Apocalypse

Apocalypse

Monday, March 08, 2010

Quarter Century Review: Bad Moon Rising

Sonic Youth
Bad Moon Rising
Homestead
Produced by Sonic Youth and Martin Bisi

I am, as readers should note by now, a huge SY fan. So it is with great trepidation that I revisit Bad Moon Rising. This has always been regarded by me as the album before the band got good. It did, of course, contain the first Sonic Youth classic in "Death Valley '69," (featuring New York punk legend Lydia Lunch) but little else. There are interesting moments like the MC5 interlude at the beginning of "I Love Her All The Time," but it has nothing to do with the song itself, which is actually not half bad.

On the whole, this album is just a really challenging listen. The more in depth I listened, the more I found myself wincing and gnashing my teeth. I like some ambient noise but there comes a point where it starts to become unlistenable like someone sawing through scrap metal with no earplugs. I always imagine that when Juno MacGuff tells Jason Bateman's character that Sonic Youth is just noise, she has just finished listening to any of the first 3 albums. If only she would have given what would come later a chance as I am glad I did.

Overall Grade = 6.83

No comments: