But here's the thing... I don't give a shit how confrontational a vibe you want to exude, I'm never going to listen to an album with periodic banshee screaming because that's annoying.

I really dig Sonic Youth but here’s the thing, this album is not as good as many of the others. Sure, I would take it if I was stranded on a desert island. But that doesn’t make it great.

On paper I should be annoyed by all of this. Similar albums I have been. But there was something about the music that drew me in so much that I could usually ignore the bullshit vocalizations. 3/5

Me gusto más que el anterior. La piba es excelente, todo lo que canta y relata funciona a un nivel superior. Muy buen cierre. De todas formas estoy muy alejado de agregar estas cosas a mis listas. Nota: 2.9

Innovative for its time. A somewhat chaotic opus.

3.5

Sounds good

It was fine. Every few years I decided to give Sonic Youth a shot, and I always find them underwhelming.

It's a hard one to rate. I really wanted to like this more but it's so noisy without doing much. Still liked it but not as much as I wanted to.

It was ok. Sounded like most other early punk albums.

3/5

Spent the 80s trying to listen to Sonic Youth, to be honest cause thought it was cool and didn’t really like them much, to point can’t remember much at all. Had given up by time they “went and sold out” to the majors for this record and who would have thought they went and actually had learned to structure their noise into songs. It still however, at the end of 1st listen left very little impression, still art house styling rather than any real substance for me. 3 Star

I enjoyed it more than other sonic youth stuff, but still ok.

Uneven noise rock, more good than bad

It started off pretty good and then devolved…

It is interesting but not necessarily enjoyable. Mote is decent.

I think this album had a super rad sound (rad being absolutely the right word), but didn't connect with anything but the first couple, really got lost after. That being said, still rad.

I was never cool enough to fully embrace Sonic Youth. I still like putting on "Daydream Nation" to hear Teenage Riot and Silver Rocket... like Television spat out a crack baby and got lucky it inherited the more melodic genes. [pardon the terrible analogy]. But that album (from 1988) was more groundbreaking, ambitious and challenging than "Goo", and I hope it turns up on this list somewhere down the line. When they go off the deep end into their "applied noise" for too long, it's usually a turn off for me, I'm not in a deep enough hole of depression or a blissed-out enough state to be engulfed by it. I'm just like, "put your dicks away and get back to the song [or end the song]". "Mote" is like that on this album. It's awesome but could have ended 2 or 3 minutes earlier for my tastes. But I'm an impatient dork. "Goo" is bad-ass though, overall. "Dirty Boots", "Disappearer" and "Mary Christ" are the ones I've gone back to through the years... but I kind of forgot about "Titanium Expose" which is a great album-ender. I'm not kool enough for "Kool Thing". Daydream Nation and Goo both came out before Nirvana's "Nevermind", and the Nirvana Legacy site has a nice little article about how important Sonic Youth was to Nirvana pre-Nevermind. You had to hand it to Geffen, a "major label", for sticking with these non-hit makers for many albums, and to Sonic Youth for having a major label deal and making a record like this without regard for what "people might like". They did exactly what THEY wanted to do. And it is absolutely NOT for everyone. [as I saw from reading through some of the comments here. I remind you: review the record, not the band's fans that you don't like.]

Good, but a bit too moody.

It’s the album I think of when my baby tries to talk! I dunno, maybe I don’t get Sonic youth… I like the guitar parts but the vocals turn me off.

Vaikka onkin vähän noisea, niin ihan miellyttävää silti. Kool Thing oli se GH3 biisi. Parhaat: Dirty Boots, Kool Thing, Disappearer

Only knew "Kool Thing" going into this album, and that track is indeed "kool", acting as somewhat of a feminist anthem. The other Kim Gordon-led songs were enjoyable as well, but the rest of the album doesn't quite stack up. Guitar "noise" is par for the course for Sonic Youth and that's never really been my thing, just always felt like filler to me.

Wildly inconsistent but overall a better offering than Sister

I don't know why I always think that it's going to be hip hop !! Anyway, it's ok rock music, the rhythms are fine and the voice as well. It feels like they all sound the same and make it quite boring

I enjoyed this one- I liked the vibe and the fusion of rock, pop punk, and electronica. It definitely had a tone in mind and was successful in its execution. Overall- 3.5/5

Love this album. I've had it on CD for at least 25 years, maybe 30.

Better than most Sonic Youth albums but still that raw / dirty feel ... So ok if you're into that.

This is by no means bad. And at the time I probably would have loved it. It just doesn't do enough for me to get above a 3. But I mean that 3 as a compliment.

3

Goo by Sonic Youth comes later in their catalog and doesn't say much more than their previous albums, in all fairness - I am a SY fan but question what makes this album a 'must listen' 3/5

I appreciate what I put in my head here. While I've never listened to Sonic Youth, they are clearly an influential, appreciated, inventive, frequently gloriously dissonant band who, here at least, venture from controlled cacophony through spoken word art noise, melodic punk and power pop. It's just consistently my cup of tea. I'm glad I listened though.

Alright project. Gets a bit messy, especially in the second half of the album but a decent time, especially during a strong start. 6/10

It’s ok

Alright

Better than the Sister album, but still not my favorite type of music. The guitar and instrumentals are good but I don't care for the vocals.

6/10 - I liked a lot of the music parts of the songs but the taking and screaming did not work for me. Definitely better than the other one

Probablement l'album de Sonic Youth qui m'a le moins plu à date. J'ai l'impression qu'il y avait moins de focus que les autres. Il semblait plus éparpillé. 5/10

Bueno

Nah, not for me. Grunge punk rock?

It's definitely more noise than I like but there are some high moments.

Not bad.

Took me a couple of listens to get into this. Nothing stood out too much but the overall sound was good.cant work out if I actually like it or not so for that reason a middle of the road score

Too much random unnecessary noises. Making songs longer than need be. I like a few songs but I wouldn't choose to listen to this. If a song came in the radio I wouldn't turn it. I'd put a song or two on a playlist but as a whole, no thank you.

se mantiene, cae bajo en la parte noise

Skill

I would say I like Sonic Youth from afar. I like what they did, I feel like I understand why they were good culturally. I loved Kim Gordon's book and they are always mentioned in many music books I read. However, I just don't really like listening to them, it's too experimental for me and I don't always like it descending in just sound. Thing is, on paper they are right up my street and when I describe what I don't like about them I am describing what I like about other bands. Who knows, just never gelled for me.

Not bad; edgy but well done & good representation of this genre.

Good for what it is. My younger punk self would probs appreciate.

Started well, became a bit too much in the second half :/

Minus one star for the last 4 minutes of "Mote" torturing my ears :(

I liked this album much more than the other Sonic Youth album this list dropped on me a little while back (Dirty). It’s not fantastic, but has enough merit that I’ve considered giving Dirty another listen. Overall, There are a couple good tracks, but I don’t know I’ll be going back to it any time soon.

ok. whatever

sonic youth can keep their goo. i don't want it. this album is far better than evol from this list but still, just pretentious "art" as a facade for poor songwriting. there are a few tracks that i enjoyed segments of, but everything here just has that art-students-trying-to-be-cool self-indulgence to it. its biggest saving grace is kool thing, which took me years to come around on, but is a blast to play on drums (in Rock Band, at least). otherwise, meh favorites: dirty boots, tunic (song for karen), kool thing, my friend goo, titanium expose

sonic youth are almost unbearable but this record is as close to bearable as they get

The general sound is pretty good, although that's really all this album has going for it since every song kinda melts together into a lump of goo. The lyrics are yap, but aren't the focal point of the songs so it doesn't bother me too much. "Mildred Pierce" is atrocious, although it is the only bad song. The album does fall off after it, although I still enjoyed the last 4 songs. The part of "Dirty Boots" where they say "Dirty Boots" a lot is the most notable track.

Def prefer “Daydream Nation”. Some standouts, but not very consistent

Highly respected, but not sure I would go back to this on a regular basis. If I was a few years older, I think this would have been a core album.

Not my thing but at least better than the last Sonic Youth album I listened to (Daydream Nation).

A mid three. I think it’s not as good as some of Sonic Youth’s other albums as it’s a very mixed bag. Some of the songs are pretty damn good, while others are just noisy and disappointing. Evens out to an alright listen.

Some great songs some artsy for the sake of artsy songs

Outside of the portions of songs that were just noise, I enjoyed this and liked their energy. 3.25/5

This one is better than I remember. Not my favorite, but pretty focused.

It's not as good as their next album Dirty, but here it is recognizable where their path will lead them. There is still too much noise and screaming, but the first few tracks are especially much more to my taste than the previous albums.

Ehhhh... okay.

partly nice, partly not so good

Like I said for Dinosaur Jr - I can listen to an enjoy Sonic Youth, but it never fully gels. This is pretty good tho, particularly Kool Thing.

A lot to like. “Mildred Pierce” almost knocked me out of my chair!

Guitar is really interesting but the vocals don’t catch me.

Dirty Boots 3.6 Tunic (Song for Karen) 3.4 Mary-Christ 3 Kool Thing 4 Mote 3.3 My Friend Goo 3.4 Disappearer 3.2 Mildred Pierce 3 Cinderella's Big Score 3.1 Scooter + Jinx 2 Titanium Expose 3.1 Score: 3.190909091

Good listen, but nothing standing out.

I wish someone loved me as much as sonic youth loves speaking normally in the middle of songs. It’s certainly not bad but I need my music to be just a little catchier than this - nothing really grabbed me.

The godfather of indie rock. Some really good guitar mixed with strange, experimental rock. Hard to really get into this for me.

Mediocre, but not bad album. Sound's okay, instrumentation is great but could do more, I'd give it a 6/10.

no wave noise. stranger than paradise

This was better than I expected but still kind of hit and miss. It started off strong and went downhill from there. I don’t care for the Kim Gordon “vocals” all the much. I really liked Dirty Boots. Mildred Pierce was about 2 minutes too long.

This was interesting and kept my attention the majority of the time. Some catchy riffs and progressive style especially for the time, but I didn’t have a true standout. I may revisit at some point to make sure I’m not missing anything. 3.5/5

I enjoyed it. Just a few too many low points (screaming and nonsense guitar) and not enough high points for me to bump this up higher.

This was honestly pretty cool and really interesting, a bit too out there to enjoy as background music, I think it’s a sit down and listen kind of album with good lyrics and commentary. Maybe I’ll have to come back

It was okay.

Not a fan. The noise in noise-rock is too noisy for me.

doesn’t beat daydream nation but is pretty goo.d

I was a bit bored by this when I was really listening it, however as I just let it play in the background it got more enjoyable as white noise. Not a ringing endorsement though. Titanium Expose was the one I’d listen to again 2.5 but rounded up to 3

Eeeh, it's alright. There is nothing really that makes it stand out from so many other alt / sludge / proto-grunge stuff that was around in the early nineties. I listened to it, I remember nothing of it.

Generally a fan, saw an amazing Sonic Youth show at the Catalyst in Santa Cruz CA in the mid 1990s, but I like some of the records better than this one, and generally prefer the live version, more energy.

Goo enough for a 3.

I like it. 90s indie rock. Kool thing is a great song.

Not bad

Very 90s. Not sure if my jam.

had it on in the background and mostly enjoyed it.

Grew on me on relistens, but still not crazy about it. Vocals are never a highpoint and at times the its sense of nonconfirmity can feel a bit childish. More interesting than not, though, though never as interesting as its cover is cool.

Meh

Not bad but there's a lot of 'noise' bits just consisting of songs breaking down into guitar feedback and fuzz. Sonic Youth are a band I prefer in small doses, I like them but get a bit of a headache eventually.

first listen some cool raw guitar texture but songs fall flat for me

This may just about be my favourite Sonic Youth album so far, but I'm still not falling for them like I thought I would've by now. There are a few more 'conventional' tunes on this one compared to their earlier works, but they generally don't stand out as anything special compared to other alt-rock bands of the era. There are still some of those tedious noise-orientated sections, too. It seems to me that Kim Gordon's vocals and lyrics are at the heart of the band's cool aesthetic and they're often the best bits too.

This is what I the crux of experimental teenage pretentious indie rock (?). I don't know if I like that or hate that. I like making noise with my guitar, and I like that they made noise with their guitars, so I guess I kind of like it. Also I tend to be pretentious and I hate it but it's who I am and they embraced who they are.

Przyjemne. Taki alternatywny roczek co tu więcej powiedzieć. Zlewa się trochę w tle 3/5

Ehkä tähän mennessä paras SY levy tällä listalla. 3.5/5, pyöristyy alaspäin.

I really liked the guitar feedback and more experimental tracks, but some songs just seemed like shitty thrash metal

Very cool early grunge sound. Very fun and enjoyable to listen to for a bit, but can grate on the ears after too long. Three stars.

I thought that half of these songs were going to end up being "Kool Thing" because they all sort of shared the riff. I think if you see it as a motif it's cool, but you could also see it as not having many ideas. This is a better album than the other one we listened to.

Even when they're screamy, I can't take Sonic Youth seriously as a punk band or whatever they are. It's fine. I feel like I liked this one better than the other Sonic Youth album we had.

Disappearer

I hate arty discordant music so much. It’s pretty much all I do. I can barely function in life because of how much time I spend hating Radiohead. It’s a real problem. But for some reason, Sonic Youth works for me. It’s probably because I got into them at the right age to be willing to look past the arty-ness and the discordance and my willingness to give them a chance at that age has allowed me to enjoy them even now when I’m a cranky old man who hates everything. Maybe the stupidity of youth isn’t so stupid after all. All that being said, this album goes completely off the rails in the second half.

I can see why people like Sonic Youth so much. They were very experimental and influential around noise in rock. For me, however, sometimes this noise is too much. Best Songs: Tunic, Disappearer Worst Songs: Mildred Pierce, Cinderella's Big Score

A couple of good songs, but I never really understood Sonic Youth for the most part. Lots of experimental stuff going on and every song has something interesting in it, but also lots of boring parts. 3.5 stars

Probably not a good sign I groaned when I saw this was the album i dont particularly like it, but i get the artistic merit of it, i will just get it a 3, and hope thats the end of the sonic youth albums on the list

Would I listen to it again: yes Is it a no-skip album: yes Favorite song: Disappearer Least favorite song: Mildred Pierce Do I like it: yes

I didn't really find any songs that I particularly liked. It's pretty noisy!

I feel like I've seen the artwork for this album loads but never heard it. Was a bit strange but not bad

Loved the instrumentals of this one, but the vocals take a bit away for me. 3/5

Too kool for skool.

Underwhelming

Pretentious Deep Purple wank. Sum leiðinlegustu lög sem ég hef á ævinni heyrt eru á þessari plötu. En svo voru nokkur frekar góð lög eins og My friend Goo og Mildred Pierce. Svo er Kool thing frekar Kool. Skil alveg að sumir séu í cult-inu en finnst þetta heilt yfir svo tilgerðarlegt band og albúm. Kveðja Hater.

Saw Sonic Youth once and thought they were terrible. Granted, they were old by then. This album surprised me because it was fun in some areas, but the times where it was just loud yelling and crazy sounds was just irritating. Maybe I'm getting old too...? 🤔. Gotta run, kids are on my lawn!!!

Exactly as I expected it. Monotone, sloppy and raw. No song on this record should be over 4 minutes. Kool thing I actually knew - a version of it was on guitar hero.

For their sixth outing Sonic Youth have provided the goods. Their mix of alt rock hard rock and undertones of garage rock, provide some solid sounds throughout the record. This time around their song writing reflected themes of female empowerment and pop culture. Best: Dirty Boots Worst: Scooter and Jinx

...

Wow. I literally listened to this yesterday without knowing it would come up today. I'm gonna skip a second listen. I'm a little iffy on Sonic Youth, at least in large doses. This album was definitely pretty cool though.

OK, a lot of sound to digest here, and it's not all delicious. It's mostly up my alley, but some of it needed to be choked down in my middle-age. That being said, there is quality in there. I'll keep this right down the middle.

it was fine

I only new Kool Thing from this. It's good but Daydream Nation is much better imo. This one is looser.

Not my sorta music... but I'd still put this album on again and listen to it. Worth 3 stars

Album 396 of 1001 Sonic Youth - Goo Rating : 3.5 / 5 Another that is a fine listen but not sure how quickly I'd go back to it. Does leave me open to hear a bit more from them.

I really enjoyed the vast majority of this album. Except that at seemingly random intervals it devolves into noise and/or screaming.

Good head banger

First time listening to this band. Its ok but a bit noisy at times.

Great shoe gaze album

Unohtui kuunnella

Pioneers of indie rock, hmmm…interesting

Tidvis veldig bra, men bråkete på en måte som ikke helt fungerer for meg.

Idk i want this shit to bang, but im not sure it does bang, its not bad though idk, theres one screamo metal dont love that

Noisy experimental

Sonic Youth is a band that has influenced pretty much all the music I listen to but when I tried to get into them in college some how it didn’t work. I was instantly put off by them. I was wrong. Side A is fantastic indie/grunge, Side B isn’t as strong. There is a beauty in the noise, I don’t blame people for not seeing it though. It certain as commercial as many indie fans make it out to be. 7.5/10

It's ok, but I'm not terribly into this sound. I don't know a lot about this band, but judging that it came out in 1990, I have probably fallen into love with works that were heavily influenced by it, but I can't really get into this album directly. It's... very drone-y. Favorite tracks: - Dirty Boots - Kool Thing - Mote

Sonic Youth was quite a groundbreaking group in their day. And I can see why. Some really unique tonal approaches to their guitar work. Some nicely put together tracks. That said... man this just wasn't my jam. Groundreaking, absolutely. Enjoyable to listen to for more than a couple of tracks? Eh....

I want to like Sonic Youth more than I do. This record is too cool for me in so many ways. It smells it's own farts and talks about wine.

This was up and down for me. A few tracks I really liked, and some that were just not great. That averages to a 3 for my taste.

average grunge sound to me. not bad, but didn't grab me.

I already knew Disappearer and Tunic (Song for Karen), but I had never listened to the full record. I’m pleased and not surprised by what I heard! I am definitely a fan but I have to be in a certain mood to listen to them.

Ahh takes me back to NYC. It's a bit hard to be objective about albums you've heard ~a million times. Not my favorite Sonic Youth album but still pretty good I'd say. An acquired taste for many to be sure.

Quite enjoyed this can see myself getting into these after a few more listens. 3.5

Raw punk. A great era of music for sure - can imagine seeing bands like this live would have been some experience. 3.5/5

Interesting album. Some good songs, but occasionally gets a little weird. 3/5 Might listen again

Sonic Youth has always passed me by, so this was a good reason to sit down and listen to a whole album. It’s good! It’s cool! I like the wacky guitar stuff. I will listen to more.

It's ok. I understand that it's cool.

I thought I would like this more than I did.

I dunno... I know this is an album that meant a lot to a lot of people. I can see the good in it. There's just a little bit too much trying to do too much here, for me. I wouldn't ever listen to this for a good time...

Meh.

nice and different, but not really my thing

Didn't like this one as much as Daydream Nation. Not sure if it just felt more disjointed or what. Still, not bad

Good guitar work and interesting riffs, but overall I found it fairly monotonous to get through

A borderline 3/4. While it starts out strong with Tunic and Kool Thing, it kind of lost me towards the end. Big scuzzy guitars contrast the monotone delivery of Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore, which isn’t a bad thing, it’s just hard to find the melody. I feel like even at 49 minutes it flew by and I barely know what I listened to. Would come back to revisit, for now I can’t justify the 4.

Starts of strong with dirty boots which was the standout for me. Tunic is a great remembrance. Overall I thought it was good just not my thing.

I like it was good to work to. I wish we could do half ratings

Kool Thing raises this to a 3

It was good, better than I thought it’d be.

generic 90s grunge. Some of it is OK but I gave up after a while