Chances are if you're reading this review, you've heard "Daydream Nation," or at least heard of it. It's such a touchstone of late 80s college rock (before it was called "alternative" or even the misnomer of "indie") that is cited amongst the best albums ever (though it is really that big of a compliment to selected by "Rolling Stones" as one of the best 500 albums ever? 500 is a lot of freaking albums…), and selected to be included in the Library of Congress's history of recorded music archives. There's been voluminous writing on the album, including a 33 1/3 book by Matthew Sterns. If you also follow the contemporary wisdom/urban legend, "Daydream Nation" is Sonic Youth's best album, and also the last great album they released (though I disagree with both assertions). In other words, I don't know if you know this, but this album is kind of a big deal.
And it's been almost twenty years since this album was released, so there is a sort of anniversary party with Geffen releasing "Daydream Nation: Deluxe Edition," and SY touring in support, playing the album live in its entirety (I am not entirely clear why this album is being released now rather than on the actual Twentieth anniversary in October 2008). This is not the first time SY has re-released older albums, remastered with additional material, as both "Dirty" and "Goo" have gotten the spit-and-polish treatment already. These releases have felt more the process of giving completist fans new material than celebrating a ballyhoo release, as is the case with "Daydream Nation." Frankly, I was a little disappointed that there weren't more demos included here. The bonus material is a live disc of the songs from "Daydream Nation" (sequenced differently) from their original tour supporting the album, as well as four previously released covers, including Mudhoney's "Touch Me I'm Sick" and Neil Young's "Computer Age." This is definitely a very fine live disc, and in a sense may be more enjoyable than paying $40 to watch SY perform the album now, but for such a seminal release, I suppose I was expecting more exclusive, insider material.
This is not to diminish "Daydream Nation." If one is hearing for the first time or hearing it again for the first time in years, it does not disappoint. It's intense, expansive and triumphant. For me, though, and I imagine many other fans of the album, the new release isn't so much a revelation as it is a confirmation because I haven't really ever not listened to this album. I wasn't someone who bought and listened to the album when it first came out (as I was a bit too young then), but I did eventually get it once I started to listen to SY in the 1990s. Since then, it's been one of those albums that I periodically seek out. While it is an entirely separate debate whether this is the best SY album ever, it may have been the most historically important. It was the clearest, most confident and most mature album Sonic Youth had released to date, expanding their punk, noise and no wave roots into an original and cohesive art rock sound that would influence countless bands. It also seems like a seismic moment when Sonic Youth best defined the ways that their rock music could be seen as important Art, from the high-art Gerhard Richter painted cover to its lyrical astute observations in songs like "Teen Age Riot."
In the sense, then, that the deluxe edition of "Daydream Nation" is an opportunity to appreciate such a fine album, and for new fans to hear it for the first time, it's a wonderful idea. For an album that has been so widely canonized, though, I thought the re-release would offer more of a peak behind the curtain. Instead, Geffen and SY decided to show what happened after the curtains opened, and this album was brought to the people. Whether you decide to upgrade from your old copy of "Daydream Nation" will ultimately depend on your audiophile tendencies and your appetite for live albums. If you are voracious for either, then this will be a welcome update. |