|
1) Certainly the guitar work makes them one of the most important and unique rock bands ever. That said, I like their vocals. I prefer Kim's earlier voice, because I fear she thrashed it in later years. Sometimes the raspiness is used to great effect though. Nobody in the band is a great "singer", but so what? Lou Reed can't sing either, and he's still one of my favorite vocalist ever.
2) I don't particularly find any of their albums inconsistent, and I rarely skip any tracks. I can't imagine skipping "In the Kingdom #19" myself, it's so damn brilliant! My favorite album is Bad Moon Rising, which is like one big song. There are some albums I don't think are as amazing as others. Experimental Jet Set etc. has always struck me as a record that could have been better if many of the songs had been developed past the "sketch" phase they were trying for. But that's just one album, and I don' t think it's incsonsistent, just consistently not finished.
3) I think it's probably pretty natural to relate one work of art by a given artist to another later work by same. Honestly, I think you're reading too much into it. People come here to discuss Sonic Youth, and that's one jumping off point to do so from. I just hope the next album has a significant amount of drumstick through the frets moments to relate to the old days!
|