Sonic Youth (album)
Encyclopedia
Sonic Youth is the debut release by Sonic Youth
. It was recorded in 1981 at Radio City Music Hall
, New York City
and released on Glenn Branca
's Neutral
label in 1982. It is the only recording featuring the early Sonic Youth line-up with Richard Edson
on drums.
Although less than twenty five minutes long, it is considered by the band to be their first album.
roots. With professional production and a crisp sound quality that wouldn't be heard from the band until their major label releases, some Sonic Youth fans consider this album tame, even mellow in comparison to later albums. Drum-wise, the songs feature the more 'downtown' Roto-tom-addled stylings of Richard Edson
, approaching the rhythms of 99 Records
bands like ESG
and Liquid Liquid
. The bass, though often playing minor key riffs, is almost funk based, which was a common feature of No Wave. The clean guitar tones, without fuzz or atonalities, contain little of the trademark noise that Sonic Youth would eventually become famous for, besides prophetic glimpses such as the static solo in "Burning Spear" and the dissonant solo in "I Don't Want To Push It". Several of the most peaceful songs in their early career are featured here ("I Dreamed I Dream" and "She Is Not Alone"). "The Good and the Bad" is a minimalist exploration of tension and repetition. The overall tone of this album is restrained in sonics yet loose in composition, as they had yet to develop into the tight and complex wall-of-noise unit that would eventually become more pop oriented with their later work; yet this contains most all the foundational elements they would later explore.
Sonic Youth was reissued in 2006, with a number of bonus tracks that bring the running time to 63:04. Added are 7 songs from a live performance recorded on September 18, 1981. Most of the tracks played were based on pieces composed by the band for the Noisefest festival held earlier in 1981, while others predate the band itself, such as Kim's song "Cosmopolitan Girl". Several of these pieces are quite different from their studio counterparts, in particular the noisy early version of "She is Not Alone". Amongst the tracks is the instrumental "Destroyer", much coveted by bootleg collectors but incredibly rare.
Also added is a studio recording of a song that appears in the live performance, "Where The Red Fern Grows". The song, an early version of "I Dreamed I Dream", was recorded in October 1981. This version is an instrumental, while on the live take Lee sings two lines towards the end.
Also added in the booklet of the reissue are new photos as well as extensive liner notes from Glenn Branca
, Richard Edson
, Byron Coley
and a "few notes" concerning the album from Thurston Moore
.
Despite the CD reissue on Geffen Records
, logos for Neutral Records
, which the album was originally released on, can still be found in numerous places in the package.
On the Geffen CD reissue, the tray card is double sided - the side that faces out contains the track listing with a bar code and an RIAA anti-piracy notice and the opposite side has the same track listing without a bar code or an RIAA warning.
On the 1987 cassette release of the EP by SST Records
, the first side of the cassette has the same 5 tracks as the original 1982 release, but the second side has the same 5 tracks recorded in reverse, from the end of the last track to the beginning of the first. In addition, the second side's track listing printed on the cassette is the same as the first side but printed in mirror-reverse, as well as the track listing for said side on the j-card
in the cassette case.
Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth is an American alternative rock band from New York City, formed in 1981. The current lineup consists of Thurston Moore , Kim Gordon , Lee Ranaldo , Steve Shelley , and Mark Ibold .In their early career, Sonic Youth was associated with the No Wave art and music scene in New York City...
. It was recorded in 1981 at Radio City Music Hall
Radio City Music Hall
Radio City Music Hall is an entertainment venue located in New York City's Rockefeller Center. Its nickname is the Showplace of the Nation, and it was for a time the leading tourist destination in the city...
, New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and released on Glenn Branca
Glenn Branca
Glenn Branca is an American avant-garde composer and guitarist known for his use of volume, alternative guitar tunings, repetition, droning, and the harmonic series. In 2008 he was awarded an unrestricted grant from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts.-Beginnings: 1960s and early 1970s:Branca...
's Neutral
Neutral Records
Neutral Records is an independent record label. Glenn Branca ran the label during the No Wave and post-punk scene in the Lower East Side, New York, in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Among their releases were early records by Swans and the first EP by Sonic Youth as well as Confusion is Sex....
label in 1982. It is the only recording featuring the early Sonic Youth line-up with Richard Edson
Richard Edson
Richard Edson is an American actor and musician.-Biography:Edson was born in New Rochelle, New York. He has one brother, Steven, who resides in the Boston area, and two sisters: Andrea, who resides in Newton, Massachusetts and Jennifer, who resides in New York City. His father Arnold was one of...
on drums.
Although less than twenty five minutes long, it is considered by the band to be their first album.
Overview
Sonic Youth is the only Sonic Youth release in which the guitars predominantly use standard tuning, yet this album is representative of their early experimental, No WaveNo Wave
No Wave was a short-lived but influential underground music, film, performance art, video, and contemporary art scene that had its beginnings during the mid-1970s in New York City. The term No Wave is in part satirical word play rejecting the commercial elements of the then-popular New Wave genre...
roots. With professional production and a crisp sound quality that wouldn't be heard from the band until their major label releases, some Sonic Youth fans consider this album tame, even mellow in comparison to later albums. Drum-wise, the songs feature the more 'downtown' Roto-tom-addled stylings of Richard Edson
Richard Edson
Richard Edson is an American actor and musician.-Biography:Edson was born in New Rochelle, New York. He has one brother, Steven, who resides in the Boston area, and two sisters: Andrea, who resides in Newton, Massachusetts and Jennifer, who resides in New York City. His father Arnold was one of...
, approaching the rhythms of 99 Records
99 Records
99 Records was an independent record label active from 1980-1984. 99 was run out of a record store with the same name, located at 99 MacDougal Street in New York City's Greenwich Village, and owned by Ed Bahlman...
bands like ESG
ESG
ESG may refer to:* Engineering Seismology Group, a microseismic monitoring and data analysis company from Canada.* Environmental Social and Corporate Governance, the commonly accepted factors involved in Responsible Investment assessments...
and Liquid Liquid
Liquid Liquid
Liquid Liquid is a New York City post-punk, post-disco band, originally active from 1980 to 1983. They are perhaps best known for their track, "Cavern", which was covered by the Sugar Hill Records house band as the backing track for Grandmaster + Melle Mel's old school rap classic, "White Lines "...
. The bass, though often playing minor key riffs, is almost funk based, which was a common feature of No Wave. The clean guitar tones, without fuzz or atonalities, contain little of the trademark noise that Sonic Youth would eventually become famous for, besides prophetic glimpses such as the static solo in "Burning Spear" and the dissonant solo in "I Don't Want To Push It". Several of the most peaceful songs in their early career are featured here ("I Dreamed I Dream" and "She Is Not Alone"). "The Good and the Bad" is a minimalist exploration of tension and repetition. The overall tone of this album is restrained in sonics yet loose in composition, as they had yet to develop into the tight and complex wall-of-noise unit that would eventually become more pop oriented with their later work; yet this contains most all the foundational elements they would later explore.
Sonic Youth was reissued in 2006, with a number of bonus tracks that bring the running time to 63:04. Added are 7 songs from a live performance recorded on September 18, 1981. Most of the tracks played were based on pieces composed by the band for the Noisefest festival held earlier in 1981, while others predate the band itself, such as Kim's song "Cosmopolitan Girl". Several of these pieces are quite different from their studio counterparts, in particular the noisy early version of "She is Not Alone". Amongst the tracks is the instrumental "Destroyer", much coveted by bootleg collectors but incredibly rare.
Also added is a studio recording of a song that appears in the live performance, "Where The Red Fern Grows". The song, an early version of "I Dreamed I Dream", was recorded in October 1981. This version is an instrumental, while on the live take Lee sings two lines towards the end.
Also added in the booklet of the reissue are new photos as well as extensive liner notes from Glenn Branca
Glenn Branca
Glenn Branca is an American avant-garde composer and guitarist known for his use of volume, alternative guitar tunings, repetition, droning, and the harmonic series. In 2008 he was awarded an unrestricted grant from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts.-Beginnings: 1960s and early 1970s:Branca...
, Richard Edson
Richard Edson
Richard Edson is an American actor and musician.-Biography:Edson was born in New Rochelle, New York. He has one brother, Steven, who resides in the Boston area, and two sisters: Andrea, who resides in Newton, Massachusetts and Jennifer, who resides in New York City. His father Arnold was one of...
, Byron Coley
Byron Coley
Byron Coley is an American music critic who wrote prominently for Forced Exposure magazine in the 1980s, starting with their fifth issue until the magazine ceased publication in 1993. Prior to Forced Exposure, he wrote for NY Rocker, Boston Rock, and Take It! magazine. Coley is one of the first...
and a "few notes" concerning the album from Thurston Moore
Thurston Moore
Thurston Joseph Moore is an American musician best known as a singer, songwriter and guitarist of Sonic Youth. He has also participated in many solo and group collaborations outside of Sonic Youth, as well as running the Ecstatic Peace! record label...
.
Despite the CD reissue on Geffen Records
Geffen Records
Geffen Records is an American record label, owned by Universal Music Group, and operated as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group.-Beginnings:...
, logos for Neutral Records
Neutral Records
Neutral Records is an independent record label. Glenn Branca ran the label during the No Wave and post-punk scene in the Lower East Side, New York, in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Among their releases were early records by Swans and the first EP by Sonic Youth as well as Confusion is Sex....
, which the album was originally released on, can still be found in numerous places in the package.
On the Geffen CD reissue, the tray card is double sided - the side that faces out contains the track listing with a bar code and an RIAA anti-piracy notice and the opposite side has the same track listing without a bar code or an RIAA warning.
On the 1987 cassette release of the EP by SST Records
SST Records
SST Records is an American independent record label formed in 1978 in Long Beach, California by musician Greg Ginn. The company was initially called Solid State Transmitters through which Ginn sold electronics equipment...
, the first side of the cassette has the same 5 tracks as the original 1982 release, but the second side has the same 5 tracks recorded in reverse, from the end of the last track to the beginning of the first. In addition, the second side's track listing printed on the cassette is the same as the first side but printed in mirror-reverse, as well as the track listing for said side on the j-card
J-card
A j-card is the paper card inserted in the plastic storage case of most pre-recorded audio cassette releases, as well as cassettes of bootleg or copied concerts of the jam band scene...
in the cassette case.
Track listing
- "The Burning Spear" (lyrics/vocals Moore) – 3:28
- "I Dreamed I Dream" (lyrics Edson and Ranaldo, vocals Gordon and Ranaldo) – 5:12
- "She Is Not Alone" (lyrics/vocals Moore) – 4:06
- "I Don't Want to Push It" (lyrics Gordon, vocals Moore) – 3:35
- "The Good and the Bad" – 7:55
2006 CD reissue bonus tracks
- "Hard Work" (lyrics Gordon, vocals Moore) – 3:19
- "Where the Red Fern Grows" (lyrics Edson, vocals Ranaldo) – 5:47
- "The Burning Spear" – 3:23
- "Cosmopolitan Girl" (lyrics/vocals Gordon) – 3:35
- "Loud and Soft" (lyrics/vocals Ranaldo) – 6:48
- "Destroyer" – 5:32
- "She Is Not Alone" – 3:29
- "Where the Red Fern Grows" – 6:45
- Tracks 6–12 are from an early live recording (Music for Millions Festival at New Pilgrim Theatre, New York City; 18 September 1981).
- Track 13 is an early studio recording.
Personnel
- Kim GordonKim GordonKim Althea Gordon is an American musician, vocalist, artist, record producer, video director and actress. She has sung and played bass and guitar in the alternative rock band Sonic Youth, and in Free Kitten with Julia Cafritz...
– bass, vocals, guitar on "The Good and the Bad" - Thurston MooreThurston MooreThurston Joseph Moore is an American musician best known as a singer, songwriter and guitarist of Sonic Youth. He has also participated in many solo and group collaborations outside of Sonic Youth, as well as running the Ecstatic Peace! record label...
– guitar, vocals, bass on "The Good and the Bad" - Lee RanaldoLee RanaldoLee M. Ranaldo is an American singer, guitarist, writer, record producer, and visual artist, best known as a co-founder of the alternative rock band Sonic Youth...
– guitar, vocals - Richard EdsonRichard EdsonRichard Edson is an American actor and musician.-Biography:Edson was born in New Rochelle, New York. He has one brother, Steven, who resides in the Boston area, and two sisters: Andrea, who resides in Newton, Massachusetts and Jennifer, who resides in New York City. His father Arnold was one of...
– drums