Painful | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | October 5, 1993 | |||
Recorded | 1993 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 48:36 | |||
Label | Matador | |||
Producer |
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Yo La Tengo chronology | ||||
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Singles from Painful | ||||
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Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [3] |
Chicago Tribune | [4] |
Christgau's Consumer Guide | A− [5] |
Entertainment Weekly | B+ [6] |
Mojo | [7] |
NME | 8/10 [8] |
Pitchfork | 9.6/10 [9] |
Q | [10] |
The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [11] |
Spin Alternative Record Guide | 9/10 [12] |
Painful is the sixth studio album by American indie rock band Yo La Tengo, released in 1993 by record label Matador, their first for the label.
The album marked a creative shift from Yo La Tengo's previous work, blending atmospheric and ambient sounds with their famous noise jams. Painful features a much more melody-driven Yo La Tengo in its hazy, dream-like songwriting.
Two versions of the track "Big Day Coming" are present on the album and display the range of musical stylings Yo La Tengo works with; the first version features a simple organ melody accompanied by a soft bass counterpoint and Kaplan's guitar feedback echoing in the background, while the second version is a much more straightforward, shoegaze style with an accompanying organ solo towards the latter part of the song.
On 2 December 2014, the album was reissued with bonus material as Extra Painful, available on double CD, double vinyl and as a digital download. [13]
In recent years, Painful has become regarded as a significant step for Yo La Tengo in their discography. In a biography of the band, AllMusic's Mark Deming dubbed it "their first masterpiece", seeing it push them "in a multitude of new directions, significantly expanding [their] palette of sounds and textures." [14] Reflecting on it in a 20th anniversary review, Spectrum Culture's Rodger Coleman called it "revelatory, ageless and sublime." He saw it as the album "where they first came together as a real band," as well as showing "a substantial refinement of sound and approach." [15]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Vocals | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Big Day Coming" |
| Kaplan | 7:04 |
2. | "From a Motel 6" |
|
| 4:08 |
3. | "Double Dare" |
| Kaplan | 3:28 |
4. | "Superstar-Watcher" |
| 1:42 | |
5. | "Nowhere Near" |
| Hubley | 6:01 |
6. | "Sudden Organ" |
| Kaplan | 4:42 |
7. | "A Worrying Thing" |
| Kaplan | 2:53 |
8. | "I Was the Fool Beside You for Too Long" |
| Kaplan | 5:04 |
9. | "The Whole of the Law" |
| 2:19 | |
10. | "Big Day Coming" |
| Kaplan | 4:14 |
11. | "I Heard You Looking" |
| 7:01 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Nowhere Near" (demo) | 7:14 |
2. | "From A Motel 6" (live acoustic) | 3:44 |
3. | "Tunnel Vision" (unreleased instrumental demo) | 1:43 |
4. | "Sudden Organ" (demo) | 7:35 |
5. | "Smart Window" (unreleased Painful session) | 3:16 |
6. | "Big Day Coming" (live acoustic) | 3:10 |
7. | "Slow Learner" (unreleased demo) | 6:38 |
8. | "Double Dare" (demo) | 3:24 |
9. | "A Worrying Thing" (demo) | 2:57 |
10. | "I Heard You Looking" (live) | 9:17 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Double Dare (Sominextraction)" (live, CBGB, 1/31/92) | 5:41 |
2. | "What She Wants" (live, House Of Music, West Orange) | 2:54 |
3. | "Ashes On The Ground" (live, SIR, 9/29/93)) | 5:14 |
4. | "Nutricia" (recorded At Snack Time by Fred Brockman) | 5:04 |
5. | "For Shame Of Doing Wrong (Slide Version)" (live, House Of Music, West Orange) | 4:37 |
6. | "Superstar Watcher" (recorded At Snack Time by Fred Brockman) | 1:45 |
7. | "Big Day Coming" (live, Reckless Records, 4/26/92) | 19:02 |
8. | "I Was The Fool Beside You For Too Long" (live, SIR, 9/29/93) | 4:43 |
9. | "Shaker" (live, The Batschkapp, Frankfurt, 1/3/94) | 3:07 |
10. | "Artificial Heart" (live, Shank Hall, 5/11/93) | 2:39 |
11. | "Whole Of The Law Loops" (Painful Sessions, Water Music & James Apartment 1992) | 2:45 |
12. | "Nowhere Near" (live, Lounge Ax, Chicago 11/13/93) | 6:04 |
13. | "Sleeping Pill" (excerpt From "Ian Mackaye", Room Temperature, Brooklyn 2/20/93) | 2:12 |
14. | "Big Day Coming" (live, SIR, 9/29/93) | 3:45 |
15. | "Sudden Organ" (live, SIR, 9/29/93) | 7:04 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Shaker" | |
2. | "For Shame Of Doing Wrong" (8-Track Version - the CD single contained a different version which is on the download coupon) |
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