The critical success of Daydream caught interest of the major labels and, after being aggressively pursued by them, Sonic Youth made the leap to the big leagues for Goo. The band only agreed to sign with Geffen given complete creative control over their music and image—the band even toyed with titling the album Blowjob?—and the resulting record captures the band continuing to fashion wild chaos with tempered rock melodies. Not even the band felt the move to the majors was a good one. Thurston Moore once called the album, "One of major-labeldom's weirdest moments."

Goo doesn't totally hold up as well as Daydream, which might be due to the band's frustrations working with bigger production budget, better studio equipment, and involved A&R guys. Still, the band was cooking up cool experiments on tracks like the Kim Gordon-led "Kool Thing," which featured a guest cameo from Public Enemy's Chuck D. In fact, it's Gordon's songs that rule the roost, particularly her moving tribute to Karen Carpenter on "Tunic (Song for Karen)" and the fierce rocker "Cinderella's Big Score."