Painful
Studio album by
Yo La Tengo
ReleasedOctober 5, 1993
Recorded1993
Genre
Length48:36
LabelMatador
Producer
  • Fred Brockman
  • Roger Moutenot
Yo La Tengo chronology
May I Sing with Me
(1992)		 Painful
(1993)		 Electr-O-Pura
(1995)
Singles from Painful
  1. "Big Day Coming"
    Released: 30 September 1993
  2. "From a Motel 6"
    Released: 7 January 1994
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
Chicago Tribune[4]
Christgau's Consumer GuideA−[5]
Entertainment WeeklyB+[6]
Mojo[7]
NME8/10[8]
Pitchfork9.6/10[9]
Q[10]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[11]
Spin Alternative Record Guide9/10[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.

Content

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.

Release

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]

Critical reception

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]

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)VocalsLength
1."Big Day Coming"
  • Ira Kaplan
Kaplan7:04
2."From a Motel 6"
  • Ira Kaplan
  • Georgia Hubley
  • Hubley
  • Kaplan
4:08
3."Double Dare"
  • Ira Kaplan
Kaplan3:28
4."Superstar-Watcher"
  • Yo La Tengo
 1:42
5."Nowhere Near"
  • Georgia Hubley
Hubley6:01
6."Sudden Organ"
  • Ira Kaplan
Kaplan4:42
7."A Worrying Thing"
  • Ira Kaplan
Kaplan2:53
8."I Was the Fool Beside You for Too Long"
  • Yo La Tengo
Kaplan5:04
9."The Whole of the Law"
  • Hubley
  • Kaplan
2:19
10."Big Day Coming"
  • Ira Kaplan
Kaplan4:14
11."I Heard You Looking"
  • Yo La Tengo
 7:01
Extra Painful bonus disc
No.TitleLength
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
Extra Painful bonus downloadable additional tracks
No.TitleLength
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
Shaker 7" reissue
No.TitleLength
1."Shaker" 
2."For Shame Of Doing Wrong" (8-Track Version - the CD single contained a different version which is on the download coupon) 
Notes
  • An exact reproduction of the original single Shaker 7" came with the vinyl edition.
  • 15 additional bonus tracks were available for download

Personnel

References

  1. ↑ "The Top 25 College Radio Albums of All Time". CMJ New Music Report. Vol. 74, no. 5. CMJ Network, Inc. January 6, 2003. p. 20. Retrieved July 21, 2022.
  2. 1 2 Ankeny, Jason. "Yo La Tengo – Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved May 11, 2016.
  3. ↑ Deming, Mark. "Painful – Yo La Tengo". AllMusic. Retrieved March 27, 2015.
  4. ↑ Kot, Greg (November 11, 1993). "Melody Lingers On". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved October 12, 2016.
  5. ↑ Christgau, Robert (2000). "Yo La Tengo: Painful". Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s. St. Martin's Griffin. ISBN 0-312-24560-2. Retrieved March 27, 2015.
  6. ↑ "Yo La Tengo: Painful". Entertainment Weekly. October 8, 1993. p. 54.
  7. ↑ Chick, Stevie (February 2015). "Yo La Tengo: Extra Painful". Mojo. No. 255. p. 102.
  8. ↑ "Yo La Tengo: Painful". NME. November 6, 1993. p. 29.
  9. ↑ Berman, Stuart (December 2, 2014). "Yo La Tengo: Extra Painful". Pitchfork. Retrieved March 27, 2015.
  10. ↑ "Yo La Tengo: Extra Painful". Q. No. 342. January 2015. p. 139.
  11. ↑ Sheffield, Rob (2004). "Yo La Tengo". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 896–97. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  12. ↑ Sheffield, Rob (1995). "Yo La Tengo". In Weisbard, Eric; Marks, Craig (eds.). Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. pp. 443–44. ISBN 0-679-75574-8.
  13. ↑ Cosloy, Gerard (21 October 2014). "Yo La Tengo > Coming December 2 : Yo La Tengo's 'Extra Painful' 2XLP / 2XCD". Matador Records. Retrieved December 9, 2014.
  14. ↑ Deming, Mark. "Yo La Tengo Biography, Songs & Albums". AllMusic. Retrieved August 20, 2023.
  15. ↑ Coleman, Rodger (March 27, 2013). "Yo La Tengo: Painful | 20 Years Later". Spectrum Culture. Retrieved August 20, 2023.


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