I'm thinking so.

Because it's too long? Too much Kim? Not enough Lee Ranaldo? No Borbetomagus guest spot?

It's not like they blew it. I'm gonna keep giving it listens. Murray Street took some listening to really love. It's more like they forgot to put in anything to make it really great.

I know I'm not the only one who thinks so.

Maybe I should wait until I really have something to say, but hell, I've already listened to this five times and reviewed it at the users' ratings section, so here goes.

Much of what you say is totally valid. I agree that it's too long, considering that it's not exploring much new ground sonically. But for a rock band who's putting out their 19th album, it seems pretty damned fine. Thurston Moore does some of his finest Lou Reed "impressions", and how, exactly, can you have "too much Kim"?

Now, if you only have room for a couple of Sonic Youth albums in your collection, then there's obviously no need for this one. If you care about a band that can crank out primo, if not completely original (for them), music or you haven't been exposed to them before, this is a fine place to start, although I thought "Murray Street" was much more impressive and extremely accesible right from the start. Compared to say, The Stones, after their first 10 years, these guys kick ass.

One other thing to consider are the lyrics. "Murray Street", for example, was clearly about 9/11 (I would swear that in the most awesome moments, you could hear the twin towers collapse, one by one) and anti-Bush. This, on the other hand, is much more ambiguous and therefore open to many more interpretations and not such an obviously-specific political protest. So even if the music might not stand the test of time, the text should.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: mark f,

ive downlaoded a few tracks. kind of quiet but overall i like them.

metacritic forgot to include allmusic's review of the album.

also the allmusic review of graham coxons new album is not there.

*mediocrity

Anyway, Nurse is the only SY album I own, and I like it a fair bit, but I've heard other parts of their catalogue, and I can't say that it's one of their better efforts. There are certainly some mediocre tracks alongside the good ones.

The album is a commentary on the psychological roots of the type of relationship that all of us here are probably the most familiar with:
slightly effiminate male needs nurturing, slightly masculine female gets a sexual charge out of this.

And Kim's delivery is by far the best.