My Favorite Sonic Youth Albums and Songs

To honor some of the greatest musical geniuses in modern music (Beatles, Kraftwerk, Bowie thus far), I've put together these "Favorite Albums and Songs" list. It's all I can do to pay tribute to the prolific, classic artists that have truly inspired me/blown my mind. What these artists have in common is their ability to put out consistently innovative and brilliant music over a decently long period of time.

Sonic Youth fits the mold quite well. Since the dawn of the 1980s, the Youth (I really shouldn't call them that, should I?) have been putting out album after album after album of mind-bending rock music while inspiring tons upon tons of other, less talented people to hit their out of tune guitars with screwdrivers. The sound that Sonic Youth developed--a harmonious blend of harshness and hooks, dissonance and consonance--with their guitar-based post-punk is one of the most influential (and best) in the history of rock n' roll.

The band has released sixteen studio albums (I think--not including side projects) and several hundred songs, and few to none of those are duds. That said, some are better than others. So I'm going to rank my favorite albums of songs by this wonderful, crazy bunch of No Wavers.

Albums (Top Ten)

1. Daydream Nation

2. Sister

3. Evol

4. Murray Street

5. Goo

6. Bad Moon Rising

7. Washing Machine

8. Confusion Is Sex

9. Sonic Nurse

10. Rather Ripped

Songs (Top Thirty)

1. Teen Age Riot

2. Expressway To Yr. Skull (a.k.a. "The Crucifixion of Sean Penn" a.k.a. "Madonna, Sean and Me")

3. Silver Rocket

4. Death Valley '69 (feat. Lydia Lunch)

5. (I Got A) Catholic Block

6. Trilogy

7. Shadow Of A Doubt

8. Kool Thing

9. Cross The Breeze

10. Schizophrenia

11. Hey Joni

12. Radical Adults Lick Godhead Style

13. Superstar

14. The Diamond Sea

15. Brave Men Run (In My Family)

16. Tom Violence

17. Freezer Burn/I Wanna Be Your Dog

18. 100%

19. Sympathy For The Strawberry

20. Pacific Coast Highway

21. Pattern Recognition

22. My Friend Goo

23. Do You Believe In Rapture?

24. Bull In The Heather

25. Cotton Crown

26. Star Power

27. The Empty Page

28. Junkie's Promise

29. Disappearer

30. Touch Me I'm Sick

That's what I think. They're definitely a candidate for Joe's Favorite Band if there was such a band. Anyhow, because I like these tribute lists, I have ones planned for Miles Davis, Tom Waits, and Sly & The Family Stone. Stay tuned.