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{{Infobox album <!-- See Misplaced Pages:WikiProject_Albums --> {{Infobox album
| Name = Sonic Nurse | name = Sonic Nurse
| Type = studio | type = studio
| Artist = ] | artist = ]
| Cover = Sonic Nurse.jpg | cover = Sonicyouthsonicnurse.png
| Alt = | alt =
| Released = June 8, 2004 | released = June 8, 2004
| Recorded = July 2003 – February 2004 at Echo Canyon, New York City, United States | recorded = July 2003 – February 2004
| studio = Echo Canyon, New York City
| Genre = ], ] | genre = ]
| Length = 62:48 | length = 60:15
| Label = ] | label = ]
| Producer = Sonic Youth | producer = Sonic Youth
| prev_title = ]
| Chronology = ] studio album
| prev_year = 2002
| Last album = '']''<br/>(2002)
| next_title = ]
| This album = '''''Sonic Nurse'''''<br/>(2004)
| next_year = 2005
| Next album = '']''<br/>(2006)
| Misc = {{Singles | misc = {{Singles
| Name = Sonic Nurse | name = Sonic Nurse
| Type = studio | type = studio
| Single 1 = Kim Gordon and the Arthur Doyle Hand Cream | single1 = Kim Gordon and the Arthur Doyle Hand Cream
| Single 1 date = 2003 | single1date = 2003
| Single 2 = Unmade Bed | single2 = Unmade Bed
| Single 2 date = 2004 | single2date = 2004
}} }}
}} }}


'''''Sonic Nurse''''' is the thirteenth studio album by American ] band ], released on June 8, 2004 by record label ]. '''''Sonic Nurse''''' is the thirteenth studio album by American ] band ], released on June 8, 2004, by ].


== Content == == Content ==
The album's cover art was designed by artist ] from his '']'' series. Furthermore, one of Prince's photographic creations in this series was titled "Dude Ranch Nurse", which is also the name of a song on this record.


"Pattern Recognition" was based on the 2003 ] novel ]. Sonic Youth had used Gibson's work as an influence before, notably on a few tracks from '']'' (1988).
The album's cover art was designed by renowned artist ] from his '']'' series. Furthermore, one of Prince's photographic creations in this series is entitled "Dude Ranch Nurse" which is also the name of a song on this record.

"Pattern Recognition" is based on ]. They have used Gibson's work as influence before, notably on a few tracks from '']'' (1988).


"Kim Gordon and the Arthur Doyle Hand Cream" was previously released as "Mariah Carey and the Arthur Doyle Hand Cream" on the first ] ''Buddy Series'' 7", but was changed due to controversy.{{citation needed|date=March 2015}} "Kim Gordon and the Arthur Doyle Hand Cream" was previously released as "Mariah Carey and the Arthur Doyle Hand Cream" on the first ] ''Buddy Series'' 7", but the title was changed over concerns of potential legal action from Carey's legal team.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.sonicyouth.com/mustang/sy/song374.html|title = Sonic Youth Site Menu}}</ref>


==Reception== ==Reception==
{{Album ratings {{Music ratings
| MC = 77/100<ref name=meta></ref> | MC = 77/100<ref name=meta>{{cite web |url=http://www.metacritic.com/music/sonic-nurse/sonic-youth |title=Reviews for ''Sonic Nurse'' by Sonic Youth |website=] |access-date=April 27, 2013}}</ref>
| rev1 = ] | rev1 = ]
| rev1score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref></ref> | rev1score = {{rating|4|5}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/sonic-nurse-mw0000333060 |title=''Sonic Nurse'' – Sonic Youth |website=] |access-date=February 23, 2016 |last=Phares |first=Heather}}</ref>
| rev2 = '']'' | rev2 = '']''
| rev2score = {{rating|4|5}}<ref name="ChristgauBlender">{{cite magazine |url=http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/cdrev/sonic-ble.php |title=Sonic Youth: ''Sonic Nurse'' |magazine=] |issue=27 |date=June–July 2004 |access-date=June 26, 2016 |last=Christgau |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Christgau |page=144}}</ref>
| rev2score = positive<ref></ref>
| rev3 = ] | rev3 = '']''
| rev3score = A−<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.ew.com/article/2004/06/11/sonic-nurse |title=''Sonic Nurse'' |magazine=] |date=June 11, 2004 |access-date=February 23, 2016 |last=Browne |first=David |author-link=David Browne (journalist) |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190403023440/https://ew.com/article/2004/06/11/sonic-nurse/ |archive-date=April 3, 2019 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
| rev3score = A−<ref name=christgau></ref>
| rev4 = '']'' | rev4 = '']''
| rev4score = {{rating|3|5}}<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2004/jun/04/popandrock.shopping2 |title=Sonic Youth, ''Sonic Nurse'' |newspaper=] |date=June 4, 2004 |access-date=February 23, 2016 |last=Simpson |first=Dave}}</ref>
| rev4score = A−<ref></ref>
| rev5 = '']'' | rev5 = '']''
| rev5score = 7/10<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Sonic Youth: ''Sonic Nurse'' |magazine=] |date=June 5, 2004 |page=57}}</ref>
| rev5score = {{Rating|3|5}}<ref></ref>
| rev6 = ] | rev6 = '']''
| rev6score = 8.5/10<ref></ref> | rev6score = 8.5/10<ref>{{cite web |url=http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/7348-sonic-nurse/ |title=Sonic Youth: ''Sonic Nurse'' |website=] |date=June 5, 2004 |access-date=February 23, 2016 |last=Ubl |first=Sam}}</ref>
| rev7 = ] | rev7 = '']''
| rev7score = {{rating|3|5}}<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Sonic Youth: ''Sonic Nurse'' |magazine=] |issue=216 |date=July 2004 |page=124}}</ref>
| rev7score = {{Rating|8|10}}<ref name=meta/><ref></ref>
| rev8 = '']'' | rev8 = '']''
| rev8score = {{Rating|3.5|5}}<ref></ref> | rev8score = {{rating|3.5|5}}<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/sonic-nurse-20040624 |title=''Sonic Nurse'' |magazine=] |date=June 24, 2004 |access-date=February 23, 2016 |last=Walters |first=Barry}}</ref>
| rev9 = ] | rev9 = '']''
| rev9score = B−<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9IgWp27kuBIC&pg=PA108 |title=Sonic Youth: ''Sonic Nurse'' |magazine=] |volume=20 |issue=7 |date=July 2004 |access-date=February 23, 2016 |last=Wood |first=Mikael |pages=108–11}}</ref>
| rev9score = {{Rating|3|5}}<ref></ref>
| rev10 = '']''
| rev10score = A−<ref name=christgau>{{cite news |url=http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/cg/cgv604-04.php |title=Consumer Guide: Squirt You |newspaper=] |date=July 6, 2004 |access-date=February 23, 2016 |last=Christgau |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Christgau}}</ref>
}} }}
The album has a score of 77 out of 100 from ] based on "generally favorable reviews".<ref name=meta/> ''No Ripcord'' gave the album 10 out of 10 stars and said it "could be the best guitar rock album since, well, ''Murray Street''."<ref></ref> ] gave it 5 out of 5 stars and said the album was "the closest to creating a landmark on parallel with ''Daydream Nation'' they've come since that particular record's nameday in '88, and in {{sic|it's|nolink=y}} dense textures it maybe signals the extinction of the antediluvian No Wave idyll; a Robert Zimmerman trip that somehow got mixed up with Joni Mitchell, Black Flag and a conceptualist oddball."<ref>{{cite web |last=Gregory |first=Matthew |url=http://drownedinsound.com/articles/9617.html |title=Sonic Youth – Nurse |website=] |access-date=2013-06-23 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040607023215/http://drownedinsound.com/articles/9617.html |archive-date=June 7, 2004}}</ref> In his "Consumer Guide", ] gave the album an A− and said, "This unusually songful set is well up among their late good ones, its dissonances a lingua franca deployed less atmospherically than has been their recent practice."<ref name=christgau/> While working for '']'', Christgau gave the same album 4 stars out of 5 and called it " most songful release since the major-label hellos ''Goo'' and ''Dirty'', and by most standards their best since 1988's pivotal ''Daydream Nation''."<ref name="ChristgauBlender"/> '']'' gave the album a score of 90% and called it "a gorgeous, bona fide gem."<ref></ref> '']'' gave it a B+ and said that the album, "if not proof of a band bursting with fresh ideas, is at least fresh-sounding."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://stylusmagazine.com/reviews/sonic-youth/sonic-nurse.htm |title=Sonic Youth – Sonic Nurse |website=] |date=June 10, 2004 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130629032431/http://www.stylusmagazine.com/reviews/sonic-youth/sonic-nurse.htm |archive-date=June 29, 2013}}</ref>


''Prefix Magazine'' gave it a favorable review and said, "With ''Sonic Nurse'', it's truly possible to see 2000's excruciatingly indulgent ''NYC Ghosts and Flowers'' as a speed bump on an otherwise smooth decade of record-making. Their last, 2002's bittersweet ''Murray Street'', was a return to form, and the epic ''Sonic Nurse'' will only supply more evidence for Sonic Youth's canonization".<ref></ref> '']'' gave it a score of 4 stars out of 5 and said, "Every song but one falls fully developed in the five- to seven-minute ballpark, brimming with enough dissonant wizardry, smart vocal imagery, and tonal shades of rock to fly the freak flag like no aging rockers ever have".<ref></ref> ] gave the album 8 stars out of 10 and said, "What emerges is Sonic Youth at complete ease with themselves and their music, operating simultaneously at the peak of their powers and with a powerful, audacious restraint".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://uk.launch.yahoo.com/040617/33/1wptd.html |title=Sonic Youth – 'Sonic Nurse' |access-date=2013-06-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040618041835/http://uk.launch.yahoo.com/040617/33/1wptd.html |archive-date=June 18, 2004}}</ref> '']'' also gave it 8 out of 10 stars and said the album "might capture something of indie rock's recent taste for emotional epics".<ref name=meta/> '']'' likewise gave the album 4 stars out of 5 and stated: "The Youth sound rejuvenated".<ref>{{cite magazine |date=July 2004 |title=Sonic Youth – Sonic Nurse |magazine=] |page=108 |url=http://www.uncut.co.uk/sonic-youth/sonic-youth-sonic-nurse-review |access-date=June 23, 2013}}</ref> ''Dusted Magazine'' gave it a favorable review and said that "The songs, despite being mostly over five minutes long, are all to the point without feeling meandering.... The balance between noise and melody is right, with each emerging and vanishing at just the right point".<ref></ref> '']'' also gave it a favorable review and said the album "compiles a laid-back hour of elaborate plucking and rhythm from five veteran musicians who reserve musical violence and poetic anger for when it feels most appropriate".<ref></ref> '']'' likewise gave it a favorable review and said the album "percolates the same melancholy satisfaction and nervous maturity, entropy and growth, in and out--but with an urgency and impulsiveness that risks upsetting the balance".<ref></ref> ] gave the album a B and called it "a cure for what ails the airwaves."<ref name=meta/> '']'' gave it a score of 7 out of 10 and said the album "sounds like a brilliant album by a lesser band".<ref name=meta/>
The album so far has a score of 77 out of 100 from ] based on "generally favorable reviews".<ref name=meta/> ''No Ripcord'' gave the album all ten stars and said it "could be the best guitar rock album since, well, ''Murray Street''."<ref></ref> ] gave it all five stars and said the album was "the closest to creating a landmark on parallel with ‘Daydream Nation’ they’ve come since that particular record's nameday in ‘88, and in it’s dense textures it maybe signals the extinction of the antediluvian No Wave idyll; a Robert Zimmerman trip that somehow got mixed up with Joni Mitchell, Black Flag and a conceptualist oddball."<ref>{{Wayback |date=20040607023215 |url=http://drownedinsound.com/articles/9617.html |title=Drowned in Sound review }}</ref> In his Consumer Guide, ] gave the album an A− and said, "This unusually songful set is well up among their late good ones, its dissonances a lingua franca deployed less atmospherically than has been their recent practice."<ref name=christgau/> While working for '']'', Christgau gave the same album four stars out of five and called it " most songful release since the major-label hellos ''Goo'' and ''Dirty'', and by most standards their best since 1988's pivotal ''Daydream Nation''."<ref></ref> '']'' gave the album a score of 90% and called it "a gorgeous, bona fide gem."<ref></ref> '']'' gave it a B+ and said that the album, "if not proof of a band bursting with fresh ideas, is at least fresh-sounding."<ref></ref>


'']'' gave the album 3 stars out of 5 and said it "finds revelling in bursts of noise and awkwardness, but more surprisingly perhaps, taking as much comfort in sweet melody".<ref>{{cite magazine |date=July 2004 |title=Sonic Youth: Sonic Nurse |magazine=] |page=124}}</ref> '']'' also gave the album 3 stars out of 5 and said it was not "a classic rock record. And it's not a classic Sonic Youth record. It's an excursion, into corners weird and corners familiar".<ref name=meta/> '']'' likewise gave the album 3 stars out of 5 and said it was "better than 90 percent of new rock, but with younger combos like Lightning Bolt and Liars stealing their thunder, these well-meaning vets come off as old and in the way".<ref name=meta/> '']'', however, gave it a score of 5 out of 10 and called it "a strangely enervated Sonic Youth record, one that exchanges Murray Street's golden-years vigor for a sad sense of duty".<ref></ref>
''Prefix Magazine'' gave it a favorable review and said, "With ''Sonic Nurse'', it's truly possible to see 2000's excruciatingly indulgent ''NYC Ghosts and Flowers'' as a speed bump on an otherwise smooth decade of record-making. Their last, 2002's bittersweet ''Murray Street'', was a return to form, and the epic ''Sonic Nurse'' will only supply more evidence for Sonic Youth's canonization."<ref></ref> '']'' gave it a score of four stars out of five and said, "Every song but one falls fully developed in the five- to seven-minute ballpark, brimming with enough dissonant wizardry, smart vocal imagery, and tonal shades of rock to fly the freak flag like no aging rockers ever have."<ref></ref> ] gave the album eight stars out of ten and said, "What emerges is Sonic Youth at complete ease with themselves and their music, operating simultaneously at the peak of their powers and with a powerful, audacious restraint."<ref>{{Wayback |date=20040618041835 |url=http://uk.launch.yahoo.com/040617/33/1wptd.html |title=Yahoo! Music UK review }}</ref> '']'' also gave it eight stars out of ten and said the album "might capture something of indie rock's recent taste for emotional epics."<ref name=meta/> '']'' likewise gave the album four stars out of five and stated: "The Youth sound rejuvenated."<ref>{{cite journal |date=July 2004 |title=Sonic Youth - Sonic Nurse |magazine=] |page=108 |url=http://www.uncut.co.uk/sonic-youth/sonic-youth-sonic-nurse-review |accessdate=June 23, 2013}}</ref> ''Dusted Magazine'' gave it a favorable review and said that "The songs, despite being mostly over five minutes long, are all to the point without feeling meandering.... The balance between noise and melody is right, with each emerging and vanishing at just the right point."<ref></ref> '']'' also gave it a favorable review and said the album "compiles a laid-back hour of elaborate plucking and rhythm from five veteran musicians who reserve musical violence and poetic anger for when it feels most appropriate."<ref></ref> '']'' likewise gave it a favorable review and said the album "percolates the same melancholy satisfaction and nervous maturity, entropy and growth, in and out--but with an urgency and impulsiveness that risks upsetting the balance."<ref></ref> ] gave the album a B and called it "a cure for what ails the airwaves."<ref name=meta/> '']'' gave it a score of seven out of ten and said the album "sounds like a brilliant album by a lesser band."<ref name=meta/>


The album placed second in '']''{{'}}s annual critics' poll, where magazine staff wrote "here are of course those who think the prefects of the ] can do this sort of thing in their sleep nowadays, but there was no arguing with the supple versatility of their triple guitar stack and the delight with which they marry lyrics astuteness, textural grit and forward momentum."<ref>{{Cite magazine |title=2004 Rewind: 50 Records of the Year |date=January 2005 |magazine=] |issue=251 |page=41 |location=London |url=https://reader.exacteditions.com/issues/34955/page/41 |url-access=subscription |via=]}}</ref>
Other reviews were average or mixed: '']'' gave the album three stars out of five and said it "finds revelling in bursts of noise and awkwardness, but more surprisingly perhaps, taking as much comfort in sweet melody."<ref>{{cite journal |date=July 2004 |title=Sonic Youth: Sonic Nurse |magazine=] |page=124}}</ref> '']'' also gave the album three stars out of five and said it was not "a classic rock record. And it's not a classic Sonic Youth record. It's an excursion, into corners weird and corners familiar."<ref name=meta/> '']'' likewise gave the album three stars out of five and said it was "better than 90 percent of new rock, but with younger combos like Lightning Bolt and Liars stealing their thunder, these well-meaning vets come off as old and in the way."<ref name=meta/> '']'', however, gave it a score of five out of ten and called it "A strangely enervated Sonic Youth record, one that exchanges Murray Street's golden-years vigor for a sad sense of duty."<ref></ref>


== Track listing == == Track listing ==

{{track listing {{track listing
| all_writing = Sonic Youth, except as noted | all_writing = ].
| lyrics_credits = yes
| extra_column = Vocals | extra_column = Vocals
| total_length = | total_length =
| title1 = Pattern Recognition | title1 = Pattern Recognition
| lyrics1 = Gordon
| extra1 = Gordon | extra1 = Gordon
| length1 = 6:33 | length1 = 6:33
| title2 = Unmade Bed | title2 = Unmade Bed
| lyrics2 = Moore
| extra2 = Moore | extra2 = Moore
| length2 = 3:53 | length2 = 3:53
| title3 = Dripping Dream | title3 = Dripping Dream
| lyrics3 = Moore
| extra3 = Moore | extra3 = Moore
| length3 = 7:46 | length3 = 7:46
| title4 = Kim Gordon and the Arthur Doyle Hand Cream | title4 = Kim Gordon and the Arthur Doyle Hand Cream
| lyrics4 = Sonic Youth
| extra4 = Gordon | extra4 = Gordon
| length4 = 4:51 | length4 = 4:51
| title5 = Stones | title5 = Stones
| lyrics5 = Moore
| extra5 = Moore | extra5 = Moore
| length5 = 7:06 | length5 = 7:06
| title6 = Dude Ranch Nurse | title6 = Dude Ranch Nurse
| lyrics6 = Gordon
| extra6 = Gordon | extra6 = Gordon
| length6 = 5:44 | length6 = 5:44
| title7 = New Hampshire | title7 = New Hampshire
| lyrics7 = Moore
| extra7 = Moore | extra7 = Moore
| length7 = 5:12 | length7 = 5:12
| title8 = Paper Cup Exit | title8 = Paper Cup Exit
| lyrics8 = Ranaldo
| extra8 = Ranaldo, background vocals Moore | extra8 = Ranaldo, background vocals Moore
| length8 = 5:55 | length8 = 5:57
| title9 = I Love You Golden Blue | title9 = I Love You Golden Blue
| lyrics9 = Gordon
| extra9 = Gordon | extra9 = Gordon
| length9 = 7:02 | length9 = 7:03
| title10 = Peace Attack | title10 = Peace Attack
| lyrics10 = Moore
| extra10 = Moore | extra10 = Moore
| length10 = 6:10 | length10 = 6:10
}} }}
{{track listing {{track listing
| collapsed = yes
| headline = Bonus tracks | headline = Bonus tracks
| title11 = Kim Chords | title11 = Kim Chords
Line 123: Line 113:
}} }}


== Charts == == Personnel ==
'''Sonic Youth'''
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]


'''Technical'''
{| class="wikitable"
* Aaron Mullan – recording engineering
!Year
* Jim O'Rourke – mixing
!Album
* Juan García – mixing assistance
!Chart
* Sonic Youth – production
!Position
* John Golden – mastering
* ] – additional vocal production

'''Artwork'''
* ] – nurse paintings, band photo
* Frank Olinsky – art direction

== Charts ==
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|+ Chart performance for ''Sonic Nurse''
! scope="col"| Chart (2004)
! scope="col"| Peak<br />position
|- |-
! scope="row"| Australian Albums (])<ref>{{cite Ryan|page=260}}</ref>
| rowspan="7"|2004
| 54
| rowspan="7"|Sonic Nurse
| Norwegian Albums Chart
| align="center"|21{{citation needed|date=April 2015}}
|- |-
{{album chart|Flanders|23|artist=Sonic Youth|album=Sonic Nurse|rowheader=true|access-date=July 1, 2020}}
| Belgium Albums Chart
| align="center"|23{{citation needed|date=April 2015}}
|- |-
{{album chart|Wallonia|87|artist=Sonic Youth|album=Sonic Nurse|rowheader=true|access-date=July 1, 2020}}
| French Albums Chart
| align="center"|41{{citation needed|date=April 2015}}
|- |-
{{album chart|Netherlands|98|artist=Sonic Youth|album=Sonic Nurse|rowheader=true|access-date=July 1, 2020}}
| Italian Albums Chart
| align="center"|50{{citation needed|date=April 2015}}
|- |-
{{album chart|France|40|artist=Sonic Youth|album=Sonic Nurse|rowheader=true|access-date=July 1, 2020}}
| Irish Albums Chart
| align="center"|53{{citation needed|date=April 2015}}
|- |-
{{album chart|Germany4|89|id=8800|artist=Sonic Youth|album=Sonic Nurse|rowheader=true|access-date=July 1, 2020}}
| US Billboard Top 200
| align="center"|64{{citation needed|date=April 2015}}
|- |-
{{album chart|Ireland2|53|artist=Sonic Youth|rowheader=true|access-date=July 1, 2020}}
| German Albums Chart
|-
| align="center"|89{{citation needed|date=April 2015}}
{{album chart|Italy|50|artist=Sonic Youth|album=Sonic Nurse|rowheader=true|access-date=July 1, 2020}}
|-
{{album chart|Norway|21|artist=Sonic Youth|album=Sonic Nurse|rowheader=true|access-date=July 1, 2020}}
|-
! scope="row"| US ]<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.billboard.com/music/sonic-youth/chart-history/TLP |title=Sonic Youth Chart History (''Billboard 200'') |magazine=] |access-date=July 1, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210925163105/https://www.billboard.com/music/sonic-youth/chart-history/TLP |archive-date=September 25, 2021}}</ref>
| 64
|} |}

== Personnel ==
; Sonic Youth

* ] – vocals, guitar, bass guitar
* ] – vocals, guitar
* ] – guitar, vocals
* ] – drums
* ] – guitar, bass guitar


== References == == References ==
{{reflist}}

{{reflist|2}}


{{Sonic Youth}} {{Sonic Youth}}

{{Authority control}}


] ]
]
] ]
] ]
]

Latest revision as of 21:48, 13 November 2024

2004 studio album by Sonic Youth
Sonic Nurse
Studio album by Sonic Youth
ReleasedJune 8, 2004
RecordedJuly 2003 – February 2004
StudioEcho Canyon, New York City
GenreAlternative rock
Length60:15
LabelGeffen
ProducerSonic Youth
Sonic Youth chronology
Murray Street
(2002) 		Sonic Nurse
(2004) 		SYR6: Koncertas Stan Brakhage prisiminimui
(2005)
Singles from Sonic Nurse
  1. "Kim Gordon and the Arthur Doyle Hand Cream"
    Released: 2003
  2. "Unmade Bed"
    Released: 2004

Sonic Nurse is the thirteenth studio album by American rock band Sonic Youth, released on June 8, 2004, by Geffen Records.

Content

The album's cover art was designed by artist Richard Prince from his Nurse Paintings series. Furthermore, one of Prince's photographic creations in this series was titled "Dude Ranch Nurse", which is also the name of a song on this record.

"Pattern Recognition" was based on the 2003 William Gibson novel of the same name. Sonic Youth had used Gibson's work as an influence before, notably on a few tracks from Daydream Nation (1988).

"Kim Gordon and the Arthur Doyle Hand Cream" was previously released as "Mariah Carey and the Arthur Doyle Hand Cream" on the first Narnack Buddy Series 7", but the title was changed over concerns of potential legal action from Carey's legal team.

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic77/100
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic
Blender
Entertainment WeeklyA−
The Guardian
NME7/10
Pitchfork8.5/10
Q
Rolling Stone
SpinB−
The Village VoiceA−

The album has a score of 77 out of 100 from Metacritic based on "generally favorable reviews". No Ripcord gave the album 10 out of 10 stars and said it "could be the best guitar rock album since, well, Murray Street." Drowned in Sound gave it 5 out of 5 stars and said the album was "the closest to creating a landmark on parallel with Daydream Nation they've come since that particular record's nameday in '88, and in it's [sic] dense textures it maybe signals the extinction of the antediluvian No Wave idyll; a Robert Zimmerman trip that somehow got mixed up with Joni Mitchell, Black Flag and a conceptualist oddball." In his "Consumer Guide", Robert Christgau gave the album an A− and said, "This unusually songful set is well up among their late good ones, its dissonances a lingua franca deployed less atmospherically than has been their recent practice." While working for Blender, Christgau gave the same album 4 stars out of 5 and called it " most songful release since the major-label hellos Goo and Dirty, and by most standards their best since 1988's pivotal Daydream Nation." Filter gave the album a score of 90% and called it "a gorgeous, bona fide gem." Stylus Magazine gave it a B+ and said that the album, "if not proof of a band bursting with fresh ideas, is at least fresh-sounding."

Prefix Magazine gave it a favorable review and said, "With Sonic Nurse, it's truly possible to see 2000's excruciatingly indulgent NYC Ghosts and Flowers as a speed bump on an otherwise smooth decade of record-making. Their last, 2002's bittersweet Murray Street, was a return to form, and the epic Sonic Nurse will only supply more evidence for Sonic Youth's canonization". The Austin Chronicle gave it a score of 4 stars out of 5 and said, "Every song but one falls fully developed in the five- to seven-minute ballpark, brimming with enough dissonant wizardry, smart vocal imagery, and tonal shades of rock to fly the freak flag like no aging rockers ever have". Yahoo! Music UK gave the album 8 stars out of 10 and said, "What emerges is Sonic Youth at complete ease with themselves and their music, operating simultaneously at the peak of their powers and with a powerful, audacious restraint". Under the Radar also gave it 8 out of 10 stars and said the album "might capture something of indie rock's recent taste for emotional epics". Uncut likewise gave the album 4 stars out of 5 and stated: "The Youth sound rejuvenated". Dusted Magazine gave it a favorable review and said that "The songs, despite being mostly over five minutes long, are all to the point without feeling meandering.... The balance between noise and melody is right, with each emerging and vanishing at just the right point". The A.V. Club also gave it a favorable review and said the album "compiles a laid-back hour of elaborate plucking and rhythm from five veteran musicians who reserve musical violence and poetic anger for when it feels most appropriate". The Village Voice likewise gave it a favorable review and said the album "percolates the same melancholy satisfaction and nervous maturity, entropy and growth, in and out--but with an urgency and impulsiveness that risks upsetting the balance". E! Online gave the album a B and called it "a cure for what ails the airwaves." NME gave it a score of 7 out of 10 and said the album "sounds like a brilliant album by a lesser band".

Q gave the album 3 stars out of 5 and said it "finds revelling in bursts of noise and awkwardness, but more surprisingly perhaps, taking as much comfort in sweet melody". Mojo also gave the album 3 stars out of 5 and said it was not "a classic rock record. And it's not a classic Sonic Youth record. It's an excursion, into corners weird and corners familiar". Alternative Press likewise gave the album 3 stars out of 5 and said it was "better than 90 percent of new rock, but with younger combos like Lightning Bolt and Liars stealing their thunder, these well-meaning vets come off as old and in the way". Spin, however, gave it a score of 5 out of 10 and called it "a strangely enervated Sonic Youth record, one that exchanges Murray Street's golden-years vigor for a sad sense of duty".

The album placed second in The Wire's annual critics' poll, where magazine staff wrote "here are of course those who think the prefects of the School of Rock can do this sort of thing in their sleep nowadays, but there was no arguing with the supple versatility of their triple guitar stack and the delight with which they marry lyrics astuteness, textural grit and forward momentum."

Track listing

All tracks are written by Sonic Youth.

No.TitleVocalsLength
1."Pattern Recognition"Gordon6:33
2."Unmade Bed"Moore3:53
3."Dripping Dream"Moore7:46
4."Kim Gordon and the Arthur Doyle Hand Cream"Gordon4:51
5."Stones"Moore7:06
6."Dude Ranch Nurse"Gordon5:44
7."New Hampshire"Moore5:12
8."Paper Cup Exit"Ranaldo, background vocals Moore5:57
9."I Love You Golden Blue"Gordon7:03
10."Peace Attack"Moore6:10
Bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
11."Kim Chords" (UK and Japan bonus track)5:59
12."Beautiful Plateau" (Japan bonus track)3:08

Personnel

Sonic Youth

Technical

  • Aaron Mullan – recording engineering
  • Jim O'Rourke – mixing
  • Juan García – mixing assistance
  • Sonic Youth – production
  • John Golden – mastering
  • Don Fleming – additional vocal production

Artwork

  • Richard Prince – nurse paintings, band photo
  • Frank Olinsky – art direction

Charts

Chart performance for Sonic Nurse
Chart (2004) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA) 54
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) 23
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) 87
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) 98
French Albums (SNEP) 40
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) 89
Irish Albums (IRMA) 53
Italian Albums (FIMI) 50
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista) 21
US Billboard 200 64

References

  1. "Sonic Youth Site Menu".
  2. ^ "Reviews for Sonic Nurse by Sonic Youth". Metacritic. Retrieved April 27, 2013.
  3. Phares, Heather. "Sonic Nurse – Sonic Youth". AllMusic. Retrieved February 23, 2016.
  4. ^ Christgau, Robert (June–July 2004). "Sonic Youth: Sonic Nurse". Blender. No. 27. p. 144. Retrieved June 26, 2016.
  5. Browne, David (June 11, 2004). "Sonic Nurse". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on April 3, 2019. Retrieved February 23, 2016.
  6. Simpson, Dave (June 4, 2004). "Sonic Youth, Sonic Nurse". The Guardian. Retrieved February 23, 2016.
  7. "Sonic Youth: Sonic Nurse". NME. June 5, 2004. p. 57.
  8. Ubl, Sam (June 5, 2004). "Sonic Youth: Sonic Nurse". Pitchfork. Retrieved February 23, 2016.
  9. "Sonic Youth: Sonic Nurse". Q. No. 216. July 2004. p. 124.
  10. Walters, Barry (June 24, 2004). "Sonic Nurse". Rolling Stone. Retrieved February 23, 2016.
  11. Wood, Mikael (July 2004). "Sonic Youth: Sonic Nurse". Spin. Vol. 20, no. 7. pp. 108–11. Retrieved February 23, 2016.
  12. ^ Christgau, Robert (July 6, 2004). "Consumer Guide: Squirt You". The Village Voice. Retrieved February 23, 2016.
  13. No Ripcord review
  14. Gregory, Matthew. "Sonic Youth – Nurse". Drowned in Sound. Archived from the original on June 7, 2004. Retrieved 2013-06-23.
  15. Filter review
  16. "Sonic Youth – Sonic Nurse". Stylus Magazine. June 10, 2004. Archived from the original on June 29, 2013.
  17. Prefix Magazine review
  18. The Austin Chronicle review
  19. "Sonic Youth – 'Sonic Nurse'". Archived from the original on June 18, 2004. Retrieved 2013-06-23.
  20. "Sonic Youth – Sonic Nurse". Uncut. July 2004. p. 108. Retrieved June 23, 2013.
  21. Dusted Magazine review
  22. The A.V. Club review
  23. The Village Voice review
  24. "Sonic Youth: Sonic Nurse". Q. July 2004. p. 124.
  25. Spin review
  26. "2004 Rewind: 50 Records of the Year". The Wire. No. 251. London. January 2005. p. 41 – via Exact Editions.
  27. Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt Martha, Victoria, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 260.
  28. "Ultratop.be – Sonic Youth – Sonic Nurse" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
  29. "Ultratop.be – Sonic Youth – Sonic Nurse" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
  30. "Dutchcharts.nl – Sonic Youth – Sonic Nurse" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
  31. "Lescharts.com – Sonic Youth – Sonic Nurse". Hung Medien. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
  32. "Offiziellecharts.de – Sonic Youth – Sonic Nurse" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
  33. "Irish-charts.com – Discography Sonic Youth". Hung Medien. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
  34. "Italiancharts.com – Sonic Youth – Sonic Nurse". Hung Medien. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
  35. "Norwegiancharts.com – Sonic Youth – Sonic Nurse". Hung Medien. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
  36. "Sonic Youth Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Archived from the original on September 25, 2021. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
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