yo so which album(s) should i get? there's like a hundred of them can you recommend any in particular?

yeah so i only come to GW for good advice on music.

it was catamites that reminded me he released a new game and shit and i'm watching juno and sonic youth came on and i was like "this shit is good" but i looked on wikipedia and BOOM a page of albums. i need to know which ones are good/the best. i'll prolly get them all eventually (nah maybe not) but i want something to start me off.

i've only ever really listened to daydream nation. it's the big famous one and stuff, and it is also really good, so probably start there. you might know it well already, but you didn't mention it. i like the ones the woman sings on more. the ones with the guy are a bit bland.

here are my sonic youth tiers. heres my tier list. it's in decreasing order of how much i like the albums

- EVOL (kind of vaguely hostile and unsettling strange but in a really beautiful way and def worth getting into.  maybe their best album??)
- Confusion Is Sex (early terrifying noise shit aaaa i like it a lot but wouldnt really recommend it to everyone)
- Washing Machine (this is the best of their recent stuff / albums after daydream nation i think. kind of more liquid / spacey / mellow than their earlier stuff, on some later albums this makes them kind of boring at times but here its just right and tempered with enough discordant stuff to be still interesting)

- Daydream Nation (fun fact if you ask any sonic youth fan their favorite album they will name anything except this one, not because it's bad or uh UNHIP or whatever but because its basically a mixture of all the stuff they've explored further on other albums. that makes it a p good introduction though!)
- Sister (as good as daydream nation but a little more punkish and abrasive and fun)
- Rather Ripped (really fun pop album!! a good summer album)
- Murray Street (another later one, pretty wimpy and uh light /wistful but i like it!! more low-key than their other stuff so maybe not the best introduction but still good)

- Dirty (more direct grunge/rock stuff than their other stuff, it's good but kind of borin lol)
- Goo (see above except with more sludgey jamband things but there are some really good songs)
- A Thousand Leaves (this is really good in places but uh kind of unmemorable overall?? its been a while since ive listened though)

- Bad Moon Rising (should get more points for the cover art alone but it's kind of a slog. death valley 69 rules)
- Sonic Nurse (like Murray Street but less memorable in every way)
- Jet Set, Trash & No Star (i liked the drums on bull in the heather but thats about it, generally considered their worst iirc)

IDK I didn't listen to their newest one or a couple of others and I'm kind of biased towards their earlier noisy stuff buuuuut I'd recommend "Evol" and "Sister" and then "Washing Machine". If you want just one I'd say Evol but more because its a great album than because its the best intro to the band so you know take that as you will

Day dream nation is really the only one that I ever got into and I didn't really see what the fuss was all about upon listening to it after a while.

ok i'm getting daydream nation, and the top 3 catamites mentioned

you are all cool guys. plus catamites i'm gonna get all you mixtapes. best make some more and shit.

atari you need to make mixtapes (have you doneso already??) because you like a lot of music i do(good music)

Goo is prob. my favorite but Daydream Nation, Sister, Evol, and Sonic Nurse are fuckin rad joints too.

They're one of my favorite bands but they're guilty of having so goddamn much masturbatory filler bullshit in almost every album. Some of Thurston Moore's lyrics are so bad that you sometimes just wish you were there during rehearsal so you could say "c'mon dude I'm gonna have to listen to this"

I listened to "stones" on mushrooms and the build-up tension was so goddamn great that once the breakdown came i was laying down on the floor with my hands on my head almost in tears of joy watching patterns in the ceiling texture dance 

what's your favorite sonic youth drug story?

sonic youth are one of my favorite bands ever. like everyone else has mentioned goo/evol/daydream nation/sister are some of my favorites.

I listened to "stones" on mushrooms and the build-up tension was so goddamn great that once the breakdown came i was laying down on the floor with my hands on my head almost in tears of joy watching patterns in the ceiling texture dance 

what's your favorite sonic youth drug story?

i listened to the trilogy from daydream nation on mushrooms once and came in my pants from the euphoria

I've never seen what was so great about sonic youth. Their music always seemed like boring noise to me, but I keep thinking they're one of those bands that I should like and there are certain melodic qualities that they have that I like.

Is there a good place to start that can help to convince me that they aren't just a bunch of pretentious noise?

Re: puppet master
from:Gaming World Hivemind

subject:Convincing YOU
see: thecatamites post

addendum: we here at the Gaming World will try our very best to provide You the best, most likeable recommendations of certain melodic qualities of the band sonic youth that is not just a bunch of pretentious noise. it is in our best interest and priority to convince You otherwise. Yours truly: the Gaming World Hivemind.

 

i only just noticed like all their tracks are ~7 minutes long

wtf

i dont do drugs either but i'm enjoying what i'm hearing though. thanks guys

i saw sonic youth live a year ago and they really lost a lot of their 'youth'ful vigor

yeah they're old as hell, it was quaint when lee had grey hair but now he's probably balding and I'm pretty sure thurston and kim are greying a bit and getting long in the tooth.

ive seen them every time the've come to seattle since I was like 16-17 and last time seemed like they're on their last leg. its sort of a shitty thing to say about a band I really like but i kinda hope they break up soon before they become a parody of themselves.

i only just noticed like all their tracks are ~7 minutes long

wtf

i dont do drugs either but i'm enjoying what i'm hearing though. thanks guys

maybe you should probably do drugs and listen to music(not just sonic youth, but in general) it'll change everything i promise. even if its just like smoking a joint or something