* LP Record (June 25, 2002) * Number of Discs: 11. The Empty Page 2. Disconnection Notice 3. Rain On Tin 4. Karen Revisited 5. Radical Adults Lick Godhead Style 7. Sympathy for the StrawberryAs Sonic Youth will testify, it's not easy being avant-rock superstars. Follow your urge to experiment, and you risk alienating your more conservative fans. Stop experimenting, and you lose the impetus that made you so exciting in the first place. Such is the dilemma faced by this exceptional band in 2002, now wryly rechristened "Radical Adults" in one Thurston Moore lyric. Given the bewilderment that's unfairly greeted recent attempts to push their remarkable music to new extremes--notably their contemporary classical project, Goodbye Twentieth Century --Murray Street initially feels like something of a compromise; the band themselves admit it's more "song-oriented" than their last few albums. But hell, what a magnificent compromise. Named after the New York street where their studio is situated--and where a plane engine landed on September 11, 2001--Murray Street is potent, accessible, daring, and often obliteratingly lovely. For a start, the first three songs ("The Empty Page," "Disconnection Notice," and "Rain On Tin") easily rank with the highlights of SY's previous 15 albums. Obliquely melancholic, tuneful but unorthodox, all are enriched by great cascades of intricate three-guitar noise. When the Youth spin off on one of these bright and wild trips, these rich musical elegies for their city, they remain one of the world's great musical wonders. --John MulveyFrom the very first opening notes of "The Empty Page", Jim O'Rourke's presence is already noticeable with the shimmering guitars and smooth rhythm section highlighting Thurston's enchanting, childlike voice. With the addition of a fifth member, that member being gifted post-rock alum Jim O'Rourke, Sonic Youth have expanded their sound for their latest effort "Murray Street" and they feel looser and more alive than ever. Deemed the band's "classic rock record" by Thurston Moore himself, Murray Street is one of the best guitar albums to come along in a long time, with the band spotlighting everything from the dense metal esque riffage of "Radical Adults Lick Godhead Style" to the intricate, interlocking dual guitars on "Rain on Tin", reminiscent of Television's Marquee Moon or the King Crimson 80s incarnation. Opting for vibrant waves of melody over juxtaposed noise, some fans of Sonic Youth may be disappointed at the seeming accessibility of this album, but Murray Street, while more melodic than most previous SY outings, certainly doesn't lack any edge. Instead, the noise and melody are so deeply melded and perfectly fused that the album simply sounds almost too cohesive for how sonically powerful it really is. As part 2 of Sonic Youth's planned trilogy, Murray Street is set up in similar fashion to NYC Ghosts and Flowers containing an extended Ranaldo song as the centerpiece, just like the title track on the preceding album, that spotlights Lee Ranaldo's trademark strangely warm, deadpan vocal delivery. Although a perfect album in nearly every way, the one song that pulls this album down is Kim Gordon's aggressive rant: "Plastic Sun". Not to say that this song is bad and the album still precedes pretty unfettered even with it included, but "Plastic Sun" would fit much better on one of Sonic Youth's early EPs like "Confusion is Sex" sounding out of place in the much more developed atmosphere of Murray Street. However, Kim Gordon more than makes up for the less than perfect "Plastic Sun" with her tense, sinister album closer "Sympathy for the Strawberry". The combining of Sonic Youth's noise guru status and Jim O'Rourke's Post-Rock prowess works perfectly and the intense beauty and purity of the all the music presented on this album is enough to change one's perception of what good music really is. With most of the members of Sonic Youth going on, or in, their 40s, it is amazing that a band with such rapidly ageing members could make an album so full of life and vitality. One of the most uplifting and optimistic albums of the year, Murray Street is as detailed as it is catchy and without a doubt belongs in any and every good collection.okay, so i got this album without knowing what to expect. i fell in love.THE EMPTY PAGE - such a clean, refreshing song. powerful.DISCONNECTION NOTICE - very good song, dissonant guitar work.RAIN ON TIN - second-best song on the album. the beginning part has very simplistic but nice vocal by thurston, and then comes the fun part, the next 7 hypnotic minutes. when i saw this live it was nothing short of AMAZING. amazing. seriously. it changed me, probably.KARENOLOGY - something about this song has always bothered me somewhat, but it has grown on me a lot. i think mostly i just don't like lee's vocal here. maybe if it were in a different key or something. either way i do like the lyrics, and it's not a bad song. the static part at the end was somewhat interesting live, since Kim was rubbing her guitar in the bushes in front of the stage and stuff, but it got kind of boring, honestly. Sorry. I love noise and all, but..RADICAL ADULTS.. - this song is pretty good sonically but i don't like the vocal.PLASTIC SUN - okay this is good songwriting, but i don't like the production or the arrangement, or that annoying squeaky noise. i do like the lyrics a lot though. it would be better if it were done in a more traditional punk style in which it seems to kick back to, like on SISTER.SYMPATHY FOR THE STRAWBERRY - i don't know what other people think of this song, but it's one of my favorite songs of ANY band. everything about it just sends me into euphoric intoxication. the noise builds and builds, until you almost can't take it any longer, and then cuts out to snare and guitar and some soft organ, and then kim's sultry vocals. these are some of my favorite lyrics ever, as well. 'i'm a girl scout searching for the new stuff!' this song is a bit esoteric, i'll admit, and some of my friends don't like it "what is this weird music?" but i think it's one of their best. the crashing guitars end the song as if to suggest that a small girl is being devoured by vengeful strawberry vines. but i was on acid. lol. not really.It all started one rainy day the library. I was filing through the mass of cds to check out and came across Sonic Youth "Murray Street". I had heard of Sonic Youth before and listened to some songs off of Goo, and wasn't very pleased. But even with the past experience, I picked it up. When driving home I started listening to it, and well, thought it was crap. Boring, slow, garbage. But I made a copy of the cd anyways. Two months later I came across it again. Since first having it I had already listened to Daydream Nation and other songs by Sonic Youth. I had fallen in love with them, but still hadn't listened to Murray Street. So I did, and now I am addicted to it. It is one of those cds that at first listen you may think it's talent less and full of filler, but when you really sit down and go through every song, without skipping through the "filler", and try to appreciate the atmosphere that Sonic Youth creates for you, you really start to get it; This is a masterpiece. My favorite songs are Rain On Tin and Karen Revisited. My least favorite is Plastic Sun. It is the oddball of the other songs, but I still respect it as a good song.you can find a copy here: http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Iron-Man-Shop
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