What is the ideal starter CD for a SY newbie?
 

being hyperactive after having drunk too much gingko green tea, I start another thread.

what Sonic Youth CD would you recommend as a starter for SY newbie? I would say Murray Street would be ideal - it's accessible and has some great tunes on it while not turning back on experimental soundscapes and feedback paranoia at times (Karen Revisited). Dirty would do as well.

what do you think?

It depends whether they already like non-mainstream music or not.

If it's someone who doesn't even have, say Nirvana and Pearl Jam as points of reference, I think Rather Ripped would be a pretty good place to start, as there is very little about it that is threatening to the novice.

If the person already has some grounding, then, I agree, Murray Street would be a good one.

yeah Murray Street first.....then maybe a bit of Nurse......after that a little.........mmmmm.........Dirty or Goo......then when you've got em hooked.....BANG! Washing Machine with a helping of Sister... if they are still interested and their brains are still intact you can EVOL'em up and NYCG+F their asses...

but then there just comes a time when you just have to let em make their own mistakes and let em take responsiblity for themselves..
..... by this time if you've done your job they will be ordering SYR's online.

i dunno, maybe Sister or Goo.

...imho rather ripped...

Probably Goo, Dirty, or Daydream Nation... Depends on what the guy likes.

It was Goo that hooked me on SY back when it first came out. I think it's got a lot of hooks that would appeal to people used to more pop kinds of sounds, but it also has a lot of the SY trademark noise and sound-scape stuff. From there, I'd recommend Daydream Nation.

Dirty is for people who still like poppy stuff
Goo is for alternative people
DDN is for people who have experience with music and for people who like punk

a friend of mine introduced sy to me by goo and ddn
thats how i came to that music
so from a very subjective point of view i'd say those two are a good start

I started with CIS but DDN is the best.

I started with NYC G&F, maybe the worst CD to start :D

I'd say EVOL

Dirty is clearly the place to start, as it's their most mainstream. Anything pre-Goo is a terrible idea, because the production is so bad that those records just sound horribly dated.

For me, I really dug "Kool Thing" when it was a single and all over "120 Minutes," but I didn't buy any SY until Dirty came out (got it on cassette, no less -- probably one of the last tapes I bought before switching to CDs). But I have a hard time listening to anything pre-Goo. It just sounds old and moldy to me.

Honestly, either Daydream Nation or Murray Street. Daydream Nation was my first Sonic Youth record, but I got into it around the time of Murray Street and that tour (which I managed to catch them on). If Murray Street had sucked, I might not have even bothered to go to that concert, which is what really contributed to me becoming a big fan and buying even more of their albums. I heard Murray Street even before Goo, Dirty, Sister, EVOL, or any of that stuff. And really, I don't think any of the other albums could've gotten me hooked as fast as Daydream Nation and Murray Street did.

Then again, I have recommended Bad Moon Rising to people who I thought would like that sort of thing. It is one of my favorites. Right now it probably is my favorite of theirs, but that can change. I just think it's super.

"Dirty" Deluxe Edition LP was the starting point for me.

I would say Dirty and then Daydream Nation.

confusion is sex! their best album

I heard Dirty first, but it was Daydream Nation that got me into them.

washing machine was a fine starting point for me. i mean, the long jams completely blew my mind, but not in any remotely discouraging way. i got into the band by way of nirvana.

My first one was Dirty, and I didn't like it that much. Then I gave them a second chance and got EJSTNS and Daydream Nation and loved them. Ultimately, I'd say EJS was what got me into them, and if I didn't know better that's what I'd recommend. But apparently I have bad taste.

lolol