'Dirty' & 'Goo'

Sonic Youth's first two albums after signing a five-album, $300,000 deal with Geffen after the moderate success of Daydream Nation.

I personally think they're terrific. A step up from Daydream without losing any of the edge. The band was not required to run songs by the record company but they did nonetheless. Sonic Youth seems to do what they want, when they want.

Both albums sandwiched Nirvana's Nevermind, regarded as the quintessential rock record of the last 25 years. Despite being pushed as such, Sonic Youth was never able to capture the mainstream success of their counterparts in the post-punk genre. It probably makes sense.

Although Nirvana are not some bubblegum pop band, there was a lot more structure and melody. Sonic Youth was grittier with less craft and a lot more caterwauling from Kim Gordon.

Still, they're a band I respective the crap out of and I still have like two albums to listen to for this list.

The real question is just how rich are Sonic Youth? They've never sold more than 500,000 of any one album, these two being their most popular. They've gotten no radio airplay. They also don't tour excessively. Not like 200 dates in a year. They still have to eat even if their old. Thurston Moore did say that they could have made a lot more money had their broken up in the early 1990s and done a reunion tour like The Pixies or Dinosaur Jr. At least he's honest.