Daydream Nation
by Sonic Youth

Daydream Nation by Sonic Youth
Year: 1988
Release date: 1988-10-18
Overall rank: 75th   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
84/100 (from 1,879 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Best album of 1988 (1st)
Award Top 10 albums of the 1980s (10th)
Award Top 100 albums of all time (75th)

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Sonic Youth bestography

Daydream Nation is ranked as the best album by Sonic Youth.

Sonic Youth album bestography « Higher ranked
-
This album (75th)
Daydream Nation
Lower ranked (481st) »
Goo

(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).

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Daydream Nation track list

  Track ratings The tracks on this album have an average rating of 86 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

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Track pick (1000 - 100 votes) Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.

Daydream Nation rankings

Rankings summary
Overall rank: 75th | 1980s rank: 10th | 1988 rank: 1st

Daydream Nation collection

Daydream Nation ratings

Average Rating: 
84/100 (from 1,879 votes)
  Ratings distribution Help 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 1,879 ratings for this album.

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RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
40/100
 
4 hours ago el_faraon  Ratings distribution  2676/100
 
70/100
 
03/06/2026 23:43 Musicbuff123  Ratings distribution  32469/100
 
60/100
 
03/05/2026 18:28 segador  Ratings distribution  569/100
 
50/100
 
03/05/2026 04:20 BrianOBX  Ratings distribution  3255/100
 
85/100
 
02/27/2026 17:17 Map  Ratings distribution  49981/100

Rating metrics: Help 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 1% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 83.7/100, a mean average of 82.7/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 83.8/100. The standard deviation for this album is 16.4.

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Daydream Nation comments

Showing latest 10 comments | Show all 147 comments |
Most Helpful First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
(Only showing comments with -2 votes or higher. You can alter this threshold from your profile page. Manage Profile)

Rating:  
100/100
From 07/12/2024 21:02 | #304270
at first listen a bit boring but after returning I realized it is a true masterpiece
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 11/27/2023 01:57 | #300161
"Daydream Nation" by Sonic Youth blew my mind. The guitar work is wild and the songs are like these epic journeys.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 09/05/2023 01:00 | #298977
You just don’t know where these tracks are going or what crazy world of sound they will be introducing and diving into next. I’ve never heard a record quite like Daydream Nation before.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
40/100
From 07/14/2023 20:43 | #298122
I thought I would enjoy this, but it just didn't really do anything for me after 2 listens. There are instrumentals in the songs that I like, but the songs just don't go anywhere. The only song I really liked was Kissability.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -1 votes (2 helpful | 3 unhelpful)
Rating:  
75/100
From 05/08/2023 22:35 | #296761
If you like dark and edgy atmospheres then this record will be an amazing listen for you. This atmosphere starts right from the first track with the brilliantly heavy Teen Age Riot which instantly sucks you into the music. This is then continued onto the next two songs with the closing stages of The Sprawl being a demonstration of pure brilliance. After this, we get the peak of the record for me which is 'Cross The Breeze. I have to admit it did take me a few listens to truly appreciate this track but once I figured it out I was stunned with how good it was. I got completely lost in this song and it just made me feel a sense of bliss that makes me always play it again when this album finishes. However, I do find the rest of the release to be a little up and down after this initial 4 track run. With the run time as well this does lead to me finding it quite elongated and especially with the final 3 tracks I do find it to drag on a bit. Overall, despite the weaker section near the end, I do believe the first 4 songs to be the perfect embodiment of Sonic Youth making this record a must listen for those tracks alone.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (1 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
Rating:  
100/100
From 04/13/2023 17:42 | #296055
A true masterpiece, very close to perfect album, because almost every track is a 10/10. We start with Teen Age Riot with this shoegazy intro and then it slowly becomes punk anthem, Silver Rocket is a brilliant punk rock tune with catchy hook, The Sprawl starts very good and ends with this extended outro of noisy guitars, Cross The Breeze - in my opinion the best track on the album, starts with fast paced intro of aggressive drums and guitars that are thrilling and vocals here are awesome, Eric's Trip, Total Trash and Hey Joni are a streak of amazing punk rock trucks with some great passages in instrumental sections especially the last one. Providence doesn't bother me I treat it as a mediocre interlude. Then we have Candle and Rain King they sound apocalyptic and I love it about them, Kissability is a very interesting romantic song, unlike any other I've heard, it sounds absolutely amazing. The final trilogy is mind-blowing as well, The Wonder id great, Hyperstation is unbelievably good (one kf my favorite moments) and only Eliminator Jr. is a bit disappointing finish. Overall I absolutely love the sound of this album it's one of the most important in terms of sound, straight up revolutionary. It's like they took what's best from Velvet Underground and Joy Division mixed it and added something new.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (2 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
Rating:  
100/100
From 12/05/2022 03:40 | #291773
Nice sounds through all album, you travel around this microuniverse with these songs.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +3 votes (3 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 08/31/2022 03:38 | #289101
Solid album
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 02/23/2022 17:05 | #281830
A tough album to comprehend and envision.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 11/10/2021 19:45 | #276115
The distortion eventually becomes overdone, but this is a damn good mix of guitars, drums, and in your face vocals. This is the album people had in mind when they used to call Nirvana a punk band.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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Best Albums of 1988
1. Daydream Nation by Sonic Youth
2. Surfer Rosa by Pixies
3. Spirit Of Eden by Talk Talk
4. It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back by Public Enemy
5. ...And Justice For All by Metallica
6. Tracy Chapman by Tracy Chapman
7. Isn't Anything by My Bloody Valentine
8. Green by R.E.M.
9. Straight Outta Compton by N.W.A
10. Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son by Iron Maiden
11. I'm Your Man by Leonard Cohen
12. Nothing's Shocking by Jane's Addiction
13. Traveling Wilburys, Vol. 1 by The Traveling Wilburys
14. Operation: Mindcrime by Queensrÿche
15. If I Should Fall From Grace With God by The Pogues
16. 16 Lovers Lane by The Go-Betweens
17. Tender Prey by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
18. Viva Hate by Morrissey
19. Starfish by The Church
20. Rattle And Hum by U2
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