Frogtoon Music

Daydream Nation (Album) by Sonic Youth

Artist Biography For Sonic Youth

Sonic Youth Was An Influential Experimental Rock Band Which Formed In New York City New York United States In 1981 And Are Currently On An Indefinite Hiatus. The Last Lineup Consisted Of Thurston Moore Vocals Guitar Kim Gordon Vocals Bass Guitar Lee Ranaldo Vocals And Guitar Steve Shelley Drums And Mark Ibold Bass . In Their Early Career Sonic Youth Was Associated With The No Wave Art And Music Scene In New York City. Part Of The First Wave Of American Noise Rock Groups The Band Carried Out Their Interpretation Of The Hardcore Punk Ethos Throughout The Evolving American Underground That Focused More On The DIY Ethic Of The Genre Rather Than Its Specific Sound. As A Result Sonic Youth Was Pivotal In The Rise Of The Alternative Rock Movement. Sonic Youth Have Expressed A Wide Variety Of Influences Ranging From The Influential Protopunk Musician Patti Smith To Composer John Cage. The Band Has Been Praised For Having "redefined What Rock Guitar Could Do" Using A Wide Variety Of Unorthodox Guitar Tunings And Preparing Guitars With Objects Like Drumsticks And Screwdrivers To Alter The Instruments' Timbre. Formation And Early History 1977-1981 Sonic Youth's History Began When Guitarist Thurston Moore Moved To New York City In Early 1976. Interested In Punk Moore Joined The Coachmen A Guitar-Based Quartet After Arriving In The City. Lee Ranaldo An Art Student At Binghamton University Became A Fan Of The Coachmen And He And Moore Were Soon Friends. Ranaldo Was A Member Of Glenn Branca's Electric Guitar Ensemble Touring Throughout The United States And Europe. After The Breakup Of The Coachmen Moore Began Jamming With Stanton Miranda Whose Band CKM Featured Local Artist Kim Gordon. Moore And Gordon Formed A Band Appearing Under Names Like Male Bonding And Red Milk Before Agreeing Upon The Arcadians In Late 1980. The Band Played Their First Show At Noise Fest In June 1981 At New York's White Columns Gallery. Branca's Ensemble Played At The Festival. Their Performance Impressed Moore Who Described Them As "the Most Ferocious Guitar Band That I Had Ever Seen In My Life." After Branca's Set Moore Asked Ranaldo If He Wanted To Join The Arcadians. Ranaldo Accepted The Band Played Three Songs At The Festival Later In The Week Without A Drummer. Each Band Member Took Turns Playing The Drums Until They Met Drummer Richard Edson. Moore Soon Renamed The Band "Sonic Youth". The Name Came From Combining The Nickname Of MC5's Fred "Sonic" Smith With The Trend Of Reggae Artists Such As Big Youth Featuring The Word "Youth" In Their Names. Gordon Later Recalled That "as Soon As Thurston Came Up With The Name Sonic Youth A Certain Sound That Was More Of What We Wanted To Do Came About." Early Releases 1982-1985 Branca Signed Sonic Youth As The First Act On His Record Label Neutral Records. In December 1981 The Group Recorded Five Songs In A Studio In New York's Radio City Music Hall. The Material Was A Released As The Sonic Youth Mini-LP That While Largely Ignored Was Sent To A Few Key Members Of The US Press That Gave It Uniformly Favorable Reviews. After Their First Record Edson Quit The Group For A Modestly Successful Acting Career And Was Replaced By Bob Bert. During Their Early Days As Part Of The New York Music Scene Sonic Youth Formed A Friendship With Noisy New Yorkers Swans. The Bands Came To Share The Same Rehearsal Space And Sonic Youth Embarked On Its First Tour A Two-Week Journey Through The Southern United States Starting In November 1982 Supporting Swans. During A Second Tour With Swans Of The Midwest The Following Month Tensions Ran High And Moore Constantly Criticized Bert's Drumming Which He Felt Wasn't "in The Pocket". Bert Was Fired Afterwards And Replaced By Jim Sclavunos Who Played Drums On The Band's 1983 Album Confusion Is Sex. Sonic Youth Set Up A Two-Week Tour Of Europe For The Summer Of 1983. Sclavunos However Quit After Only A Few Months. The Group Asked Bert To Rejoin And He Agreed On The Condition That He Would Not Be Fired Again After The Tour's Conclusion. Sonic Youth Found Themselves Well-Received In Europe But The New York Press Largely Ignored The Local Noise Rock Scene. Eventually As The Press Began To Take Notice Of The Genre Sonic Youth Was Grouped Along With Bands Like Big Black The Butthole Surfers And Pussy Galore Under The "pigfuck" Label By Village Voice Music Critic Robert Christgau. Christgau Saw These Bands As Sharing An Abrasive Noisy And Confrontational Aesthetic. Based On This Classification And On A Negative Live Review By Christgau A Feud Developed Between Moore And The Critic With Moore Renaming The Song "Kill Yr Idols" To "I Killed Christgau With My Big Fucking Dick" Before The Two Sorted Out Their Differences Amicably. During Another Tour Of Europe In 1984 Sonic Youth's Disastrous London Debut Where The Band's Equipment Malfunctioned And Moore Consequently Destroyed The Equipment Onstage In Frustration Actually Resulted In Rave Reviews In Sounds And The NME. By The Time They Returned To New York They Were So Popular They Played Shows Practically Every Week. That Same Year Moore And Gordon Were Married And Sonic Youth Released Bad Moon Rising A Self-Described "Americana" Album That Served As A Reaction To The State Of The Nation At The Time. The Album Recorded By Martin Bisi Was Built Around Transitional Pieces That Moore And Ranaldo Had Come Up With In Order To Take Up Time Onstage While The Other Guitarist Was Busy Tuning His Instrument As A Result There Are Almost No Breaks Between The Songs On The Record Which Feature Walls Of Feedback And Pounding Rhythms. Bad Moon Rising Featured An Appearance By Lydia Lunch On The Album's Single "Death Valley '69" Inspired By The Charles Manson Family Murders. In Contrast To Their Abrasive Atonal Material Of The Time The Band Considered The Song Relatively Conventional. Due To A Falling-Out With Branca Over Disputed Royalty Payments From Their Neutral Releases They Were Signed To Homestead Records By Gerard Cosloy And By Blast First In The UK Which Founder Paul Smith Created Simply So He Could Distribute The Band's Records In Europe . While Even The New York Press Ignored Bad Moon Rising Upon Its Release Now Viewing The Band As Too Arty And Pretentious Sonic Youth Was Becoming Quite Critically Acclaimed In The United Kingdom Where The New Album Had Sold 5 000 Copies In Just Six Months. Claiming He Was Bored With Playing Bad Moon Rising Live In Its Entirety For Over A Year Bert Quit The Group And Was Replaced By Steve Shelley Formerly Of The Hardcore Group Crucifucks. The Band Was So Impressed With Shelley's Drumming After Seeing Him Play Live They Hired Him Without An Audition. Bert Has Remained On Good Terms With The Group He And Shelley Both Appeared In The Music Video For "Death Valley '69" As Bert Performed The Drums On The Song But Shelley Was The Group's Drummer When The Video Was Made. SST And Enigma 1986-1989 Sonic Youth Had A Long Fascination With Influential Indie Label SST Records. Ranaldo Said "It Was The First Record Company We Were On That We Really Would Have Given Anything To Be On." Sonic Youth Eventually Signed To The Label In Early 1986 And Began Recording Evol With Martin Bisi In March Of That Year. Evol Itself Represented An Evolution Of Sorts For The Band In Addition To Increasingly Melodic Material And The Impact Of New Drummer Shelley's Playing The Record Also Dealt With Themes Of Celebrity Particularly With Songs Like "Expressway To Yr Skull" Called "a Classic" By Neil Young And "Marilyn Moore". Signing To SST Catapulted The Band On To A National Stage Something That Did Not Happen To Their Peers In The New York Underground. The Mainstream Music Press Subsequently Began To Take Notice Of The Band. Robert Palmer Of The The New York Times Declared That Sonic Youth Was "making The Most Startlingly Original Guitar-Based Music Since Jimi Hendrix" And Even People Praised Evol As The "aural Equivalent Of A Toxic Waste Dump." Evol Is Also Notable For A Guest Appearance By Bass Guitarist Mike Watt A Friend Whom The Band Coaxed To Come To New York After He Was Deeply Depressed By The Death Of His Bandmate D. Boon. On 1987's Sister Sonic Youth Continued Refining Their Blend Of Pop Song Structures With Uncompromising Experimentalism. Another Loose Concept Album Sister Is Partly Inspired By The Life And Works Of Science Fiction Writer Philip K. Dick The "sister" Of The Title Was Dick's Fraternal Twin Who Died Shortly After Her Birth And Whose Memory Haunted Dick His Entire Life . Sister Sold 60 000 Copies And Received Very Positive Reviews Becoming The First Sonic Youth Album To Crack The Top 20 Of The Village Voice's Pazz & Jop Critics Poll. Despite The Critical Success The Band Was Becoming Increasingly Dissatisfied With SST Due To Concerns About Payment And Other Administrative Practices. Sonic Youth Decided To Release Their Next Record On Enigma Records Which Was Distributed By Capitol Records And Partly Owned By EMI. The 1988 Double LP Daydream Nation Was A Critical Success That Earned Sonic Youth Substantial Acclaim. The Album Came In Second On The Village Voice Pazz & Jop Poll And Topped The Year-End Album Lists Of The NME CMJ And Melody Maker. In 2006 It Was One Of 50 Recordings Chosen That Year By The Library Of Congress To Be Added To The National Recording Registry. The Lead Single From The Album "Teen Age Riot" Was The First Song From The Band To Reach Significant Success Receiving Heavy Airplay In Modern And College Rock Stations. A Number Of Prominent Music Periodicals Including Rolling Stone Hailed Daydream Nation As One Of The Best Albums Of The Decade And Named Sonic Youth As The "Hot Band" In Its "Hot" Issue. Unfortunately Distribution Problems Arose And Daydream Nation Was Often Difficult To Find In Stores. Moore Considered Enigma A "cheap-Jack Mafioso Outfit" And The Band Began Looking For A Major Label Deal. Major Label Career And Alternative Icons 1990-1999 In 1990 Sonic Youth Released Goo Their First Album For Geffen Which Featured The Single "Kool Thing" On Which Chuck D From Rap Group Public Enemy Guested. "Kool Thing" Became The Song That Many Casual Music Fans Associate With The Band It Was Later Featured In The Video Game Guitar Hero III And Was Made Available As A Paid Download For The Rock Band Video Game. The Record Is Considered Much More Accessible Than Their Previous Work. Their 1991 Tour With The Then Relatively Unknown Nirvana Was Captured In The Film 1991 The Year Punk Broke. In 1992 The Band Released Dirty On The DGC Label. Their Influence As Tastemakers Continued With Their Discovery Of Acclaimed Skateboard Video Director Spike Jonze Who They Recruited For The Video For "100%" Which Also Featured Skateboarder Turned Actor Jason Lee. This Song Along With The Gordon Tune "JC" Contain Lyrical References To The Murder Of Joe Cole A Friend Who Worked With The Band As A Roadie. The Album Features Artwork By Los Angeles-Based Artist Mike Kelley. In Addition Robert Bradley's Blackwater Surprise Opened On Numerous Occasions For Sonic Youth In The Late 90s. "Dirty" Features A Guest Appearance By Ian McKaye Minor Threat And Fugazi Playing Guitar On The Track "Youth Against Fascism". In 1994 The Band Released Experimental Jet Set Trash And No Star Their Best Charting Release In The United States Which Peaked At #34 On The Billboard 200. The Album Was Filled With Low-Key Melodies And Even Produced A Hit Single "Bull In The Heather". Moore And Gordon's Daughter Coco Hayley Gordon Moore Was Born Earlier In The Year And Many Of The Songs From The Album Were Never Played Live Because There Was Never A Full Tour To Support The Album Due To Gordon's Pregnancy. The Band Headlined The 1995 Lollapalooza Festival. By That Time Alternative Rock Had Gained Considerable Mainstream Attention And The Festival Was Parodied On The Simpsons 1996 Episode "Homerpalooza" Which Featured Voiceovers From The Band. They Also Performed The Final Credits Theme For That Episode. Gordon Collaborated In Free Kitten And Started A Clothing Label X-Girl Based In Los Angeles. Ranaldo And Moore Have Played With Many Experimental / Noise Musicians Including William Hooker Nels Cline Tom Surgal Don Dietrich Christian Marclay And Mission Of Burma Among Others. Shelley Runs The Smells Like Records Record Label As Well As Playing In Backing Bands For Chan Marshall Cat Power And Two Dollar Guitar. From Sonic Youth's Earliest Days Gordon Had Occasionally Played Guitar With The Group. About The Time Of A Thousand Leaves And Washing Machine She Began Playing Guitar More Frequently Resulting In A Three-Guitar And Drums Lineup. These Songs Were Something Of A Shift For The Group's Sound And Would Lead To The Introduction Of A Fifth Member A Few Years Later. The Washing Machine Album Started A Major Shift In The Band Away From Their Punk Roots That Working With Longer Noise-Jam Sections And Included Two Tracks That Showed The New Approach In Full Force - The Title Track "Washing Machine" Which Is Just Under 10 Minutes Long And "The Diamond Sea" Which Is Over 19 Minutes Long. During The Late 1990s And Early 2000s The Band Began Releasing A Series Of Highly Experimental Records On Their Own Hoboken New Jersey-Based Label SYR. The Music Was Mostly Instrumental And The Album And Track Titles And Even The Liner Notes And Credits Were In Different Languages SYR1 Was In French SYR2 In Dutch SYR3 In Esperanto SYR5 In Japanese SYR6 In Lithuanian SYR7 In Arpitan And SYR8 In Danish. SYR3 Was The First To Feature Jim O'Rourke Who Went On To Become An Official Band Member. SYR4 Was Subtitled "Goodbye 20th Century" And Featured Works By Avant-Garde Classical Composers Such As John Cage Yoko Ono Steve Reich And Christian Wolff Played By Sonic Youth Along With Several Collaborators From The Modern Avant-Garde Music Scene Such As Christian Marclay William Winant Wharton Tiers Takehisa Kosugi And Others. The Album Received Mixed Reviews But Some Critics Praised The Group's Efforts At Popularizing And Reinterpreting The Composers' Works. Later DGC Period 2000-2006 On July 4 1999 Sonic Youth's Instruments Amps And Gear Were Stolen In The Middle Of The Night While On Tour In Orange California See Initial Post On Usenet . Forced To Start From Scratch With New Instruments They Recorded NYC Ghosts & Flowers And Opened For Pearl Jam During The East Coast Leg Of Their 2000 Tour. In 2001 Sonic Youth Collaborated With French Avant-Garde Singer And Poet Brigitte Fontaine In Fontaine's Album "Kékéland". When The September 11 2001 Attacks Occurred Several Members Of The Band Were Blocks Away Jim At Their NYC Studio Echo Canyon On Murray Street And Ranaldo And His Wife Leah Nearby At Home. After The Attacks They Curated The First U.S. Outing Of The All Tomorrow's Parties Music Festival In L.A. The Festival Was Originally Scheduled For October 2001 But It Was Delayed Until March The Following Year Due To The Attacks. In The Summer Of 2002 Murray Street Was Released Many Critics Heralded A "return To Form For SY" Seemingly Revitalized By The Addition Of Jim O'Rourke Who Became A Full Member During This Period Playing Bass Guitar Guitar And Occasionally Synthesizer. This Was Followed In 2004 By The Release Of Sonic Nurse An Album Similar In Sound And Approach To Its Immediate Predecessor That Also Received Positive Reviews. "Pattern Recognition" A Song Named After The 2003 William Gibson Novel Finds The Band Once Again Using Gibson's Work For Inspiration. The Band Also Showed Their Pop Culture Commentary And Sense Of Humor With The Track "Mariah Carey And The Arthur Doyle Hand Cream" A Faster-Tempo Song Sung By Gordon Which Spoofed Carey's Life Including Her Short-Lived Relationship With Rapper Eminem Which Originally Appeared On A 2003 Split 7" With Erase Errata On The Album Cover The Reference To "Mariah Carey" In The Title Was Replaced By "Kim Gordon" Due To Potential Copyright Issues. Sonic Nurse Had Decent Sales In Part Due To Performances On TV Talk Shows Including Late Night With Conan O'Brien And The Tonight Show With Jay Leno. The Band Was Also Slated To Perform In 2004's Lollapalooza Tour Along With Acts Such As The Pixies And The Flaming Lips But The Concert Was Canceled Due To Lackluster Ticket Sales. When The Band Toured Later That Year They Played Extensively From Their 1980s Catalog. On October 6 2005 Los Angeles CityBeat Reported That Some Of The Gear Stolen In 1999 Was Surprisingly Recovered And That It Might Be Used For Recording Of The Next Album Then Tentatively Titled Sonic Life. The Report Also Said That Jim O'Rourke Might Be Leaving The Band Soon His Departure Was Confirmed By Lee Ranaldo In An Interview To Pitchfork Media. In May 2006 The Group Announced On Their Website That Ex-Pavement Member Mark Ibold Would Play Bass For The Band On Their Upcoming Tour. Rather Ripped Was Released In Europe On June 5 2006 And In The USA On June 13 2006. Compared To Previous Sonic Youth Recordings The Album Features Many Short Conventionally Structured Melodic Songs And Fewer Feedback-Fuelled Left Field Improvisations The Band's Avant-Garde Tendencies Nowadays Have Been Largely Exorcised Through SYR Releases And Solo Outings Rather Than Band Albums . Later That Summer Sonic Youth Played The 2006 Bonnaroo Festival As Well As Lollapalooza Promoting The Album. In December Rolling Stone Made It Their Number Three Album Of The Year 2006. The Band Released The Destroyed Room B-Sides And Rarities In December 2006. It Features Tracks Previously Available Only On Vinyl Limited-Release Compilations B-Sides To International Singles And Some Material That Had Never Before Been Released. This Marked The Band's Final Geffen Release. Independent Agents And Signing To Matador 2007–present In 2008 The Band Independently Re-Released Master-Dik For The First Time On CD In March Exclusively At Their Online Store. They Also Released Two More Editions To The SYR SYR7 J'Accuse Ted Hughes And SYR8 Andre Sider Af Sonic Youth. SYR7 Was Released On April 22 And SYR8 Was Released July 28. On June 10 They Also Released A Compilation Album On Starbucks Music Called Hits Are For Squares. The First 15 Tracks Were Selected By Other Celebrities And Track 16 "Slow Revolution" Is A New Recording By Sonic Youth. Also In June The Band Was The Subject Of An Intensively Researched Biography Goodbye 20th Century A Biography Of Sonic Youth Written By Music Journalist David Browne. The Book Was Cited As "compelling" Salon "compulsively Readable" Publishers Weekly And "an Expressway To The Soul Of The Influential Band" Vanity Fair . The Book Featured New Interviews With The Band As Well As Nearly 100 Friends Family Members And Peers. It Was Published By Da Capo And Included Over 60 Rare Photos. On August 30 2008 The Band Premiered Two New Songs At The Final McCarren Park Pool Show. Thurston Moore Stated That In November 2008 The Band Will Start Recording A New Studio Album. The Band Did Not Continue Their Contract With Geffen Being Discontent At The Way Geffen Handled Their Last Four Or Five Albums. On September 8 2008 It Was Confirmed By Matador's Matablog That Sonic Youth Will Release Its Sixteenth Album Titled The Eternal In Spring 2009 On Matador Records. In December 2008 It Was Also Announced That The Group Had Recently Collaborated With John Paul Jones Of Led Zeppelin Fame On A Piece That Served As The Soundtrack For A New Merce Cunningham Dance Company Piece. This Work Was Performed By The Company On April 16-19 2009 At The Brooklyn Academy Of Music In Celebration Of Cunningham's 90th Birthday. On February 12 The Band Revealed The Cover Art For The Eternal Via Their Website And Blog. The Album Produced By John Agnello Was Released On June 9 2009. With The Release Matador Records Also Offered An Exclusive Live LP Only Available To Those Who Preordered The Album. On October 14 2011 Kim Gordon And Thurston Moore Announced That They Separated After 27 Years Of Marriage Through A Statement By Matador. The Announcement Has Raised Doubts Over The Future Of Sonic Youth After Matador Revealed That Plans For The Band Remained "uncertain " Despite The Fact The Band Had Previously Hinted They Would Record New Material Later In The Year In A Interview On November 28 2011 Lee Ranaldo Said That Sonic Youth Are "ending For A While". "I'm Feeling Optimistic About The Future No Matter What Happens At This Point " Ranaldo Said. "It Was A Pretty Good Tour Overall. I Mean There Was A Little Bit Of Tiptoeing Around And Some Different Situations With The Travelling – You Know They're Not Sharing A Room Any More Or Anything Like That … It Remains To Be Seen At This Point What Happens. I Think They Are Certainly The Last Shows For A While And I Guess I'd Just Leave It At That." Ranaldo Also Suggest There Are No Plans For Sonic Youth To Record New Material. "There's Tons And Tons Of Archival Projects And Things Like That Still Going On " He Said. "I'm Just Happy Right Now To Let The Future Take Its Course." Musical Style And Influences Alternative Tunings Sonic Youth's Sound Relies Heavily On The Use Of Alternative Tunings. Scordatura On Stringed Instruments Has Been Used For Centuries And Alternative Guitar Tunings Had Been Used For Decades In Blues Music And To A Limited Degree In Rock Music Such As With Lou Reed's Ostrich Guitar On The Velvet Underground & Nico But Sonic Youth Began Using A Variety Of Tunings More Radical Than Nearly Anything In Rock Music History. The Tunings Were Painstakingly Developed By Moore And Ranaldo During The Band's Rehearsals Moore Once Reported That The Odd Tunings Were An Attempt To Introduce New Sounds "When You're Playing In Standard Tuning All The Time ... Things Sound Pretty Standard." Rather Than Re-Tune For Every Song Sonic Youth Generally Use A Particular Guitar For One Or Two Songs And Can Take Dozens Of Instruments On Tour. This Can Be The Source Of Much Trouble For The Band As Some Songs Rely On Specific Guitars That Have Been Uniquely Prepared. Influences Besides Branca French Avant-Gardist Brigitte Fontaine Patti Smith Public Image Ltd PiL And The Stooges Another Influence Was 1980s-Era Hardcore Punk After Seeing Minor Threat Perform In May 1982 Moore Declared Them "the Greatest Live Band I Have Ever Seen". While Recognizing That Their Own Music Was Very Different From Hardcore Moore And Gordon Especially Were Impressed By Hardcore's Speed And Intensity And By The Nationwide Network Of Musicians And Fans. "It Was Great " Said Moore "the Whole Thing With Slam Dancing And Stage Diving That Was Far More Exciting Than Pogoing And Spitting.... I Thought Hardcore Was Very Musical And Very Radical." Thurston Moore And Lee Ranaldo Have Expressed On Numerous Occasions Their Admiration For The Music Of Joni Mitchell Such As This Quote By Thurston Moore "Joni Mitchell! I’ve Used Elements Of Her Songwriting And Guitar Playing And No One Would Ever Know About It." Additionally Joni Mitchell Has Always Used A Number Of Alternative Tunings As Does Sonic Youth. The Band Named A Song After Her "Hey Joni." Members Of The Band Have Also Maintained Relationships With Other Avant-Garde Artists From Other Genres And Even Other Media Drawing Influence From The Work Of John Cage And Henry Cowell. For A 1988 Peel Session Sonic Youth Covered Three Songs By The Fall And "Victoria" By The Kinks Also Covered By The Fall. Sonic Youth Has Featured Album Art By Several Well-Known Avant-Garde Visual Artists Such As Mike Kelley And Gerhard Richter Whose Paintings From His "Candles" Series Was Used As Artwork On Daydream Nation. Members Thurston Moore - Guitar Bass Guitar Vocal Lee Ranaldo - Guitar Vocal Kim Gordon - Bass Guitar Guitar Vocal Mark Ibold - Bass Guitar Steve Shelley - Drums. Former Members Anne DeMarinis - Keyboards Jim O'Rourke - Guitar Bass Guitar Bob Bert - Drums Richard Edson - Drums Jim Sclavunos - Drums.

HOME SONIC YOUTH
POPULAR TRACKS MIXES ALBUMS
Video 1 : 50

Frogtoon Music -

Frogtoon Music Album Info: Daydream Nation

Daydream Nation Is The Fifth Full-Length Studio Album And First Double Album By American Alternative Rock Band Sonic Youth Released On October 18 1988. The Band Recorded The Album Between July And August 1988 At Greene St. Recording In New York City And It Was Released By Enigma Records As A Double Album. After Daydream Nation Was Released It Received Widespread Acclaim From Critics And Earned Sonic Youth A Major Label Deal. The Album Was Ranked High In Critics' Year-End Lists Of 1988's Best Records Being Voted Second In The Village Voice's Annual Pazz & Jop Poll. Daydream Nation Has Since Been Widely Considered To Be Sonic Youth's Greatest Work As Well As One Of The Greatest Albums Of All Time Specifically Having A Profound Influence On The Alternative And Indie Rock Genres. It Was Chosen By The Library Of Congress To Be Preserved In The National Recording Registry In 2005. Sonic Youth's Standard Songwriting Method Involved Thurston Moore Bringing In Melody Ideas And Chord Changes That The Band Would Spend Several Months Fashioning Into Full-Length Songs. Instead Of Paring The Songs Down As The Group Did With Previous Records The Months-Long Writing Process For Daydream Nation Resulted In Long Jams Some Lasting Over Half An Hour. Several Friends Of The Band Including Henry Rollins Had Praised The Band's Long Live Improvisations And Told The Group That Its Records Never Captured Them. With Moore On A Writing Spree The Album Ultimately Had To Be Expanded To A Double Album. Sonic Youth Recorded Daydream Nation At New York's Greene Street Basement Studio. The Studio's Engineer Nick Sansano Was Accustomed To Working With Hip Hop Artists. Sansano Did Not Know Much About Sonic Youth But He Was Aware The Band Had An Aggressive Sound So He Showed The Band Members His Work On Public Enemy's "Black Steel In The Hour Of Chaos" And Rob Base And DJ E-Z Rock's "It Takes Two". The Group Embraced The Sound Of The Records. Sonic Youth Booked Three Weeks Of Recording Time At Greene Street's Studio A Starting In Mid-July 1988. The Band Paid $1 000 Per Day Of Studio Time Which Was The Most They Had Paid To Record An Album Up To That Point. Due To The Amount Of Preparation The Band Put Into Composing Its Music The Recording Process Was Efficient. The Session Became Rushed Near The End When Paul Smith The Head Of The Band's British Label Blast First Had Set A Mastering Date Of August 18. As A Result Of The Time Pressure Kim Gordon Was Not Happy With Some Of Her Vocal Takes. The Band Spent A Whole Night Creating A Final Mix For The Three-Song "Trilogy" So It Could Be Mastered The Following Morning. The Record Ultimately Cost $30 000 Which Led Moore To Refer To The Album As "our First Non-Econo Record". Daydream Nation Is Generally Considered An Avant-Rock Alternative Rock Indie Rock Art Punk And Post-Punk Album With The Record Being Notable For Its Unorthodox Guitar Tuning And Song Structure With Many Songs Concluding With Lengthy Instrumental Sections. The Album Is Especially Notable For Being A Significant Influence For Later Alternative And Indie Rock Efforts And Genres Including Well-Known Grunge Band Nirvana. Lyrics Include Topics Of Burnout The Music Industry And The Crack Epidemic Of The Late 1980s. "The Sprawl" Was Inspired By The Works Of Science Fiction Writer William Gibson Who Used The Term To Refer To A Future Mega-City Stretching From Boston To Atlanta Specifically From The Sprawl Trilogy . The Lyrics For The First Verse Were Lifted From The Novel The Stars At Noon By Denis Johnson. "'Cross The Breeze" Features Some Of Gordon's Most Intense Singing With Such Lyrics As "Let's Go Walking On The Water/Now You Think I'm Satan's Daughter/I Wanna Know Should I Stay Or Go?/I Took A Look Into Your Hate/It Made Me Feel Very Up To Date". "Eric's Trip" Has Lyrics Pertaining To Eric Emerson's LSD-Fueled Monologue In The Andy Warhol Movie Chelsea Girls. "Hey Joni" Is Titled As A Tribute To Rock Standard "Hey Joe" And To Canadian Singer-Songwriter Joni Mitchell. It Is Sung By Ranaldo And Has Surrealist Lyrics Such As "Shots Ring Out From The Center Of An Empty Field/Joni's In The Tall Grass/She's A Beautiful Mental Jukebox A Sailboat Explosion/A Snap Of Electric Whipcrack". This Song Also Alludes To The Works Of William Gibson's Neuromancer With The Line "In This Broken Town Can You Still Jack In/And Know What To Do?" These Feature Similarly On Ranaldo's Two Other Songs On The Album The Rarely Played "Rain King"—an Homage To Pere Ubu And Perhaps Saul Bellow's Henderson The Rain King—and The Aforementioned "Eric's Trip". "Providence" Consisted Of A Piano Solo By Moore Recorded At His Mother's House Using A Walkman The Sound Of A Peavey Roadmaster Amp Overheating And A Pair Of Telephone Messages Left By Mike Watt Calling For Moore From A Providence Rhode Island Payphone Dubbed Over One Another. The Title Of "The Wonder" Comes From Crime Fiction Writer James Ellroy's Phrase About The Ineffable Mystery At The Heart Of Los Angeles In Moore's Words "the Wonder" Is What "for Better And Worse Inspires Ellroy To Keep Going To Get Out Of Bed Every Day." The Closing Track "Eliminator Jr." Was Inspired By The "Preppie Killer" Robert Chambers. It Was Thus Titled Because The Band Felt It Sounded Like A Cross Between Dinosaur Jr. And Eliminator-Era ZZ Top. It Was Given Part "z" In The "Trilogy" Both As A Reference To ZZ Top And Because It Is The Closing Piece On The Disc. Daydream Nation's Title Came From A Lyric In The Song "Hyperstation". Sonic Youth Had Also Considered The Title "Tonight's The Day" From A Lyric In "Candle" Which Made Reference To Neil Young's 1975 Album Tonight's The Night. The Cover For Daydream Nation Features The 1983 Gerhard Richter Painting Kerze "Candle" . The Back Cover Art Is A Similar Richter Painting From 1982. The Vinyl Version's Four Sides And The Compact Disc Inner Tray Contain Four Symbols Each Representing One Of The Members Of The Band In An Homage To—and Parody Of—the Four Symbols From The Fourth Led Zeppelin Album. The Symbols Are Infinity ∞ Female Uppercase Omega Ω And A Drawing Of A Demonic–angelic Baby Holding Drumsticks. Daydream Nation Was Released On October 18 1988 In Compact Disc Cassette And Double Vinyl Formats. It Did Not Chart In The United States But Reached No. 99 On The British Albums Chart. Three Singles With Accompanying Music Videos Were Also Released "Teen Age Riot" In 1988 On 12-Inch Vinyl And CD "Providence" In The United Kingdom In 1989 "Candle" October 1989 On 12-Inch Vinyl And A Live Version Of "Silver Rocket" For Subscribers To Forced Exposure. The Song "Teen Age Riot" Was Popular On Alternative Radio And Reached No. 20 On Billboard's Newly Created Modern Rock Tracks Chart. Sonic Youth Also Promoted The Album With A North American Tour From October To December 1988 Concentrating Almost Exclusively On Material From The Album. In 1989 They Took The Tour To New Zealand Australia Japan The USSR And Europe Finishing The Year With Their First Network Television Appearance—on The Syndicated Night Music—playing "Silver Rocket". In 2007 They Played The Album Live As Part Of The Don't Look Back Concert Series And Then Toured With It Through Europe And Australia Into 2008. Daydream Nation Received Overwhelmingly Positive Reviews From Contemporary Critics. Billboard Called It "the Supreme Fulfillment" Of Sonic Youth's "fullbore Technique". Giving The Album An "A" Grade In The Village Voice Robert Christgau Believed That While The Band Were Embracing A "happy-Go-Lucky Careerism And Four-On-The-Floor Maturity" Their Relentlessly Discordant Music Was "a Philosophical Triumph". Rolling Stone's Robert Palmer Rated It Three-And-A-Half Stars Out Of Five And Said It Demonstrated "the Broad Harmonic Palette Sharply Honed Songwriting Skills And Sheer Exhilarating Drive" Of The "influential Quartet" While Presenting "the Definitive American Guitar Band Of The Eighties At The Height Of Its Powers And Prescience". The British Music Press Also Embraced Daydream Nation Q Magazine Said The Record Made An "enthralling Noise" The NME Called It The "most Radical And Political Album Of The Year" And Awarded It A Maximum Score Of Ten And Record Mirror Gave It A Five-Out-Of-Five Rating Enthusing That Sonic Youth Were "the Best Band In The Universe". At The End Of 1988 Daydream Nation Appeared In Several Lists Of The Year's Best Albums Being Ranked At No. 2 By Rolling Stone No. 1 By CMJ And No. 9 By NME. It Was Also Voted The Year's Second Best Record In The Village Voice's Annual Pazz & Jop Poll Which Made The Band Realize That The Album Had Made An Impact. Christgau The Poll's Creator And Supervisor Named It The Fourth Best Album Of 1988 In His Own List. Daydream Nation Has Continued To Earn Acclaim And Accolades. According To Matthew Stearns Writer Of The 33⅓ Book Dedicated To The Album It Has Been "resoundingly Canonized As A Breakthrough Landmark In The Chronicles Of Avant-Rock Expression". Stearns Wrote That Daydream Nation Comprised The "Holy Trinity" Of Early Indie Rock Double Albums With Hüsker Dü's Zen Arcade And Minutemen's Double Nickels On The Dime Judging That The Three Works "together Mark A Period Of Unprecedented Creative Expansion In Terms Of The Possibilities Of Underground Or Otherwise American Rock Music". In A Retrospective Review For AllMusic Stephen Thomas Erlewine Deemed It "a Masterpiece Of Post-Punk Art Rock" That Demonstrated The Degree Of Which "noise And Self-Conscious Avant Art Can Be Incorporated Into Rock And The Results Are Nothing Short Of Stunning". Jon Matsumoto Of The Los Angeles Times Called It The Band's Masterpiece And Said They Had Developed First-Rate Songwriting Skills To Complement Their Penchant For Dissonant Instrumentation. Greg Kot Writing In The Chicago Tribune Called It One Of The Most Recognizable Albums Of The 1980s With Its Combination Of "hypnotic Guitar Jams And Some Of The Band's Best Straight-Ahead Tunes". Reviewing The 2007 Deluxe Edition Christgau Credited Daydream Nation For Making Alternative Rock "a Life Force" And Remarked That Along With The "vital" Bonus Disc The Album Remained An Honest And Thrilling Listen Because Of Its Musical Tunings And Anthemic Songs About Post-Irony And "confusion-As-Sex". In Spin Will Hermes Said It Was Perhaps "the Greatest Art-Punk Statement Ever" While John Mulvey From Uncut Called It A Still Radical "avant-Rock Masterpiece". In 2002 Pitchfork Ranked Daydream Nation No. 1 On Its List Of The 100 Greatest Albums Of The 1980s The Album Dropped To No. 7 In The 2018 List . It Also Placed At No.13 On Spin Magazine's List Of The 100 Greatest Albums From 1985 To 2010 No. 30 On Slant Magazine's "Best Albums Of The 1980s" And No. 45 On The Rolling Stone List Of The 100 Greatest Albums Of The 1980s. The Spin Alternative Record Guide 1995 Named It The Ninth Best Alternative Album And It Was Ranked 11th On Guitarist's 2000 List Of The 101 Essential Guitar Records. In 2003 The Album Was Placed At No. 328 On Rolling Stone's List Of The 500 Greatest Albums Ever And Again In 2012 With The Album Being Ranked Number 171 In The 2020 Edition. Daydream Nation Was One Of 50 Recordings Chosen By The Library Of Congress To Be Added To The National Recording Registry In 2006. PopMatters Included It In Their List Of The "12 Essential 1980s Alternative Rock Albums" Saying It Was "an Ambitious Double Album That Saw Sonic Youth's Various Influences Coalescing Into A Striking Searing Whole". The Album Was Also Included In The Book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. "Daydream Nation " Remarked David Bowie "is An Extraordinary Album." A Deluxe Edition Of Daydream Nation Was Released In 2007 Containing Live Versions Of Every Track On The Album Plus Studio Recordings Of Some Cover Songs. A 4-LP Vinyl Version Was Released On July 17 2007. The Four-LP Vinyl Release Of The Deluxe Edition Has A Slightly Different Track Listing Than The CD Release. The First Two LPs Have The Same Track Listing As The Original Double-LP Release. However The Home Demo Of "Eric's Trip" Is At The End Of The Fourth LP Rather Than Falling Immediately After The Original Album.