Bad Moon Rising is the second studio album by American rock band Sonic Youth, released on March 29, 1985, by Blast First and Homestead Records. The album is loosely themed around the dark side of America, including references to obsession, insanity, Charles Manson, heavy metal, Satanism, and early European settlers' encounters with Native Americans. Released to strong reviews from the underground music press, Bad Moon Rising was the band's first album to combine experimental material with transitional pieces and segues. The album was preceded by the single "Death Valley '69", which did not chart in either the US or UK (the track was re-recorded for the album and released again as a single in June 1985). The album was named after the 1969 song "Bad Moon Rising" by Creedence Clearwater Revival. History Sonic Youth was formed in New York City in 1981 by guitarists Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo and bass guitarist Kim Gordon. The band signed to Glenn Branca's Neutral Records, releasing the Sonic Youth EP in March 1982. As Sonic Youth released a number of albums and EPs to increasing critical acclaim, including Confusion Is Sex and Kill Yr. Idols in 1983, several drummers joined and left the band. Bob Bert rejoined Sonic Youth after the Confusion Is Sex tour in mid-1983. The New York press largely ignored Sonic Youth (as well as the noise rock scene in the city), until after a disastrous London debut in October 1983 that actually received rave reviews in British papers Sounds and NME. When they returned to New York, the queue at CBGB for the band's concerts went around the block. By mid-1984, Sonic Youth were playing almost weekly in the city, but its members started to realize that there was little future in their musical approach; Moore later said, "it was getting to the point of overkill". They retreated to the rehearsal room, retuned their guitars and changed their equipment so that they were unable to play their old songs, and began writing new material. Background After a period of intense songwriting, the band entered producer Martin Bisi's BC Studio – implicitly, "Before Christ Studio", which is how the band credited it on the album – in Brooklyn, New York in September 1984. Bisi had recorded early rappers and local avant-garde musicians such as John Zorn, Elliott Sharp and Bill Laswell. The album's cover is a photograph by artist James