Search - Sonic Youth :: A Thousand Leaves

Sonic Youth
A Thousand Leaves
Genres: Alternative Rock, Pop, Rock

Track Listings (11) - Disc #1
1. Contre Le Sexisme
2. Sunday
3. Female Mechanic Now On Duty
4. Wildflower Soul
5. Hoarfrost
6. French Tickler
7. Hits Of Sunshine (For Alan Ginsberg)
8. Karen Koltrane
9. The Ineffable Me
10. Snare, Girl
11. Heather Angel

CD Details

All Artists: Sonic Youth
Title: A Thousand Leaves
Members Wishing: 0
Total Copies: 0
Label: Geffen Records
Original Release Date: 5/12/1998
Release Date: 5/12/1998
Genres: Alternative Rock, Pop, Rock
Styles: Indie & Lo-Fi, Vocal Pop, Progressive, Progressive Rock
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaCD Credits: 1
UPCs: 720642520321, 0720642520321

Synopsis

Amazon.com

The ageless Sonic Youth return with a new, yet familiar, excursion into their own particular brand of ultra-amplified, dissonant rock. The quartet's CD A Thousand Leaves evokes fond memories of yesteryear's noisy, now-classic, avant-garde approach, while retaining snippets of traditional pop elements heard on several of their previous major-label releases. As Sonic Youth's music has gained a larger audience, they've preserved doses of the crunched melody and meandering structure that has always been their trademark. The new release sounds relatively unabashed, with wandering songs like "Female Mechanic Now on Duty" spewing extended barrages of feedback and Kim Gordon's dry, unsettling scowls at the listener. Look deeper, however, and there's a quiet resonance among the racket, with tracks like "Sunday" and "Snare, Girl" making use of Thurston Moore's cooler vocal tone and jagged, cascading guitar passages. --Matthew Cooke

Similarly Requested CDs

	Sneaker Pimps Becoming X Genres: Dance & Electronic, Alternative Rock, Pop, Rock Label: Virgin Records Us
12

	Sonic Youth Experimental Jet Set Trash & No Star Genres: Alternative Rock, Special Interest, Pop, Rock Label: Geffen Records
17

	Van Morrison Moondance Genres: Folk, Pop, Rock, Classic Rock Label: Warner Bros / Wea
60

	Pixies Bossanova Genres: Alternative Rock, Pop, Rock Label: Elektra / Wea
14

	Elliott Smith From a Basement on the Hill Genres: Alternative Rock, Folk, Pop, Rock Label: Anti
6

	PJ Harvey To Bring You My Love Genres: Alternative Rock, Folk, Pop, Rock Label: Island
23

	Tricky Maxinquaye Genres: Dance & Electronic, Pop, Rap & Hip-Hop, Rock Label: Island
14

	Smashing Pumpkins Mellon Collie & The Infinite Sadness Genres: Alternative Rock, Pop, Rock Label: Virgin Records Us
46

	Gus Gus Polydistortion Genres: Dance & Electronic, Alternative Rock, Pop, Rock Label: 4ad / Wea
2

	Mono Formica Blues Genres: Dance & Electronic, Pop Label: Fontana Island
6

CD Reviews

Sonic Youth's modern masterpiece...

Aron Hsiao | New York, New York | 05/25/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Along with Washing Machine, A Thousand Leaves is a clear indication that Sonic Youth have transcended the barriers of punk, noise, avant-garde, etc. and have become coincident with the core of modern music and modern lyric poetry across all genres and forms. A Thousand Leaves, sporting long, autumnal, melodic meditations like Hits of Sunshine and Wildflower Soul along ennui-laden snapshots like Hoarfrost and Sunday, is a kind of symphony for the pop/rock age and is as deep and haunting as anything the classicists ever scribbled down on paper.Now, I've heard and read any number of reviews referring to A Thousand Leaves as 'more experimental' and 'not very pop oriented' but of course these phrases are coming from the mouths of those that do not know much of the history of Sonic Youth or much of truly experimental music. Neubauten's 'Drawings of Patient O.T.' it's not -- in fact, I wouldn't refer to A Thousand Leaves as 'experimental' music in any sense of the word... But by the same token, if you're looking for hooks, hooks, hooks or the McDonald's-style music that SY cashed in with (and more power to them) during the 'grunge era' then this isn't the album for you.If you own Sister and Daydream Nation, however, or even just Washing Machine, and listen to them all the time, unable to keep from tapping your feet and swaying just a little... Then A Thousand Leaves is another perfect Sonic Disc for you."

Their best album; a true masterpiece

Justin Oser | 03/01/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I have almost every Sonic Youth album, including their supposed best "Sister" and "Daydream Nation" and this blows the rest of them away. It has lots of noise, which I love, but some of the best stuff on here has no noise. "Hoarfrost" is the most beautiful Sonic Youth song (maybe any song) I've ever heard, "Snare, Girl" is also quite beautiful. If you like albums full of songs that aren't afraid to go on for as long as it takes to make a complete song (the average song on here is almost seven minutes) and a good balance of noise and beauty, this is the album for you. I don't know if they'll ever top this one, but I can only hope their next album will."

AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!

Robert | Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada | 01/21/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"i love this album so much, i remember back in the day all my friends thought it was too weird and want to listen to shitty music like Sublime or Tool, i was like SONIC YOUTH!!! why? because they're wicked, listen to this cd alone with some LSD!! and you'll see/hear/love this album as SONIC YOUTH's GREATEST ALBUM!!!Amazing..."Sunday" was the single"

Wow, the first album by Sonic Youth that could be described

Chet Fakir | DC | 07/31/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Thuston Moore as the sentimental, warm, yet world broken artist, Kim Gordon the deconstructionist rocker and Lee Renaldo as the visionary beat poet? Hmmm, perhaps, though the roles are somewhat interchangable. This is a stellar album no matter how you break it down. Melodic, disonant, angry, sad and for the first time warm and beautiful. Sonic Youth continue the trend of introspective song writing begun with Washing Machine but they do it better on this album. Some may say that on some songs they lost their edge, I'd say they broadened their pallette (and extended their songs) Their musicianship and muse continues to change and grow. A very strong and emotional effort."

A Triumphant Return to a New Frontier

S. Patterson | LA, CA, USA | 01/19/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Had this album been released before "Daydream Nation", "Goo" or the lackluster "Dirty", it would be their swan song.

I bought this album the day that it came out however many years ago and I loved it. It was a simpler time. I was in college and all I listened to was SY. This album made a gentle wave in my brain that was barely noticable at the time. As my musical tastes branched out in many different (and often unfortunate) new directions I began to lose track of the Youth and I assumed that I had already digested and passed their greatness through my psyche. A recent purchase of an ipod and the subsequent cataloging of my music collection brought me back to this particular album. While grading the homework of my middle school English classes, I whimsically selected this album for nostalgia's sake. I was able to do no work, smoke half a pack of cigarettes and completely forget where I was in time and space. All I can say is that this album, with it's drawn out "jams" and "grooves" is one of, if not the best examples of SY at their most mature and suprisingly least pretentious. Don't believe the hype. This should be procured at once. Then listened to again and again for the rest of your life."