Yo La Tengo
albums
When it comes to listing the band that had the best albums in the 90's, it may be hard to beat Yo La Tengo.
That is no small statement either, that might be the best decade of rock music ever created. The albums of that
time - May I Sing With Me, Painful, Electr-O-Pura, I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One - are pretty much
perfect. What the band does well it does well: tender ballads that any one could enjoy like "Alyda", "Tears are in
Your Eyes", and "Nowhere Near"; crazy guitar noise freak-out rock songs "Some Kinda Fatigue", "Sugarcube" and
"From a Motel 6"; and a mix of past styles updated to a new format such as "Center of Gravity", "Little Honda",
and "Paul is Dead". It is hard to think of a more unique band than YLT, their choices of cover songs over the
years proves that they love all kinds of rock music and the consistency of their albums proves they are serious
about making music work through determination. They also managed to create what is possibly the best rock
song ever written, "Five Cornered Drone". This is one of the band that helps show that anything is possible, an all
time great band for sure.
Band Members: Georgia Hubley- Drums, Vocals
Ira Kaplan - Guitar, Vocals
James McNew - Bass, Vocals (1992-present)
(various bass players 1986-1991 including Gene Holder, Stephen Wichnewski, Mike
Lewis, and Dave Schramm on guitar)
Best Album: I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One
Biggest Influences: The Velvet Underground, The Kinks, NRBQ
1986
Ride the Tiger - 5/8
The band Yo La Tengo got off to a kind of promising start, but not too daring of one. The band is noticeably
guitar driven from the very first song, but Ride the Tiger is an album of total confusion. Most of the songs vary
from good to decent, with the occasional gem or horrible idea poking out. Even songs that are good like the
country twang of "Five Years" and the mid-western instrumental "Living in the Country" (a Pete Seeger tune)
sound worse than they actually are because they seem so random compared to the record's pleasing-rock kinda
vibe. If you are in the mood for a diverse listen, than many songs on here are actually very good, the best
examples being the pop rock of "The Way Some People Die" or the futuristic "Crispy Duck". As far as cover
songs go, the choices are excellent: The Kinks' "Big Sky" and Love's "A House is Not a Motel". The band has an
affinity for obscure 60's pop, but fails to add anything really interesting to either of these tunes, probably
because they haven't found their own sound yet. Overall, Ride the Tiger is very unfocused, has kind of a wimpy
sound, and does not show off Yo La Tengo as anything special. With the unique taste and style the band has
they really might go somewhere, but they'll have to write better albums than this if they wanna be remembered
when the dust settles. - Trevor e.y.
1.the cone of silence- 3
2.big sky- 2
3.the evil that men do- 1
4.the forest green- 4
5.the pain of pain- 3
6.the way some people die- 4
7.the empty pool- 3
8.alrock's bells- 2
9.five years- 3
10.screaming lead balloons- 1
11.living in the country- 3
12.the river of water- 2
13.a house is not a motel- 3
14.crispy duck- 4
15.closing time- 2
1987
New Wave Hot Dogs - 5/8
The second album has more intricate playing and an improved concentration on one kind of sound, and that
sound is very influenced by Lou Reed, Ray Davies, Thurston Moore, Bob Dylan, etc. Still, the songs are not
strong throughout. The ideas are better but it is just as inconsistent as the debut. Deja vu for the most part,
though it is a shorter, more upbeat record. Notable tunes include the pensive "Did I Tell You", "Lost in Bessemer"
(a Jimmy Page style acoustic ditty), and the insane sonic trip of "The Story of Jazz". - Trevor e.y.
1.clunk- 3
2.did i tell you- 4
3.house fall down- 2
4.lewis- 2
5.lost in bessemer- 4
6.it's alright- 3
7.3 blocks down from groove st.- 3
8.let's compromise- 1
9.serpentine- 2
10.a shy dog- 2
11.no water- 1
12.the story of jazz- 4
(13.the asparagus song- 3)
1989
President Yo La Tengo - 7/8
On their third album, President, the band finally gets out of their rut. At only 7 songs, the album seems twice
as long as it is. "Drug Test" is an ethereal song if there ever was one, with its open-sky guitars and lyrics stating,
"I hate feeling the way I feel, I wish I was high; brighter than nothin', smarter than nobody, I'm wastin' away."
"Barnaby, "Hardly Working" has an insane guitar-feedback loop running throughout that a typical YLT song is
thrown on top of, and it works! "I Threw it All Away" is an excellent Nashville Skyline era Dylan cover, and "The
Evil that Men Do" and "Orange Song" are good spy tune/freak out punk, respectively. Staying in touch with their
diverse albums, the song that follows the first four, "Alyda", is the band's crowning achievement of the 1980's and
one of the decade's best songs. Drummer Hubley sings the soaring background harmonies and guitarist Kaplan
sings the Dylanesque lyrics, and the result is simply breathtaking. Songs like "Alyda", performed with such
perfection, are the reason I listen to rock music. Every once in a while a perfect song is formed and it makes you
stop whatever you are doing and take notice. Not so strangely, this album is YLT's Bayou Country, where a
couple of perfect tracks overshadow the rest ("Alyda" is the classic "Proud Mary", the overlong "The Evil that Men
Do, Pablo's Version" is the "Graveyard Train"). Still, there is a wealth of joy to be had for the 30 minutes of
President, and from here the band can go anywhere. - Trevor e.y.
1.barnaby, hardly working- 4
2.drug test- 4
3.the evil that men do- 3
4.orange song- 3
5.alyda- 4*
6.the evil that men do, pablo's version- 2
7.i threw it all away- 4
An Interruption if you will: Fakebook (from 1990), a covers record, is reviewed below under "Non Album
Things". When 81% of a record is cover songs or remixes, it is a covers album in my book. If you don't
agree...does it really matter?
1992
May I Sing With Me - 8/8
President showed that the band could create hard rock and soft rock well, but May I Sing With Me shows
that they are masters of any kind of style. Not only does the record have a song in almost every kind of rock
music imaginable, it does it in ways only most could only dream of. It's all there in the first song "Detouring
America with Horns": steady guitar that builds and builds to something completely monumental. "Some Kinda
Fatigue" has one of the great rock riffs of all time; "Upside Down" is pure melodic rock bliss; "Out the Window" is
as demented as it gets; "Satellite" is an "Alyda" like spook fest; "Always Something" is a dizzying array of
harmonies upon harmonies; "Sleeping Pill" is as hypnotic as music can be and always draws you under it's spell.
New bass player James McNew has a lot to do with these changes, and he is the missing link the band has been
waiting for. You could place the 11 songs on here in almost any order and it would still work, and maybe they
could use some reshuffling - putting "Mushroom Cloud of Hiss" (guitar FREAK OUT) and "Swing for Life" (drone
festival) at numbers 3 and 4 kind of kills the momentum the record had built with the first two songs, but they are
still good songs by any standards. Viewing the record song by song, it is easily the bands strongest to date.
I will now spend a paragraph talking about Yo La Tengo's best song, and one of the best rock songs of all
time, "Five Cornered Drone." This song introduces one instrument at a time, beginning with a simple guitar lick. It
transforms from there into a swirling tornado of guitar bliss mixed with simple rhythm section backing that rings
truer than any other rock song (ever). It stays on that for a while before coming in with the meaningful lyrics sung
by Kaplan, "Tiiiime....waits for reason.....theres no reason...things just go wrong. They always do. Nothing works
out right...we try and we try. You Can Search...you can look all around you....with both eyes open, but it doesn't
matter! It's always the same, so it's like that, we try and we...try...". It then goes into a minute and a half of guitar
soloing-noise rock that defies explanation in emotions, before ending (but NOT fading out) the same way it
began. It is hard to think of a better example of an experimental rock song that creates something completely new
and different. What is interesting is that it does not overshadow anything else on the record and it all keeps flying
on. Only a rock band that really pushes the boundaries could come up with a record this diverse and make it all
sound like the work of the same three people. With May I Sing With Me, Yo La Tengo became a great rock band.
- Trevor e.y.
1.detouring america with horns- 4
2.upside down- 4
3.mushroom cloud of hiss- 3
4.swing for life- 3
5.five cornered drone- 4*
6.some kinda fatigue- 4
7.always something- 4
8.86 second blowout- 4
9.out the window- 4
10.sleeping pill- 4
11.satellite- 4
1993
Painful - 8/8
While the previous record was all over the place, this one picks one style and goes with it: "dream pop". There
is not a single song on here that is not in some way lush, somber, and beautiful. It is not quiet all the way
through, with tracks like "From a Motel 6" and the second version of "Big Day Coming" guaranteed to wake you
up if you drift off to sleep (it otherwise does make for an excellent sleeping album, just keep the volume pretty
low). Taking its cue from bands like The Cocteau Twins, My Bloody Valentine, and Jesus and Mary Chain (and
other countless shoegaze bands), the band still manages to come up with something unique for an album of
pretty melodies. The soft ballads are successful in "Nowhere Near", a cover of The Only Ones' "The Whole of
the Law", and opener "Big Day Coming". The melodic rockers are scattered throughout: "Double Dare", "I Was
the Fool Beside You", and instrumental closer "I Heard You Looking". With these tracks and sequencing, the
band makes a masterwork of subtlety that remains a standout in rock music. The lyrics all have to do with love,
and the mood established is masterful. No matter where the band goes from here, it's hard to imagine them
improving on a genre experiment like Painful. - Trevor e.y.
1.big day coming- 4
2.from a motel 6- 4
3.double dare- 4
4.superstar watcher- gf
5.nowhere near- 4
6.sudden organ- 2
7.a worrying thing- 3
8.i was the fool beside you for too long- 4
9.the whole of the law- 4
10.big day coming- 4
11.i heard you looking- 4
1995
Electr-O-Pura - 8/8
Refusing to be inconsistent, the band hits us again with another album of melodic pop. There is no "mood" or
one "style" like Painful, but whatever the band tries they do it great. Electr-O-Pura is literally all over the place,
and it can take a while to get a handle on all the different types of music: Kaplan's guitar rock dominates "Bitter
End" and "Flying Lesson" (sounding a tad like Sonic Youth's "Theresa's Sound World"); "Don't Say a Word" and
"Pablo and Andrea" are haunting melodies that are among the most beautiful songs the band has done; ballad's
"The Hour Grows Late" and "The Ballad of Red Buckets" are very different but both set a trance of sorts; "Tom
Courtenay" is the band's best power pop attempt since "Upside Down", signaling the film Dr. Zhivago as a
reference. In fact, the album is very much a carbon copy of May I Sing With Me, albeit more toned done and
controlled. Not that it's a bad thing, but with each album Yo La Tengo seems to be showing more restraint while
remaining consistent as ever, a hard feat to accomplish. The only area people could possibly complain about
here is length - the last two records were rather tight at 11 tracks while this one is overlong at 14. Songs such as
"My Hearts Reflection", "Attack on Love", and "Blue Line Swinger", while not bad songs, would not be missed in
my opinion. But hey, it's hard to complain about an album as ambitious and consistent as this and with May I
Sing With Me, Painful, and Electr-O-Pura, this band has created a string of masterpieces that any rock band
could be proud of. A must have for any fan of rock music, just like the last two. Songs I didn't mention: haunting
opener "Decora", creepy but happy "Paul is Dead", Royal Trux homage "False Alarm", and the list goes on,
whew! - Trevor e.y.
An Interruption if You Will: The track listing on the album is completely wrong. Whether on purpose or not, it
is quite annoying.
1.decora- 4
2.flying lesson- 4
3.the hour grows late- 4
4.tom courtenay- 4
5.false ending- gf
6.pablo and andrea- 4
7.paul is dead- 4
8.false alarm- 3
9.the ballad of red buckets- 4
10.don't say a word- 4
11.bitter end- 4
12.my hearts reflection- 3
13.attack on love- 2
14.blue line swinger- 3
1997
I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One - 9/8
Amazingly, the band manages to top itself again! There may be no limit to Yo La Tengo's creativity becasue
this is the band's most diverse, consistent, challenging, ambitious, and longest record to date! Each track is a
different kind of style, from bossanova beat to krautrock to shoegaze to 60's Beach Boys cover update to post
rock to...Yo La Tengo itself! All I can really do is pick my favorites: "Damage" is an update of "Alyda" done to
equal perfection and beauty, with dual vocals from outer space; "One PM Again" incorporates a pedal steel into
a touching ballad that borders on country music; "Deeper into Movies" is a drone from the planet of feedback
that makes no sense lyrically and is all the better for it - it simply paints images of another world; "We're an
American Band" creates a psychedelic atmosphere worthy of any past master, whether it be Mercury Rev, Jimi
Hendrix, Sonic Youth, Hawkwind, whomever! The album is a whirlwind of rock music, a summation that improves
on the foundation it is based upon. Like a brand new skyscraper that shines brighter than any other in what is
already the world's largest city, I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One is among the greatest rock records ever
created. Whatever kind of music fan you are, it is impossible to resist it's gaze. - Trevor e.y.
1.return to hot chicken- 4
2.moby octopad- 4
3.sugarcube- 4
4.damage- 4*
5.deeper into movies- 4
6.shadows- 4
7.stockholm syndrome- 4
8.autumn sweater- 4
9.little honda- 4
10.green arrow- 3
11.one pm again- 4
12.the lie and how we told it- 4
13.center of gravity- 4
14.spec bebop- 3
15.we're an american band- 4
16.my little corner- 4
2000
And then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out - 6/8
The band had almost no peers in the 90's, but I have to say that they seemed to be in somewhat of a decline in
the 00's. We are still talking about a great band no doubt, but this is not near the stealler work of it's
predecessors. Of course a decline was inevitable, given something like 6 masterworks in a row. I'd advise getting
all of the 5 90's YLT records before any others, especially this one, their most difficult work yet. Pretty much,
they wed the atmosphere of Painful to the length of I Can Hear the Heart, and the results are mostly good. A
more "digital" influence is heard in songs like "Saturday", "Madeline", "Tired Hippo", and others, to varying
degrees of success. "Cherry Chapstick" is trying to be the classic power pop track, but it pales in comparison to
"Upside Down", "Tom Courtenay", "Sugarcube", "Double Dare", and "Bitter End". On the the other hand, "Tears
are in Your Eyes" is more than the equal to past Hubley ballad's such as "Shadows", "Pablo and Andrea",
"Nowhere Near", etc. Basically, the band does what they have done in the past, again, and for the first time it is
not as good. Perhaps if they had toned down the length some and created a consistent mood, or even better,
tried a different style or mood. Simply adding digital sounds to the lushness of Painful does not win me over,
sorry. For the first time in a long time, bummer tracks pop up all over like "From Black to Blue", "Tired Hippo"
(accurate statement), or the 17 minute closer "Night Falls on Hoboken" which does NOTHING to justify the length
(recalling memories of Sonic Youth's "Diamond Sea"). There is much to love here but for the first time in a long
time, the band makes it rather difficult to enjoy the music. In the end though, they deserve some kind of credit for
their willingness to experiment, and it's still a high 6/8 for me. - Trevor e.y.
1.everyday- 4
2.our way to fall- 3
3.saturday- 4
4.let's save tony orlando's house- 3
5.last day's of disco- 1
6.the crying lot of g- 3
7.you can have it all- 4
8.tears are in your eyes- 4*
9.cherry chapstick- 3
10.from black to blue- 2
11.madeline- 3
12.tired hippo- 2
13.night falls on hoboken- 2
2003
Summer Sun - 5/8
Like the album that came before, but a tad different. It has the same calm atmosphere, it is 15 minutes
shorter, but there are more bad ideas and not as many good ones. It is hard for a band of this caliber to put out
a bad record, but they need to try something to rejuvenate themselves or it will be stale by the next album.
There is some to enjoy here, and even if it is more of the same, there are not many other band's I wouldn't more
of the same from. Did that make sense? Oh well, who cares. Opener "Beach Party Tonight" does nothing for
me, neither does the attempt at digital rapping "Nothing but You and Me", the bland "Season of the Shark", but
then you get two great songs in a row! The best of these is "Tiny Birds", probably the best song on the album. It
all goes on like this, proving to be as inconsistent as the band's first two records. This is a decent record for
fans only, and I think their version of Big Star's "Take Care" is better than the original! I may be the only one
though... -Trevor e.y.
1.beach party tonight- 2
2.little eyes- 3
3.nothing but you and me- 1
4.season of the shark- 2
5.today is the day- 4
6.tiny birds- 4
7.how to make a baby elephant float- 2
8.georgia vs. yo la tengo- 3
9.don't have to be so sad- 3
10.winter a go go- 2
11.moonrock mambo- 3
12.let's be still- 2
13.take care- 4
2006
I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass - 4/8
Well, this is their attempt at another I Can Hear The Heart Beating as One, but it fails miserably. It is obvious
too: "Pass the Hatchet" is an obvious try at "Moby Octopad" and "Daphnia" is "Green Arrow"! The talent is there
but they have yet to find a way to use it. All I can do is complain at how infuriating it all is - "Beanbag Chair" is
like a Ram reject but "Black Flowers recalls McCartney in a good way; "Point and Shoot", "I Should Have Known
Better", "Sometimes I Don't Get You" and "Mr. Tough" are the WORST songs the band has ever written,
especially "Mr. Tough". I mean seriously, what the hell is that song besides a reject from pop song hell?!? "I
Think I'm Going Home" is great enough but sounds like a singer-songwriter lament, and "Song for Mahila" is a
great instrumental but it reeks of Brain Eno nostalgia. Most of this record sounds like the wimpy sound of Ride
the Tiger meets crappy Belle and Sebastian, and it is just hard to feel excited about this music. Listen to "Watch
out for Ronnie", have they completely lost their minds?!? Only time will tell if they can recover from this, but
typically as with most crap, this was their best selling and most publicized album ever given the rise of "indie
rock" in the mid 00's. Too bad, they have a huge cannon of perfect albums and this is a far cry from that era. I'd
advise to stay away at all costs! - Trevor e.y.
1.pass the hatchet, i think i'm goodkind- 2
2.beanbag chair- 2
3.i think i'm going home- 4
4.mr. tough- 1
5.black flowers- 4
6.the race is on again- 3
7.the room got heavy- 2
8.sometimes i don't get you- 1
9.daphnia- 2
10.i should have known better- 1
11.watch out for me ronnie- 1
12.the weakest part- 3
13.song for mahila- 4
14.point and shoot- 1
15.the story of yo la tengo- 3
Non Album Things
1990
Fakebook - 6/8
For a record that is mostly covers, Fakebook works very well. It establishes a certain "summer" mood and sticks
to it, despite the various array of songs present. I'm not going to list everyone who wrote each song, but I will say
that highlights for me include Flamin' Groovies' "You Tore Me Down", Daniel Johnston's "Speedy Motorcycle",
Gene Clark's "Tried so Hard", and The Kinks' "Oklahoma USA". There are three originals, two of which are
relaxing and soothing masterworks that match anything the band has done, "Can't Forget" and "The Summer".
The Chris Issak influenced "What Comes Next" is good, but not as good as the other two. Yo La Tengo seem
content in being...content, and has definitely mastered their melodic ballad style that is really their strongest
aspect. Fakebook strikes me as one of the most relaxing albums of all time that is consistently pretty interesting
all the way through. It is a worthy covers record for the band to make between actual albums and it offers more
than most do - the best ones always break the rules, right? - Trevor e.y.
1.can't forget- 4
2.griselda- 3
3.here comes my baby- 3
4.barnaby, hardly working- 3
5.yellow sorong- 3
6.you tore me down- 4
7.emulsified- 1
8.speedy motorcycle- 4
9.tried so hard- 4
10.the summer- 4
11.oklahoma usa- 4
12.what comes next- 3
13.the one to cry- 2
14.andalucia- 3
15.did i tell you- 3
16.what can i say- 2
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