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Originally Posted by Murmer99
I'm definitely a "loyal fan"... in that I'll always love them no matter what. They're probably my favorite band of all time actually. However, what demonrail said about them maturing is very accurate. They lost that spark they had early on imo... I never said I disliked everything after that, but most of it pales in comparison. I'm certain that Rain on Tin will always be one of my favorite songs of all time... NYC ghosts and flowers is solid but doesn't impress me too much as a whole. And... I know this isn't a very popular opinion but I find A Thousand Leaves quite dull. If anything, majority of it does get by on atmosphere... and is nowhere near the nightmarish masterpiece bad moon rising is! Society is a Hole wipes its ass with every song on ATL combined. I've always felt that confusion and bmr represent the essence of SY. But then there's always sister and DDN... after that, they didn't lose my interest or anything. They're a great example of what I think most bands should be like... unpredictable, challenging, forward thinking. They had their moments, but I still can't see how it even comes close for some... to their 80s output.
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I totally get what you guys are saying. They changed quite dramatically in the '90s. The change may not have been altogether pleasant for fans of the spacey, unsettling, unhinged sound of their early stuff. I myself have even thought, at times, that '90s SY *just isn't SY*. It's a completely different beast.
To make sense of all of these changes, I started thinking about SY differently. I started thinking of them based on the standards of classic "pop". I started equating them, in my head, to bands like the Beatles. I know they're absolutely nothing alike, but if you view their '90s output as just once facet of the whole, then it just makes them seem all the more dynamic and eclectic. Even the Beatles had "shitty" records ("shitty" for the Beatles still being far better than average) like Magical Mystery Tour, where they just got lost for a bit in the sensation they'd created. Imagine Dirty as SY's MMT.
Then '00s SY is another matter altogether. They became something different all over again. So we've got the post-hardcore art-noise SY, the alterna-grunge SY, and the "godfathers of indie" SY who just jammed and had fun like the grateful dead.
Having all of these archetypes in one is like having the leather-coat, Liverpool pub Beatles, the perfect-pop band Beatles, the psychedelic Beatles, and the frustrated, angsty,"grown-up" Beatles shown on the White Album and Let it Be and Abbey road. I know comparing the two is a stretch, but SY is so BIG for me that I can literally think of them as three (maybe four if you count the SYR SY) bands in one, and that is an exciting thought! It helps me appreciate even their worst moments. Besides, like I said, Goo is a perfect transition from DDN into more mainstream alternative.
Personally I think "Sister" is their best album, and I'm definitely more inclined to think of their'80s output when considering my favorite albums ever. But there is gold all over their catalog. I honestly, when I think hard about it, can't tell you which SY is my favorite! The '80s, obviously the best track record. But the '90s yielded ATL, which is one of my favorite albums ever made, and the '00s had Murray Street and SN and RR and tons of incredible SYR material. So I don't even know which "version" of the band I like best, but that's ok with me.