Daydream Nation (studio album) by Sonic Youth

From AAL2014 09/05/2023 01:00

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.

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.

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.

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.

From nextorgd 12/05/2022 03:40

Nice sounds through all album, you travel around this microuniverse with these songs.

Solid album

From Jboy56 02/23/2022 17:05

A tough album to comprehend and envision.

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.

Teenage Riot is such a slamming song.

So many 10/10 tracks on this beauty. The first time I heard Silver Rocket it blew my mind. Then to be followed up by The Sprawl's prolonged outro... All I have to compare this to is MBV's You Made Me Realize followed by Slow. That total switch from chaos to serenity. Total Trash stands out as possibly the best single track, but that's such a hard judgement call given the quality of most of these songs. I need 3 years to process this album, hey.