Sonic Youth Album Tier List
 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKCHKyh66sY


Here are my personal rankings of their 15 studio albums. I'd love to hear where you rank these as well!

Everyone knows this is the definitive ranking...

1. Sister - 10/10
2. Daydream Nation - 10/10
3. Washing Machine - 9/10
4. Dirty - 9/10
5. Murray Street - 9/10
6. Evol - 9/10
7. Sonic Nurse - 8/10
8. Goo - 8/10
9. Confusion Is Sex + Kill Your Idols - 8/10
10. Bad Moon Rising - 7/10
11. Experimental Jet Set, Trash & No Star - 7/10
12. The Eternal - 7/10
13. Rather Ripped - 7/10
14. Sonic Youth - 6/10
15. A Thousand Leaves - 6/10
16. New York City Ghosts & Flowers - 5/10

Personally I would put goo and experimental jet set at the bottom, but the bottom of a list of albums that good is still pretty damn good.

NYC Ghost and flowers would be up closer to the top, as would.... Crap!! It should pretty much all be in the top five, how can 16 things all be in the top five! Math you have failed me.

This made me remember the NYCGF 0.0 rating in Pitchfork. Ha!



I cannot rate SY's albums, there are too many damn good ones. But for me, NYCGF and SY's homonymous EP are always in the top area.

1. Daydream Nation- 10/10
2. Sister - 10/10
3. Bad Moon Rising - 10/10
4. Evol - 10/10
5. Confusion is Sex - 10/10
6. Sonic Youth - 9/10
7. Goo - 9/10
8. Washing Machine - 9/10
9. Sonic Nurse - 8/10
10. Dirty - 8/10
11. A Thousand Leaves - 8/10
12. Rather Ripped - 7/10
13. Murray Street - 7/10
14. NYC Ghosts & Flowers - 7/10
15. The Eternal - 7/10
16. Experimental, Jet Set, Trash, and No Star - 1/10

I think these rankings depends on the facet of the band you are interested in, if you think the experimental area of their music is boring or secondary you'll never put some albums on top, in my opinion 'A Thousand Flowers' is one of their most important recordings, NYCG&F too (Goodbye 20th Century included), because at that point the band abandoned completely the grunge, the indie, the punk, the hits.. it was the time when they felt really free. Maybe i'm weird but I'd rather hear 'Anagrama' than 'Teenage Riot'. But when I was 20 it was probably the other way around so I don't judge anyone.

Teenag Riot came out BEFORE "grunge" "indie" etc.

here's my very personal ranking in 2023...

1. Murray Street
2. A Thousand Leaves
3. Evol
4. Washing Machine
5. Sister
6. Goo
7. Sonic Nurse
8. Daydream Nation
9. Bad Moon Rising
10. Sonic Youth
11. NYC Ghosts & Flowers
12. Confusion Is Sex
13. Experimental Jet Set, Trash and No Star
14. Dirty
15. Rather Ripped
16. The Eternal

I think you didn't understand (or didn't care) the main idea of the message... anyway I doubt that song is an example of musical innovation in any genre.

I heard it in 1987, and it sounded like NOTHING BEFORE.

7+ minutes
odd calm intro by KIm
raging thrust through the whole song

The effortless cool of 'Teenage Riot' is still unparalleled to this day. I will never get tired of hearing that song.

I didn't say 'Teenage Riot' is a bad song, I just find it very poppy, probably the fact it's been proclaimed everywhere as "THE song" has ended up boring me. Same with 100%, Bull in the Heather, Kool Thing, Dirty Boots... But I really think 'The Sprawl', 'cross the Breeze' and 'Rain King' (along with the trilogy) are the true gold in Daydream Nation.

That song was recorded in 1988. How did you heard it in '87?

10 - Everything from the 80s including Sonic Death and Spin Sessions but excluding Made in USA
Also 10 Dirty, ExpJetSet, 1000 Leaves, the syr w/merzbow & gustafson

10/5 - Goo, half great (tunic, mote, disappearer, mildred pierce, cinderellas big score, scooter and jinx, titanium expose) half crap (the rest)

8.5 or 9 -NYCG+F, mostly great but a point or two deducted for some instances of high lyrical wackness.

8 - Murray St (Scrappy Doo joins the band)

6 - Nurse (And fails to leave)

2 - RR (Don't know what the two points are for but I'm giving them out of the kindness of my heart)

Unrated - The Eternal (never bought it) White(y), SYR 4, and the other SYRs that aren't the one above, the one that came out recently (haven't bought it yet), Made In USA (most of these I haven't listened to in so long that i can't rate them off the top of my head)

thanks zaini

10 - EVOL, Washing Machine, Daydream Nation, Bad Moon Rising
9 - Dirty, Murray Street
8 - Sonic Nurse, Sister, Sonic Death

7 - Goo, NYCG&F

5 - The Eternal, Confuison is Sex, A Thousand Leaves

3 - Rather Ripped
2 - Experimental Jet Set
N/A - Sonic Youth S/T (never heard it)

The heck is wrong with you peoples? Rather Ripped is a full A, 9/10, four-and-a-half stars, and if it were an album by any other band it'd be an A+.

It's weak and bland. Face the truth.

as of right now

1. Daydream Nation- 10/10
2. Sister - 10/10
3. A Thousand Leaves - 9.5/10
4. Murray Street - 9.5/10
5. Goo - 9.5/10
6. Evol - 9.5/10
7. Dirty - 9/10
8. Washing Machine - 9/10
9. Bad Moon Rising - 9/10
10. Experimental, Jet Set, Trash, and No Star - 8.5/10
11. The Eternal - 8.5/10
12. Sonic Nurse - 8/10
13. Confusion is Sex - 7.5/10
14. Rather Ripped - 7.5/10
15. Sonic Youth - 7/10
16. NYC Ghosts & Flowers - 6/10