My first was Experimental..... when I was 14, It was like, wow, music can be different and good at the same time. Also, Rather Ripped, IMO, is the best thing they've done in years.

Keep it very very simple: Daydream Nation.
If this "SY newbie" can't see as to why this album is anything but generic and virtually legendary, this character is never going to like Sonic Youth.

Dirty

Experimental Jet Set Trash & No Star

Funny, this very topic came up at my friend's Passover gathering the other night.

Somebody said Daydream Nation, I also heard Sonic Nurse (my first SY album), but I recommended Washing Machine to the initiate.

Washing Machine has got a good grab bag of SY styles, from brash (Panty Lies) to tranquil (Saucerlike), and of course it closes with a lengthy nod to their experimental side, as if promising ever noisier pastures. I remember this one getting a lot of play when I first got it a couple years ago.

now thinking back, i think goo is a more fitting intro to sonic youth. it has some great songs on there, and i don't think there's anything on the album that too far "out there".

sonic death? adventurous choice for a newbie!

EJSTNS

I started with Daydream Nation without having heard anything like it before. So either that, Sister or EVOL.

i would say DDN too. its the consense record. its their essence. if you dont like it you will probably dont get that much out of the rest

rather ripped.

Goo or Daydream Nation

haha that'll corrupt his young tender mind or so some would have you to believe, probably enlighten him to new/old wonders.

I don't believe that heavy music and horror movies are capable of corrupting a childs mind, didn't effect me anyway.

bad moon rising

Depends what type of music the person already listens to. If they like early 90s grunge/alternative then Goo or Dirty. If they like really awesome experimental stuff then maybe an SYR or NYC Ghosts & Flowers, but overall either EVOL, Sister, or DDN are great starters. My first album was EJSTNS, which I still enjoy listening to.

I started with Dirty.
I guess Daydream Nation is a fine place to start... it shows what sonic youth are and is maybe their best. If DDN doesn't work, try on Sister (for peaceful souls, lol) or Goo / Dirty (for those who like to rockin').

the EP

: )

Like many of you here have said, it depends what kind of music you are familiar to.

I started with Daydream Nation and now I have 26 SY records.

i started with dirty, then went into sonic hibernation then got murray street

Rather Ripped is quite accessible