Sonic Youth is one of the few truly unique rock bands of the past 30 years. Just listen to Sister and Daydream Nation. What other music reminds you of those records? They are extremely influential, and it would be a shame if they were not inducted.

Posted by Derek on Thursday, 07.27.06 @ 19:39pm

Though I really couldn't care less if Sonic Youth make it into the Rock Hall or not, one needs to realize that this is a band that (after 25 years) is still making vital, challenging, and exciting music. Sonic Youth is far and away a better and more interesting band than just about all of the other bands on this list.

Posted by Jordan on Thursday, 08.3.06 @ 13:49pm

No way will Sonic Youth NOT be inducted...but not until I get the chance to be the one to induct them!!

Posted by CV on Thursday, 08.3.06 @ 14:10pm

sonic youth, no one else on that list is worthy... the beastie boys!!! c'mon, what have the beastie boys done for music.

Posted by confusionisnext on Thursday, 08.3.06 @ 14:16pm

No other band has been as pertinent or influential to underground rock music as SY. Although awards and figures really don't mean shit, this band by far deserves recognition for the great music they still are making to this very day. Few bands can attest to this 25 years into their career.

seeing some of these other "bands" inducted over Sonic Youth would simply be a joke. But hey, the Library of Congress recently included SY in their archives, and really that speaks volumes right there to this band's importance in our time.

Posted by Sean on Thursday, 08.3.06 @ 23:35pm

Sonic Youth for Secretary of the United Nations!

Posted by aly-im-not-a-girl-asa on Friday, 08.4.06 @ 06:23am

Chile !!

Posted by Jose on Friday, 08.18.06 @ 00:16am

Sonic Youth is not only a very, very good band on their own, but they have had a vast influence on music over the past few decades.

How many artists owe their sound (or their success, when SY finds them and promotes them) to SY? A large number.

If SY doesn't make it in by 2010, there is something seriously wrong with the selection process.

Posted by Aeirould on Monday, 08.21.06 @ 00:59am

Keep in mind that Sonic Youth's "Daydream Nation" is now on the National Recording Registry:

http://fak3r.com/2006/04/13/daydream-nation-now-on-the-national-recording-registry/

I think that alone should show people the importance of their music, regardless of their sales.

fak3r

Posted by fak3r on Thursday, 09.14.06 @ 13:31pm

An incredible band, this generations Velvet Underground. If they're not in first ballot I'm...I'm not really sure what I will do but it will be drastic and unfortunate.

Posted by Kit on Saturday, 11.25.06 @ 23:30pm

Definite first ballot induction.......hopefully, they'll open the doors for many other underground pioneers.

Posted by Casper on Tuesday, 12.12.06 @ 02:36am

Sonic Youth is one of the few bands still making music that's as influential and innovative as when they first started out. They have made a huge contribution to music and should definitely be recognized for it.

Posted by Terri on Friday, 03.2.07 @ 14:39pm

It's the job of a hall to give to greatest artists a recognition: so of course they will induct sonic youth. When is another question: the first year would be great. If R.E.m made on their first year, it's quite possible for SY to do it

Posted by roméo on Sunday, 03.4.07 @ 11:46am

THIS BAND SHOULD BE INDUCTED INTO THE HALL OF FAME. THEIR IMPORTANCE TO MUSIC IS UNDENIABLE! THEY ARE STILL ROCKING THE WORLD WITH THEIR AWESOME MUSIC 25 + YEARS LATER. THEY ALONG WITH THE PIXIES HELP PAVE THE WAY FOR SO MANY BANDS. HATS OFF TO SY!!!

Posted by CAYCE on Monday, 03.19.07 @ 09:56am

THIS BAND SHOULD BE INDUCTED INTO THE HALL OF FAME. THEIR IMPORTANCE TO MUSIC IS UNDENIABLE! THEY ARE STILL ROCKING THE WORLD WITH THEIR AWESOME MUSIC 25 + YEARS LATER. THEY ALONG WITH THE PIXIES HELP PAVE THE WAY FOR SO MANY BANDS. HATS OFF TO SY!!!

Posted by CAYCE on Monday, 03.19.07 @ 09:57am

Sonic Youth approach to the physcial playing of various instruments was innovative, and original. Sonic Youth or Bad Brains should be inducted.

Posted by boysdontcry67 on Thursday, 03.22.07 @ 17:48pm

It will be an absolute sham if Sonic Youth don't get inducted - they're more influential than plenty of artists already in there.

Posted by MAFK on Friday, 03.30.07 @ 01:05am

Who cares how long they have been around and their influence? Who did they influence? Being around forever doesn't make you eligible, neither does just being influential. You could influence a lot of bad bands. Being influential doesn't mean your any good either. Bottom line is no one buys their records, no one goes to their shows hardly. I have never seen one person in my entire life with one of their cd's. In fact I have never heard anyone say they have listened to them. Bottom line: They are another critics darling like R.E.M. The critics suck, SO DO SONIC YOUTH!

Posted by mike on Wednesday, 04.4.07 @ 20:11pm

Criticism is bad because it involves thinking! I will let the radio think for me!

Posted by William on Wednesday, 04.4.07 @ 21:41pm

Honestly, that's not even an arguement. Plenty of people listen to and own Sonic Youth records, your somewhat questionable circle of friends notwithstanding. Fusing the pure sound of the no wave with traditional rock structures to create something wholly unique merits hall of fame status, "crappy alternative" or not.

Posted by Kit on Wednesday, 04.4.07 @ 23:54pm

Yes, I think they should and probably - eventually - will be inducted. I personally love this band. Without them, I don't think there would be that many garage bands left in the traditional sense of the word.

That said, I'd love a nomination for Swans. Essentially, Swans are Sonic Youth through a funhouse mirror. The most stylistically restless band ever, and possibly the heaviest. Not in the metal sense, in the "physical wall of sound" sense. Plus, they've been ripped off to some extent by everyone from Godflesh to GYBE!.

Posted by J.H.M. on Sunday, 04.29.07 @ 19:45pm

Sonic Youth is the most influencial band of the last 25 years. They have created and mastered a genre. EVOL and Daydream Nation are milestones of the 80's and Goo and Dirty are milestones of the 90's. Thurston and Lee are two of the best guitarists that ever lived. They are extremely talented. They have influenced everybody making music today. If it weren't for them we wouldn't know who Nirvana is. Oh and for the dumbass who said that they aren't good because they havn't sold a lot of records guess who only had one hit song in the US while he was alive. Jimi Hendrix. So if selling lots of records and making lots of money means you are talented then i guess the Backstreet Boys, N'Sync , and Britney Spears are very talented and influencial, but i guess people like the Velvet Underground and Jimi Hendrix aren't. Go learn something. Go learn where your music came from. Without Sonic Youth music would not be what it is today. Sonic Youth belonged in the Hall of Fame 25 years ago.

Posted by chase on Thursday, 05.10.07 @ 10:59am

I love this band. I own most of their CDs. I am hoping they get in next year, but it doesn't matter I know they will be inducted at some point.

Posted by PJ on Wednesday, 05.16.07 @ 19:30pm

Plus, they're one of maybe two semi-well-known bands still out there that almost never use standard tuning. In fact, one of the most common Sonic Youth guitar tunings is F#F#F#F#EB, often with either a capo, screwdriver or drumstick on or under one of the frets. Yes, you read that right.

Posted by J.H.M. on Saturday, 06.2.07 @ 13:09pm

Sonic Youth is the most innovative and ahead of their time guitar band in the last 25 to 30 years, perhaps ever. They basically re-wrote all the rules of rock guitar, and created a vast new palette of sounds and textures all their own; the widest of any guitar band ever; and deliver it all around creative, well written songs with a passionate fury of emotion and open ended intensity that is awe inspiring.
Although much immitated, they have never really been duplicated, and have almost singlehandedly, spawned the whole modern genre of indie rock (although they likely see themselves as being post punk). They have continued making so many great albums, and stayed artistically valid for 26+ years (and counting) of hard work and dedication to their muse (and constant touring), without going downhill like most bands that have stayed together as long as they have (and seldom few make it half that far, anyway).
If they do not get in the Hall on the FIRST BALLOT this year, it would be a CRIME, and evidence the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame to be a big overcommercialized JOKE.

Posted by J.R. on Thursday, 08.9.07 @ 03:00am

Yeah, but their albums didn't sell shit and Bon Jovi sold like seven to every person on this planet. Hall of FAME. This isn't about the music.

Or at least that's the brain-dead argument made by everyone else. I'll shoot myself in the leg if Sonic Youth doesn't get inducted on the first ballot. What else would there be to believe in?

Rapture?

Posted by Casper on Thursday, 08.9.07 @ 19:32pm

Sonic Youth is a true innovator. They continue to create beyond our/their boundaries with each album. Dude, they gotta get in!

Posted by Farty ChoStanky on Friday, 08.24.07 @ 23:40pm

What few songs I've heard from them I've enjoyed greatly. They should be inducted.

Posted by Kelsey on Monday, 09.3.07 @ 16:29pm

Sonic Youth are one of the most influential bands of the past 25 years...they SHOULD be no-doubters

Posted by Chalkie on Monday, 09.3.07 @ 17:24pm

sonic youth may be a talanted band that deserves to get inducted into the hall of fame but they should wait a few years so that older acts can get in before them.

Posted by danny on Sunday, 09.23.07 @ 07:17am

Bands that revolutionize rock usually don't get into the hall of fame unless someone in the band passes away first. They'll get in, but not before someone dies or has a terminal illness. The politics of the whole thing gives me a headache.

Posted by qoz on Monday, 11.19.07 @ 11:58am

Does anyone remember when Sonic Youth was on The Simpsons stealing sandwiches from Peter Frampton's cooler? Hilarious.

Posted by Mike on Friday, 10.10.08 @ 00:57am

Or at least that's the brain-dead argument made by everyone else. I'll shoot myself in the leg if Sonic Youth doesn't get inducted on the first ballot. What else would there be to believe in?

Rapture?.............Casper


How is that gunshot wound Casper?

Posted by blah-blah-blah on Tuesday, 12.2.08 @ 12:53pm

If The Stooges get in this year, and it looks like they will, Sonic Youth will be inducted within the next five years.

They really are arguably the best rock band of the late twentieth century. As mentioned above, Daydream Nation has been included in the National Recording Registry. EVOL, Sister, and Daydream Nation are at the heart of underground popular music around the world. Sonic Youth have done more than anyone since their inception to apply and refine experimental techniques in popular music. They are the standard bearers.

Sonic Youth is mandatory. Yes, Yes, Yes.

Posted by Jonas on Tuesday, 12.16.08 @ 04:28am

Hell no, Sonic Youth shouldn't be in the Hall of Fame. They've made a career out of boring, masturbatory music, only enjoyed by dull, bloodless hipsters.

I find it ridiculous that we're discussing putting Sonic Youth in the RnR Hall of Fame, when their music is arguably not even Rock, but no one has expressed any opinion on inducting the Sonics (http://www.futurerockhall.com/artist.php?artist_id=The_Sonics), who have been eligible since 1990.

Posted by Earl Lee Marshall on Friday, 01.2.09 @ 15:05pm

For those who want a Keltner analysis of Sonic Youth, here it is at http://jpbenney.blogspot.com/2009/06/keltner-analysis-of-undiscussed-rock.html. I will say Sonic Youth do deserve induction overall.

Posted by Julien Peter Benney on Wednesday, 06.3.09 @ 04:36am

i've never thought they were deeply influenced by The Carpenters.

Tunic was a nice rock piece. Nice guitar scratching same with Superstar.

Posted by akeem on Thursday, 07.30.09 @ 17:38pm

Really ... This band has been a seminal influence on every band since they have published music. I cannot believe they were not inducted in 2007 (the first year they were eligible). IT IS TIME. Please, even though this is clearly "corporate," they need and deserve this recognition. I myself as a music lover, want my children to know their music right along with Maria Callas. They are hugely influential.

Posted by Lori M on Friday, 10.9.09 @ 21:01pm

Or, what I should have said with the R & R Hall of Fame is I want my children to know Sonic Youth as well as Metallica. I mean, I honestly feel that in terms of having my kids know who the great ones were before them, it's as much about Sonic Youth as it was Led Zepplin or Leonard Cohen. (Putting Maria Callas in there was important, but not as relevant in this good old R & R discussion.)

Posted by Lori M on Friday, 10.9.09 @ 21:09pm

28 years (+ counting) and still the coolest band on the planet.

Posted by Chalkie on Tuesday, 10.27.09 @ 19:10pm

Yes, there is no question. Daydream Nation is preserved in the Library of Congress for goodness sake. And Teen Age Riot is one of the greatest songs of all time, probably the best of the eighties.

Posted by Calzone on Saturday, 03.20.10 @ 10:09am

The most influential and important American band of the last 30 years.

Posted by Chalkie on Wednesday, 07.14.10 @ 09:41am

Yes. Very influential.

Posted by Sam on Thursday, 07.15.10 @ 19:46pm

Richard Carpenter may not have thought very highly of Sonic Youth's rendition of "Superstar" but I'd take Sonic Youth's version over his any day

Posted by Tahvo Parvianen on Wednesday, 07.28.10 @ 09:48am

I just checked out "Daydream Nation" for the first time. I'm not quite sure what to make of it, but it's certainly unique, and it's definitely a good album. It seems to be one of those albums that takes a few listens to really sink in.

Posted by Sam on Wednesday, 08.4.10 @ 20:09pm

Daydream Nation is preserved in the freaking library of congress. Screw the hall of fame, Sonic Youth one up'd the place. :)

Posted by Calzone on Friday, 08.13.10 @ 15:36pm