Ride the Tiger

Yo La Tengo's not entirely great first album. It's certainly not bad. It's just not "run out and tell all your friends and listen to it obsessively." Or am I the only one who had that reaction to Painful? On this album, they pretty much sound like a decent indie rock band. Nothing special, really. For me, the only reasons to own this album (other than an obsessive completism) are "The Evil That Men Do," a sort precursor to the masterful freakouts that fill May I Sing With Me, and "A House is not a Motel," which is just an excellent little pop song.

personnel

Georgia Hubley - Drums
Ira Kaplan - Vocals, Guitar
Mike Lewis - Bass on *
Clint Conley - Producer, Bass on **
Dave Rick - Bass on ***

tracklist

1. The Cone of Silence *
2. Big Sky (Cover of the Kinks) *
3. The Evil That Men Do *
4. The Forest Green **
5. The Pain of Pain *
6. The Way Some People Die *
7. The Empty Pool **
8. Alrock's Bells **
9. Five Years *
10. Screaming Dead Balloons *
11. Living in the Country
    
    Bonus Tracks on Matador CD Reissue
    
    
12. The River of Water ***
13. A House is not a Motel ***
14. Crispy Duck * (Recorded with Closing Time in 1996)
15. Closing Time *

Issued by Coyote Records/City Slang as TTC 8676 in 1986; Reissued by Matador Records in 1997 as OLE-205