This would be album number six (depending on your counting method) by the Greatest American Rock Band of the last 25 years. This particular edition is a super-deluxe two-disc reissue of the album. whether you're a fan of the original version or a curious newcomer, this is definitely the version to get, unless you have budgetary concerns, in which case the original will do just fine. Still, my motto is: "if you're going to go for it, go all the way!" I realize that's a moronic cliche, but in a country in which morons like Kevin Federline are more famous than Sonic Youth, sometimes it's rewarding to dumb down. I'll save the lecture about the ethical implications stemming from this for later. Now's the time for "Goo."

"Goo" found the band at the apex of their "pop culture can be fun" phase from the late 80's/early 90's, when they started dressing more fashionably (well, at least Kim Gordon did) and started storming MTV and the then-burgeoning alt-rock radio format. It's also no coincidence that "Goo" was also the band's official major label debut ("Daydream Nation," which was released by the indie Enigma, had major label distribution). Thus begun their long association with DGC, an album that at one point was rumored to be called, um, a slang term also known as a "Lewinsky." The music was also getting slightly poppier as well. Of course, for Sonic Youth, "pop" meant taking a standard verse-chorus-verse structure and slathering it with their trademark oddly-tuned and feedback-spewing guitars. They also embraced pop-cultural themes, or at least those that resonated with them. The album's lead single, "Kool Thing" reflected Kim's post-feminist fascination with the male bravado of hip-hop. LL Kool J is referenced ("Kool thing/walking like a panther") and Public Enemy's Chuck D does a calculatedly brief guest vocal. Then there's "Tunic (Song For Karen)," about the late pop idol Karen Carpenter, who died from complications from anorexia. Rather than being a snide hipster mock-fest, it's sympathetic to her life and situation. Later on, the band would record a cover of "Superstar" that was surprisingly restrained and touching (alas, it's not included here, but you can find it, along with videos for every "Goo" song, on the DVD collection "Corporate Ghost," which makes a fine companion to this release). Elsewhere, you'll find "Dirty Boots," one of Thurston's most accesible rockers, and the classic Hollywood inspired throwaway "Mildred Pierce" (the video for which features A-list director Sofia Coppola years before her big breakthrough). Lee Ranaldo's "Mote" is surely one of his best songs, and was to be the only one of his tracks to make the finished album.

Which is part of the reason disc two is so essential. Here you'll find an unfinished Ranaldo track, as well as "I Know There's An Answer," a shockingly reverent Beach Boys cover. Most important of all, however, is the original 8-track demos the band recorded for "Goo." These have been heavily bootlegged by fans--if internet file-sharing services had been around at the time, this material would have been swapped around like Fiona Apple's "Extraordinary Machine." What you have here is essentially an alternate version of the entire album in a much more raw, and rowdier, form. Although the songs are mostly the same as the ones on the final product, these live-in-the-studio takes ooze more feedback and grit, and the vocals are more tossed-off and almost buried in the mix. This, my friends, is the real "dirty." To be honest, and speaking as a huge slobbering Sonic Youth junkie, I kind of prefer this version, which in sound quality also compares with what I consider the band's best work, "Sister." The one (very slight) drawback is the track order, which is completely different than the "official" version. I guess that's only a problem if you're an anal retentive freak like yours truly, and CD'S are, of course, programmable.

The deluxe package also includes an expanded booklet with photos not in the original package (check out Thurston rockin' a Roland Kirk t-shirt!) and an essay by music critic/SY friend Byron Coley. Sorry kids, no lyrics, but those are, as always, on the band's extensive and very cool web site. While the price may be a bit high (compare, if you will, with the just-as-overloaded reissue of Pavement's classic "Slanted & Enchanted"), the reward is well worth it. So is the hearing loss you'll experience when you play it as loud as it should.

Inspired by the New York art scene, Sonic Youth bludgeoned their way into the rock and roll world courtesy of SST Records, which handled all their material up to "Goo", which is now considered an alt-rock classic.

Sonic Youth specialize in a peculiar blend of detuned and unconventionally tuned guitars, swirling in feedback, distortion and volume. Far from being nothing but a metallic shriek, SY somehow manage to work in bits of beauty, albeit the kind that extra-terrestrials probably dig, a solid beat thanks to Steve Shelley, one of rock's best drummers, and vocals that scream, moan, whisper and croon.

"Dirty Boots" opens with an almost ethereal intro until bassist Kim Gordon bulls her way in with fuzz bass and Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo slam away at their guitars, creating sounds that captivate as well as maim.

We progress through a homage to Karen Carpenter (!?), a guest rap by Chuck D. and a glorious feedback symphony with "Mote" that churns and burns, making the listener fear his stereo may overload and combust into flames.

"Disappearer" is the most accessible tune before closing with "Scooter + Jinx" and "Titanium Exposure".

"Goo" and Sonic Youth are not for the faint hearted. Music should reflect all our emotions and SY, with every release, somehow capture the sound of chaos, the beauty of parallel worlds and lyrics of urban life. The fact that they have survived for a couple of decades now shows that there is a need for this special kind of noise in each one of us.

Before Shirley Manson was singing about killing ex-lovers and being happy about the rain - even before PJ Harvey was writing lyrics about hating a man who'd impregnated her - an even darker woman was emerging onto the rock scene. Her name was Kim Gordon and we heard her roar. Her sultry voice is at its best on "Goo", Sonic Youth's weirdest - but perhaps most brilliant LP.

Sonic Youth is one of those bands people somehow forget about, and this is the album most magazines ashamedly forget about when they compile their annual "100 Best Records Ever" lists. Sonic Youth had a way of playing the muse for some of the most influential bands of the early 90's, including Nirvana, who would later express major gratitude to this band.

This album is harsh. It's not for people who aren't down to listen to grating guitars that aren't always in tune. But it's worth a listen even to people who aren't into that sort of sound - kinda like how you "have" to listen to the Beatles regardless of whether you're Jay-Z or Ryan Adams. Such people would probably be surprised to see the effect this band has had on countless others, ranging from Belle & Sebastian to New Found Glory.

Bottom line: "Goo" is a style of music in itself. You don't have to like it, you don't have to rave about, but you definitely have to listen to it.

Ok, so yes, this is an album hated by an important part of the Sonic Youth fans cos its said to be the sellout one... I dunno... it may be a sellout deal, but the music is definetely S.Y.! Even better, this is not just the usual cacophony based on Glenn Branca we all love and know since the Sonic Youth EP hit some stores. This time there's melody (the good kind of!) all around the place (The chorus in "Mote"!), all the mallet guitar techniques and the crazy feedback-chimes take unto a whole new concept here, ridden by Kim's ever-excellent bass playing into Steve's paws. I am finding it hard to describe how much of a superior album this one is among the others. It fills the air with excitement, coolness, a soft sexuality and most of all, freedom. It is excactly what you need when you know its gonna be a long day. Every song is a new door, with an infinity of new things to see behind it... I can only think of ONE way to make this album better than flawlessly divine would be adding "The Diamond Sea" (from Wasing Machine) to the track list.

Hope this can open your eyes to the best in music.

Sonic Youth have been associated with a bewildering number of styles and movements over their 20 year history and whilst it a near impossible task to pick a favourite album out of their rich and varied oeuvre, `Goo' is probably the best place for the uninitiated to start.

The last of five indispensable albums Sonic Youth released in the late 1980s, they had the good sense to ensure their first release with major label muscle behind it was also their most accessible. Their well-documented tendency toward feedback-drenched experimentation is held in check and forced into coherent 3-minute song structures.

But this temporary embrace of rock n' roll conventions is solely on SY's terms and in no way smacks of a sell out (Goo is often unfairly labelled as bubblegum punk by elitist SY fans) yet in it's own way as adventurous and diverse any of its predecessors, the only constant being those expertly de-tuned guitars. Lyrically and musically all three of the band's songwriters are at the top of their game: Kim Gordon manages to simultaneously trash the mythologizing of dead musical icons and pay tribute to heroine Karen Carpenter on `Tunic.' Whilst Thurston Moore displays his long term love of hardcore punk on the abrasive `Mildred Pierce' and the often over looked Lee Ranaldo produces one of the finest songs on this or any Sonic Youth album in the form of `Disappearer.'

Like all great Sonic Youth albums, Goo manages to simultaneously give an immediate pure noise thrill, whilst ceaselessly pushing the boundary of popular music. By ceaselessly innovating Sonic Youth have changed the face of `alternative' music. Almost every great band of the past decade is forever in their debt and Goo is the best place to begin finding out why