Customer Reviews

Sonic Youth's Daydream Nation (33 1/3)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I've read about 10 of the series' books and the criticisms about the bad writing in other reviews hold up against this book. Page after page of "listening to this is MIND BLOWING". Thanks guy, but I already like the album -- that's why I bought the book! For examples of a 33 1/3 book done well, see the bowie "low", rem "murmur" or beastie boys' "paul's boutique" books ("murmur" in particular). Most grating were his incorrect analysis' conclusions and run-on look at my style-less style. 2 pages after you mention how Public Enemy and Chuck D were in the studio next door, and SY met and befriended them, right after you go on and on about urban distopia and hip hop and multiculturalism affecting the band in NYC ...a few pages after all of that, you're wondering what Kim's urging "Kick It!" about? Have you even heard hip hop from the late 80's? I disliked this book so much, I created an account just to review it and warn others to be ready for it's disappointment.

I picked this up thinking, like the other books in the 33 1/3 series, it would be an exploration of how Sonic Youth wrote/recorded/released Daydream Nation, and there are some sections on that, but most of it is the author talking about how amazing the album is, and analyzing it in a way that would make pretentious 11th grade AP English students blush. I'm not done with it yet, but the most egregious example of this so far is found in the chapter on "Hey Joni," which features Lee Ranaldo yelling "Kick it!" right before the band kicks into a noise jam. Stearns speculates that the line is referring to the character of Joni in the song "kicking" a drug habit, without providing any other references to this over the course of the song. A lot of the fawning praise that Stearns puts on the album is written in a stream-of-consciousness manner, when this book could have been significantly more streamlined and edited.

Sonic Youth is definitely a high-minded band with roots in artistic and literary traditions, and there's no question that Daydream Nation is a thematically ambitious album. Unfortunately, Stearns approaches it in the wrong way. Diehard fans will find merit in this because of the quotes from interviews, but people who are more interested in Sonic Youth should just read Michael Azerrad's Our Band Could Be Your Life instead.

Economy of language is a phrase often used when talking about modern writing, and it may be used here. For every good, hard sentence in Stearns' book there are at least 500 hyperbolic adjectives and glaring adverbs. I paid ten dollars for the book, but now I believe the information is only worth two or three of those dollars. Again, Stearns spends most of his time trying to convince you that Sonic Youth is a great band and that the album is amazing, and he tries so hard that it makes me question if the album really is that good (but of course it is). My recommendation, skim the book in the bookstore or just read the Wikipedia article on Daydream Nation.

Not only is the writing bad, there is no research, no interviews, no insight into the work being reviewed. The author chokes in front of the crucial moments of the work he is in awe of. He regurgitates the words, no insights, no information, sometimes worse- free association. The writer has no critical, interpretational or comparative skills, not to mention lack of research. This books only value is the partial printing of the lyrics. The liner notes of the reissued CD have more information on the recording process and the ideas of the artists than this book. I think the editors must be aiming at 12 year olds with this publication. Dont bother to waste your time or money.

Matthew Stearns' incredibly stoked exploration of Daydream Nation couples extreme fanboy enthusiasm, lyrical disassemblage, and reasonable research skills to cook up a close listening of this seminal record. The first few dozen pages of the book are pretty engaging if overstated; Stearns has a knack for the colorful post-cyberpunk flourish and the thrilling, mind-bending journey it is to not just listen to, but inhabit this record with total dedication. Unfortunately, the assault is feebly written or edited in parts (the section dedicated to "Trilogy" is particularly weak), and according to someone claiming to be Thurston Moore when commenting on the 33 1/3 blog, Stearns' lyrical interpretations are wrong ... at least on some of Thurston's lyrics. But, take those blog-based criticisms with a grain of salt: sections on "Teenage Riot", "Hey Joni", "Candle", and "Providence" are strong, and Stearns does a fine job of digging into the band's early past and no wave/noise roots on the Lower East Side, and tells us how drummer Steve Shelley came to join SY. This isn't the book I was expecting, but with the 33 1/3 Series, each book rarely is. Despite its flaws, this book is worth the read.

the writing is just too much. i will now open to a random page...

"And the final ring of "Teen Age Riot's" struck chords recede into silence. There's a moment, a microbeat, similar to that instant in the breathing cycle when the dynamic switches from the used-air release of exhalation to the oxygen-rejuvenation rush in inhalation, when the current track is over but the next hasn't quite begun. In this small window, we're given a short break to savor the exhaustion of "Teen Age Riot's" charged, fluid advance and this it's back to business. Before we've caught our breath, the howl of "Sliver Rocket" comes screeching over the horizon (starting from the left channel, it sweeps steadily across the stereo image, and settles into the right), unleashing sortie after sortie of chemical-rash inducing guitar assaults."

it's all like this. a gap between two songs can't be simply a gap between two songs; no, it has to be THE MOST PORTENTOUS MOMENT EVER !

too much.

I have to say that this is actually on of my favorites in the series so far. Stearns was able to go to the source, and spent a lot of time interviewing members of SY, which adds a lot of great information and depth to his book. I was also incredibly hooked by the introduction, where Stearns has some incredibly insightful things to say about music, recorded sound and the album format in general. I appear to be in the minority here, but I randk this one highly.

I just found out about the 33 1/3 series a few weeks ago. Having found out, I bought the four books that interested me. This was the first I read.

I love Sonic Youth, but I'm afraid I don't love them the same way Stearns does. That being said, I know the premise of this series is that huge fans take an album they love, and go into depth about it.

If anything, this book made me feel a little self concious about being a Sonic Youth fan, like I don't "get it" the way other people get it. Steans kinda describes Sonic Youth as this bone crushing force that rapes your senses with their high voltage New York City claustrophobic white heat noise. That's how he sees Sonic Youth, but I don't. To me they are just something mysterious and gorgeous...

In a way, I felt like I was reading a punk zine about a band that someone loved in a different way than I loved them. This book didn't make me love DAYDREAM NATION more, it made me question if I'm really "getting it" the way I'm supposed to get it. If at all...

Though I'd be the first to admit that Daydream Nation is easily one of the greatest albums ever created, that doesn't mean that this book does it any justice.

All in all, the author's repetitive use of hyperbole and fanboy descriptions did nothing but agitate me. He continually tries to convince the reader that this album is good...but chances are, if you're reading the book (heck, even if you're reading this review), you already understand that it's a good album. Therefore despite a few interesting band quotes, this book is pointless and not worth your money or time.

If you're interested in learning more about Sonic Youth, then might I recommend either "This Band Could Be Your Life" by Michael Azerrad or "Confusion is Next" by Alec Foege. Other books in the 33 1/3 series are wonderful, but definitely not this one.

Stearns' 33 1/3 contribution is a well thought out and contextualized treatment of this influential and groundbreaking album and cultural moment in American music history. Though some pages are too thickly covered in rich adjectival icing, the firmer core of the author's discussion is insightful, thought-provoking, and a unique perspective in some well-trodden territory in writing on Sonic Youth and this album in particular. Definitely worth a careful look (eat the cake, and let the icing slide off).