Goo (album)
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| Goo | |||||
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| Studio album by Sonic Youth | |||||
| Released | June 26, 1990 | ||||
| Recorded | Sorcerer Sound and Greene Street, New York City, 1989 | ||||
| Genre | Alternative rock, post-punk | ||||
| Length | 49:23 | ||||
| Label | DGC | ||||
| Producer | Sonic Youth, Nick Sansano, Ron Saint Germain | ||||
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Original release: Deluxe edition:
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Goo is an album by alternative rock band Sonic Youth, released on June 26, 1990. A remastered version was released in 2005.
Goo was the first album released after the band signed to major label Geffen Records. Their albums became more accessible and less experimental, but still retained elements of their trademark collage of noise. In contrast to the band's previous album, Daydream Nation, many songs on Goo start and end abruptly. Daydream Nation was known for its long, "psychedelic" guitar intros and outros.
Contents |
[edit] Songs
The album's lead track, "Dirty Boots", evokes old blues slang in its declaration that "It's time to rock the road/And tell the story of the jelly rollin'."[1]
"Tunic (Song for Karen)", written and sung by Kim Gordon, is about singer Karen Carpenter and her anorexia.
It imagines her in heaven, happy, playing the drums again and meeting new friends Dennis Wilson, Elvis Presley and Janis Joplin.[2][3]
The album featured the single "Kool Thing", on which Chuck D from the rap group Public Enemy guested. The song is purported to be about the disillusionment that Gordon experienced after interviewing LL Cool J for Spin Magazine the previous year. "Are you going to liberate us girls from male, white, corporate oppression?" Gordon asks in the song.[4] "Kool Thing" became the song that many casual music fans associate with the band. The album version of "Mary-Christ" fades out with a portion of the intro to "Kool Thing". This is because in the recording session for "Mary-Christ" the band went right into "Kool Thing", but this take of "Kool Thing" was not chosen for the album.
The album's title derives from the song "My Friend Goo", a portrait of a friend who "sticks just like glue.[5]
The song "Mildred Pierce" is an homage to the 1941 novel Mildred Pierce by James M. Cain, or the 1945 film based on the novel starring Joan Crawford.
[edit] Cover
The cover is a Raymond Pettibon illustration based on a paparazzi photo of Maureen Hindley and her first husband David Smith, witnesses in the case of serial killers Ian Brady and Myra Hindley, driving to the trial in 1966.
The handwritten text reads, "I stole my sister's boyfriend. It was all whirlwind, heat, and flash. Within a week we killed my parents and hit the road."
[edit] Track listing
[edit] Original release
- "Dirty Boots" (lyrics/vocals Moore, backing vocal Gordon) – 5:28
- "Tunic (Song for Karen)" (lyrics/vocals Gordon) – 6:22
- "Mary-Christ" (lyrics Moore, vocals Moore and Gordon) – 3:11
- "Kool Thing" (lyrics/vocals Gordon, guest vocals Chuck D) – 4:12
- "Mote" (lyrics/vocals Ranaldo) – 7:37
- "My Friend Goo" (lyrics/vocals Gordon, backing vocal Moore) – 2:19
- "Disappearer" (lyrics/vocals Moore) – 5:08
- "Mildred Pierce" (lyrics/vocals Moore) – 2:13
- "Cinderella's Big Score" (lyrics/vocals Gordon) – 5:54
- "Scooter + Jinx" – 1:06
- "Titanium Exposé" (lyrics/vocals Moore and Gordon) – 6:24
[edit] Deluxe edition
[edit] Disc one
- "Dirty Boots" – 5:29
- "Tunic (Song for Karen)" – 6:21
- "Mary-Christ" – 3:11
- "Kool Thing" – 4:06
- "Mote" – 7:37
- "My Friend Goo" – 2:20
- "Disappearer" – 5:08
- "Mildred Pierce" – 2:13
- "Cinderella's Big Score" – 5:54
- "Scooter + Jinx" – 1:05
- "Titanium Expose" – 6:34
- "Lee #2" – 3:31
- "That's All I Know (Right Now)" – 2:20
- "The Bedroom" – 3:42
- "Dr. Benway's House" – 1:17
- "Tuff Boyz" – 5:39
[edit] Disc two
- "Tunic" – 6:45
- "Number One (Disappearer)" – 4:59
- "Titanium Expose" – 4:45
- "Dirty Boots" – 6:38
- "Corky (Cinderella's Big Score)" – 7:51
- "My Friend Goo" – 2:34
- "Bookstore (Mote)" – 4:16
- "Animals (Mary-Christ)" – 3:02
- "DV2 (Kool Thing)" – 4:20
- "Blowjob (Mildred Pierce)" – 8:52
- "Lee #2" – 3:34
- "I Know There's an Answer" (Wilson / Terry Sachen / Love)– 3:10
- "Can Song" – 3:17
- "Isaac" – 2:45
- "Goo Interview Flexi" – 6:03
[edit] Personnel
- J Mascis – additional backing vocals (tracks 2, 5, 6)
- Don Fleming – additional backing vocals (tracks 1, 7)
- Nick Sansano – production
[edit] Video
In 1991, a long-form music video version of Goo was released on VHS. A music video for each song from the album is included; the track listing is identical to the "original release" list above. In 2004, nearly the entire contents of the Goo video was included on the DVD compilation Corporate Ghost: The Videos: 1990-2002; only a short fragment that appeared after the conclusion of "Titanium Exposé" on the 1991 video is missing.
[edit] Charts
[edit] Album
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Official UK Albums Chart | 32 |
| 1990 | Billboard Top 200 | 96 |
[edit] Singles
| Year | Song | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Kool Thing | Modern Rock Tracks (US) | 7 |
| 1990 | Kool Thing | UK Singles Charts | 81 |
[edit] References
- ^ Sonic Youth - Goo
- ^ * We Gotta Get Out of This Place, Gerri Hirshey, 2001, ISBN 0-87113-788-7, on "Tunic", quoting Kim Gordon in Rolling Stone magazine.
- ^ Sonic Youth - Goo
- ^ Sonic Youth - Goo
- ^ Sonic Youth - Goo
