as if daydream nation is winning? cliche box or what!? heh, its dirty for me, i reckon they were at they'r most accessable and it got people involved etc, and they were generally just kooler, this however isn't my favourite era musically just i prefer the band how they were then. x

I'm gonna be predictable and say daydream nation, goo comes a very close 2nd, but the fact that it is grouped with dirty pretty much takes it out of the equation for me.

wow i thought i already posted but i guess not

i voted in the very extreme minority and picked Jet Set, because the question was Favorite Era, and the era of 1994 where they could not tour, and the album charted in the top 40 made it unique, and the amount of side projects blossomed

If I had to pick right now Id say "Sister"

they started to get really good on EVOL and it spiralled out of control into sister and through daydream nation. daydream is their fucking magnum opus. of course most of their work is pretty genius save for NYCGF and jetset.

quot'd

I'm with you on this one. since EVOL on, there was a number of landmark albums (especially in the 80s).

i picked experimental cause that was the first sonic youth album i ever owned & i still adore it...but my second choice would be goo/dirty...man it's hard to pick! i love every one of their albums...

I have to go for Daydream Nation cos its my bible, but I really love their more recent stuff, from Washing Machine onwards really, the music is more subtle...

Bad moon rising/evol era. Gotta love the picture of them in the woods

right now it's the murray street / sonic nurse era.

evol era

they just keep getting on and on, better and better...

I went for Sonic Nurse/Murray Street - i was between that and Sister.

My favourite era changes so often! It all depends on what I'm listening to at the moment.

Like, this time last week it was Daydream Nation with all the talk of the DDN shows in London. I listened to Daydream Nation constantly to get me 'prepared' even though it's like half a year off. I'll probably listen to it a lot again nearer the time. And before as well most probably.

Then it was Sister a few days later. Listenin' to it on various trips to and from college and deciding a really like the instumental passages on that album (and I still hold the fact that they may be the best instrumental bits in any of SY's songs).

Few days later, the Goo/Dirty era cos of Atari's Goo centred comp. lovin the noisyness of that era. Sonic Youth just didnt give a shit back then. I know what I mean when I say this, but they were almost 'immature.' Hard to explain but this is in no means a bad thing.

At the moment it's Murray Street/Sonic Nurse as that's what I have on my mp3 player at the moment. That era is probably one of my more favourite tho.

So yeah... I'm done...

I listen to Confusion Is Sex when I'm in the mood for harsh uneasy listening.

I listen to Bad Moon Rising when I want to hear sprawling chaos.

I listen to Evol, Experimental Jet Set Trash & No Star, and Washing Machine when I want to hear a wide variety of moods, styles and textures.

I listen to Goo and Dirty when I wanna rock out with my cock out.

I listen to Sister, Daydream Nation, and Rather Ripped when I want to hear something weird yet perfectly accessible.

I listen to Murray Street and Sonic Nurse for deceptively mellow complexity.

I don't have A Thousand Leaves or NYC Ghosts and Flowers yet, but what I've heard of them makes me think I'd put ATL in with Sister's group and NYCG&F with Bad Moon Rising...

exactly, impossible to choose.

I went for Experimental. It's the first thing I heard by them and It's still one of my favourite albums by anyone.

Daydream Overation

EVOL-Sister-Daydream Nation, the sacred trilogy.
I vote for Sister 'cause it's my favourite but I think those three albums can be linked.