Yo La Tengo Painful

Highly Recommended - "...PAINFUL is catchier than MAY I SING WITH ME, and more adventurous than FAKEBOOK....Yo La Tengo still has a crush on weird sounds, but when [they] add up to a masterpiece, 'genius' isn't even the word..."
Ranked #4 in Entertainment Weekly's list of 'The Best & Worst Records Of 1993' - "...Yo La Tengo blend fragile, delicate beauty with raw, bash-it-out crudeness better than anyone..."
"...Guitars, voices, and keyboards shimmer and glide across pastoral melodies that get under your skin and do nice things. But there's a subversive mind at work here..." - Rating: B+
3 stars out of 5 - "...[They] became remotely sure of themselves...at least learning that, while shyness is nice enough, it can get a little dull."
Ranked #75 in AP's list of the 'Top 99 Of '85-'95' - "...PAINFUL's an album that has the ability to melt even the coldest critic's heart. It starts and ends in one of those odd dream states that really does take you back to your childhood and is all the argument you need to throw out your alarm clock for good..."
"...This is the album Yo La Tengo have waited 8 years to make...A dark, sinister smoulder of an album, resplendent in both ambient menace and often uncomfortable beauty...."
Village Voice (3/1/94, p.5) - Ranked #20 in the Village Voice's 1993 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll.
8 - Excellent - "...how the trio have managed to sneak six albums out already and maintain such a low profile is hard to fathom...."