History Music / DaydreamNation

[[caption-width-right:350:''Hey Joni, put it all behind you'']]

Upon its release, it received almost unanimous critical acclaim for its use of noise, jam influenced song structures, and surrealist lyrics. It is often considered one of the greatest AlternativeRock albums of TheEighties, if not of all time. It was chosen by the Library of Congress to be preserved in the National Recording Registry in 2005.

'''Lineup'''

'''Production'''

'''Track list''' (note that exact track lengths may vary depending upon release)

* MohsScaleOfRockAndMetalHardness: Hard to place, as the album forgoes heavy distortion in favor of strange guitar noises, but songs like "Teen Age Riot" and "The Sprawl" are easily 5-6, with "Hey Joni", "Eric's Trip", "'Cross the Breeze", and "The Wonder" being in the 6-7 range due to pure speed and noisiness. "Silver Rocket" goes from a 6 to a 9 or 10 during the noise solo, and "Eliminator Jr." is easily a 7 or 8. Songs like "Candle" and "Hyperstation" can drop below this, and "Providence" hops from a 1 to a 2 due to the white noise. Most of the songs on the album also jump between hardnesses, sometimes abruptly; as an example, "'Cross the Breeze" probably starts out as about a 2 before jumping significantly after its intro.

* InTheStyleOf: "Eliminator Jr." tries to sound like Music/ZZTop and Music/DinosaurJr

* MohsScaleOfRockAndMetalHardness: Hard to place, as the album forgoes heavy distortion in favor of strange guitar noises, but songs like "Teen Age Riot" and "The Sprawl" are easily 5-6, with "Hey Joni","Eric's Trip", and "Cross The Breeze" being in the 6-7 range due to pure speed and noisiness."Silver Rocket" goes from a 6 to a 9 or 10 during the noise solo, and "Eliminator, Jr. is easily a 7 or 8. Songs like "Candle" and "Hyperstation" can drop below this, and "Providence" hops from a 1 to a 2 due to the white noise.

** "Candle" contains the phrase "Tonight's the day", a take-off on Music/NeilYoung's album Tonight's The tight. The band briefly considered using this as the title of the album, but obviously went with ''Daydream Nation'' instead.

** The aforementioned "Teen Age Riot" is about Music/DinosaurJr.

** The album features four symbols for each of the band members, as an homage to (and/or AffectionateParody of) Music/LedZeppelin's similar symbols on their [[Music/LedZeppelinIV untitled fourth album]]. 1

* LiteraryAllusionTitle: "The Sprawl" references Creator/WilliamGibson.

** "Take a walk in the park? SHIT YEAH!" from "Eliminator, Jr."

* ShoutOut: The aforementioned "Teen Age Riot" is about Music/DinosaurJr, "Hey Joni" references "Hey Joe" (a GarageRock standard popularized by Music/JimiHendrix) and singer Music/JoniMitchell, and "The Sprawl" is a reference to several works by Creator/WilliamGibson (most famously, ''Literature/{{Neuromancer}}'', the first novel of his ''Literature/SprawlTrilogy'').

* WordSaladLyrics: Lee Ranaldo's songs "Hey Joni", "Eric's Trip", and "Rain King" all feature this. For example: -->Shots ring out from the center of an empty field\\

A snap of electric whipcrack

Daydream Nation is the fifth album by AlternativeRock band Music/SonicYouth, released in 1988. Made with almost twice the usual budget of their previous albums, it was their most expensively produced album up to that point. With frontman Thurston Moore on a writing spree, it ended up as a double album.

* WordSaladLyrics: Lee Ranaldo's songs "Hey Joni", "Eric's Trip", and "Rain King" all feature this. For example: -->''"Shots ring out from the center of an empty field\\

A snap of electric whipcrack"''

* MundaneMadeAwesome: "Teen Age Riot" is a presidential campaign song for J Mascis of Music/DinosaurJr.

** The album's closer "Eliminator Jr." is named as such because the band thought it sounded like a combination of ''Eliminator-era Music/ZZTop and Music/DinosaurJr. The fact that it's part z in "Trilogy" also reinforces the Music/ZZTop reference.
* VideoFullOfFilmClips: The video for "Teen Age Riot" mixes up footage of everyone from Music/ElvisPresley to Music/HenryRollins to Creator/NastassjaKinski in ''Film/ParisTexas''. Go to [[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5731622/reference the video's IMDB page]] for the full list.
* WordSaladLyrics: Lee Ranaldo's songs "Hey Joni", "Eric's Trip", and "Rain King" all feature this. For example: "Shots ring out from the center of an empty field/Joni's in the tall grass/She's a beautiful mental jukebox, a sailboat explosion/A snap of electric whipcrack"

* ShoutOut: The aforementioned "Teen Age Riot" is about Music/DinosaurJr, "Hey Joni" references Music/JimiHendrix's "Hey Joe" and singer Music/JoniMitchell, and "The Sprawl" is a reference to several works by Creator/WilliamGibson (most famously, ''Literature/{{Neuromancer}}'', the first novel of his ''Literature/SprawlTrilogy'').

* ShoutOut: The aforementioned "Teen Age Riot" is about Music/DinosaurJr, "Hey Joni" references Music/JimiHendrix's "Hey Joe" and singer JoniMitchell, and "The Sprawl" is a reference to several works by Creator/WilliamGibson (most famously, ''Literature/{{Neuromancer}}'', the first novel of his ''Literature/SprawlTrilogy'').

* WordSaladLyrics: Lee Ronaldo's songs "Hey Joni", "Eric's Trip", and "Rain King" all feature this. For example: "Shots ring out from the center of an empty field/Joni's in the tall grass/She's a beautiful mental jukebox, a sailboat explosion/A snap of electric whipcrack"

Daydream Nation was the fifth album by Indie/AlternativeRock band Music/SonicYouth, released in 1988. Made with almost twice the usual budget of their previous albums, it was their most expensively produced album up to that point. With frontman Thurston Moore on a writing spree, it ended up as a double album.

Upon it's release, it received almost unanimous critical acclaim for its use of noise, jam influenced song structures, and surrealist lyrics. It is often considered one of the greatest AlternativeRock albums of TheEighties, if not of all time. It was chosen by the Library of Congress to be preserved in the National Recording Registry in 2005.

* BreatherEpisode: "Providence" and "Kissability" are significantly lighter in mood and less heavy than the surrounding material. "Teen Age Riot" doesn't entirely qualify, since it's the first song, but it's also LighterAndSofter than most of the album. "Total Trash" might also be considered a {{downplayed}} example: it's still pretty heavy, but it's more laid-back in mood and tempo than most of the album.

* ShoutOut: The aforementioned "Teen Age Riot" is about Music/DinosaurJr, "Hey Joni" references Music/JimiHendrix's "Hey Joe", and well as singer JoniMitchell, and "The Sprawl" is a reference to a novel by Creator/WilliamGibson.
** The album's closer "Eliminator, Jr." is named as such because the band thought it sounded like a combination of ''Eliminator-era Music/ZZTop and Music/DinosaurJr. The fact that it's part z in "Trilogy" also reinforces the Music/ZZTop reference.

* ConceptAlbum: Not entirely, but several songs are inspired by Creator/WilliamGibson's works; "The Sprawl" even takes its title from ''Literature/{{Neuromancer}}''[='=]s setting.

* LastNoteNightmare: While "Providence" is overall quite serene, it does end with a DroneOfDread.

'''Track list'''

* EpicRocking: Almost half the album. Examples include "Teen Age Riot", "The Sprawl", "Cross The Breeze", "Candle" just meets five minutes, and the "Trilogy" that closes the album lasts over 14 minutes.