Sonic Death is a live album by American rock band Sonic Youth. It was released in 1984 on cassette tape by the Ecstatic Peace! record label.

Content

Sonic Death contains live recordings from 1981 to 1983. Many of the tracks on the album appear only as fragments, often with no breaks between them. Most of the songs are live versions of tunes from Sonic Youth's first three releases, Sonic Youth, Confusion Is Sex and the Kill Yr Idols EP.

Because Sonic Youth used many different alternative tunings, but could not afford to travel with separate instruments for each tuning in the band's early years, members of the band can be heard changing tunings between songs.

Release

The album was originally released as a cassette tape on Thurston Moore's Ecstatic Peace! label. It was later re-released on cassette and released on CD by Blast First and SST Records. It is currently out of print.

Critical reception