Robert Christgau on ATL:


The only Sonic Youth record to get an A+ from "The Dean" :rolleyes: when it was released (Daydream Nation received an A originally; the 2007 reissue did get the maximum rating).

Ripped isn’t garbage, is it? I mean, it’s been a while since I last listened to it, but I always felt it was the realization of SY’s pop dream. (Or maybe that was actually EJS?)

Rather Ripped is a gorgeous, precise, PERFECT fuckin' album and I can't believe it's still getting shit after 12 years.





Noooo, Experimental Jet Set, Trash and No Star is all over the place compared to RR. If anything, beyond superficial measures of volume and tempo, it contains less pop songwriting than Dirty, the album it "reacted" against.

The Dean is correct in his assessment. But I’m troubled by the fact that he doesn’t mention the breakdown of “Heather Angel.” What a whopper of a surprise post-punk deathmarch that is. Uh!

Of course, this being the only A+ Sonic Youth record besides Daydream is troubling.

A Thousand Leaves has its moments, but it's definitely not one of my favourite SY records. I will share the full list as soon as I've made it through all the albums again, which'll be in a few days.

I think in some ways it’s the most “Sonic Youth does pop” of any of their albums. Dirty is more “Pop does Sonic Youth,” (pop being Butch Vig). But I can see the argument for RR too.

Fuck this anti-RR shit though. It’s a great record. It’s a gorgeous gem of a noise-pop album, and it’s better than most of the high-profile indie rock records from that era.

Eternal isn’t a great farewell, but whatever

Yeah, it’s been a while since I’ve listened to the full collection. Been sticking to the ‘80s stuff for the past couple years.

Probably about time to dig back in.

Anagrama is one of the best things they ever did.

100% agree. Reputation points added. Cheers.

The feeling of freedom and euphoria in that song is unlike anything else in their discography. You can tell they were feeling liberated by having their brand new, very own studio.

Yup. I remember picking it up from a Tower Records, plopping it into my (yep) portable CD player, and listening to it on my walk home.

The song is the highlight, but the entire EP is SOARING.

I’ll never forget that walk home. Brilliant song.

I was a little young when it came out. 14 or 15? It was a challenge finding sy cds in my hometown. So I'm in a college town an i find a record store that had all kinds of cool stuff i could never find, dozens of nirvana bootlegs, and more sonic youth albums than i knew existed. Not sure why i chose syr 1 but i'm glad i did. Cool store. I also found the diamond sea single there another time.

I didn’t buy Anagrama until a few years after it dropped. I was 18 or 19 when I bought it. Sorry... the above story wasn’t meant to be a “when it came out” story, just a “that fucker hit me from the word go” story.

I was only starting to build my Sonic Youth stash when SYR started, and they had not yet become my favorite band.

it is so refreshing to see SY albums being discussed again on this forum, it seems alive here.

tell me about your encounter with SY Claire, I am interested.

ATL is not on the top, but Female Mechanic Now On Duty is some strong stuff, so Anagrama! I like RR. I like EJSTNS too, do not understand why people dislike it so much.

I know it's blasphemy, but I admit I heard EJSTNS like twice in my life, overall. And I disliked it both of the times.

True that.

Can't really remember where I heard about them - probably some article or factoid linking them with Nirvana.

... hennnhh?!

Really?

Dude.

ALSO, back to ATL...

I think it’s important to add that ATL has, arguably, the greatest Sonic Youth album art.

Maybe DDN is more iconic, but ATL is #2, easily.

Goddamn glorious