''Ride the Tiger'' is the debut studio album by American

indie rock Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the music they produ ...

band

Yo La Tengo Yo La Tengo (YLT; Spanish for "I have her") is an American indie rock band formed in Hoboken, New Jersey, in 1984. Since 1992, the lineup has consisted of Ira Kaplan (guitars, piano, vocals), Georgia Hubley (drums, piano, vocals), and James M ...

. It was released in 1986 by record label Coyote.

Production

The album was produced by

Mission of Burma Mission of Burma was an American post-punk band from Boston, Massachusetts. The group formed in 1979 with Roger Miller on guitar, Clint Conley on bass, Peter Prescott on drums, and Martin Swope contributing audiotape manipulation and acting a ...

Clint Conley Clinton J. Conley is an American post-punk musician and journalist from Boston, Massachusetts, best known as a co-founder, bassist, and vocalist of Mission of Burma. Early life and education Conley was born in Boston, Massachusetts and graduate ...

. Dave Schramm plays guitar on the album.

Content

The song "Big Sky" is a cover of

The Kinks The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, north London, in 1963 by brothers Ray and Dave Davies. They are regarded as one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s. The band emerged during the height of British rhyt ...

' song from their album '' The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society''. The song " A House Is Not a Motel" is a cover of

Love Love encompasses a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most sublime virtue or good habit, the deepest Interpersonal relationship, interpersonal affection, to the simplest pleasure. An example of this range of ...

's song from their album ''

Forever Changes ''Forever Changes'' is the third studio album by the American rock band Love, released by Elektra Records in November 1967. The album saw the group embrace a subtler folk-oriented sound and orchestration, while primary songwriter Arthur Lee ex ...

''.

Critical reception

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...

'' called the album "unpretentious and emotionally convincing," writing that the band's "chief asset is not raKaplan's flat, intimate vocals, but their guitars, which are finely textured and finely tuned to the moody, personal resonances of their songs." ''

Trouser Press ''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who Dave Schulps and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference ...

'' wrote that "it’s originals like 'The Cone of Silence' and 'The Forest Green' that make ''Ride the Tiger'' such a pleasure."

Track listing

Personnel

Yo La Tengo * Ira Kaplan – vocals, guitar * Dave Schramm – guitar, vocals on "The Way Some People Die" and "Five Years" * Mike Lewis – bass guitar * Georgia Hubley – drums Additional personnel * David Bither – saxophone on "Screaming Dead Balloons" * Mike Tchang – saxophone on "The River of Water" * Chris Nelson –

trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate ...

on "The River of Water" * Clint Conley – bass guitar on "The Forest Green," "The Empty Pool," and "Alrock's Bells" * Dave Rick – bass guitar on "The River of Water" and "A House Is Not a Motel" Technical * Ken French –

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad range of more speciali ...

References

External links

* 1986 debut albums Yo La Tengo albums {{1980s-rock-album-stub