EVOL (studio album) by Sonic Youth

EVOL by Sonic Youth
Year: 1986
Overall rank: 715th   Overall chart historyOverall chart history
Average Rating: 
78/100 (from 504 votes)
  Ratings distributionRatings distribution   Average rating historyAverage rating history
Accolades:
Award Top 20 albums of 1986 (11th)
Award Top albums of the 1980s (107th)
Award Top 1,000 albums of all time (715th)
Product Details
Availability

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Sonic Youth - Evol - SST LP W/ Inserts.
Condition: Used


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Sonic Youth - Evol on SST Reissue
Condition: Used


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SONIC YOUTH - Evol (180 Gram Vinyl) - Vinyl - **BRAND NEW/STILL SEALED** - RARE
Condition: New

$103.49


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Sonic Youth bestography

EVOL is ranked 4th best out of 40 albums by Sonic Youth on BestEverAlbums.com.

The best album by Sonic Youth is Daydream Nation which is ranked number 69 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 17,876.

Sonic Youth album bestography « Higher ranked (515th) This album (715th) Lower ranked (827th) »
SisterEVOLDirty

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EVOL track list

  Track ratingsTrack ratings The tracks on this album have an average rating of 81 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

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1.
Rating: 83 (95 votes)Comments: 1
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Rating: 85 (107 votes)Comments: 1
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5.
Rating: 78 (87 votes)Comments: 1
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Rating: 77 (85 votes)Comments: 0
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8.
Rating: 77 (83 votes)Comments: 0
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Track pick Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.

EVOL rankings

EVOL collection

EVOL ratings

Average Rating: 
78/100 (from 504 votes)
  Ratings distributionRatings distribution Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
where:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.

Showing latest 5 ratings for this album. | Show all 504 ratings for this album.

Sort ratings
RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
90/100
 Report rating
03/10/2024 21:31 RadioGraaah  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 46878/100
 
65/100
 Report rating
02/18/2024 11:40 spinout  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 2,61482/100
 
80/100
 Report rating
02/11/2024 19:28 Hyggevinyl  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 2,92373/100
 
70/100
 Report rating
02/07/2024 16:31 kieranthewalrus  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 61164/100
 
70/100
 Report rating
02/04/2024 17:28 asimpkins  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 1,98668/100

Rating metrics: Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)

This album is rated in the top 3% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 77.9/100, a mean average of 77.0/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 78.0/100. The standard deviation for this album is 15.9.

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EVOL comments

Showing latest 10 comments | Show all 28 comments |
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Rating:  
75/100
From 01/11/2023 01:01
It feels like they haven't found their sound yet on this record which leads to quite a bit of experimentation which works effectively in places but is also quite poor in other places. The first 3 songs are fantastic and are proof of where the experimenting has gone right. All the instrumentation on those tracks are simply brilliant with the drum work being a personal highlight especially on Tom Violence. After these songs I do think there is a drop off in quality with there only being a few highlights that appear later on the record. Overall, an inconsistent album but you can see the potential for the future fantastic albums they made so it is worth experiencing to see their earlier work.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 01/08/2023 22:10
This is a solid album where they're experimenting with the sound leaning towards noise rock and post punk. They are making tracks similar to Joy Division, but in entirely new fashion creating something interesting. The album is a little inconsistent, there are great tracks here like Starpower (which is my favorite one), but there are also ones that sound like not fully realized (Green Light).
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 11/28/2020 17:11
Evol is transitional for them and they started to focus on songcraft. This set them up for what I think is their best album, Sister.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 07/10/2020 23:34
EVOL has its roots in post-punk, leaving me to believe they had not yet fully found their identity. I've yet to hear a Sonic Youth album I didn't love, though, and this is quite fantastic. Noisy as always, but a bit more reserved than some of their other records.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 06/23/2020 06:44
Maybe not as good as their bests, but this is still an amazing record and a great experience.

8.5/10
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 03/12/2020 20:06
If I'd bought and heard this around the time I was listening to Slanted and Enchanted, Psychocandy, VU, Joy Division, Ride...as a teenager in '92 then I'd think this was cool as owt and love it as much as the others. Music wasn't meant to be enjoyed through tiny phone speakers though but still sounds pretty cool.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
95/100
From 06/25/2019 15:49
Solid album, nice and dark. Expressway To Yr Skull is the best song on the album.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
100/100
From 06/17/2019 22:57
best LP of all from 1986.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 03/12/2019 03:39
This has a warmth to it more than any other Sonic Youth album I've listened to.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 11/22/2017 21:16
Dark and atmospheric, my second favorite of Sonic Youth.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

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Best Albums of 1986
1. The Queen Is Dead by The Smiths
2. Master Of Puppets by Metallica
3. Graceland by Paul Simon
4. So by Peter Gabriel
5. Skylarking by XTC
6. The Colour Of Spring by Talk Talk
7. Reign In Blood by Slayer
8. Licensed To Ill by Beastie Boys
9. Lifes Rich Pageant by R.E.M.
10. Black Celebration by Depeche Mode
11. EVOL by Sonic Youth
12. Slippery When Wet by Bon Jovi
13. Peace Sells... But Who's Buying? by Megadeth
14. Parade by Prince And The Revolution
15. Raising Hell by Run-D.M.C.
16. Somewhere In Time by Iron Maiden
17. Atomizer by Big Black
18. Invisible Touch by Genesis
19. Your Funeral... My Trial by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
20. True Blue by Madonna
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