Rating: 
Summary: Thurston, Lee, Kim and Steve
Review: As a Sonic Youth fan, I thought this was a great book, full of interesting anecdotes, cool background information about the NY No Wave scene and rad photos. It has all the data you'll ever need to you about Sonic Youth up to their release of Experimental Jet Set, Trash, and No Star (1994).The background on the different circumstances of each successive album is worth the price alone. A fun read.
Rating:
Summary: Great Background for Newer Fans
Review: Foege does a great job of describing Sonic Youth from its beginnings in the early 70s until 1995. Being I was barely able to walk when Sonic Youth first formed, and not even a fan until 1995, I was eager to learn about the beginnings of the group. Seeing where the band, especially where Thurston comes from is a great way to understand their music. It also does a great job in describing the influence Sonic Youth had on the music world. Yes, 200 some pages hardly does justice to Sonic Youth. But being that there is no other biography on the band, I'd recommend that any fan picks up a copy of this book... I think I've read my copy three times.
Rating:
Summary: Great Background for Newer Fans
Review: Foege does a great job of describing Sonic Youth from its beginnings in the early 70s until 1995. Being I was barely able to walk when Sonic Youth first formed, and not even a fan until 1995, I was eager to learn about the beginnings of the group. Seeing where the band, especially where Thurston comes from is a great way to understand their music. It also does a great job in describing the influence Sonic Youth had on the music world. Yes, 200 some pages hardly does justice to Sonic Youth. But being that there is no other biography on the band, I'd recommend that any fan picks up a copy of this book... I think I've read my copy three times.
Rating:
Summary: Confusion is What?
Review: I have read this book, yes. It was a well written book (in my opinion). You really have to be interested in Sonic Youth to appreciate how Alec Foege chronicles the time period of the late 70's through the early 90's New York City.
Rating:
Summary: Thurston, Lee, Kim and Steve
Review: i remember reading this in 8th/9th grade and it was my favorite book at the time. it screams "authorized book" in it's brown - nosing, but who cares? it taught me a lot about my then favorite band and got me into stuff like glenn branca.
Rating: 
Summary: memories.
Review: i remember reading this in 8th/9th grade and it was my favorite book at the time. it screams "authorized book" in it's brown - nosing, but who cares? it taught me a lot about my then favorite band and got me into stuff like glenn branca.
Rating:
Summary: memories.
Review: i remember reading this in 8th/9th grade and it was my favorite book at the time. it screams "authorized book" in it's brown - nosing, but who cares? it taught me a lot about my then favorite band and got me into stuff like glenn branca.
Rating: 
Summary: Chaos is the future & beyond it is Freedom,
Review: Seeing as this is the only readily available book on Sonic Youth, which is a great shame as so much could & should be written about them, it's hard to say now necessary it is. It was written about the same time as Experimental, Jet Set, Trash & No Star was recorded [although it might have been updated since]. It gives you a lot of good information & insights but like others have pointed out, there is something missing. I'd still say it's well worth any SY fan or music fan in general giving it a read, it's not too heavy going, but has substance. Yes, Thurston said he wasn't sure about whether he liked Foege's writing style & also the discography was apparently stolen from someone else, but it is quite indepth. Also there are some really good photos & flyers etc @ the front of the book, from pre-SY bands like the Coachmen & into Confusion is Sex era & then semi-stardom. Actually a year or so ago Lee put out a book of diaries from the 80s that would complement or surpass CIN, that was on Soft Skull press I think, like his Road Movies poetry book. Maybe it is because Sonic Youth is 4 distinct personalities that it was hard to make it sufficiently personal whereas a solo artist might be easier to write about. I was generally pleased enough when I read it about a year or so into enetering their world.
Rating:
Summary: Decent but dry
Review: This book was okay, and I'd recommend it for the enthusiastic Sonic Youth fan who can't find anything else or can afford to be a completist. It was just a little dry, with discussions of the first show at which the group used particular tunings and such, but I'm sure some people would really want to know that. It was just a little cold, more about the making of the music than the inspiration or the makers, for the most part.
Rating:
Summary: Good Information for the New SY Fan
Review: When I bought this, in 1995, I was fairly unfamiliar with the history of the group or their earlier works. I think this is the reason I enjoyed it so much. Yes, the writing can be dry and unrevealing at times, but it did serve as a good introduction to Glenn Branca and Philip K. Dick for me.
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