[ZEROpumpkins]

Perhaps you should read the liner notes! Like I do obsessive-compulsively every time I buy a new cd.

[petitvulcan]

I love the Mike Watt "Ball-Hog or Tugboat" album version ... with JMascis playing drums on the 2nd part of the song.. I really dig it !

[Protectmeyou]

Originally Posted by kenning

I think if Sister had the production values of Goo or even Evol, it'd be on par with Daydream Nation.

No way. The songs on Evol & Daydream are twice as good as Sister, simple as that.

The production on Sister is great, you wouldn't change it at all. It's funny, when I critisize Sister, people assume I have problems with the sound of it, like its too noisy and raw. They also cannot grasp the fact that I'm saying it's THE SONGS that aren't as good as what are on other albums.
Deal with it.

Oh yeah..... Confusion absolutely destroys Sister in every way.

[jetengine]

"Tuff Gnarl" is probably the fourth or fifth best number on Sister--probably the best from side 2.

"Hotwire My Heart" is a great cover tune, and would have fit in quite nicely on White Light/White Heat. In fact, I would argue that in spite of all the Velvet Underground comparisons, and all the influence that SY themselves claim the group had on them, it is one of the few numbers from all their albums where they actually sound Velvety--the other numbers being "Candle", "Washing Machine", "Do You Believe in Rapture?" and maybe one or two more. In terms of classic rock, I hear far more Doors, Pink Floyd and Detroit rock (Stooges/Cooper/MC5/Dukes) in their sound than Velvet Underground. I also hear a fair bit of Sabbath and Zeppelin, among others.

As for EVOL and Confusion Is Sex being better than Sister (as someone has insisted), I would put Confusion on par with Sister (despite the two albums having very little in common thematically or musically), and therefore tied for second place to Daydream Nation as far as their '80's output goes. As I've discussed in another thread, Daydream Nation had the unfair advantage of being a double album, and therefore gave them more space for some longer numbers which represent the improvisational, jammy side of the group. If Confusion and (certainly) Sister (which sounds very similar to Daydream both musically and lyrically), had had an extra two sides apiece to allow for some longer jams, they would have both been at least tied for the #1 '80's spot with Daydream--Sister would probably even pull ahead.

As far as EVOL goes, one of the things that first fascinated me when I started checking in with the internet was the devotion and praise so many fans (especially female and/or American ones) show this album. Quite frankly, I've always considered EVOL to be one of the group's lesser '80's releases, and definitely their least consistent. Don't get me wrong--it's still a B/B+ record (out of 10, I would give it a 7 or 7.5), and I dig it very much, but compared to the others, it does sound rather inconsistent. (It is, however, their most obviously transitional album from the '80's--side 2 harkens back to the sounds of Bad Moon Rising, Kill Yr. Idols and Confusion Is Sex, while side 1 foreshadows Sister and Daydream.) Also, the two tracks they promoted--"Shadow Of A Doubt" visually and "Starpower" singularly--were probably the weakest on the album (Kim sounds like she just crawled out of bed with a hangover on the latter, her vocals are so lackluster and "run-through"). Therefore, I'm not surprised that Gordon has gone on record as saying that she doesn't care much for this album. "Green Light", "Tom Violence" and "Expressway To Your Skull" (nice Doorsy sound on this track, reminiscent of "The End" both lyrically and musically) are probably the best numbers on EVOL, which probably explains why Thurston has called it a "good" album. Also, this is the SY album where Mr. Ranaldo starts to come into his own as poet, vocalist and songwriter--can't forget "IN the Kingdom #19"!

[k-krack]

I totally disagree with what you say about Sister, jetengine. Sister was, at it's core, a POP album. Albeit, the most fucked-up pop album I;'ve ever heard, but if they added 6 minute jams to all the beautiful 3 minute songs, it just wouldn't be the same. As to Confusion, it wouldn't make sense. CIS is an album to scare the shit out of you, to get in, and get the fuck out, doing as much damage in as little time as possible. Also, filling all these intentionally short songs up with jams just for the sake of doing it, you would just be complaining about how they overuse the same schtick, how Daydream was a boring album full of overlong jams.

[jetengine]

"Pop album"? If Sister was a pop album, then all their "mainstream" records are essentially pop albums. As for the jamming issue, you can hear 2 numbers on this album crying out for it: "Pipeline-Kill Time" and "P.C.H."; if this had been a double set, I could see either of these taking half a side.

As for Confusion Is Sex, I totally agree with you: It's a scary trip. Some people have called this the darkest, bleakest, most sinisterly atmospheric thing ever put to wax--I'm inclined to agree. The bass on "Protect Me You" alone is enough to frighten the piss out of a ten-year old in his/her own bedroom.

One thing I've never understood about Sister, by the way: Why do so many fans go nuts over "Kotton Krown", to the point where even the band has found themselves making it somewhat of a staple of live performances? True, it's a nice little track--a rare duet from Kim and Thurston and all, but I would still have to rank it as probably the weakest song on the album. And its seems rather probable that the band felt the same way in the beginning, otherwise they wouldn't have placed it next to last in the running order.

[lisayoung]

isolation
in my circulation

[sun city girl]

Originally Posted by jetengine

One thing I've never understood about Sister, by the way: Why do so many fans go nuts over "Kotton Krown", to the point where even the band has found themselves making it somewhat of a staple of live performances? True, it's a nice little track--a rare duet from Kim and Thurston and all, but I would still have to rank it as probably the weakest song on the album. And its seems rather probable that the band felt the same way in the beginning, otherwise they wouldn't have placed it next to last in the running order.

what? do you think bands always put the best tracks first and then just fill the rest with whatever tracks they have there... i think kotton krown is a masterpiece, i've always loved it and it just fits better to the place where it is than to the a-side. i think sister has the best tracks and best production, but it's just a matter of taste really... at the moment i think the 5 best SY albums in order are:

1. sister
2. evol
3. bad moon rising
4. daydream nation
5. confusion is sex

yeah, i like the early stuff... from the newer ones only washing machine comes close.

[jetengine]

--what? do you think bands always put the best tracks first...?--

Frankly, yes. That's generally been the rule over the years, especially when it comes to a record where all the tracks are basically the same length, with no lengthy improvisational track that may serve as an album "centrepiece" (e.g., "Pink Steam" off Rather Ripped).

As for "Kotton Krown" being a "masterpiece", I simply fail to see how this computes logically. I will say this much in its defense: It's quite a nice little track when you consider how awkward are the lyrics and the vocal phrasings required to pull them off, in addition to the poor recording job done on the vocal track. From where I stand, "Kotton Krown" sounds like a number that was written towards the end of the studio session and was recorded before it was perfected. If they had worked some of the kinks out of the lyrical phrasings and had had the advance recording standards of the next major release, Daydream Nation, then it would have been quite comparable to the latter album's "Candle"--or at least that's my take on it.

[noumenal]

Originally Posted by jetengine

The bass on "Protect Me You" alone is enough to frighten the piss out of a ten-year old in his/her own bedroom.

It's just a turn, jesus. Death and the Maiden anybody?