#171 Sonic Youth, 'Daydream Nation' (1988)

Previously #328

‘Daydream Nation,’ Sonic Youth’s fifth record, is widely regarded as their best work. The album drew the attention of David Geffen Company Records, who signed the band on their following record, ‘Goo’ (#358). The album utilised unconventional guitar tunings and often resulted in extended jams with many songs extending past the 7 minute mark. Thurston Moore’s prolific songwriting, coupled with the length of the songs resulted in this record being released as a double album.

The album marked a new era for alternative rock going on to influence so many musicians in the ‘90s. Dave Grohl has said that when he initially wrote ‘Everlong,’ he was paranoid that he’d ripped off Sonic Youth’s ‘Teen Age Riot,’ the opening track on this record. So much so that he reached out to Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon to receive their blessing before recording the song. ‘Teen Age Riot,’ one of the band’s most well-known songs, is about an alternate reality where J Mascis, from Dinosaur Jr., is President of the USA. ‘Silver Rocket’ is a riff-heavy song rooted in Punk, which really sounds like so many subsequent bands. This album really shaped alternative music for at least the next 10 years. The album was chosen by the Library of Congress to be preserved in the National Recording Registry in 2005. Kurt Cobain had said it was one of his favourite albums of all time. Hard to imagine Nirvana without Sonic Youth.

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