I'll have to say I was a pretty big Sonic Youth fan at first but after I heard stuff after Goo they just can't create that interesting of music anymore. Sonic Youth in my opinion had 4 classic albums. Evol, Sister, Daydream Nation and Goo and since then they've either been bland, decent or just completly awful. I saw Sonic Youth on this tour and the Meat Puppets opend for them which I will say the Meat Puppets blew these wankers off the stage. This album has some decent songs, Reena, Incenarate, Do You Believe In Rapture, Rats, but alot of it like alot of post Goo albums just seems bland and boring. These guys could have been so much better if they would have learned music theory and gotten better at their instruments but instead they do the same old thing and thier stuff since Washing Machine has been very mellow and less rocking. These guys really need to hang it up because they just can't put out classic albums anymore. To me Sonic Youth might just be the most overrated band ever. Oh fun thing you should know I needed money really badly so I sold most of my Sonic Youth collection to my guitar player. That's how much they disapointed me live and with post Goo albums.

Very clean, but still unique. I would have to say this is an interesting album. I am still glad I bought it--maybe it will grow on me too.

While Rather Ripped (2006) may not be among my all-time favorite Sonic Youth albums, it is still far better than most of the alternative post-punk rock being released these days. One wonders if over the course of 25 years Nirvana (Nevermind) would have evolved as well as Sonic Youth. Rolling Stone magazine named Rather Ripped the number three Album of 2006. Titled after a now defunct Berkeley record store, the majority of Rather Ripped's rockers and ballads were written by Thurston Moore, who (hard to believe) is turning 50 this year. World-wise yet forever ethereal Kim Gordon (who will be 55 this year) wrote "Reena," "The Neutral," and "What a Waste" (with Moore). (By comparison, Gordon's friend Kurt Cobain would be in his 40s if he were alive today.) Stand-out tracks includes Moore's acerbic "Do You Believe in Rapture," Gordon's "Reena" and Moore's gritty, Lou Reed-channeling ballad about promiscuity, "Sleepin' Around." While Sonic Youth may not be so youthful anymore, the band remains relevant and its music primal. The complete album setlist includes:

1. Reena
2. Incinerate
3. Do You Believe In Rapture?
4. Sleepin Around
5. What A Waste
6. Jams Run Free
7. Rats
8. Turquoise Boy
9. Lights Out
10. The Neutral
11. Pink Steam
12. Or

G. Merritt

SY has been always a great noise experience. Most people doesn't get them, and that's fine. SY is not for everyone. "Do you believe in rapture?" it's their most mature song so far. If you don't believe in rapture, this isn't for you.

FIRST TWO SONGS ARE OK BUT AFTER THAT SOUNDS DELIBERATELY OUT OF TUNE. WAS THAT ON PURPOSE? DOESN'T MATTER EITHER WAY - ITS STILL ART-HOUSE CRAP - LIKE VELVET UNDERGROUND IT'S GARBAGE - PRETENTIOUS CRAP