Sonic Youth / Rather Ripped
Artist Sonic Youth
Album Title: Rather Ripped
Album Cover:
Primary Genre Alternative & Punk: Art Rock
Format Vinyl
Released 06/13/2006
Reissue Date 07/15/2016
Label Geffen Records
Catalog No B0023740-01
Bar Code No 6 02547 49183 1
Remastered Yes
Packaging LP Sleeve
Tracks
A1. Reena (3:47)
A2. Incinerate (4:55)
A3. Do You Believe In Rapture? (3:11)
A4. Sleepin' Around (3:42)
A5. What A Waste (3:33)
A6. Jams Run Free (3:51)
B1. Rats (4:24)
B2. Turquoise Boy (6:13)
B3. Lights Out (3:32)
B4. The Neutral (4:09)
B5. Pink Steam (6:57)
B6. Or (3:31)
Date Acquired 09/21/2017
Personal Rating
Acquired from Electric Fetus - Minneapolis
Purchase Price 19.99

Web Links

All Music Guide entry:
Discogs entry:

Notes

Newly remastered from original stereo analog masters.
Recorded at Sear Sound, NYC December 2005 - January 2006.
Additional Recording at Echo Canyon NYC, January - February 2006, and Bisquiteen, Amherst MA, February 2006.
Mixed at Sear Sound, NYC and Water Music, Hoboken NJ, February 2006.
Mastered at Sterling Sound, NYC, March 2006.
Working title: "Jams Run Free".
Cover – Christopher Wool
Engineer [Assistant At Sear Sound] – Chris Allen
Engineer [Assistant] – Anthony Fontana
Layout [Lp] – Jeff Nicholas
Mastered By – Greg Calbi
Mastered By [Vinyl] – RJ
Performer – Kim Gordon, Steve Shelley, Thurston Moore
Performer, Recorded By [Addtional At Echo Canyon] – Lee Ranaldo
Producer [Addtional Vocal Production] – Don Fleming
Producer, Recorded By [Addtional At Bisquiteen], Mixed By [Additional At Sear Sound] – John Agnello
Producer, Written By – Sonic Youth
Recorded By – T.J. Doherty
Recorded By [Additional At Echo Canyon], Engineer [Assistant At Sear Sound] – Aaron Mullan
Written-By – Sonic Youth
Recorded At – Sear Sound
Recorded At – Echo Canyon
Recorded At – Bisquiteen
Licensed From – Geffen Records, Inc.

Reviews
AllMusic Review by Heather Phares:

Considering that Sonic Youth lost Jim O'Rourke and found the custom-tweaked, irreplaceable guitars that were stolen in 1999 before heading into the studio to make Rather Ripped, it seemed that the album could be a big departure from what they'd been doing on Murray Street and Sonic Nurse -- possibly a return to the kind of music they could only make with those instruments, or perhaps an entirely different approach that reflected their revamped, old-is-new-again lineup. Rather Ripped ends up being of a piece with their previous two albums, and often plays like a stripped-down, slightly less-inspired Sonic Nurse. Once again, Kim Gordon contributes some of the best tracks here; "Reena" and "Jams Run Free" are equal parts dreamy and driving, while "The Neutral" is a sweet, low-key love song. Thurston Moore contributes a gently but powerfully political track à la Sonic Nurse's "Peace Attack" with "Do You Believe in Rapture?," a reflection on peace and apocalypse that's mostly serene, even if the guitar harmonics throughout the song add shivers of doubt and tension. "Rats" is a standard-issue Lee Ranaldo song, freewheeling and poetic (and with lines like "Let me place you in my past/With other precious toys," it has the sharpest lyrics on Rather Ripped), even if it's not quite as amazing as the previous album's "New Hampshire." Rather Ripped's rock songs are solid, but not amazing -- the interplay of Moore's and Ranaldo's guitars and Steve Shelley's drumming are the best things about "Sleepin' Around" and "What a Waste." Actually, the more atmospheric songs end up being some of the most compelling. "Lights Out" reeks of whispery, late-night cool, and the closing track, "Or," is one of the sparest and most oddly unsettling songs Sonic Youth has done in a while (not to mention a reminder that quiet doesn't always mean peaceful in this band's world). Rather Ripped is also surprisingly lean, with the songs on its first half feeling so tightly structured that they seem like radio edits. Only "Turquoise Boy" and "Pink Steam" really open up and deliver Sonic Youth's famously sprawling, jam-based sound. If Rather Ripped is a tiny bit disappointing, it's only because the band's playing outpaces their songwriting ever so slightly. It's a solidly good album, and if taken as part of a trio of albums with Sonic Nurse and Murray Street, it shows that Sonic Youth is still in a comfortable yet creative groove, not a rut.  [Rather Ripped was re-released on LP in 2016.]
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