Painful (album)

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.

Painful
Studio album by Yo La Tengo
Released	October 5, 1993
Recorded	1993
Genre	Indie rock dream pop shoegazing[1]
Length	48:36
Label	Matador
Producer	Fred Brockman Roger Moutenot
Yo La Tengo chronology
May I Sing with Me (1992) Painful (1993) Electr-O-Pura (1995)
Singles from Painful
"Big Day Coming" Released: 30 September 1993 "From a Motel 6" Released: 7 January 1994

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
Chicago Tribune	[3]
Christgau's Consumer Guide	A−[4]
Entertainment Weekly	B+[5]
Mojo	[6]
NME	8/10[7]
Pitchfork	9.6/10[8]
Q	[9]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[10]
Spin Alternative Record Guide	9/10[11]

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.[12]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Vocals	Length
1.	"Big Day Coming"	Ira Kaplan	Kaplan	7:04
2.	"From a Motel 6"	Ira Kaplan Georgia Hubley	Hubley Kaplan	4:08
3.	"Double Dare"	Ira Kaplan	Kaplan	3:28
4.	"Superstar-Watcher"	Yo La Tengo		1:42
5.	"Nowhere Near"	Georgia Hubley	Hubley	6:01
6.	"Sudden Organ"	Ira Kaplan	Kaplan	4:42
7.	"A Worrying Thing"	Ira Kaplan	Kaplan	2:53
8.	"I Was the Fool Beside You for Too Long"	Yo La Tengo	Kaplan	5:04
9.	"The Whole of the Law"	Peter Perrett	Hubley Kaplan	2:19
10.	"Big Day Coming"	Ira Kaplan	Kaplan	4:14
11.	"I Heard You Looking"	Yo La Tengo		7:01

Extra Painful bonus disc

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

Extra Painful bonus downloadable additional tracks

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

Shaker 7" reissue

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)

Notes

• An exact reproduction of the original single Shaker 7" came with the vinyl edition.
• 15 additional bonus tracks were available for download

Personnel

• Georgia Hubley – drums, percussion, vocals, guitar, organ
• Ira Kaplan – vocals, guitar, organ, percussion
• James McNew – bass, vocals, guitar, percussion

References

1. Ankeny, Jason. "Yo La Tengo – Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved May 11, 2016.
2. Deming, Mark. "Painful – Yo La Tengo". AllMusic. Retrieved March 27, 2015.
3. Kot, Greg (November 11, 1993). "Melody Lingers On". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved October 12, 2016.
4. 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.
5. "Yo La Tengo: Painful". Entertainment Weekly. October 8, 1993. p. 54.
6. Chick, Stevie (February 2015). "Yo La Tengo: Extra Painful". Mojo. No. 255. p. 102.
7. "Yo La Tengo: Painful". NME. November 6, 1993. p. 29.
8. Berman, Stuart (December 2, 2014). "Yo La Tengo: Extra Painful". Pitchfork. Retrieved March 27, 2015.
9. "Yo La Tengo: Extra Painful". Q. No. 342. January 2015. p. 139.
10. 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.
11. 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.
12. Cosloy, Gerard. "Yo La Tengo > Coming December 2 : Yo La Tengo's 'Extra Painful' 2XLP / 2XCD". Matador Records. Retrieved December 9, 2014.

External links

• Painful at Discogs (list of releases)