Rather Ripped is the fifteenth studio album by Sonic Youth, which was released on June 13, 2006. It was their first album without guitarist Jim O'Rourke since 2000's NYC Ghosts & Flowers. The album was described by Thurston Moore as "a super song record" containing "rockers and ballads".[citation needed] The name "Rather Ripped" comes from a now defunct record store in Berkeley, CA.[1] Rather Ripped contained three singles, "Rather Ripped Album Sampler", "Helen Lundeberg/Eyeliner", and "Incinerate". The album's working titles were "Sonic Life" and "Do You Believe in Rapture?"[citation needed]
On the UK release of the album, two bonus tracks were included ("Helen Lundeberg" and "Eyeliner"), which were taken from an untitled single that was released shortly before the record. "Helen Lundeberg" is also available in the USA as a bonus track on the iTunes Music Store digital download edition of the album.
On the Japanese release of the album, three bonus tracks were included. In addition to the two UK bonus tracks ("Helen Lundeberg" and "Eyeliner"), the track "Do You Believe in Rapture?" (psychedelic mix) was also included.
Rather Ripped charted at number 64 on the UK Album Chart and at number 71 on the US Billboard Top 200. The album came 43rd in Pitchfork's Top 50 Albums of 2006[2] and ranked third in Rolling Stone's Top 50 Albums of 2006.[3]
Rather Ripped was Sonic Youth's last studio album on Geffen. They left the label in 2008,[4] and are currently recording on Matador Records.
[edit] Track listing
All songs written and composed by Sonic Youth.
| 1. |
"Reena" (vocals Gordon) |
3:47 |
| 2. |
"Incinerate" (vocals Moore) |
4:55 |
| 3. |
"Do You Believe in Rapture?" (vocals Moore) |
3:11 |
| 4. |
"Sleepin Around" (vocals Moore) |
3:42 |
| 5. |
"What a Waste" (vocals Gordon/Moore) |
3:33 |
| 6. |
"Jams Run Free" (vocals Gordon) |
3:52 |
| 7. |
"Rats" (vocals Ranaldo) |
4:24 |
| 8. |
"Turquoise Boy" (vocals Gordon) |
6:14 |
| 9. |
"Lights Out" (vocals Moore/Gordon) |
3:32 |
| 10. |
"The Neutral" (vocals Gordon) |
4:09 |
| 11. |
"Pink Steam" (vocals Moore) |
6:57 |
| 12. |
"Or" (vocals Moore) |
3:31 |
[edit] Bonus tracks
| 13. |
"Helen Lundeberg" (vocals Moore – iTunes and European bonus track) |
4:39 |
| 14. |
"Eyeliner" (vocals Moore – UK bonus track) |
5:44 |
| 15. |
"Do You Believe in Rapture? (Psychedelic Mix)" (vocals Moore – Japan bonus track) |
3:14 |
[edit] Album charts
| Year |
Chart |
Position |
| 2006 |
Canadian College Charts |
1 |
| 2006 |
Tastemakers |
3 |
| 2006 |
Official Norwegian Albums Chart |
13 |
| 2006 |
Official Belgium Albums Chart |
20 |
| 2006 |
Official French Albums Chart |
25 |
| 2006 |
Official Australian Albums Chart |
40 |
| 2006 |
Official Finland Albums Chart |
40 |
| 2006 |
Official Sweden Albums Chart |
46 |
| 2006 |
Official Swiss Albums Chart |
59 |
| 2006 |
Official UK Albums Chart |
64 |
| 2006 |
Billboard Top 200 |
71 |
| 2006 |
Official Irish Albums Chart |
72 |
| 2006 |
Official German Albums Chart |
79 |
[edit] Personnel
[edit] References
- ^ Pitchfork: Album Reviews: Sonic Youth: Rather Ripped. "The title of Sonic Youth's newest album references a defunct Berkeley, Calif., record store, but it's also a fitting description for the band's tautest set in 25 years."
- ^ Top 50 albums of 2006 of Pitchfork Media. December 19, 2006. "On Murray Street and Sonic Nurse, Jim O'Rourke pulled Sonic Youth out of a late-90s rut, spurring noise-rock jams that looked backward, forward, and somewhere in between. But even the biggest fan of those albums probably wouldn't deny craving a sequel to pop records like Goo and Dirty, and on their first post-O'Rourke effort, Sonic Youth offer exactly that: Twelve shiny, beefed-up rockers that funnel noise into melody at a level not seen since The Year Punk Broke. The surprise isn't so much that the quartet made this move, but that they pulled it off so sharply. There's hardly a wrong turn here, just reams of revved-up rock with all the classic pieces-- Kim Gordon's voice, Thurston Moore's writing, Lee Ranaldo's poetry, Steve Shelley's energy-- locked together as tightly as a jigsaw puzzle." --Marc Masters
- ^ Top 50 albums of 2006 of Rolling Stone. December 29, 2006. "Their mean age now up to forty-eight with thirtysomething troublemaker Jim O'Rourke gone, indie's gray eminences made a light, simple, terse, almost-pop album. Granted, the guitar hook on, for instance, 'Do You Believe in Rapture?' wouldn't sound so lovely if they and all their progeny hadn't long since adjusted our harmonic expectations. But who better to play to our expanded capacity for tuneful beauty? The vocal star of Rather Ripped is Kim Gordon, breathlessly girlish at fifty-three as she and her husband evoke visions of dalliance, displacement, recrimination and salvation that never become unequivocally literal."
- ^ Sonic Youth leave major label after nearly 20 years. "The New York noiseniks are indie once again after completing their contractual obligations with Geffen. And you can expect a 'new band-zone-vibe' for their next album."
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