Cover of sonic youth superstar9/24/2023 The album generally favors guitar textures over feedback or noise, which typically characterized the band's earlier works. In addition, seven of the album's 12 tracks have a duration of less than four minutes, a feature that is uncommon in previous Sonic Youth releases. Moore described it as "a super song record" that contains "rockers and ballads". Rather Ripped is generally considered one of the band's most accessible albums, featuring an abundance of concise and catchy melodies. Music and lyrics Sonic Youth performing at the Coachella Music Festival in 2007 The album was mastered by Greg Calbi at Sterling Sound in New York City in March 2006. Additional work was done in early 2006 at Echo Canyon and J Mascis's Bisquiteen studio in Amherst, Massachusetts. He was recommended by fellow musician J Mascis of Dinosaur Jr., who had worked with Agnello for years. The band chose John Agnello as the album's engineer due to his work with Don Fleming on albums by Screaming Trees in the early 1990s. Guitars were directly plugged into the mixer with no guitar amplifier in the signal chain. Ranaldo, on the other hand, played a Gibson Les Paul guitar for half of the album and used his Fender Telecaster Deluxe, "Jazzmaster copy-made" by Saul Koll, and modified Fender Jazzmaster with humbuckers for the remaining tracks. During the recording sessions, Moore's gear included two Fender Jazzmasters and a Fender Princeton. The album was quickly produced and much of the material was not reworked due to the band's limited time in the studio. Unlike its immediate predecessors, which were recorded at the band's own Echo Canyon studio in Lower Manhattan, Rather Ripped was recorded at Sear Sound in New York City from December 2005 to January 2006, where their 1994 album Experimental Jet Set, Trash and No Star was also recorded. The name "Rather Ripped" came from a Berkeley, California record store that later moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The album's working titles were "Sonic Life" and "Do You Believe in Rapture?". Nevertheless, he recognized that Parallel Lines became Blondie's breakthrough with the general public, and aimed to make Rather Ripped into Sonic Youth's version of Parallel Lines. Partially inspired by the streamlined approach taken by Blondie for their 1978 commercial breakthrough Parallel Lines, Moore decided to write simpler songs "for everybody to plug into immediately." While he conceded Parallel Lines features some "super good" songs, he was disappointed with the album's poppier style and Mike Chapman's production when it was released. His departure affected the sound of Rather Ripped, with singer and guitarist Thurston Moore stating that the new record "is just a far more straight up rock and roll album", in contrast to the "darker, twisted, complex quality" of O'Rourke's contributions. According to guitarist Lee Ranaldo, O'Rourke left the band to pursue film work and other recording projects. Rather Ripped is the follow-up to Sonic Youth's 2004 album Sonic Nurse and the band's first record after the departure of multi-instrumentalist Jim O'Rourke, who joined the group as a fifth member in 1999. Its only single, "Incinerate", was released in 2006, alongside an accompanying music video directed by French director and writer Claire Denis. The album was ranked number 12 in The Village Voice 's 2006 Pazz & Jop critics' poll. It received mostly positive reviews from critics, who praised its simpler, cleaner melodies and the vocal delivery of singer and bassist Kim Gordon. Upon its release, the album peaked at number 71 on the US Billboard 200 and number 64 on the UK Albums Chart. Rather Ripped is considered to be one of Sonic Youth's most accessible albums, featuring an abundance of concise songs dealing with melancholic topics such as adultery, sexual frustration, and infidelity. It also completed Sonic Youth's contract with Geffen, which released the band's previous eight records. Unlike its immediate predecessors, the album was produced by John Agnello and recorded at Sear Sound in New York City, the same studio where the band's 1994 album, Experimental Jet Set, Trash and No Star, was recorded. It was the band's first album following the departure of multi-instrumentalist Jim O'Rourke, who had joined as a fifth member in 1999. Rather Ripped is the fourteenth studio album by American rock band Sonic Youth, released on June 13, 2006, by Geffen Records.
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