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Daydream Nation

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Daydream Nation is the fifth studio album by the American alternative rock band Sonic Youth. It was released in October 1988 by Enigma Records in the United States, and by Blast First in the United Kingdom.

Widely considered to be the band's magnum opus[1][2][3] and a seminal influence to the alternative rock genre, it is one of the few rock albums chosen by the Library of Congress to be preserved in the National Recording Registry.[4]

Recording

Sonic Youth elected to record Daydream Nation at New York's Greene Street basement studio. The studio's engineer, Nick Sansano, was accustomed to working with hip hop artists. Sansano did not know much about Sonic Youth, but he was aware the band had an aggressive sound, so when the band checked out the studio, he showed the band members his work on Public Enemy's "Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos" and Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock's "It Takes Two". Although Sansano was wary about how the rock band would react, the group embraced the sound of the records.[5] Sonic Youth booked three weeks of recording time at Greene Street's Studio A that would start in mid-July 1988. At $1000 a day, it was the most the band had paid to record an album up to that point, but among its advantages was its proximity to where members Thurston Moore, Kim Gordon, and Lee Ranaldo lived.[6]

Due to the amount of preparation the band put into composing its music, the recording process was largely efficient.[7] The session became rushed near the end, as Paul Smith, head of the band's British label Blast First, had set a mastering date of August 18. As a result of the time pressure, Gordon was not happy with some of her resulting vocal takes. The band spent a whole night creating a final mix for the three-song "Trilogy" so it could be mastered the following morning. The record ultimately cost $30,000, which led Moore to refer to the album as "our first non-econo record".[8]

While it was a given from the beginning of the project that Blast First would release the album in the UK, the band had initially planned to release the album in America on SST, their American label since 1986's EVOL. However, as it became apparent that this would be the band's potential breakthrough record, doubts crept in about SST's ability to properly distribute the album, or even properly print the elaborate gatefold sleeve. In the end, the band went with Enigma for the American release, an independent label that had distribution through major label Capitol Records.

However, the deal with Enigma turned out to be disappointing; Moore described the label as a "cheapjack Mafioso operation," and drummer Steve Shelley stated that Enigma's copies of the gatefold sleeve were of very poor quality, and that the label had trouble keeping the record in stock in American record stores. Following the album's success, they sought out a true major label contract, and signed with David Geffen's DGC Records in 1989.

Music

Sonic Youth's standard songwriting method involved Moore bringing in melody ideas and chord changes, which the band would spend several months fashioning into full-length songs. However, instead of paring the songs down as the group usually did, the months-long writing process for Daydream Nation resulted in long jams, some a half hour long. Several friends of the band, including Henry Rollins, had long praised the band's long live improvisations and told the group that its records never captured that aspect. With Moore on a writing spree, the album ultimately had to be expanded to a double album.[9]

"The Sprawl" was inspired by the works of science fiction writer William Gibson, who used the term to refer to a future mega-city stretching from Boston to Atlanta. The lyrics for the first verse were lifted from the novel The Stars at Noon by Denis Johnson.[10] "Cross the Breeze" features some of Kim Gordon's most intense singing, with such lyrics as, “Let's go walking on the water/ Now you think I'm Satan's daughter/ I wanna know, should I stay or go?/ I took a look into your hate/ It made me feel very up to date”. "Eric's Trip" has lyrics pertaining to Eric Emerson's LSD-fueled monologue in the Andy Warhol movie Chelsea Girls.[11]

"Hey Joni" is titled as a tribute to rock standard "Hey Joe" and to Canadian singer/songwriter Joni Mitchell,[12] It is sung by Lee Ranaldo, and has surrealist lyrics such as, “Shots ring out from the center of an empty field/ Joni's in the tall grass/ She's a beautiful mental jukebox, a sailboat explosion/ A snap of electric whipcrack”. This song also alludes to the works of William Gibson with the line “In this broken town, can you still jack in/ And know what to do?” These feature similarly on Lee's two other songs on the album, the rarely-played "Rain King" — an homage to Pere Ubu and perhaps Saul Bellow's Henderson the Rain King — and the aforementioned "Eric's Trip".

The album's title comes from a lyric in "Hyperstation",[13] and the closing track "Eliminator Jr." was thus titled because the band felt it sounded like a cross between Dinosaur Jr. and Eliminator-era ZZ Top. It was given part "z" in the "Trilogy" both as a reference to ZZ Top and because it is the closing piece on the disc.[14]

The album was nearly titled Tonight's the Day, from a lyric in "Candle." This was also meant as a reference to Neil Young's LP Tonight's the Night.[15]

Some of the band's more experimental tendencies are on display in the musique concrete piece "Providence". The song consists of a piano solo by Thurston Moore recorded at his mother's house using a Walkman, the sound of an amp overheating and a pair of telephone messages left by Mike Watt, calling for Moore from a Providence, Rhode Island payphone, dubbed over one another. Oddly, it was released as a single, and a single-shot music video was even filmed for it.[16]

Packaging

The album cover features the 1983 Gerhard Richter photorealist painting Kerze ("Candle").[17] The back cover art is a similar Richter painting from 1982.[18]

The LP's 4 sides and the CD itself featured four symbols on the disc representing the four members of the band,[17] similar to the symbols of Led Zeppelin IV. The symbols featured are infinity, female, upper case omega, and a drawing of a demon/angel holding drumsticks.

Release

Daydream Nation was released October 1988 on compact disc, cassette, and double vinyl.[19] Daydream Nation did not chart in the United States but reached number 99 on the UK Album Charts.[20][21] The single "Teen Age Riot" charted on Billboard Magazine's newly created Modern Rock Tracks chart at number 20.[22]

The deluxe edition of Daydream Nation was released in 2007. It contains live versions of every track on the album, plus studio recordings of some cover songs. A 4-LP vinyl version was released on July 17, 2007.[23]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
PopMatters(10/10)[24]
Blender[25]
Allmusic[26][nb 1]
Pitchfork Media(10.0/10)[27][nb 1]
Robert Christgau(A)[28]
Rolling Stone[29][nb 1]

In the years following its release, Daydream Nation has risen in stature to become one of the most highly-regarded albums of the 1980s, receiving much critical acclaim and appearing on many "Best-of" lists. It was ranked #1 on Pitchfork Media's "Top 100 Albums of the 1980s",[1] #14 on Spin's "100 Greatest Albums, 1985–2005",[30] and #45 on Rolling Stone magazine's "100 Greatest Albums of the 1980s".[31] In 2003, the album was ranked number 329 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.[32] In 2006, it was one of 50 recordings chosen that year by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry.[4]

Accolades

Since its release, Daydream Nation has featured heavily in various "must have" lists compiled by the music media. Some of the more prominent of these lists to feature Daydream Nation are shown below; this information is adapted from Acclaimedmusic.net.[33]

Publication Country Accolade Year Rank
Guitarist UK 101 Essential Guitar Albums[34] 2000 #11
Alternative Press U.S. Top 99 Albums of 1985 to 1995[35] 1995 #51
Blender U.S. 500 CDs You Must Own Before You Die[36] 2003 *
Q UK The 80 Best Records of the 80s[37] 2006 #30
Spin U.S. 100 Alternative Albums[38] 1995 #9
Pitchfork Media U.S. Top 100 Albums of the 1980s[1] 2002 #1
Rolling Stone U.S. The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time[32] 2003 #329

( * ) designates lists which are unordered.

Track listing

All songs written by Sonic Youth.

†Some releases separate the parts of "Trilogy".

Deluxe edition

The four-LP vinyl release of the deluxe edition has a slightly different track listing than the CD release. The first two LPs have the same track listing as the original double-LP release. However, the home demo of "Eric's Trip" is at the end of the fourth LP, rather than falling immediately after the original album.

Disc One

  1. "Teen Age Riot" – 6:57
  2. "Silver Rocket" – 3:47
  3. "The Sprawl" – 7:42
  4. "'Cross the Breeze" – 7:00
  5. "Eric's Trip" – 3:48
  6. "Total Trash" – 7:33
  7. "Hey Joni" – 4:23
  8. "Providence" – 2:41
  9. "Candle" – 4:58
  10. "Rain King" – 4:39
  11. "Kissability" – 3:08
  12. "Trilogy: The Wonder" – 4:15
  13. "Trilogy: Hyperstation" – 7:13
  14. "Trilogy: Eliminator Jr." – 2:37
  15. "Eric's Trip" (Home Demo) – 2:27

Disc Two

On the four-LP vinyl edition, Side E spans from "The Sprawl" to "Silver Rocket"; side F spans from "Kissability" to "Hyperstation"; side G spans from "Eliminator Jr." to "Total Trash"; and side H includes the cover songs, followed by the home demo of "Eric's Trip".

Live Daydream

  1. "The Sprawl" (Noise Now Festival, The Phillipshalle, Düsseldorf on March 27, 1989) – 8:27
  2. "'Cross the Breeze" (Noise Now Festival, The Phillipshalle, Düsseldorf on March 27, 1989) – 5:54
  3. "Hey Joni" (Paradiso, Amsterdam on March 26, 1989) – 3:38
  4. "Silver Rocket" (Noise Now Festival, The Phillipshalle, Düsseldorf on March 27, 1989) – 4:19
  5. "Kissability" (Recorded for the documentary Put Blood in the Music in Brooklyn, New York City in August 1988) – 2:19
  6. "Eric's Trip" (Noise Now Festival, The Phillipshalle, Düsseldorf on March 27, 1989) – 3:05
  7. "Candle" (Cabaret Metro, Chicago on November 5, 1988) – 5:04
  8. "The Wonder" (Recorded at CBGB's December 13, 1988) – 4:02
  9. "Hyperstation" (Recorded at CBGB's December 13, 1988) – 6:14
  10. "Eliminator Jr." (Paradiso, Amsterdam on March 26, 1989) – 2:38
  11. "Providence" (Paradiso, Amsterdam on March 26, 1989) – 1:47
  12. "Teen Age Riot" (Paradiso, Amsterdam on March 26, 1989) – 4:37
  13. "Rain King" (Recorded for the documentary Put Blood in the Music in Brooklyn, New York City in August 1988) – 4:06
  14. "Totally Trashed" (Maxwell's, Hoboken, New Jersey on June 9, 1988) – 1:57
  15. "Total Trash" (Maxwell's, Hoboken, New Jersey on June 9, 1988) – 5:18

Bonus cover songs

  2. "Within You Without You" (Harrison) – 4:58
  3. "Touch Me I'm Sick" (Mudhoney) – 2:33
  4. "Computer Age" (Young) – 5:12
  5. "Electricity" (Van Vliet/Bermann) – 2:46

Personnel

All information is taken from the CD.[18]

Album charts

Year Album Chart Position
1988 Daydream Nation Official UK Albums Chart 99[21]

Charting singles

Year Song Chart Position[22]
1988 Teen Age Riot Modern Rock Tracks (US) 20

References

  • Browne, David. Goodbye 20th Century: A Biography of Sonic Youth. Da Capo, 2008. ISBN 978-0-306-81515-7
  • Stearns, Matthew. Daydream Nation. Continuum, 2007. (33⅓) ISBN 082641740X
  • Warwick, Neil (2004). The Complete Book of the British Charts: Singles and Albums. Omnibus Press. ISBN 1844490580. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  • Strong, M. C. (1998). The Great Rock Discography. Giunti. ISBN 8809215222.

Notes

  1. ^ a b c "Top Albums of the 1980s". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 2007-11-12.
  2. ^ Christgau, Robert. "Robert Christgau: Album: Sonic Youth: Daydream Nation". Retrieved 11 August 2009.
  3. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Daydream Nation [Deluxe Edition]: Overview". Allmusic. Macrovision. Retrieved 11 August 2009.
  4. ^ a b "The National Recording Registry 2005". Library of Congress. Retrieved 2007-11-12.
  5. ^ Browne, p. 173-74
  6. ^ Browne, p. 175
  7. ^ Browne, p. 177
  8. ^ Browne, p. 178
  9. ^ Browne, p. 175-76
  10. ^ "Sonic Youth Song Database: The Sprawl". Sonic Youth.com. Retrieved 2007-11-19.
  11. ^ "Sonic Youth Song Database: Eric's Trip". Sonic Youth.com. Retrieved 2007-11-19.
  12. ^ "Sonic Youth Song Database: Hey Joni". Sonic Youth.com. Retrieved 2007-11-19.
  13. ^ "Sonic Youth Song Database: Hyperstation". Sonic Youth.com. Retrieved 2007-11-19.
  14. ^ "Sonic Youth Song Database: Eliminator Jr". Sonic Youth.com. Retrieved 2007-11-19.
  15. ^ "Sonic Youth Song Database: Candle". Sonic Youth.com. Retrieved 2007-11-19.
  16. ^ "Sonic Youth Song Database: Providence". Sonic Youth.com. Retrieved 2007-11-19.
  17. ^ a b "Daydream Nation". SonicYouth.com. Retrieved 2007-11-19.
  18. ^ a b Daydream Nation booklet and liner notes
  19. ^ Strong, 1998. p.768
  20. ^ "Daydream Nation > Charts". Allmusic. Retrieved 11 August 2009.
  21. ^ a b Warwick, 2004. p.1021
  22. ^ a b "Sonic Youth charting". Billboard. Retrieved 2007-11-19.
  23. ^ Solarski, Matthew. "Sonic Youth Reveal Deluxe Daydream Nation Details". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 2007-11-19.
  24. ^ Begrand, Adrien (June 12, 2007). "Sonic Youth Daydream Nation Reviews / Popmatters". Retrieved 11 August 2009.
  25. ^ Wolk, Douglas. "Daydream Nation - Blender". Blender. Retrieved 11 August 2009.
  26. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Daydream Nation [Deluxe Edition]: Overview". Allmusic. Macrovision. Retrieved 11 August 2009.
  27. ^ Abebe, Nitsuh (13 July 2007). "Pitchfork: Album Reviews: Sonic Youth: Daydream Nation: Deluxe Edition". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 11 August 2009.
  28. ^ Christgau, Robert. "Robert Christgau: Album: Sonic Youth: Daydream Nation". Retrieved 11 August 2009.
  29. ^ Christgau, Robert (13 July 2007). "Daydream Nation: Sonic Youth: Review: Rolling Stone". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 11 August 2009.
  30. ^ "Top 100 Albums of the Last 20 Years". Spin. Retrieved 2007-11-12.
  31. ^ "The 100 Greatest Albums of the 1980s". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2007-11-12.
  32. ^ a b "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2007-11-12.
  33. ^ "List of Daydream Nation Accolades". Acclaimed Music. Retrieved 2007-11-12.
  34. ^ "101 Essential Guitar Albums". Guitarist. Retrieved 2007-11-12.
  35. ^ "Top 99 Albums of 1985 to 1995". Alternative Press. Retrieved 2007-11-12.
  36. ^ "500 CDs You Must Own: Alternative Rock at Blender.com". Blender. Retrieved 2007-11-12.
  37. ^ "The 80 Best Records of the 80s". Q. Retrieved 2007-11-12.
  38. ^ "100 Alternative Albums". Spin. Retrieved 2007-11-12.
  1. ^ a b c This review is for the deluxe edition release
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