Why is Sonic Youth’s Rather Ripped on my best 1,000 albums ever list?
Do you believe in this sweet sensation? You should.
What does Sonic Youth’s Rather Ripped mean to me? What does it make me feel? Why is it exciting or compelling?
Sonic Youth is a great example of a band that for me makes this entire best 1,000 albums ever project worthwhile. Before I embarked on the lengthy research for the proj (as we say in the biz), Sonic Youth had long been a band that I mainly admired from afar. I hadn’t done a true deep dive on their stuff, frankly, mainly because their leanings into experimental music (read = screechy and dissonant sound collages) turned me off.
I’m so glad I pushed through those objections – which in reality only come up occasionally in the band’s music – allowing me to embrace one of the best and beloved alt rock bands out there.
By 2006, Sonic Youth had been around for quite a long spell, and there’s a lot of great subtlety, nuance, and intent in Rather Ripped that comes out of that long experience. And for me, there are some really well constructed and tightly written songs that, combined with outstanding alternative-meets-indie rock sensibilities, makes for a consistently great listen.
I keep thinking about how much I dig the guitar tone on this album, which sounds grungy yet crisply produced on “Sleepin’ Around,” versus “Do You Believe In Rapture?” where it’s pretty and clean when the song emerges out of a quiet yet noisy opening section to one of the most pleasing guitar sections I can recall hearing in quite some time. It comes after the line, “Do you believe in second chances?”
What’s also compelling about Rather Ripped is that it has some of the tightest-written Sonic Youth songs that they’ve produced to date. The two opening tracks, “Reena” and “Incinerate” (the best song on the album), are great examples.
Some stats & info about Sonic Youth – Rather Ripped
- What kind of musical stylings does this album represent? Rock Music, Alternative Rock, Experimental Rock, Indie Rock, Pop Music
- Rolling Stone’s greatest 500 albums ranking – not ranked!
- All Music’s rating – 4 out of 5 stars
- When was Rather Ripped released? 2006
- My ranking, the one you’re reading right now – #778 out of 1,000
Sonic Youth’s Rather Ripped on Spotify
What does the “best 1,000 albums ever” mean and why are you doing this?
Yeah, I know it’s audacious, a little crazy (okay, maybe a lot cray cray), bordering on criminal nerdery.
But here’s what it’s NOT: a definitive list of the Greatest Albums of All-Time. This is 100% my own personal super biased, incredibly subjective review of what my top 1,000 albums are, ranked in painstaking order over the course of doing research for nearly a year, Rob from High Fidelity style. Find out more about why I embarked on a best 1,000 albums ever project.