So why is Sonic Youth’s Goo on this best 1,000 albums ever thing?
“Dirty Boots” might be my single favorite Sonic Youth song. It has a deeply indie feel*, it’s moody, restrained (until it’s not), and has a great hook. The more I think about it, too, I realize that it has a similar feel as Nirvana’s brilliant “About A Girl” in some respects, except with a dusting of a darker, almost Von Bondies-ish vibe.
* Which is slightly ironic given that Sonic Youth notably switched over to a major label (Geffen) with the release of Goo.
And while Sonic Youth’s noise rock impulses are partially why it took me many years to really get into them overall, I’m fully willing to forgive the noisy (if not noise rock) section that explodes around two-thirds of the way into “Dirty Boots.” It all works as a piece, with the restrained section leading to a detonation of sound and energy.
“Kool Thing” has an incredible alt rock riff and breathy, cool (kool?) as hell vocal performance from Kim Gordon to match. And check out Public Enemy’s Chuck D showing up in the middle of the affair!
“My Friend Goo” has a nice, chugging energy with that certain peculiar and highly specific Sonic Youth feel both in terms of the guitar instrumentation and vocal performances. There was a time in my life when I didn’t really get it, but eventually something clicked and these days I highly dig it.
Bring on the Goo!
“Disappearer” (not to be confused with R.E.M.’s “Discoverer” from 2011’s Collapse Into Now) is Sonic Youth at their relatively most mainstream. It’s a slightly sad, catchy, and ultimately really pleasing song.
See also: Sonic Youth – Rather Ripped: #778 of best 1,000 albums ever
Some stats & info about Sonic Youth – Goo
- What kind of musical stylings does this album represent? Rock Music, Alternative Rock, Experimental Rock, Indie Rock, Noise Rock, College Rock
- Rolling Stone’s greatest 500 albums ranking – #358
- All Music’s rating – 4 out of 5 stars
- When was Goo released? 1990
- My ranking, the one you’re reading right now – #568 out of 1,000
Sonic Youth’s Goo on Spotify
A lyrical snippet from Sonic Youth’s Goo that’s evocative of the album in some way, maybe
Time to take a ride, time to take it in a midnight eye. And if you want to go, get on below.
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.