Wish Fulfillment is one of Lee's best songs, probably only bettered by Mote.

Agreed, mostly. WF is a glorious song. Hard to pick a favorite though. Rain King unfortunately never gets talked about, yet is brilliant.

I think one of the most underrated SY songs is New Hampshire. Awesome stuff in that one!

~Jeremy~

^ Jeremy's spoken....

Ps. paper cup exit totally owns Wish Fulfillment.

U so crazee

Sadie I love it....

Hoarfrost, Mote, Rain King.

The LR trilogy of awesome.

Behold it.

aaaaaaaaaaah, last weekend I went see a gig and before the band started playing the deejay put on hoarfrost....I almost cried.

And yes, Rain King, it's not a coincidence I decided to videotape that particular song when I went to the ddn revival tour haha.

articles like this that present some sort of supposed objectivity really get on my tits, sonic youth only have about 6 songs that ever get mentioned by people outside of the hardcore SY fanbase: teenage riot, kool thing, diamond sea, expressway to yr skull, bull in the haether, & maybe also sugar kane or dity boots. so saying that any other of their songs are overrated, or even just rated is kind of bullshit.
and how and how do you pick their most underrated songs, they have like a hundred songs that never get talked about by anyone, how is brave men run (a brilliant song) more underrated than say green light (an equally brilliant song)?
journalists will write any old crap just to fill up space.

these articles are silly, but interesting.
i'd vote disappearer and catholic block two of the most underrated, if I could.

<---stands correected nicfits!

I think macbeth is fucking great and not mentioned enough.

stones and hoarfrost are so fucking underrated it's almost criminal

The quality of a song is arbitrary, but how highly it is "rated" is much less subject to opinion.

Who the hell ever talks about Self Obsessed and Sexxee? How can this writer explain that song being "rated" at all?

Side Note: I really like Self-Obessed and Sexxee! But I'm sure the writer didn't know that.

overrated: kool thing
underrated: terry's carot

Overrated:

Teenage Riot ( great song but it gets this status bc this is basically the token sy song to know)

Bull In The Heather (alright song but kinda sad this is their highest charting single has none of the sy disonnance they're so known for)

Incinerate (when this song came out it scared me....that theyd settle into this light pop clean guitar sound for the rest of their career, feedback is so passe)

Superstar ( Falls into the annoying category of people who want to get into SY but don't like the noise. Thats like saying I want ice cream but I dont want something cold. They've done far better covers (Within You, Without You , hallowed be thy name) This always just came off as a cutesy cover to me)

Little Trouble Girl (A throwback to girl groups from the sixties but kind of a boring song too. Ever wonder what a Kim Gordon commercial album would have sounded like? It's this. My least fav song on one of my fav SY albums, this should not have got its own video. Wheres the love for "Becuz" or "Junkie's Promise")


Underrated:

Inhuman (From the very beginning of this song with those weird whomp crashes, its like raw power thats sure to come running to you. It used to be in setlists in the 80s but was eventually dropped. No one mentions this song when talking about Confusion is Sex, but they should)

Saucer-Like (Theory: The more lee songs on a record the better the record. Example WM=3, EJSTNS=0. Whether you agree with that or not theres no denying that lees song are always overlooked in the bands catalog. He has so many but even among lee favs this one isnt isnt discussed as much. How about that awesome beginning where it just builds before he throws in those wonderful lyrics of swirling cities of angels. It feels like a euphoric lucid dream with lee guiding you around the streets while you share a j)

Catholic Block (Loved this song from the second they make the bends on the gutar work with the drumbeat. Its like the perfect SY song going from A-Z in the course of the song with the greatest of ease, speeding along feroricously and ending in groaning screaming guitars. A full on guitar orgasm)

Titanium Expose (The second best SY album closer of the 90s (Diamond sea will alwyas be the winner). After holding in much of their noise for Goo they let it all hang out with this one. Sounding more like the sdtrk to a riot than teenage riot where kids flip cars over and beat businessman with their own briefcases. I say play this next time at a political rally and watch peoples unrealized anger turn to violence)

Helen Lundberg (Recorded at their last session at Murray Street and heard by a minority of SY fans this song is a treasure. Willfully noisy tribute that was somehow left off of Rather Ripped>track it down now if you havent discvovered this gem)

#

fully agree with this.

The only thing they got right on the whole set of lists is "Kool Thing" and that's not because it's a bad song, just that it is the only SY song that many people know. "Bull in the Heather" should have been on the overrated list for the same reason if there really were any rationale for creating these lists. I agree with T&B that there isn't though.

Putting "Brother James" and "Death Valley '69" as overrated just indicates that the writer doesn't like a particular side of the band. "The Diamond Sea" being on the underrated list when it is one of their better known songs indicates the side of their sound the author does prefer. No objectivity to the article to be seen.

Underrated list contains nothing from the SYRs, nothing from Kill Yr. Idols, nor even Confusion Is Sex, Bad Moon Rising or from the 1st record. Yet does contain something from DDN, the album that is in the Library of Congress. Clearly the title of the article should have been "5 Sonic Youth Songs I Like and 5 I'm Not So Wild About".

I love how Brother James is overrated and fucking Swimsuit Issue is underrated.

However, I'm tired of every man, woman and child talking about the legendary Self Obsessed and Sexee. Glad that its legend has been tarnished~

I agree, Self Obsessed and Sexee is a horrid song. I also don't see the love around here for Starfield Road, or that matter really anything off of Experimental Jet Set Trash and No Star.

~Jeremy~

All songs are adequately rated for all time everywhere.

There is no over/under.