Walls Have Ears

Walls Have Ears
Live album (bootleg) by
Sonic Youth
Released1986
Recorded
  • April 28, 1985
  • October 30, 1985
  • November 8, 1985
GenreNoise rock
Length76:32
LabelNot
Sonic Youth live album chronology
Sonic Death
(1984) 		Walls Have Ears
(1986) 		Hold That Tiger
(1991)

Walls Have Ears is a Sonic Youth bootleg live recording from 1985. It was released on 2×12″ vinyl in 1986 without the consent of the band.[1]

The album was officially released on February 9, 2024, via Goofin' Records.[2]

Content

Tracks 1–7 were recorded live on October 30, 1985, in London. Track 8 was recorded live on November 8, 1985, at Brighton Beach in Brighton. Tracks 9–17 were recorded live on April 28, 1985, in London.

The April tracks were recorded with members Thurston Moore, Lee Ranaldo, Kim Gordon and Bob Bert. The remainder featured new drummer Steve Shelley replacing Bert.

Response

Critics

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic86/100[3]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[4]
Exclaim!8/10[5]
Paste7.8/10[6]
Pitchfork7.8/10[7]
PopMatters9/10[8]

Walls Have Ears received a score of 86 out of 100 on review aggregator Metacritic based on four critics' reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[3] Heather Phares of AllMusic commented that "Despite its thorny history, this is an exhilarating portrait of the band's shift from their no wave beginnings to the more complex and melodic style that defined their later work."[4] Myles Tiessen of Exclaim! felt that "the artfully rendered chaos found on Walls Have Ears was the first time the band was captured achieving the deliverance Gordon writes about".[5]

Paste's Grace Ann Natanawan summarized the album as "a fledgling version of the band begin[ning] to hone this chaos in an unrestrained live setting".[6] Reviewing the album for PopMatters, Christopher J. Lee wrote that its tracks "underscore the long, uncompromising road taken for their eventual success" and as a whole called it "a wild, unvarnished listen that gets back to the difficult, defiant essence of Sonic Youth".[8] Pitchfork's Samuel Hyland judged that it "pinpoints the band between sputtering sound system and well-oiled noise machine, soon to transcend fringe credibility for alt-rock titanhood".[7]

In his book Psychic Confusion: The Sonic Youth Story, author Stevie Chick wrote, "[A case is made] that the best illicit releases prove that artists sometimes aren't the best judges of their own artistic output. The Walls Have Ears is such an album; unloved by its creators, but a crucial and electrifying document of the group at their live best, playing with violent and ecstatic abandon".[9]

The band

According to Moore, "Our creative control was put on the spot by this guy. We were kinda livid".[10]

Track listing

  1. "C.B." – 2:11
  2. "Green Love" ("Green Light") – 4:06
  3. "Brother James" – 3:13
  4. "Kill Yr. Idols" – 2:57
  5. "I Love Her All the Time" – 5:08
  6. "Expressway to Yr. Skull" – 9:33
  7. "Spahn Ranch Dance" ("Death Valley '69") – 6:57
  8. "Blood on Brighton Beach" ("Making the Nature Scene") – 3:43
  9. "Burning Spear" – 4:36
  10. "Death Valley '69" – 6:41
  11. "Speed JAMC" – 1:25
  12. "Ghost Bitch" – 5:56
  13. "I'm Insane" (unlisted) – 4:27
  14. "The World Looks Red" – 4:52
  15. "The Word (E.V.O.L.)" ("Flower") – 3:02
  16. "Brother Jam-Z" ("Brother James") – 4:49
  17. "Killed and Kicked Off" ("Kill Yr. Idols") – 2:56

Charts

Chart performance for Walls Have Ears
Chart (2024) Peak
position
UK Independent Albums (OCC)[11] 45

References

  1. ^ Marcus, Greil (1999). In the Fascist Bathroom: Punk in Pop Music, 1977–1992. Harvard University Press. p. 325. ISBN 0674445775. Retrieved April 10, 2013.
  2. ^ Corcoran, Nina (December 5, 2023). "Sonic Youth Announce Walls Have Ears Reissue, Share First Live Recording of "Expressway to Yr. Skull": Listen". Pitchfork. Retrieved December 6, 2023.
  3. ^ a b "Walls Have Ears by Sonic Youth Reviews and Tracks". Metacritic. Retrieved February 14, 2024.
  4. ^ a b Phares, Heather. "Sonic Youth – Walls Have Ears Album Review". AllMusic. Retrieved February 14, 2024.
  5. ^ a b Tiessen, Myles (February 10, 2024). "Sonic Youth Were Swept Up in the Waves on Walls Have Ears". Exclaim!. Retrieved February 14, 2024.
  6. ^ a b Natanawan, Grace Ann (February 12, 2024). "Sonic Youth Refines Chaos on Walls Have Ears". Paste. Retrieved February 14, 2024.
  7. ^ a b Hyland, Samuel (February 14, 2024). "Sonic Youth: Walls Have Ears Album Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved February 14, 2024.
  8. ^ a b Lee, Christopher J. (February 12, 2024). "Walls Have Ears Captures Sonic Youth's Abrasive Adolescence". PopMatters. Retrieved February 14, 2024.
  9. ^ Chick, Stevie (2009). Psychic Confusion: The Sonic Youth Story. Music Sales Group. ISBN 978-0857120540. Retrieved April 10, 2013.
  10. ^ Browne, David (2009). Goodbye 20th Century. readhowyouwant.com. p. 288. ISBN 978-1458778871. Retrieved April 10, 2013.
  11. ^ "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved February 17, 2024.