It had it's moments (Incinerate, Jams Run Free, Lights Out) but there's also a few duds (Reena, What a Waste, Turquoise Boy & probably the worst Ranaldo-song ever: Rats). Overall I guess it's pretty inconsistent.
Still ranking a thousand leaves as their all time low though, followed by Jet Set & Dirty. Personal favs are DDN, Sonic Nurse & EVOL.

This wouldn't make my top 5 if I'd only heard 5 Sonic Youth albums, period.

I don't know if it would make my top five, but I still really like it and always have.

I like it a lot, and stood up for it a lot when it came out; but top 5? No way.
My top 5 goes something like Daydream Nation, Confusion, Bad Moon, Sister and Evol. RR isn't going to break into that company any time soon.

I love it. Or at least, I love a lot of it. A few songs really fall flat (Rats), but the ones that work are in the majority and they’re fantastic. It features a lot of my favourite Kim tracks too. More love needs to go to Turquoise Boy. Jams Run Free is amazing.

I'd probably say I like it more than Nurse or NYCG&F among their post-2000 output, but then again those are the two albums of theirs that I haven't listened to all the way through very often, so I should probably re-evaluate them. Maybe my opinion will change.

I honestly don’t think that Sonic Youth have released a remotely bad “proper” album. Everything up until and including Dirty is some of my favourite music ever (although I could never really love BMR like most of the board seems to), EJSTNS and Washing Machine are both great, but I never really clicked with the latter to the degree that a lot of people have. In fact, laying it out like this, I’d say that ATL, Murray Street and RR are all pretty much competing for my favourite post-Dirty studio album. This is not including side projects and SYRs. I fucking love me some of those.

Still wouldn’t touch the top 5 though. You know what, fuck it, thinking about things like this has inspired me to go listen to all 30 or so Sonic Youth related releases that I own in succession over the next couple of weeks, really get to grips with the whole discography. I probably won’t end up getting through them all, but hey, it’ll be fun.

Damn, this is one hell of a rambling incoherent post. Sorry.

Am I the only person alive who thinks Pink Steam kinda sucks and would rather listen to anything else from the album?

Yes.

What's appealing about Pink Steam? It's repetitive as hell =/

It's a nice jam, though nowhere as good as e.g. Rain on Tin.

So true, Theremin.

I love Rather Ripped, but it wouldn't be in my top 5. Jams Run Free and Rats are my favorite songs on there

My top 5 album would probably something like

1) Bad Moon Rising
2) NYC Ghosts & Flowers
3) Confusion Is Sex
4) EVOL | Daydream Nation (can't choose)
5) A Thousand Leaves

haha



i find reading about people's love for this album totally alienating, infact, in regards to RR reading any response other than ones of searing pain and unremmiting grief fills me with despair and forces me to call into question all my conceptions and thoughts on reality & the very fabric of life and the universe and leads me to one conclusion, and that is that vast swathes of humanity are utterly insane and are going to drag the rest of us to the very depths of hell.

i've had my heart broken 6 times in my life, four times by girls, by the death of my cat, and upon hearing Rather Ripped.

RR is good stuff and all, but when facing facts, it's probably the worst thing they've put out. But it's not a completely abysmal record. Jams Run Free and Turquoise Boy were my favorites from it. But compared to the rest of their catalog it isn't incredible.

As for favorite SY records, mine would be EVOL, DDN, Sister. After that I dunno, Murray Street probably, Goo maybe, CIS too.

From reading the posts I've noticed that a lot of the ones defending Rather Ripped and saying they really like it seem to have bought that album and worked thier way backwards. While fans who have been listening to Sonic Youth for years (at least within the past 10 years or more) diss the album and rank it really low. I actually haven't heard Rather Ripped in awhile myself.

Not at all. I like RR a lot and I've been listening to SY since Sister came out.

They've been sounding tired of being Sonic Youth since 'Sympathy For The Strawberry', their last truly great song. They are The Rolling Stones now.

Not really. At least the best tickets for their concerts aren't reserved to American Express Gold owners (which was the case for a Rolling Stones' gig in France a few years ago)

Seriously, about everything on Nurse eats strawberry for breakfast. :(

Dood gtfo.

Hmm...My order was messed up. Kill Yr Idols. DDN, Sister, EJTsotaljdkgflkdsjfg and then RR....then some more....then some more more and then yeah.