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 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.

Critical reception

In recent years, Painful has become regarded as a significant step for Yo La Tengo in their discography. In a biography of the band, AllMusic's Mark Deming dubbed it "their first masterpiece", seeing it push them "in a multitude of new directions, significantly expanding [their] palette of sounds and textures." Reflecting on it in a 20th anniversary review, Spectrum Culture's Rodger Coleman called it "revelatory, ageless and sublime." He saw it as the album "where they first came together as a real band," as well as showing "a substantial refinement of sound and approach."

Track listing

Personnel