Painful (album)

Painful
Studio album by Yo La Tengo
Released	October 5, 1993
Genre	Indie rock 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]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[5]
Entertainment Weekly	B+[6]
NME	8/10[7]
Pitchfork Media	9.6/10[8]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[9]

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 melodic-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. ^[10]

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	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
Track listing
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
Track listing
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
Track listing
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. "Yo La Tengo: Painful". RobertChristgau.com. Retrieved March 27, 2015.
5. Larkin, Colin (2007). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-857-12595-8.
6. "Yo La Tengo: Painful". Entertainment Weekly: 54. October 8, 1993.
7. "Yo La Tengo: Painful". NME: 29. November 6, 1993.
8. Berman, Stuart (December 2, 2014). "Yo La Tengo: Extra Painful". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved March 27, 2015.
9. Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian, eds. (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. Simon & Schuster. p. 896. ISBN 0-743-20169-8.
10. 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)