Bad Moon Rising (album)
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| Bad Moon Rising | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio album by Sonic Youth | |||||
| Released | 1985 | ||||
| Recorded | September–December 1984 | ||||
| Genre | Post-punk, experimental rock, progressive rock, musique concrète | ||||
| Length | 37:33 | ||||
| Label | Homestead | ||||
| Producer | Sonic Youth, Martin Bisi, John Erskine | ||||
| Professional reviews | |||||
| Sonic Youth chronology | |||||
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Bad Moon Rising is the second studio album by the alternative rock band Sonic Youth, first released on Homestead Records in 1985.
It is, to some level, a loose concept album themed around the dark side of America, sometimes delving into the concept of insanity, a common theme in early Sonic Youth. Each side of the original release was a mostly continuous song cycle, without any breaks between the songs, except Death Valley '69, which is a separate song. It is also the last Sonic Youth album to extensively feature prepared guitar until NYC Ghosts and Flowers, here most notably on "I Love Her All The Time".
A video directed by Richard Kern, during which band members played both serial killers along with their gorily-hacked victims, and in which Kern interpolated footage from his film Submit To Me, was shot for Death Valley '69. More than a little thematically unclear, the video combines its Charles Manson iconography with stock war footage and sequences where the band joins hands in a circle like a bunch of blissed out hippies.
An image of Lung Leg from Submit To Me that Kern had used in the Death Valley video also appears as the cover for Sonic Youth's next album, EVOL.
Contents |
- "Intro" – 1:12
- "Brave Men Run (In My Family)" (lyrics/vocals Gordon) – 3:57
- "Society Is a Hole" (lyrics/vocals Moore) – 4:54
- "I Love Her All the Time" (lyrics/vocals Moore) – 8:19
- "Ghost Bitch" (lyrics/vocals Gordon) – 4:24
- "I'm Insane" (lyrics/vocals Moore) – 6:56
- "Justice Is Might" (lyrics/vocals Gordon) – 2:57
- "Death Valley '69" (lyrics/vocals Lydia Lunch and Moore) – 5:12
- "Satan Is Boring" (lyrics/vocals Moore) – 5:12
- "Flower" (lyrics/vocals Gordon) – 3:36
- "Halloween" (lyrics/vocals Gordon) – 5:12
- "Echo Canyon" – 1:08
All tracks except 10–11 were recorded and mixed at Before Christ Studios, Brooklyn, N.Y.C. between September and December 1984. Tracks 10–11 were recorded and mixed at Radio Tokyo, Venice, California in January 1985.
- Lee Ranaldo
- Kim Gordon
- Thurston Moore
- Bob Bert – drums
- Lydia Lunch – vocals on "Death Valley '69"
- Sonic Youth – producer
- Martin Bisi – engineer, producer (all tracks except 10–11)
- Ethan James – engineer (tracks 10–11)
- John Erskine – producer (all tracks except 10–11)
| Region | Date | Format | Label | Catalog number |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 1985 | LP | Blast First/Homestead | BFFP L/HMS 016 |
| United Kingdom | 1985 | LP, CS, CD | Blast First | BFFP 1 |
| Germany | 1985 | LP | Torso | |
| United States | 1993 | CD | Geffen Records | DBCD 24512 |
| Europe | 1993 | CD | Geffen Records | GED 24512 |
| United Kingdom | 1996 | LP | Rough Trade |
Tracks 9–12 appear only on the CD releases. Tracks 10–11 were also released as the "Flower/Halloween" single. The Torso release and original vinyl Homestead release come with a lyric insert.