"My copy only has one track not two, so it's even heaveier going!This album is excellent... almost the equivalent of the SYR series only 15 years earlier. Snippets of actual songs from early Sonic LPs show up but they're not the point of this, the instrumentals are. It just shows how much fun being in Sonic Youth is, despite their reputation for po-faced pretensiousness... they put The World Looks Red on in double-speed and it still sounds kewl! I think they were just having fun, and what everyone forgets is originally this was a fan club only release on Thurston's Exstatic Peace! label -- it was never meant to be a best-seller.Bear that in mind, listen to it on headphones and have fun -- it's like a musically rollercoaster -- scary and exhilerating!"
Awesome!
A. Moore | 03/11/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This isn't for fans of Goo or Dirty. It's Sonic Youth's noisiest and most abrasive album. If you like Confusion is Sex, you'll love this. It's got awesome versions of The Good and the Bad, Confusion is Next, The Burning Spear, Kill Yr Idols, Early American, and some really cool instrumental stuff. All the songs are noisier than the studio versions, even the songs from Sonic Youth's weird early 1981 period. My only complaint is that Lee doesn't play the power drill on Burning Spear!"
Confusion is abundant in these reviews
Funkmeister G | 02/04/2000
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Yes, it's got no commercial potential, yes it's arty, yes it's not always catchy, but it is worthwhile for the SY fan. My version is just 1 track which makes it that you have play it all @ once, but it was originally a tape just so you could paly a couple of minutes @ a time like Vocabularinist's tapes are now. You have to remember that SY were not a pop group back then so this & GOO are diametrically opposed while both good. If you pay attention, there are great live versions of Confusion is Next, Burning Spear, & spaced out instrumental pieces + it will probably shut up that Pantera fan who thinks SY aren't hardcore enough."
A cultural artifact of a bygone era in avant garde rock
Matthew Brewer | somehwere in time | 04/28/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"To get the full power of this recording you really have to invent a time machine and go back to the early eighties and see Sonic Youth perform live. An example of the early, raw power of this band. Back when they first started they were constantly redefining their sound with new kinds of chord progressions, feedback, distortion and just plain weirdness before settling into the corporate mainstream with more accessible recordings of their music. Still a great band though, especially live. The best early work by this band also includes Bad Moon Rising and Evol."
Auditory heroin
Andrew Dunn | Albuquerque, NM | 10/09/2004
(4 out of 5 stars)
"SY's album Sonic Death is a excellent album. It sounds like an album that belongs in the avant-garde genre. it is similar to a lot of Mike Paton projects like Mr. Bungle. I really enjoy trying to sleep while listening to the dark haunting music that makes up this cd. It has two tracks but the total play time of the cd is over 70 minutes. if you liked In the Fishtank then i think you'll probably enjoy this. It is very addictive, and when listening to it the brain shuts down making it impossible for one to think. I don't think it's sonic youths best; however, i feel that it does a great job of expressing raw emotion through the music."