EVOL

EVOL

Amazon.com essential recording

New York Citys Lower East Side has always attracted bohemian freaks looking to shock the world, but with EVOL (Love spelled backwards)--their third album after a live tape and several EPs--Sonic Youth finally figured a way to make their skronk count. Combining alternate guitar tunings with nearly linear songwriting, SY proved they could harness their energy into a combustible engine. The multititled closer, "Expressway to Yr. Skull" (or "Madonna, Sean, and Me"), is pure apocalyptic beauty, while "Shadow of a Doubt" succeeds by being more subdued and suggestive. --Rob OConnor
Rate Points :4.5
Binding :Audio CD
Label :Geffen Records
Manufacturer :Geffen Records
MPN :24513
ProductGroup :Music
Studio :Geffen Records
Publisher :Geffen Records
UPC :720642451328
EAN :0720642451328
Price :$11.98USD
Lowest Price :$5.87USD
Customer ReviewsA matter of taste
Rating Point :3 Helpful Point :11
This has been my first experience of Sonic Youth -- obviously very much after the fact but so what? Well, this is quite harsh and unrelenting stuff. Im sure its first rate in its genre, but I was put off by the consistently aggressive, discordant sound.

Its possible to admire some music without ever feeling the need to listen to it. For me, Evol is very much in that category. No doubt that makes me a philistine.

Meanwhile, look around this web page and you will see very little effort among the customer reviewers to provide a balanced critique of Evol. Its 5 stars, as usual, as far as the eye can see.

EVOL:evil?love?skuzz rawk?
Rating Point :5 Helpful Point :1
While perhaps not a document with the epic scope of Daydream Nation, the grunge sheen of Dirty, or the simplicity and clarity of their self-titled debut album, EVOL for me is Sonic Youth at their finest. It is filthy, frightening, noisy, startling, bizarre, and filled with amazing soundz within. My first exposure to the music off of this album was the cassette single for "Star Power" which had "Bubblegum" as the b-side. Certainly the two most accessible rockers off the album, they still resonate with me to this day when I want some skewered rock nroll. There are certainly some tunes on EVOL that others might consider filler (In the Kingdom #19 Im sure would have a Jonas Brothers fan running to the eject button faster than you could say DISNEY!), but with landmark songs like "Shadow of a Doubt" and "Expressway to Yr Skull" present, it doesnt really matter. Paired together, these are two of the most haunting songs the band has ever recorded. They represent, I think, a defining moment for Sonic Youth. They had positioned themselves in a place in the American music scene where they could create something unique, unheard of, and yes, lasting. Combined with Sister and Daydream Nation that followed it, EVOL was such a landmark, that these three albums alone solidified Sonic Youth as the definitive American band of the 1980s. The Kalifornia Girlz never stood a chance.

EVOL
Rating Point :4 Helpful Point :1
Sonic Youth-EVOL

Is it any coincidence that the title of the record, EVOL is love spelled backwards, knowing Thurston Moore the answer chances are is a solid yes.

On the bands third record EVOL they opted for a change and a great one at that. Ditching the assumed motto of "noise over quality" for "a little quality would be nice..." the band proved they were original and willing to risk and strike for new ground. While their early work was clearly inspired by the Velvet Underground they never lost that influence but augmented it rather.

EVOL brings the poetic lyrics into a actual song structure (sort of) and discovers a new tool called melody, something that Lee Ronaldo would in time master. While the lyrics are at times trite (Madonna, Sean and Me though very entertaining) and at times bubblegum (Bubblegum) they do bubblegum very well. Yes the pun was intended.

But the thing about EVOL is you dont realize the progress until the very end of the album when you are aware that Lee Ronaldo, Kim Gordon, and Steve Shelley are in the band along with Thurston Moore as well, and when that realization is reached it is like a door has been opened and there is a whole world of possibilities through the exit.

overflowing with emotion...
Rating Point :5 Helpful Point :13
This is not simply a "touching" album that suggests a mood. EVOL grips on from the very beginning, turns you upside down and immerses you in a somber, dark world that no other album can create. And it will keep you coming back for more and more.

The haunting guitars of the opener "Tom Violence" only hint at what is to come. "Shadow of a Doubt" is perhaps the best SY song with Gordon on vocals her whisper backed by a sudden assault of noise sends chills up your spine. "In the Kingdom #19" (listen for Thurston throwing fireworks in the studio after one minute) and "Secret Girls" are abrasive, ethereal tracks that may take more than one listen to appreciate, but are among the bands best. The heralded closer "Expressway to Yr Skull (The Crucifixion of Sean Penn)" is an epic journey, beginning with Thurstons unforgettable cry "Were gonna kill the California girls," building to a frantic pace and then slowing down into a spacious wall of noise.

This is SY at their height lyrically. Daydream Nation may have more "masterpieces" of feedback but EVOL leaves more of an impression. Each song has its own way of leaving you breathless, and its clear that after the 39 minute adventure Sonic Youth has to be one of the greatest bands of our time, if ever.

A wonderful vision that unfortunately became too blurred for its own good
Rating Point :4 Helpful Point :3
Sonic Youth have long been viewed the most innovative band of the 1980s owing to their use of unique guitar tunings that have been seen as reinvigorating guitar-based music against the competition of what is now viewed as vapid synth-pop.

Although I have occasionally in the past been tempted to listen to their songs from my brothers record collection, I always saw their work as nothing different from the dreadful punk/pop that turned me decisively away from the radio during the 1990s. Their most acclaimed albums Daydream Nation and Sister, listed in best-ofs by Joe S. Harrington and David Keenan respectively, fall prey far too often to cliched punk/pop to rival such later masterworks as Love Agenda and Spiderland. Though one can discern from those albums that Sonic Youth had a quite unique vision of rock that would be developed by the post-rockers of the 1990s, on those albums they sound far too much like a band not clear what it wants to be.

Before Sister, Sonic Youth have been viewed as "barely competent". In fact, their limited skills on "EVOL" actually suit the vision of re-inventing guitar rock much better than the pop sensibility that came to take over their music after this. The tone, rather than being the messy punk/pop that has annoyed me on all other recordings by them I have heard, is much quieter yet equally harsh (which, I confess, is what I have grown to admire). "Tom Violence" and "Shadow of a Doubt" are truly wonderful in their slow-burning passion that manages somehow to be produced with a delicacy never seen on any other Sonic Youth album. Even when on the former the band does go into a freak-out, it manages to be put together perfectly.

"Green Light" is a little more accessible but avoid the cliches of Hsker D, whilst the piano-based "Secret Girls" is a wonderful departure that only confirms "EVOL"s role as an immediate early post-rock influence. The epic "Madonna, Sean and Me" (aka "Expressway to Your Skull") is almost as effective, and even "Marilyn Moore" with its spoken-word vocals is far from bad.

However, "In the Kingdom #19", "Death to Our Friends" and "Bubblegum" rather let down what would otherwise be a masterpiece with their too-generic pop/punk rhythms.

Still, "EVOL" stands as the one place where an undoubtedly unique vision is in any way unclattered by pop/punk ambitions that were far greater than most listeners believe or want to. Its sound is totally unique and at times, really startling. Worth owning, too, as a precursor to the vital 1990s post-rock movement.

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