if simple pop = "Reena," then sign me up son.

As someone who got into Sonic Youth pretty late: RR actually was the first of their albums that I bought. And as such it will always occupy a special place in my heart.

While I wouldn't call it one of their best albums, I still stand in its defense. The album has a 90s-vibe to it, which was very much to my liking back in 06' since I had a huge soft-spot for angsty 90s music back then (And I still have to a certain degree). 'Reena' was my perfect introduction to Kim's cold, crooning voice. 'Rats' is a pretty sweet tune that I still listen to every now and then. I dig the bluesy, smoke-filled atmosphere it emits. And what can I say about 'Pink Steam' that hasn't been said before? Most of the other tracks aren't bad either. The sole definite misstep in my opinion was 'Sleeping Around'.

On topic: Yes, it seems like Thurston's songwriting skills are waning. But I wouldn't say it bothers me too much. Haven't been up to date about his output in quite some time and it seems like I didn't miss out on much.

Dude, The Eternal was shit on even more than Rather Ripped was!

The Eternal was generally well received here.

I was here. It wasn't.

Post evidence. Even Adam Cooley said it was cool! The only negative stuff I remember being said was that the mixing and mastering was shit, which it was.

I didn't say it was either unanimous or that later many folks didn't change their minds, but I DISTINCTLY remember how many people were disappointed, especially because it made me initially wait a few weeks to even pick it up because so many posters had such blah and meh things to say. If this damned "search" function actually worked I'd pull up some of those threads, but alas, unlike Reading Rainbow, you're totally going to just have to take my word on it ;)

Part of the reason I'm not the biggest fan of Rather Ripped overall is because of Jim's absence. In my opinion, Murray Street and Sonic Nurse are the closest albums that SY had to masterpieces since their albums from the late 80's and early 90's. The only 90's vibe I get from RR is due to the line up of the band, not the songs themselves. I too have a huge soft-spot for angsty 90's music. It's pretty much the only music I listen to. Ha.

Great post! I totally miss Jim, I think that his involvement made 1998-2005 even BETTER than those peak mid-80 years. Jim seemed to add more underlying structure and symmetry, which allowed for Thurston and Steve explore more range in their guitar work. Really, it came down to the fact that Jim was a totally better bass player than Kim ;)

Thank you! Jim provided for Sonic Youth exactly what they needed after the gear theft incident of 1999, he expanded their sound without changing it. Although I would rank NYC Ghosts & Flowers no where near Murray Street and Sonic Nurse in terms of overall almost perfection, that album was important as a transitional record and his full integration into the band. And as with all SY albums, NYCG&F has its moments. A Thousand Leaves was their last album as the SY super quartet that they had been since EVOL. But for Rather Ripped, going back to being a quartet just did not work the same way as it did between the years of 1986 - 1998.

A Thousand Leaves is my all time favorite sonic youth record, BUT, lets remember, they were touring for that record when their gear got stolen (I was at that show in Irvine btw), so really, that transition was not just from the gear being stolen, but already clearly in the works. Jim has production credits on ATL.. I think what happened is when their gear got jacked they decided to stick with what they were doing on ATL full-force.. also, Thurston mentioned they started writing more music on acoustic guitars after the theft. That is noticeable in the sound, it became more precise, more calculated, more musical, which definitely reflects the influence of acoustic guitars.

has it been 8 years since RR was out? rhetorical, but seriously meh.

i would watch the clip again to check out T' girlfriend, but i m bored.

Interesting point, there - I recall the mixes indeed being uninspired, but from what I recall, the vinyl mastering wasn't that bad, all being told. Was the CD mastering that crap, then?

first i thought the thread title was a tasteless joke but then i had to stop watching at 1'25" because it was too painful.

these are the kind of threads that make me love syg.

I'm still not sure where Suchfriends got the story that Rather Ripped got a better reception on this forum than The Eternal. The search function is not the best but it brings up nicer words for The Eternal than it does for Rather Ripped.

this. All the Eternal threads I found were kind words.

Oh. I like both the song and the video.

The only Eternal backlash I remember is the low-bitrate preview stream. ;)

I wish I didn't hear that preview stream. That's the one where it had clips of every song in it, right?
I would have preferred to hear how it sounded when i got my copy. It's a fine album