Sonic Youth: Bad Moon Rising

Release Year: 1985

Tracks:
1. Intro
2. Brave Men Run (in My Family)
3. Society is a Hole
4. I Love Her All the Time
5. Ghost Bitch
6. I'm Insane
7. Justice is Might
8. Death Valley '69
9. Satan is Boring
10. Flower
11. Halloween
12. Echo Canyon

Lineup:
Thurston Moore
Lee Ranaldo
Kim Gordon
Bob Bert

General Commentary:

Bad Moon Rising is a remarkable achievement. Sonic Youth definitely had gained some confidence from Confusion is Sex and took some fairly bold chances on this album. It's clear that they put significantly more time into this album than the two that preceded it.

There is a fall/horror movie vibe surrounding the whole thing. Bad Moon Rising is spooky where Confusion is Sex was creepy. Or maybe the other way around. There's a definitive vibe on this that makes me think of the fall--and it's not solely to do with the scarecrow cover art or the picture of the band in a pile of leaves.

I like Steve Shelley as a drummer better than Bob Bert, but B. Bert did a very top notch job on this album. It has a real gritty tone--and the drums sound much better than they did on the first two albums.

The theme of the album--well, the big (and first) single was "Death Valley '69". Lee Ranaldo expressed that it was about the death of the hippie mentality as it met with complete psychosis. I've often been interested in this concept as (for a short period) tried to adopt a hippie mindset before realizing I was too crazy to be a part of it. It seems like oftentimes idealism dies when the vision drives the idealist insane. Lee cited people like Brian Wilson and Charles Manson in this equation.

One of the best things about this album is the way that the songs blend together. The band played a tape recorder between songs in concert during this era, and they decided to keep it up through the album making process. It works quite well and gives the album a dream like quality. This is probably my favorite album to fall asleep to (though I always get jolted from the scream in "Death Valley '69"--it's a bit counterproductive).

This album took me a long time to appreciate. Aside from the few moments that are appealing from the beginning, it's a difficult record. Over time, I've come to be in awe of the risk this album must have been. I've never heard anything like it before or since.

This album like the last one has four songs that were added onto the CD version. These (like for Confusion) are essential to the overall package and make what would have been a slightly skimpy record a really tight package.

Top Five Moments:
1. 1:19 in "I'm Insane" is one of my favorite musical moments of all time as are many moments in that song. It's fucking fantastic on so many levels.

2. The static with Thurston's mumbles between "I'm Insane" and "Justice is Might" is dissonant bliss.

3. "Brave men run... in my family" is one of my favorite lyrics of all time.

4. I love the way Thurston sings, "They've got big big hair, and everybody's scared." and "We're living in pieces--I want to live in peace" on "Society is a Hole".

5. The epic scream and that fucking riff on "Death Valley '69". This moment is legendary in Sonic Youth's career (their first classic riff), and it totally deserves the recognition it got and continues to receive.

Personal Connection:

I bought this album at the Chicago train station when I was visiting my mother at work. I think I had to go to the doctor--I don't remember why, but I went to a Women's Clinic that my mother wanted me to go to in her office.

On a side note, I think my mother had a tough time handling me--being male. She did stuff like the Women's Clinic and would tell me to do thing like bleach my moustache rather than shave it. It's amazing I didn't turn out queer.

This was the last album proper by Sonic Youth that I bought. It was not an easy one to find back then, and it was a total fluke that I found it in a tiny train station record store. I was incredibly excited about it, and I spent most of the time in the waiting room looking at the creepy pictures in the booklet and reading the bizarro lyrics.

Months went by before I got into this proper. I don't think it was until college that I fully appreciated it. Now, though, I really feel like this album connects with me. There's something totally majestic about it.

I had a couple funny moments in college with this album. One sticks out in particular. I became very strange during my extra semester (after senior year) when I was student teaching. Isolation was new to me, and, though my friends were nearby, I spent most of my time in my own little world. And there was a real world quickly encroaching on my good times. My reaction was to try desperately to lose my mind completely.

So, I played this album a lot and wrote on my posters in my apartment and tried hard to make people think I was crazy. One night I blasted this album for hours. My neighbors climbed up the wall to spy on me. I could feel their presence. "Satan is Boring" was always what I would play to really weird my neighbors out in college. I wanted people to think I was worshipping the devil.

Those neighbors had a party a couple weeks later and stole my bass guitar.

Overall Rating: 8.1 Averaging the track by track ratings would have given it a 7.1, but I added a point because it works so well conceptually. This album is truly greater than the sum of its parts. The individual tracks that fight fall flat alone really get a boost from the fact that all the songs blend into each other. Artistically, this is a major achievement, so I feel like it deserves at least the rating I gave it.

Track By Track:

1/2. Intro/Brave Men Run (in My Family): 8

I wish Sonic Youth would give this album the "Don't Look Back" treatment (by playing every song in order) just so I could go fucking crazy when I hear the opening riff of "Intro". "Brave Men Run" picks up with a lot of steam. This is one of my favorite opening Sonic Youth tracks. The opening rave up rises even when it seems impossible to go any further until dissolving into total chaos. Things mellow out and Kim sings.

"Brave men run... in my family." I love this lyric. Sonic Youth do this lyrical trick quite well--giving a word a double meaning that is sort of funny, but (when sung with such sincerity) totally heavy. "Brave men run... into captivity." Again, a wonderfully profound lyric. There are so many ways that I've considered this idea.

This song makes me want to scrawl psychotic rantings on a Mead notebook then try desperately to cover them up so no one could see. This whole album gives me this feeling.

3. Society is a Hole: 7

I like this song probably more than I should. It's fairly stupid, and Thurston falls into his trap of singing like he's trying too hard. He doesn't sound crazy, but he sounds like he's trying to sound like he's crazy. He doesn't get anywhere close to where he reaches on "Inhuman" or "I'm Insane", but he does sound pretty fucking cool.

The song is a slow mellow track that drifts into a dreamy oblivion.

The lyrics are humorously bad, but really fantastic all the while. On paper, they are total trash--but somehow this track works. It falls into a nice place after "Brave Men" and gives the album a nice dose of atmosphere.

"My friends have big heads" is delivered as though it's all that matters.

"I'm living in pieces; I want to live in peace" is unfuckwithable, though. One of my favorite lyrics of all time.

4. I Love Her All the Time: 8

I didn't understand for a long time what the big deal with this song was. It was a huge fan favorite, but it always seemed a little boring to me. After watching The Year Punk Broke enough times, I realized it was in fact brilliant.

The idea of a "crazy" love song is important. The whole theme of the album can be seen here--on paper, it's a sweet tribute of love, but with the sonic soundscape present, it's either a reason to get a restraining order or a Sid and Nancy style love connection.

The good thing about this sort of love song is that there's no bullshit allowed. It's mad and fucked and sincere. I doubt there's another love song out there that sounds even remotely like this.

5. Ghost Bitch: 5

I love the title of this song and the way it fits in with the album. It has another one of those dramatic shifts (when the drums enter) that often wakes me up when I fall asleep to this album. All in all, it's rather unremarkable. I don't make a note of it when it comes on, but I don't dislike it. It works wonderfully as a bit of filler, though I constantly try to get something more out of it.

6. I'm Insane: 10

My first 10 rating. This song is perfection and very well might be my favorite Sonic Youth song of all time. Thurston took many of the lyrics from this from trashy romance and detective novels, and they work perfectly as poetry:

Love starved backwood teaser farm girl hot eyed bride
Stone cold blonde a quivering menace atomic wallop wholesale murder
We want out
We fish at night
Sex in heaven
Tough town
A cruel touch
Sailors leave
Sirens screaming
Lap of luxury
A show of violence
Take off your mask
Lay off my brother
Kiss my fist
Stop at nothing
A steaming swamp
And a troubled heart
The sky is red
And i can't stop running
Her baby stares
The secret's there
So help us god
I'll swing at your funeral
The stubborn air
The killer mob
A red bone woman
A double cross
Big fake bitter love underbelly freezing jungle
One step more he'll stir your senses scratch your surface and nail your head
Murdered angels
Bodies in bedlam
A women scorned
You can't hang me
Tied to my job a blast scene alibi tied to a tree in a blind alley
Nothing before
A big fear
Don't get caught
By her father's friends
Swamp girl faded
The tiger's wife
A frenzied love
Hot climate
Twisted passions
Flesh parade
Dead ahead
A world so wide
Big river love camp
The house boy and hill girl
The agony column
Don't crowd me
It's time for crime
Strange breed river girl's misery index
Inside my head my dog's a bear
She was significant
I'm insane
Inside my head my dog's a bear
She was significant
I'm insane
Inside my head my dog's a bear
She was significant
I'm insane
Inside my head my dog's a bear
She was significant
I'm insane

Most of the song is mindless ranting, though the words are captivating and make me wanting more. They are the focus of the song, as there isn't a whole lot of dramatics happening outside of the huge rhythm. Live, Lee bangs the shit of a gong setting the song in motion.

The last portion of the song, "Inside my head my dog's a bear/She was significant/I'm insane" has hit home many a moment. I've liked the feeling of losing control that has haunted me many times in my life, and I'm incredibly grateful that artists like Sonic Youth gave me something to connect with--rather than just going deep inside my mind.

7. Justice is Might: 5

This is another song that works perfectly as an in between--"I'm Insane" is a tough act to follow, and "Death Valley '69" is a tough one to precede.

I absolutely adore the static laden rant that Thurston has before the song officially starts (on the CD, this is counted as part of "I'm Insane", though I feel like it's more a part of "Justice" because he says the title of the song a few times). The song itself suffers from poor lyrics and a fairly terrible delivery by Thurston. I feel like if this song and "Ghost Bitch" had been tweaked a little bit, this album would have been a juggernaut.

8. Death Valley '69: 9

Ah, the classic! "Death Valley '69" had a great video made for it that included the band not only dressed up as serial killers, but also as the victims. Lydia Lunch sings backing vocals on the second half creating a desperation that I would imagine is similar to being chased down in by angry hillbilly killers in your own house.

There's a sort of surf rock vibe in the riff--it's really driving. I feel like Sonic Youth realized that they could find a balance between the insane and the catchy; this song might have changed the paradigm of their career. If they didn't taste this uncompromised success, I imagine that they never would have made the catchier and more structured songs that were on the next album.

The final blast where the riff reenters after a momentous build up is one of the top notch blasts in the entire catalog.

9. Satan is Boring: 6

Everyone that really knows Sonic Youth seems to loathe this song, but I like it. I can't rank it any higher than a 6 because it's more of an artsy piece than real song, but I've listened to it fairly frequently and always have enjoyed it.

"What are you waiting for?" The song opens up with this invocation--truly disturbing words when considering all the undertones they might contain.

Thurston does his best attempt to imitate or become satanic on this song. Yeah, I admit it doesn't work, but it's fun to play along--for him and for me.

10. Flower: 8

Fucking intense! This is a song that should be taught during the first day of college feminist literature classes to actually get those liberal arts brains outside the box.

"Use the word, 'fuck!'" is the chant. I guess Kim is taking the word back--she's taking control of it as a strong woman rather than having it used on her.

"Use the power of man!" This song, like some of Kim's best, really makes me wish I could be a female to know how empowering this song would be.

I've often imagined her onstage reading (not singing) these lines. She has an audience eating out of the palm of her hand. They repeat each line after her. Though this will never come to fruition, I maintain that Kim should be every high school girl's role model. It's bizarre to wonder why so few tap into an artist like her.

I hear girls use the word "fuck" all the time at the high school I teach. It's not so much a matter of using it, but taking charge of it. Being bigger than it--and all of its connotations.

11. Halloween: 9

"Halloween" is the sexiest song that has ever been written. Kim exceeds PJ Harvey's sexiest moments (which is hard to do). There are some really demented undertones here. It's tough to tell if the female narrator in this song is willingly giving herself up to the male or if he is taking her by force. It's dark and dirty--a nearly perfect song. The bored delivery of these powerful words make it one of Kim's finest Sonic moments.

This is another one that just lulls into a dreamy/spooky drift. It's Sonic Youth at it's finest.

12. Echo Canyon: 3

A rather brief piece that sounds sort of like an echo inside a canyon. Or what I would imagine such an experience to be like.