Daydream Nation (Deluxe Edition)E

From UrbanHymnsIn 1996 I asked my father for a subscription to the music magazine Rolling Stone for my birthday. I had just entered my sophomore year in high school, learning about music and felt Rolling Stone was a great vessel to help introduce me to the music world. There was an issue they published around that time that had the editors compile what they deemed were the 200 most essential albums. It was an incredibly thorough, thought provoking list, and all the usual suspects such as The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, U2, Michael Jackson, Led Zeppelin were on there. But there was an album from a band on there that I had never heard of: ‘Daydream Nation’, Sonic Youth. The album cover of a single lit candle with dark background piqued my interest. The album was included for its influence on the indie and alternative rock scene and was a band I had no reference to. Reading how significant and influential this album was to the music of my generation, I made a point to save my money and get the album. When I finally bought the album I made the first time I listened to it was while I was studying for a physics test, which was the wrong time to do such. To be clear this is a culturally significant album experience, and I discovered it requires one’s full attention to, not just a background album to have on; but I wasn’t aware of this on my initial impression. I turned it off and waited til the next day when I had the chance to just listen to the album- and that’s when I got it. The best way I can describe “Teenage Riot”, the blistering, epic opener to ‘Daydream Nation’ is that of a tidal wave’s life cycle: the song begins rather subtly, slowly building and building. Kim Gordon takes the initial vocals, singing with a hushed, restrained voice that compliments the sound. You get the sense there’s part tranquil, part chaos both lying underneath what is happening. Then around that 1:20 mark everything changes; the wall of sound quickly accumulates, drummer Steve Shelley changes tempo with guitars that follow. Thurston Moore takes over vocals and it becomes this beautifully organized, chaotic wall of ideas and sound that all works masterfully. The wave is fully formed and there are waves upon waves of ideas, sonic textures and elements I’d never heard before, all beautifully meshing into this incredible 7 minute epic- and it’s just the beginning. “Silver Rocket” is next and it’s a fast, frantic Thurston Moore sung track with punk tones that segues into the epic, aptly titled “The Sprawl” followed by “‘Cross The Breeze”, Kim Gordon led tracks that shows how she was so influential with the Riot Grrrl movement that would happen in the 90’s. Both songs are structured vastly different but both absolutely intense in their own ways. For me these two songs perfectly encapsulate what makes Sonic Youth (and specifically ‘Daydream Nation’) vital and so influential: the band found ways to balance melody and dissonance with their unconventional guitar sounds. They’d create these atmospheres without sacrificing the songs themselves; previous albums leading up to ‘Daydream Nation’ had moments like this but here they managed to create an entire album arc that feels both abrasive and remarkably cohesive. Their ability to perfect this, craft it into something like no one else had previously achieved is why ‘Daydream Nation’ and the band have made such a lasting and obvious influence on the following decade’s alternative, indie and college rock scenes. This may read as far fetched but I’d say every significant alternative/indie/college rock album or band that came out after Daydream Nation is influenced by them in some way. Midway through “Teenage Riot” Thurston laments “It better work out, I hope it works out my way”. By the time you get to the magnificent closing “Trilogy” it’s clear that ‘Daydream Nation’ not only worked out their way, it worked out for an entire future generation of music fans as well. Thanks for taking the time to stop by. Take care and have a great week!