Sonic Youth - Daydream nation turns 35 today...

[panoramic]

so, Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation turns 35 years old today. Sonic Youth is probably my favorite band and this is a top 10 album for me. I remember buying this on cassette in 1988 and having it get destroyed in my stereo and repairing the tape like 20 times. Then I got it on vinyl right before my record player died. Later a friend gave me another copy of it on tape in like 1990 or so which I made countless people listen to in their cars. I started to make copies of it on blank tapes that I gave to people etc. and then GOO came out and I think I owned like 10 copies of that on various formats. I'd forgotten how many times I had to rebuy the favorites of my childhood, cassettes were truly fragile. I digress though, this album is all about the Lee songs, I know everyone loves teenage riot or whatever but Eric's Trip, Hey Joni and Rain King are the best songs on this thing. They are so urgent and visionary. He became a huge influence on my guitar playing and I still bust into noisemaking forays like a teenager on my guitar thanks to these guys, not to mention the huge impact they had on my guitar and amp choices over the years.

I posted this on IG also but left this part out:
Holy shit this makes me feel old, I remember listening to this as a 14 year old and having my brain melt from how wild those guitars were and how much of a jump forward this was for them from EVOL and Sister which I was also into at the time. EVOL was my gateway record for them, I picked it up a year prior in late 86.

[MattK]

amen

My favourite part of this landmark record is when it goes deep, The Sprawl, Providence and Trilogy feel like a band in total command, doing what they do better than anyone. Saw them play it on the 2008 tour, just majestic.

[CrookedRainJr]

Total Trash, Cross The Breeze, Sprawl, Rain King, Hyperstation....

Remember buying this on CD at Best Buy when I was 16 in 2006. Loved it instantly and knew it was different from their other works I heard. It's a classic in every sense of the word.

Two vinyl tidbits while on the topic:
I've heard an OG and the guitars sound THIN. The remaster actually improves the sound range a lot without compressing anything.
There's that Russian bootleg with half of the record on it. It's a really curious listen with unique cover art, but the sourcing is a mess. Still, with some beers and weed it's a fun experience.

[zhivago]

A true masterpiece...when they played it in its entirety in London I went to two of the three nights at the Roundhouse.

It was just epic.

[panoramic]

Total Trash, Cross The Breeze, Sprawl, Rain King, Hyperstation....

Remember buying this on CD at Best Buy when I was 16 in 2006. Loved it instantly and knew it was different from their other works I heard. It's a classic in every sense of the word.

Two vinyl tidbits while on the topic:
I've heard an OG and the guitars sound THIN. The remaster actually improves the sound range a lot without compressing anything.
There's that Russian bootleg with half of the record on it. It's a really curious listen with unique cover art, but the sourcing is a mess. Still, with some beers and weed it's a fun experience.

Yeah I have two versions of the original master and 3 or maybe 4 of the remaster. I prefer the old thin sounding one because it's what I grew up with but the remaster is nicer sounding. I feel the same way about Swervedriver - Raise. I've played my OG cd of this into the dirt and lost 1/2 of the OG vinyl version I had from 1989 or so. I do love the reissues but the old ones are my childhood.

[øøøøøøø]

Why am I surprised that it's *only* 35?

Isn't that supposed to happen the other way around?

[cestlamort]

Love love love this record, especially the Lee songs (and people should check out the band Eric’s Trip for some great Canadian shambling fuzz indie gaze whatever)
I got the double LP used in 1988 or 1989 and enjoyed it, but it wasn’t until I got into Unwound (and started playing guitar in bands) in 1994 that it all clicked.

[daemon]

I also bought this on cassette (which I still have!) in 1988 the day after I saw Teenage Riot on MTV. For me this is one of those albums that opened up a whole new world. Never gets old.

[sal paradise]

Why am I surprised that it's *only* 35?

Isn't that supposed to happen the other way around?

The album is surprised you’re only 35?

[ThePearDream]

I didn't discover Daydream Nation until the mid 90s, but it's been my favorite record since. It still sounds exciting and fresh to me. I still have a cassette of Daydream Nation, Sister, Whitey Album, and a few others somewhere.

[UlricvonCatalyst]

While I agree that Lee Ranaldo's songs are the highlights of this album, I seem to be in a minority of one in that this is the album for me where Sonic Youth went from being my favourites to a band I didn't really keep up with any more.

I remember saying at the time that I thought they were treading water as they hadn't changed their drummer again (none of the previous drummers having been around for more than a single album). Of course Steve Shelley is great, but I far preferred EVOL and Sister, which to me are like two sides of the same coin in many ways, with EVOL sounding like those mornings where it's clear and bright and you can see your breath in front of your face as hoarfrost bejewels the pavement in front of you, and Sister sounding like a warm bath.

Of course I bought Daydream Nation as soon as it was released and tried to get into it, but after going to London to see them do it live I was finished with them....until my friend gave me his spare ticket to go and see them do the whole album some years later. It's not like i absolutely hate it, it's just that it held none of the surprises I associated with a band who up to that point had been on a relentless upward trajectory, and always surprising me with sounds I didn't know you could make a guitar make.

[PorkyPrimeCut]

I love this album to bits (although Sister is my absolute favourite).

Long, long ago when I first got into indie music I visited family friends in London with my mum. One day I found a secondhand record shop & bought about 10 records based on very limited exposure (mainly John Peel and a new friend's record collection)...

Mudhoney - Burn In Clean EP
The Boo Radleys - Ichabod & I
SNFU - And No One Else Wanted to Play
Dead Kennedys - Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables
Screaming Trees - Even If And Especially When
Dinosaur - Dinosaur
My Bloody Valentine - You Made Me Realise EP
Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation
...I need to try & remember the rest...

The turn of the 90s was such a special time for me musically & I can honestly say that I still listen to all but one of those bands above. Out of them all I think Sonic Youth gets the most play time & Daydream Nation was actually playing in my earphones a couple of days ago.

...when they played it in its entirety in London I went to two of the three nights at the Roundhouse.

It was just epic.

I was at one of those. Epic is the right word!

A funny story about that night... a dear old friend, Dave, heard I'd got tickets but only after it had sold out. He was so pissed off but, typically & down to his charm & luck, he snagged a ticket and backstage pass.
On the night of the gig I remember him disappearing into the crowd as soon as he'd got a beer & that was almost the last I saw of him. There was this one point, midway through Teenage Riot (the first song!), when I think I saw his gangly legs fly up in the air as he fell to the ground after trying to crowd surf. That was the last I saw of him.
A few minutes later my phone is buzzing in my pocket & it's Dave, screaming "Fucking cunts!! Let me back in!!!" and banging on what sounded like a fire escape door Yep, the fucking idiot got thrown out barely one song in after falling into the security "moat" & apparently trying to make a run for the stage

[zhivago]

[panoramic]

I love this album to bits (although Sister is my absolute favourite).

Long, long ago when I first got into indie music I visited family friends in London with my mum. One day I found a secondhand record shop & bought about 10 records based on very limited exposure (mainly John Peel and a new friend's record collection)...

Mudhoney - Burn In Clean EP
The Boo Radleys - Ichabod & I
SNFU - And No One Else Wanted to Play
Dead Kennedys - Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables
Screaming Trees - Even If And Especially When
Dinosaur - Dinosaur
My Bloody Valentine - You Made Me Realise EP
Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation
...I need to try & remember the rest...

The turn of the 90s was such a special time for me musically & I can honestly say that I still listen to all but one of those bands above. Out of them all I think Sonic Youth gets the most play time & Daydream Nation was actually playing in my earphones a couple of days ago.

Yeah, I have a pretty similar story in a way. I got into skateboarding pretty heavily in 85/86 and naturally started to gravitate towards Descendents and Black Flag records but one day a record store worker told me to check out a few other bands : Minor Threat, Sonic Youth, Goverment Issue, the Faction, Dag Nasty, Pain Teens, Royal Trux, Misfits, Dinosaur and so on. I bought in pretty heavily on SY, Dinosaur Jr and Minor Threat at the time. Later he introduced me to Beat happening, Afghan Whigs, the Fluid, Soundgarden, etc.
I'm leaving off some bits about a local radio show that got me into a ton of bands way too early like the pixies and DK but that's another story.
That record store dude went on to own his own used store and I worked there for a summer. He's a great dude and was really fun to talk music with. He loves MC5 and Iggy more than anyone else I know.

[PorkyPrimeCut]

...I got into skateboarding pretty heavily in 85/86 and naturally started to gravitate towards Descendents and Black Flag records...

Ha! As did all my skateboarding friends back then.

Even though I never got into skating I soon discovered that the backing tracks on those old VHS skate videos were goldmines for discovering new music (if they bothered to credit the tracks at the end).