Dirty Appreciation Thread
 

Who else loves the pseudo-grunge, noise-pop hookfest that is Dirty? And I mean the Sonic Youth album... :)

I do. I didn't when it was released, though. I was beginning to go through my grunge backlash phase, and I really didn't get into this one right away like I did with Goo. Years later, though, I replayed it and fell hard for it.

It's a great album. I love 100% & Sugar Kane, and bunch more stuff.

appreciated!
sort of.

hate

10 being love it to death, 1 being hate it to hell, I'm a 9.5.

First time I heard 100%, then Swimsuit Issue, and Theresa's Sound World, I knew I was in love. If I had the chance to thank Messers Lee, Kim, Thurston and Steve for anything; it would be for Dirty... :) It's still completely different and unique now, 14 years after the fact. Of course, it might be nostalgia for me, but even if it is, there really are some good pop hooks on that album. Even more so than Rather Ripped, actually...

i generally just think the music is horrible, it has nothing to do with the production.

I like it a lot. For a while after i got it, it was my favorite SY album. But that changes quite often. I really like Purr.

I think it's the second best SY album, RR being the best.

Of course Sonic Youth loved the production, or else they wouldn't have picked up Vig for Expirimental Jet Set. The fuzz is amazing! The only problem with dirty is there is alot of filler and it doesn't play well as a whole album like Goo, Daydream Nation, and pretty much every album before it. Cut down a few of the tracks and slip on Hendrix Necro and Genetic and it would have been better.

im stuck in the middle. I like some songs on it but a lot of the record i dont like. I think SY does a better job when they re-do the songs live now (100%, Sugar Kane, Drunken Butterfly, Dirty Boots, Wish Fullfillment). Dirty is one of the only SY I cant listen to the whole way thru and I've tried numerous times.

I'll always have fond memories of both "Dirty" and "Experimental Jet Set" 'cause those were the albums that got me into SY as a wee lad. I'll never forget seeing the video for "Bull In The Heather" when I was about 12 or 13 and the impact it had on me. I actually already had "Dirty" prior to that but I didn't really start getting into it until after I saw the "Bull In The Heather" video and got "Experimental Jet Set". I ended up falling in love with both records and the rest is history.... Anyway, "Dirty" isn't my absolute favorite SY record but I think it does contain a handful of really great songs ("100%", "Theresa's Sound-world", "Drunken Butterfly" and "Sugar Kane" immediately come to mind). Then again I think pretty much ALL of their records contain a handful of really great songs! :)

Butch Vig is now my least favorite person on the planet. He has produced three of the worst albums of all time (Dirty, Jetset, Nevermind). And he's in that awful band Garbage.

Butch Vig, you are now on my "dead to me" list.

Thanks, Butch!

dirty rules

Dirty was the fourth SY album I bought and was the second most accessible listen for me, first being Daydream Nation. I wasn't anywhere near as into Evol or Goo at the time, so Dirty got a lot of exclusive play on my stereo for quite some time. Now after owning everything, I'd probably put it in the middle somewhere, possibly my 8th or 9th favourite, but when I put it up against a lot of other hard-rock/grunge/punkish records, past and present, it stands the test of time as a great collection of songs. I hesitate to say great album because as several others have stated, it is fractured at times. I could go on about exclusions and whatnot, but I still love Dirty, and in fact listened to it in the car this morning on the way to work-- I hadn't heard it in nearly a year.

Two thumbs up.

Yeah, Nevermind is definitely one of the worst albums of all time. I think you are getting a little carried away there. It's hard to take anything you say seriously.

Kim dreaming about kissing neil young is enough to make dirty a classic

I've always felt that Dirty fills almost exactly the same part of the Sonic Youth canon as is filled in The Fall's case by The Infotainment Scan. Both are among the band's most accessible work, both are often less popular with long-term fans, but both contain a lot of absolute top-quality and memorable songs, and should be placed in the the respective band's top three LP's. It's no bad thing that amongst the more challenging works comes something much more instant and catchy - the popularity of these songs live is testament to that, and I for one consider that (in both cases) it's the variety of styles over time that is a vital part of the bands' enduring legacy and ability to keep me transfixed.

The 'mainstream' sound is a fallacy to some extent, in my opinion - it's only mainstream by comparison with some of their other works. I guarantee that my friends are just as bewildered by Youth Against Fascism or Drunken Butterfly as they are by other SY stuff.

Orange Rolls, Angels Spit lets the LP down, I think. It's not bad, it's just that it feels like an interpolation on this LP. Which is a great shame, because even with that song this LP ranks very highly.

It starts wonderfully, with the feedback. Good job in a way, as all of that feedback srves to remind you that this isn't the straight-laced rock LP that some would have you believe. The way people talk sometimes, you'd think that 'Dirty' is an attempt at Green Day-style populism, which it is certainly not.

100%: very nice juxtapositioning of feedback and rock song. Obvious single choice.

Swimsuit Issue: Kim's opener on the LP. Good social rant, hits the nail on the head in my opinion.

Thersa's Soundworld: not one of my favourites on the LP, and for a while I skipped it, but now I realise that it's a well-placed and well-constructed piece that fits in nicely.

Drunken Butterfly: the first classic. A great song, truly, full of energy, desire and burning noise. This is reflected, I think, in the quality of live performances of this song.

Shoot: Theresa's Soundworld and Shoot provide an important function on this LP ie they sandwich the maniacal intensity of Drunken Butterfly with something more mellow. This is pne of my favoured trsacks on the LP, nice ending.

Wish Fulfillment: not one of Lee's best, but good enough.

Sugar Kane: I sometimes wonder if two or three SY songs would have worked better as instrumentals. THis is one of them. It's still very fine though.

Orange Rolls, Angels Spit: Um, I don't know what to say. It's never worked on the LP, to my mind. Good live though.

Youth Against Facism: I love it, it's way under-rated in my opinion. Right from the start it thumps along majestically, good lyrics, great noises, very energetic and confrontational. Lee's performance in the video is great.

Nic Fit: overall, no thanks.

On The Strip: the first of the GReat Sonic Youth Double on this LP, On The Strip has great tune, great lyrics and vocals, and that wonderful instumental part. The post-instrumental part is all the better for it, too. Fantastic.

Chapel Hill: the second of the GReat Sonic Youth Double, I think this song gives us Thurston's most accomplished vocal performance on record - rarely has a voice been so well suited to a song. Great tune too. A non-SY friend
recently commented that the inntro bit is reminiscent of the theme from the TV series 'Jim'll Fix It' - it is a bit, but it rocks too well for that to matter.

JC: Cool, nice lyrics.

Purr: the kind of song that one can't help feeling probably had an influence on other bands. Probably a really accomplished piece, from an analytical point of view. But I'm just guessing about that, really.

Créme Brûlèe: energetic and fun, a nice way to sign off. I can never tell if I like this one more than I should, or if I cleverly appreciate a hidden jewel!

'Dirty' is probably my second favourite SY LP, for all that lists mean. It's a rock clssic, no doubt.

Orange rolls and angels spit is probone of my favs on the record cause it's so energetic!
And nic fit is weird... but nice!

I love it like my grandma.

That's funny because Sugar Kane is one of my favorite songs on Dirty.

Patchy to say the least. The "Goo" commercial experiment taken too far...but there are great moments on there.

Worst SY album.

I like it.

dirty was a filler album, right along with goo, jetset, and washing machine.

i like it.
esspecialy "rehersal" disc.

as one who is 21 now and hence has no experience of the time Dirty was released (thank fuck), i love it. On the strip, Theresas sound world, Wish Fulfilment, 100%, Sugar Kane, Chapel hill... why its all lovely stuff.

It's certainly not their greatest work. But it is an excellent album. I think it goes to show the huge range of the band. How many bands can create something like 'Dirty' and then make an album like 'NYCG&F'? In many ways its the perfect SY songform album.

you know nothing of production. (regardless...nevermind is brutal)

First of all, I love the album just like I love all the Sonic Youth albums.
That being said...
Strangely enough, Genetic & Hendrix Necro are probably better than any song on the album yet were not included on the original release.
I'd rather hear Kim sing Personality Crisis than David Johansen any day of the week. The same goes for Alice Cooper's Is It My Body?

Cantankerous, would you care to comment on just how a "filler album" has such great outtakes?

quick comments & impressions...

100% has cool lyrics & an edgy vocal delivery from Thurston, but the song is a bit grating really except for the outro.

Swimsuit Issue would be much better without the "mean-o" rhyming with "Encino". That's pretty lame.

Theresa's Sound-World hearkens back lyric-wise to Death Valley '69 & Shadow of a Doubt. When I first got diRty, it was a favorite, but not so much anymore.

Drunken Butterfly is much better as a live song than a studio track, but overall, it's too what I'll term "meathead crunchy" for me to laud much praise on it.

Shoot is a brilliant song from start to finish & has one of Sonic Youth's most memorable (if not the most memorable) basslines.

Sugar Kane is pretty damn dopey.

My Wish Fulfillment would be to swap this song for Genetic.

Hendrix Necro should have been on the album's original release instead of Orange Rolls, Angel's Spit.

Youth Against Fascism is indeed the bomb.

Personally, I've always liked the Nic Fit cover a lot.

The outro to On the Strip is virtually never discussed on this forum & it's pretty hot stuff.

Chapel Hill displays probably the most technical guitar work of any Sonic Youth song.

JC is so gorgeous it takes one's breath away.

Purr is a marvelously original love song.

Creme Brulee is a nice counterpoint & way to end the album. The song dynamics are pretty happening & the lyrical images are really good.

I agree, not only is dirty my most hated SY album, it also one of my most hated albums by any artist.

Well, isn't that special?

Yours is a statement of complete hipster absurdity.

So, you mean to say that Conway Twitty & say, Jim Nabors put out some better material?

...how about Kix or Warrant?

I'll remind you (yet again) that you stated that,
"it (is) also one of my most hated albums by any artist."

C'mon bro, snap out of the trance & give me some feeeedback.

great album with a couple of duds.

but worth it for "Theresa's soundworld" alone

one of my favorite sy albums.

100% is the best opener- that mad feedback. thurston sounds rad cool, and steve rocks the drum solo. but steve always rocks. i can't really remember if they did this.. back then, i guess, but like with the recent gigs i've listened to, i hate how it is live.

the "encino/mean-o" is kinda cheesy, but otherwise i really love swimsuit issue.

the wish fulfillment demo is almost as good as the album. genetic could easily go in its place, but eh.

songs 11-15 are perfect. it's mostly the flow from on the strip right into chapel hill.

apart from washing machine (my arena is rather genius) dirty has the best b-sides.

The outtakes should have been the ones on the album. I love Hendrix Necro as if it was my own child.

well I didn't mean that, I should have said it is one of my most hated albums by any artist that I listen to. Hell, I know it is a million time better than stuff by those people you listed or other crappy albums. It's just for some reason I hate it, I just don't know why.

"Youth Against Fascism" is easily as annoying to me as "Cherry Pie." More so, as I hold SY in high regard and expect Warrant to be crap.

I like it. Here's my breakdown

The Good:
100% - the epitome of a good album opener: it sets the tone of the rest of the album
Thersa's Soundworld - Amazing guitar lines and an earthquake of a breakdown. Probably my favorite.
Drunken Butterfly - I put it here only after seeing it live...a true Kim rocker
Sugar Kane - It's so damn catchy yet above the "annoying" threshold
Youth Against Facism - The lyrics are great...especially the Clarence Thomas reference. The Bush lyric (the president sucks) coincidentially and unintentionally rings true today
Chapel Hill - Fun fun fun
JC - Dark, brooding, and moving...one of my favorite Kim songs
Purr - Another great rocker

The Fair:
Swimsuit Issue - too abrasive for me...not very impressive
Shoot - s'alright...just nothing special
Wish Fulfillment - the chorus just doesn't feel right
On The Strip - see Shoot

The Poor:
Orange Rolls, Angels Spit - I always skip or exclude this one. It just isn't pleasant to my ears
Nic Fit - Why?

The "I have no fucking idea how to rank this":
Créme Brûlèe - Weird and strange, no musical relevance, but effective as an album closer meaning a complete contrast from the opener but follows from the mood of the rest of the album

I also agree that the B-sides like Genetic and Hendrix Necro would have been great on this album, but at least we have the re-release and CD-burners.

Dirty is one of my least favourite SY albums. There are some good tracks but the album is just not good enough all the way through to live op to the standard of SY, and even the best tracks are not as good as the highlights of other albums. It's a good album though and Shoot is a hella kickass song!