Dirty (Deluxe Edition) [Enhanced, Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered]

Sonic Youth | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 8, 2003)
• Original Release Date: 1992
• Number of Discs: 2
• Format: Enhanced, Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered
• Label: Interscope Records
• ASIN: B000083LQB
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #102,668 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

A fresh listen to the original 15 tracks on Dirty reminds one just how great this 1992 album in its original form. Remember the pop-sludge of "Sugar Cane"? The polit-grit of "Youth Against Fascism"? The sexy grind of "Drunken Butterfly"? How about SY’s version of wistfulness on "Wish Fulfillment" or their brilliant, nonsensical cover of the hardcore number "Nic Fit?" Plus, you had "Chapel Hill, "JC," "Purr, and "100%" to rock you into froth. Now, take all that and add a dozen (mostly) instrumental rehearsal recordings of those songs taking shape ("Barracuda" emerged as "Drunken Butterfly," while "Guido" and "Little Jammy Thing" gave birth to "Wish Fulfillment"). These rehearsal tracks follow two previously released instrumental B-sides--"The End of the End of the Ugly" and "Tamra"--creating a blissfully long wash of sound, veering from hypnotic, pastoral soundscapes to kinetic experiments held together by dark, probing rhythms. The second disc alone is priceless given that it may be the closest thing to a true instrumental Sonic Youth release that will ever appear. A handful of other B-sides and goodies round a collection that's worth every penny it costs. --Lorry Fleming

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sonic Youth injected rock, April 21, 2003

By 

"drumb" (milwaukee, wi United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dirty (Deluxe Edition) (Audio CD)

While Dirty is possibly one of the greatest "rock" albums ever made, you shouldn't let the term fool you. Refusing to be restrained by mainstream requirements, Sonic Youth uses a deep rock foundation to enhance their music, not limit it, which results in a record that is jarring, surreal, abrasive and calming all at once. Perhaps inspired by the antics of their more straightforward peers, i.e. Mudhoney and Nirvana, Dirty definitely marks the beginning of a more riff based approach for the consistently abrasive New York Ensemble, but while bands like Mudhoney and Nirvana quickly embraced an entirely formulaic method of songwriting, Sonic Youth merely uses this style to bring the jagged edges and metallic skronk of their vision to the forefront. Therefore, none of the classic SY elements are lost as the band further explores the concepts of repeated bludgeoning power chords overlaid with impassioned vocals and the results nearly defy description. Although every member of Sonic Youth is able to get into the driving grooves of tracks like "Purr" or "100%," they also feel right at home while indulging in psychedelic, feedback laden meditations such as "Theresa's Sound World" or "JC," thereby straddling the gap between the fierce testosterone riddled world of rock and the brooding, experimental underbelly of Avant Garde. The diverse assortment of styles and the wide range of sounds cleverly placed side by side makes Dirty an experience that keeps the listener attentive, lulling him or her into a relaxed calm at one moment only to bombard his or her ears with brutal guitar fuzz the next. An album that can overwhelm as much as entice, Dirty is a complex array of various ideas and motives, which makes classifying it as a great rock album an incredible oversimplification. Instead, Dirty is best viewed as being the point where rock and the anti-rock meet, a chaotic orgasm of opposing noise, and since Sonic Youth is the band who has shared the stage with everyone from Nirvana to the Boredoms, cited influences from Neil Young to The Carpenters, and played everything from No Wave to Alt. Rock, they alone are the only band who could create such an ideal model of diverse excellence.

In regards to the re-release of Dirty in 2003, the actual re-releasing of this album was pretty unnecessary considering the original album is still widely available in CD stores across the world, but obviously, the previously unavailable or ridiculously difficult to obtain bonus material included on the new version of Dirty, is a nice addition. Immediately following the original LP, all of the B sides are quite good, but none of them ever really reach the perfect equilibrium of Dirty, always leaning more towards either experimentalism or rock instead of a balanced fusion. The rehearsal jams however are fascinating to no end. Certainly a precursor to the current SYR series, the Dirty rehearsal jams chronicle the improvisations, brainstorming sessions, and noise experiments that eventually led to the group's cohesive full length album. Hearing tracks like Wish Fulfillment and Swimsuit Issue in their embryonic stages along with transitional improvised pieces is definitely an intriguing prospect and thanks to the reissue of Dirty, this is now possible. Without question, the album itself is the strongest, most developed material culled from the expansive Dirty sessions, but as the reissue proves, there are still many more worthwhile tracks which got left off of the original.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Worth getting...used, November 8, 2005

By 

someguy (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dirty (Deluxe Edition) (Audio CD)

I agree with both sides on this one. On one side, this record sounds 100% better (no pun intended) than the original. I saw them live last year and this remaster actually sounds really close to their live sound. On the other hand, the reissue is priced at a rediculous amount. The solution? By it used like I did. I got it off of half.com for $13 (plus shipping). It's definately worth it just for the sound quality alone, let alone the additional b-sides, nice packaging, and liner notes.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars even dirtier, July 31, 2003

By 

"onedayiwillfly" (london) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dirty (Deluxe Edition) (Audio CD)

The addition of B-sides and rehearsal recordings recaptures the raw ethos of the music surrounding sonic youth's milestone "dirty".
Full of that voilent atonal noise like "Drunken butterfly" and "is it my body" the album's new additions show a more traditional rock side of sonic youth like "poet in the pit". It is amazing to hear songs like Youth against facism and wish forfillment whilst they were still only ideas; addition of the rehearsal sessions was cirtainly a possitive one.
A great remake of something amazing