The sound of Sonic Youth really coalesced on 1987’s Sister, the band’s first real masterpiece. SY had been experimenting with modified guitars on blunt and jagged songs for a handful of years, creating an interesting and groundbreaking sound, but inconsistent albums and EPs. Beginning with EVOL, in 1986, their songcraft became more consistent, and they perfected it on Sister on tracks like “Schizophrenia” and “Stereo Sanctity.” One of this album’s highlights, though, is a cover: a faithful executed take on San Francisco punk band Crime’s fairly obscure “Hotwire My Heart,” with its tight rhythmic core and daggers of lead guitar slashing through the distortion. The gentle, dissonance of “Kotton Krown” nods to the epic scope we’d hear the following year on the band’s second masterpiece, the double album Daydream Nation.

“Rudy” reminds me of my college years. We often danced to it in the new wave clubs of the era. This wave of ska was so much stronger and more authentic than later waves — it expanded on early Jamaican ska without copying it. There were a lot of other neo-ska bands in the late ‘70s and early 80s, but the Specials were the best of the lot. Later neo-ska movements (Sublime, No Doubt, and many rock en español bands) were not as successful. Highlights: “Rudy” — very authentic ska and good commentary about UK rude boys. “Do the Dog” — ska with an early rock ‘n roll sensibility and a touch of Clash-like punk vocals. "Concrete Jungle" — super-percussive; another nice blend of Clash-like punk with a ska shuffle. "You're Wondering Now" — beautiful downtempo cover of the mid-60s Andy and Joey ballad.

The album on which Joni really developed her voice, vocally and instrumentally. And this was as mainstream pop as she would get. She invented, transcended but also fit right into the mainstream ‘70s singer-songwriter movement.

From the psychedelia of “Darkness Darkness” to the gentle, soulful “Quicksand,” this shows Jesse Colin Young at his songwriting best. (His later solo work would flutter away into lightweight fluff.) Elephant Mountain would be an outstanding mix of the Youngbloods’ blend of experimental rock and jugband folk if it weren’t for the pointless (and pointlessly long) blues-based instrumental jam “On Sir Francis Drake.” Clearly, the drugs had taken hold when they decided to plop this bore into the sweet space between the jangly “Smug” and the gorgeous “Sunlight.” Sigh.

Quintessential 90s alt-rock band uses quintessential 90s sounds: crunching loud-then-soft dynamics, beautiful melodies hidden in a hurricane of noise. Butch Vig knew all the sonic tricks and Shirley Manson was the perfect sexy-cool front woman. This album sounds even better now than I remembered from when it first came out.

The sound of Sonic Youth really coalesced on 1987’s Sister, the band’s first real masterpiece. SY had been experimenting with modified guitars on blunt and jagged songs for a handful of years, creating an interesting and groundbreaking sound, but inconsistent albums and EPs. Beginning with EVOL, in 1986, their songcraft became more consistent, and they perfected it on Sister on tracks like “Schizophrenia” and “Stereo Sanctity.” One of this album’s highlights, though, is a cover: a faithful executed take on San Francisco punk band Crime’s fairly obscure “Hotwire My Heart,” with its tight rhythmic core and daggers of lead guitar slashing through the distortion. The gentle, dissonance of “Kotton Krown” nods to the epic scope we’d hear the following year on the band’s second masterpiece, the double album Daydream Nation.