Goo (album)

Infobox Album
Name = Goo
Type = studio
Artist = Sonic Youth


Released = June 26, 1990
Recorded = Sorcerer Sound and Greene Street, New York City, 1989
Genre = Alternative rock
Length = 49:23
Label = DGC
Producer = Sonic Youth, Nick Sansano, Ron Saint Germain
Reviews =Original release:
*Allmusic Rating|4|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:n3rp284c052a link]
*Robert Christgau (A-) [http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?name=Sonic+Youth link]
*"Rolling Stone" Rating|4|5 [http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/sonicyouth/albums/album/112758/review/6067625/goo_deluxe_edition 1990]
*Mark Prindle rating-10|8 [http://www.markprindle.com/sonicya.htm#goo link] Deluxe edition:
*Pitchfork Media (8.5/10) [http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/21896/Sonic_Youth_Goo_Deluxe_Edition 2005]
*Entertainment Weekly (A) [http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,1117127,00.html link]
Last album = "Daydream Nation"
(1988)
This album = "Goo"
(1990)
Next album = "Dirty"
(1992)
Misc = Singles
Name = Goo
Type = studio
single 1 = Kool Thing
single 1 date = June 1990
single 2 = Disappearer
single 2 date = 1990
single 3 = Dirty Boots
single 3 date = April 1991

"Goo" is an album by alternative rock band Sonic Youth, released on June 26, 1990. A remastered version was released in 2005.

"Goo" was the first album released after the band signed to major label Geffen Records. Their albums became more accessible and less experimental, but still retained elements of their trademark collage of noise. In contrast to the band's previous album, "Daydream Nation", many songs on Goo start and end abruptly. Daydream Nation was known for its long, "psychedelic" guitar intros and outros.

ongs

The album's lead track, "Dirty Boots", evokes old blues slang in its declaration that "It's time to rock the road/And tell the story of the ." [ [http://staff.science.uva.nl/~jellekok/lyrics/goo.html#1 Sonic Youth - Goo ] ]

"Tunic (Song for Karen)", written and sung by Kim Gordon, is about singer Karen Carpenter and her anorexia.

It imagines her in heaven, happy, playing the drums again and meeting new friends Dennis Wilson, Elvis Presley and Janis Joplin. [* "We Gotta Get Out of This Place", Gerri Hirshey, 2001, ISBN 0-87113-788-7, on "Tunic", quoting Kim Gordon in "Rolling Stone" magazine.] [ [http://staff.science.uva.nl/~jellekok/lyrics/goo.html#2 Sonic Youth - Goo ] ]

The album featured the single "Kool Thing", on which Chuck D from the rap group Public Enemy guested. The song is purported to be about the disillusionment that Gordon experienced after interviewing LL Cool J for "Spin Magazine" the previous year. "Are you going to liberate us girls from male, white, corporate oppression?" Gordon asks in the song, but receives only hipster gibberish in return. [ [http://staff.science.uva.nl/~jellekok/lyrics/goo.html#4 Sonic Youth - Goo ] ] "Kool Thing" became the song that many casual music fans associate with the band. The album version of "Mary-Christ" fades out with a portion of the intro to "Kool Thing". This is because in the recording session for "Mary-Christ" the band went right into "Kool Thing", but this take of "Kool Thing" was not chosen for the album.

The album's title derives from the song "My Friend Goo", a portrait of a friend who "sticks just like glue. [ [http://staff.science.uva.nl/~jellekok/lyrics/goo.html#6 Sonic Youth - Goo ] ]

The song "Mildred Pierce" is an homage to the 1941 novel "Mildred Pierce" by James M. Cain, or the 1945 film based on the novel starring Joan Crawford.

The song "Mote" was covered by the band "The Faint" in 2001.

Cover

The cover is a Raymond Pettibon illustration based on a paparazzi photo of Maureen Hindley and her first husband David Smith, witnesses in the case of serial killers Ian Brady and Myra Hindley, driving to the trial in 1966.

The handwritten text reads, "I stole my sister's boyfriend. It was all whirlwind, heat, and flash. Within a week we killed my parents and hit the road."

Track listing

Original release

All songs written by Sonic Youth.
# "Dirty Boots" (lyrics/vocals Moore, backing vocal Gordon) – 5:28
# "Tunic (Song for Karen)" (lyrics/vocals Gordon) – 6:22
# "Mary-Christ" (lyrics Moore, vocals Moore and Gordon) – 3:11
# "Kool Thing" (lyrics/vocals Gordon, guest vocals Chuck D) – 4:12
# "Mote" (lyrics/vocals Ranaldo) – 7:37
# "My Friend Goo" (lyrics/vocals Gordon, backing vocal Moore) – 2:19
# "Disappearer" (lyrics/vocals Moore) – 5:08
# "Mildred Pierce" (lyrics/vocals Moore) – 2:13
# "Cinderella's Big Score" (lyrics/vocals Gordon) – 5:54
# "Scooter + Jinx" – 1:06
# "Titanium Exposé" (lyrics/vocals Moore and Gordon) – 6:24

Deluxe edition

All songs written by Sonic Youth, except where indicated.

Disc One

The Original Album
# "Dirty Boots" – 5:29
# "Tunic (Song for Karen)" – 6:21
# "Mary-Christ" – 3:11
# "Kool Thing" – 4:06
# "Mote" – 7:37
# "My Friend Goo" – 2:20
# "Disappearer" – 5:08
# "Mildred Pierce" – 2:13
# "Cinderella's Big Score" – 5:54
# "Scooter + Jinx" – 1:05
# "Titanium Expose" – 6:34
Out-Takes, B-Sides & Rehearsals
#

"Lee #2" – 3:31
# "That's All I Know (Right Now)" – 2:20
# "The Bedroom" – 3:42
# "Dr. Benway's House" – 1:17
# "Tuff Boyz" – 5:39

Disc Two

8 Track Demos
# "Tunic" – 6:45
# "Number One (Disappearer)" – 4:59
# "Titanium Expose" – 4:45
# "Dirty Boots" – 6:38
# "Corky (Cinderella's Big Score)" – 7:51
# "My Friend Goo" – 2:34
# "Bookstore (Mote)" – 4:16
# "Animals (Mary-Christ)" – 3:02
# "DV2 (Kool Thing)" – 4:20
# "Blowjob (Mildred Pierce)" – 8:52
# "Lee #2" – 3:34
More Goo
#

"I Know There's an Answer" (Brian Wilson, Terry Sachen, Mike Love)– 3:10
# "Can Song" – 3:17
# "Isaac" – 2:45
# "Goo Interview Flexi" – 6:03

Personnel

*Sonic Youth
**Thurston Moore - vocals, guitar
**Lee Ranaldo - Guitar, vocals
**Kim Gordon - vocals, bass guitar
**Steve Shelley - drums
*J Mascis (Dinosaur Jr.) – additional backing vocals (tracks 2, 5, 6)
*Don Fleming – additional backing vocals (tracks 1, 7)
*Nick Sansano – production
*Chuck D. (Public Enemy) on "Kool Thing"

Video

In 1991, a long-form music video version of "Goo" was released on VHS. A music video for each song from the album is included; the track listing is identical to the "original release" list above. In 2004, nearly the entire contents of the "Goo" video was included on the DVD compilation ""; only a short fragment that appeared after the conclusion of "Titanium Exposé" on the 1991 video is missing.

Charts

Album

ingles

References