WTF? I just went to the sonic youth site, clicked on the ‘UK pre-order’ thing and they want £27 for the album on vinyl!!!!??

http://uk.buyearlygetnow.com/Store/DII.html

not a chance…..LOL!!!

Wow, gotta chime in on this one. I’ll start by saying I’m an huge SY fan to the point of clinical. I will confess though, that while each had their magical tracks, their last few albums felt a little mundane and uninspired as a whole, in their own way. And that’s not to bad on a “Sonic” level.

However, this new album “Eternal” is GREAT to me. It is by far their best in the last 10 years or so and might even be compared to one of their best to date.

It might not be as iconic as Daydream Nation, Dirty and the others along the way that have that “change your life” impact…. but it is a complete collage of all the magical and catchy elements that they’ve pulled off in all of their creative collabs. What I’m saying is that this one spares no nonsense and it seems their focus on “what works” was at it’s peek. It also, as a whole, has a great and consistent vibe to it. The overall tone and mix is a little unique to all previous albums, but the same could be said about each one before this one (minus the J.O’rourke projects all sounding similar)…. but the mix is VERY NICE. It’s more full and powerful than any before it but still has just the right amount of Raw texture to it. In all, it doesn’t have any iconic tracks that will stand among others in the past, but it makes up for it in consistent catchiness and complete relistening value.

Wow, I was so ready for a dose of sonic greatness and this one fit’s the fix!!! and I’m only on about my 5th listen. Their sound and style is so infectious and unique…. they is no-one like them.

Unfortunately, they’re not heading my way (New Orleans) this year…….

Couple side notes, I’m really hearing a V.Underground / Lou Reed influence in Thurston’s vocals on “Poison Arrow”…. still sounds like Thurston doing his thing, but my first hought when I heard it was “Lou Reed?”… never associated the two before.

Nice throwback on “Calming the Snake” when Kim opens with “Come on down to the River” ….. of the old Green River days.

Agreed, Murray Street was VERY good too (well, aren’t they all). I guess to me, Eternal has a good, rockin’ vibe throughout the whole album. Almost the most upbeat of all of theirs and dare I say…… a little pop’ish in song structure. Eternal has more harmonies, more vocal dubbing, more ABC, ABC song structure with the emphasis on light-heavy-heavier, light-heavy-heavier…. and overall has a really good upbeat vibe to it. I think this is what’s most appealing about it to me for the time being. I can see the majority of the tracks on Eternal having a good radio presence.

Murray Street is FANTASTIC to me too, but in it’s own way is more dark than the Eternal. I love that side of SY, but was ready for what they did with the Eternal. It’s definitely as “special” as eternal, I guess I might overlook it being such a short album. Probably one of my top 5 SY songs would be Sympathy for the Strawberry, but aside from that, that album lacks, “special” songs to me. I caught them live on that tour though and it was righteous.

I’m probably overhyping the new album, but I’m also elated to be so amused by yet another new SY album. Who’d-a thunk it after doing it for so long?!!?