Title: Rather Ripped
Content:  Rather Ripped received widespread acclaim from critics. In a review for the Toronto Star, Ben Rayner wrote that the band managed to condense all their expansive musical style into tighter songs "without sacrificing the mercurial structures, subversive lyrical bent and reverence for noise that identify Sonic Youth as Sonic Youth". PopMatters editor Dave Heaton believed the album was a graceful and elegant way to end Sonic Youth's unique relationship with Geffen, describing it as a "cohesive story about a band seeking the best way to take the reckless, brave spirits of free jazz, punk, and experimental music, and generate them within the confines of traditional rock song structure". He also praised 
Title: Rather Ripped
Content:  Rather Ripped is generally considered one of the band's most accessible albums, featuring an abundance of concise and catchy melodies. Moore described it as "a super song record" that contains "rockers and ballads". In addition, seven of the album's 12 tracks have a duration of less than four minutes, a feature that is uncommon in previous Sonic Youth releases. The album generally favors guitar textures over feedback or noise, which typically characterized the band's earlier works. Dave Heaton of PopMatters remarked that the guitars on Rather Ripped are joined together to form a vibrant and mysterious sound, stating that "it 
Title: Rather Ripped
Content:  Youth's most accessible albums, featuring an abundance of concise songs dealing with melancholic topics such as adultery, sexual frustration, and infidelity. Upon its release, the album peaked at number 71 on the US Billboard 200 and number 64 on the UK Albums Chart. It received mostly positive reviews from critics, who praised its simpler, cleaner melodies and the vocal delivery of singer and bassist Kim Gordon. The album was ranked number 12 in The Village Voices 2006 Pazz & Jop critics' poll. Its only single, "Incinerate", was released in 2006, alongside an accompanying music video directed by French director and writer Claire Denis.
Title: Rather Ripped
Content:  Rather Ripped is the fourteenth studio album by American rock band Sonic Youth, released on June 13, 2006 by Geffen Records. It was the band's first album following the departure of multi-instrumentalist Jim O'Rourke, who had joined as a fifth member in 1999. Unlike its immediate predecessors, the album was produced by John Agnello and recorded at Sear Sound in New York City, the same studio where the band's 1994 album, Experimental Jet Set, Trash and No Star, was recorded. It also completed Sonic Youth's contract with Geffen, which released the band's previous eight records. Rather Ripped is considered to be one of 
Title: Rather Ripped
Content:  Rather Ripped was released on June 13, 2006 and completed Sonic Youth's contract with major label Geffen Records, which also released the band's previous eight albums. The UK edition of the album includes two outtakes, "Helen Lundeberg" and "Eyeliner", which were previously released as a 7" single on the band's own label, Sonic Youth Records. To promote the album, the band embarked on a tour across the United States, starting at New York's famed CBGB on June 13, 2006, where the band had not performed since 1992, and ending at the Bank of America Pavilion in Boston on September 3, 2006. Bassist Mark Ibold, formerly of the indie rock band Pavement, joined the band as part of the touring group. Upon release, Rather Ripped peaked at No. 71 on 
Title: Rather Ripped
Content:  Rather Ripped is the follow-up to Sonic Youth's 2004 album Sonic Nurse and the band's first record after the departure of multi-instrumentalist Jim O'Rourke, who joined the group as a fifth member in 1999. According to guitarist Lee Ranaldo, O'Rourke left the band to pursue film work and other recording projects. His departure affected the sound of Rather Ripped, with singer and guitarist Thurston Moore stating that the new record "is just a far more straight up rock and roll album", in contrast to the "darker, twisted, complex quality" of O'Rourke's contributions. Partially inspired by the streamlined approach taken by Blondie for their 1978 
Title: Rather Ripped
Content:  Pitchfork Media felt that the second half of the album was weaker than the first and criticized the lyrics of the closer "Or". AllMusic reviewer Heather Phares remarked that the band's playing can occasionally outpace their songwriting, but nevertheless judged Rather Ripped as "a solidly good album" that "shows that Sonic Youth is still in a comfortable yet creative groove, not a rut". Rather Ripped was ranked 12th in The Village Voices 2006 Pazz & Jop critics' poll and 13th in The Wires annual critics' poll. Rolling Stone editors ranked the album third on their Top 50 Albums of 2006 list, while Pitchfork ranked it 43rd on a similar list.
Title: Rather Ripped
Content:  feels like Sonic Youth are taking all the instrumental tricks they've learned over the years and putting them in the service of building a lasting landscape of guitar sounds, one that reverberates with the sounds of the past but also feels eternally youthful". Lyrically, Rather Ripped deals with melancholic topics about adultery, sexual frustration and infidelity. In the opening track, "Reena", whose working title was "Stonesy", singer and bassist Kim Gordon is involved in a secondary relationship with a woman. Lead single "Incinerate" is built on a conventional love-as-fire metaphor, while "What a Waste" attributes sexual lust. "Pink Steam", which 
Title: Rather Ripped
Content:  still knock out a noisy punk stomper when the mood strikes" like on the track "Sleepin Around", the cleaner and quieter melodies are the ones that "really rip up your emotions". Slants Jimmy Newlin stated similar pros, noting that "quiet is the new loud", and felt that the band's shift towards romantic poignancy was "a welcome growth as the band advances well into its second decade of existence". Other reviews were less enthusiastic. Spin editor Joe Gross criticized Rather Ripped for its lack of expansive songs, stating that the album "is about three- or four-minute songcraft—never the highlight of their résumé, even when [Gordon] lends her singular rasp". Brandon Stosuy 
Title: Rather Ripped
Content:  lyrics, stating that "his Beat-style poetry is especially evocative, and especially terse—a quality that fits well with an album that musically seems to be doing much the same, communicating a lot with a little". Similarly, Dave Simpson of The Guardian felt that the band reinvented themselves with poppier songs, calling Rather Ripped "an extraordinary state of affairs in Sonic Youth's 25th year". Writing for Rolling Stone, Rob Sheffield highlighted Moore's guitar playing for giving the album "a sense of emotional urgency" and considered "Incinerate" and "Pink Steam" some of the album's highlights. Gordon's vocal delivery was widely praised, with Ben Ratliff of The New York Times comparing it favorably to The 

Question: Who is the author of Rather Ripped?
Answer: Sonic Youth.
SY.