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Jim was hugely important to Sonic Youth when he was involved, and massively creatively so. I don't understand how anyone could think differently. If you don't like the stuff he's involved in, that's one thing, but to underscore his role in producing, playing, and co-writing it is just totally wrong.
Take NYC G&F for instance, he obviously got the band to try things they had never really did before (like getting Kim and Thurston to harmonize vocals instead of just always trade them off.) Then on Nurse, he was crucial in getting that incredible layered mix. Not too mention the dimension he added to the band live, by freeing the original members up to try new instruments (or in Kim's case often go without) and making it possible for them to have three or more guitars live (on the Nurse tour at times he played guitar instead of bass so that there were four!)
He also made SYR 3 and SYR 4 the most boundary stretching of that series. I'm not saying the rest of the band didn't as well, but he was hardly extra baggage! He recorded and mixed most of it as well as playing on it. When you used to go to the Echo Canyon Cam he was constantly in that studio. And to watch him playing live, I'm certain he was having a blast rocking out - he's just a multi-faceted guy who eventually had to move on to other things.
While I don't like Rather Ripped nearly as much as Nurse, I have a lot of faith in the four originals (and yeah, I know Steve is a few years short of being an "original", but I still had him sign my copy of Kill Your Idols when I had the rest do so in '91) to get fully back on track. I'm not one of these people who claim Jim made the group, but I am forever impressed with his ability to measure up to such a brilliant band and meld with them perfectly for as long as he did.
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