Hold That Tiger

Rate It! Avg: 4.0 (69 ratings)
Sample Album
ALBUM INFORMATION
EDITOR'S PICK // LIVE

Total Tracks: 18   Total Length: 58:29

eMusic Review

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Joe Gross

eMusic Contributor

Joe Gross hails from Falls Church, VA, one of the Chocolate City's most vanilla suburbs. He has written for Spin, Rolling Stone, the Village Voice, the Washingt...more »

04.22.11
The formative years of alt-rock legends
2002 | Label: Sonic Youth Recordings - Smells Like Records / Revolver

A gnarly slice of guitar clatter from back when the godparents of alternative rock were still underground, Hold That Tiger is a (legitimately released) bootleg of a Sonic Youth show recorded on October 14, 1987, in Chicago. Introduced by Steve Albini — fresh from disbanding Big Black — the quartet rips through a thoroughly righteous, reasonably well recorded set. This is Sonic Youth at a stellar, clanging peak. They were already old hands and scene kings, having moved from art-gallery thud to crude noise rock to a shimmering roar all their own. This set draws heavily from the then-new Sister album; "Schizophrenia" gets cranked up really high and "Kotton Krown" turns from cloudy pastoral to cloud-splitting thunder. Other highlights include live staples "Brother James" and "Expressway to Your Skull"; the four Ramones covers they bang through in the encore are just gravy. Even casual fans will dig the white-hot charge of Tiger.

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Wish the sound was better

aajej

This is another live SY recording that requires the listener to fill in from memory to make up for the recording deficiencies. Blistering performance, but barely so-so sound quality.

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BOOTLEG: says it right in the review

noisician

maybe the other reviewers wrote before the AMG review for this was included in eMusic? but it clearly says this is a BOOTLEG recording that was subsequently legitimately released by the band.

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Memories

DJJSerpico

Jeez they were amazing on this tour. (Still are!!). I don't think there's a bad track on this setlist. They were notorious for performing the entire new album at shows. (Not always the audience-friendliest thing to do.) 'Sister' still goes down as one of my faves from these legendary noise rockers.

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Great music, good sound

EMUSIC-00A545BAb

Not a bootleg, this is the best live representation of Sonic Youth from this period. This is from 1987, back when they tuned guitars between songs and were unrelenting and tight. You are missing out if you can't get over the non-Godsmack like sound.

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Sonic Youth Records

crumbtrail

Not a bootleg. And you can listen before you buy.

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Good music, bad sound

Groon

This is a good live album with great tracks, but the sound is really bad. It is probably a bootleg, but I wish eMusic would mention that somewhere, so that we know before we download...

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They Say All Media Guide

Hold That Tiger is an official bootleg documenting a Sonic Youth live show in Chicago on October 14, 1987. It has the same lo-fi sound as Television’s The Blow Up, but lacks the spirit of those performances. Sonic Youth is on safe ground here, not indulging themselves in the guitar freakouts that they frequently showcase during their live sets. Most of the set list from this show comes from Sister and EVOL, while the encore shows Sonic Youth appropriately mauling four songs from the Ramones’ first album. – Brian Flota

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  • 02.10.12 steve tours w/ @DISAPPEARS ( + fresh and onlys) w. coast feb 18-25 http://70.32.78.35/sonicnews/?p=1352
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  • 12.20.11 Thurston (and many others) will perform @atpfestival 2012 in Minehead, UK March 9-11 http://t.co/5koP235Z