Sugar - Classic Or Dud

I'm very sorry about how badly Hart's life has turned out, especially so since in HD I considered him as good as Mould. It's quite likely that had Hart the opportunities he might have churned out as many terrific post-HD songs as Mould. Because I admire domestic bliss more than poverty, and I took from your earlier remarks that Hart's problems the last twenty years made him a Truer Artist, which I can't accept (although we agree that I have no use for Mould after Sugar). Maybe I incorrectly interpreted your posts.

Because I admire domestic bliss more than poverty, and

"Your Favorite Thing" sounds like "Friday I'm in Love", but sucks much more.

thanks!

i feel like building a time machine just to go back to 2001 and slap myself seconds after the opening post in this thread. copper blue may be the best end-to-end album he was ever involved with.

also, reissues in july! and i guess he's touring again as sugar?

He played at Shepherds Bush Empire last night - the whole album of Copper Blue (I couldn't go).

interview

i think j. wurster is his drummer now; not sure about bass

Been saying it for years: Sugar >>>>>>>>>>> Husker

Nice try

Alfred … OTM?

no

Understand that I discovered Husker backwards from Sugar, and while I appreciated Mould's songcraft i the eighties (and still do: Flip Your Wig is one of my essentials) he finally crafted a sound commensurate with a songcraft that never stopped expanding on those three Sugar releases.

Grant hart >>>>sugar
I like sugar but let's get real

Alfred not on the money. But yeah, Mould's pop instincts are stronger in Sugar than they were in Husker Du. But then, he didn't need to fly the pop flag so high in Husker Du, and when he did, it only made that band even better.

I don't doubt Hart could have created as many good records as Mould did between 1989 and 1994.

I love the first Sugar album and EP, but Grant's first two solo albums are every bit their equal, minus the polish, maybe, but great nonetheless.

Sugar boils down to Mould applying the eagle-eye of "Hardly Getting Over It" and "Makes No Sense at All" to vortices of sound.

Any band that doesn't have a David barbe song >>any band that does

Only Barbe song is part of their studio album catalog!

*only one

Yes and it almost negates the entire catalog!!!

Album one, track one ftw:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JFtmMF4UIc

If only the Huskers had signed out with that, brilliantly produced, first Sugar album instead of Warehouse. That's where they were heading.

Mould all the way

Except that it doesn't sound like Husker Du at all. It's where Mould was heading, maybe, but then, it took him a while to get a handle on writing pop songs.

The big mystery to me is how the first Sugar album should sound so good. Lou Giordano, the longtime Husker soundman, is the producer, so why couldn't the band manage a sound that good on their two major label records? I'm at peace with the eccentric production of "Warehouse," but it would have been interesting to hear it with that Sugar sheen.

Listening to MBV was a kick in the ass, I reckon.

6music have been playing loads of Sugar lately, I had been wondering why. Loved Copper Blue, I'm quite tempted to dig it out again actually.

Listening to MBV was a kick in the ass, I reckon.

Irony is that MBV and the Pixies were explicitly borrowing from Husker Du. So Mould turns around and borrows explicitly from them!

Excellent stuff: http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/16862-sugar-reissues/

http://thephoenix.com/Boston/music/141407-sugar-copper-blue-beaster-file-under-easy-lis/

Disappointed eric went on about My Bloody Valentine and "My Favorite Thing" without noticing that "My Favorite Thing" totally jacks "Blown A Wish." I want this bit of trivia to be popularized already.

Copper Blue is a top ten all-time record for me.

I listened to the Copper Blue reissue on Spotify and it sounds terrific. Really want to pick up the vinyl.

For the longest time I assumed this band was terrible, beyond the couple of singles they played on my local alt-rock station. This was based entirely on their albums turning up constantly in used bins all over central Illinois in the later half of the 1990s.

poor Matthew Sweet!

the version of "The Slim" on Besides is amongst my favorite performances by anyone; by contrast the original sounds tame.

looks like the 2nd disk of the FUEL rerelease is the same as the bonus disk of Besides, which is a fabulous set, with another heartbreaking "Slim" to close it off.

Do any of these reissues have Bob Mould's song "Can't Fight It" from No Alternative? What a great song.

LOVE these remasters. Got the download from Merge on the weekend, and am anxiously awaiting the albums with all the bonus stuff.

I assume the remasters are the same ones that Edsel used for the reissues? I grabbed the 3-disc Edsel version of Copper Blue a bit earlier this year. Thinking I'll probably do the same for Beaster and FU:EL later, though the Edsel version of Beaster seems pretty pricy now considering the lack of extras beyond the videos.

Weird, I was at that Chicago show on the 2nd disc of the Copper Blue remaster. I only went for openers Scrawl (who were brilliant), but since I loved Husker Du, I figured I'd check out Bob's new act. About four songs in, I bailed. It sounded to me like tepid, warmed-over Du rejects. But I regret leaving, since they played "Armenia City In The Sky" later in the set.

here i shall reiterate my request for scrawl to reunite

nevertheless, u tarfumes were mad

Almost a year to the day after the Sugar show, I saw Scrawl open for PJ Harvey (same venue). They were even better that time.

I think Scrawl still occasionally reunites for one-offs, but only in Columbus. Really wish they'd do a tour.

OH MAN
Peej and Scrawl? Together? So dreamy.

where do i start with Sugar and Bob Mould in general— at work, every time a Sugar song comes on a Spotify playlist I am puzzled as to why I don’t know much, because i love it.

Do you mean post Husker Du stuff? In that case, probably "Copper Blue" (Sugar) or "Workbook" (solo), maybe. Not too much of his solo stuff has been essential, imo, but lately his work has at least become more compelling again.

Yeah, post Husker. Thanks JiC.

Can't forget Beaster.

Beaster rules, but it's pretty intense.

Sunshine Rock is my favorite solo album (i.e. credited to just Bob Mould). Love everything by Sugar - Copper Blue is the place to start but they made only a few records so I'd just get all of them. Hüsker Dü is one of my very favorite bands, I try not to compare his work afterwards with them as I'm always going to miss some element of that alchemy (similar to the Beatles vs. their solo work or any other great band vs. solo projects).

Copper Blue and Beaster are impressive as expertly sculpted noise. Hooks on hooks too.

Beaster is amazing and don’t sleep on Black Sheets of Rain if you’re feeling loud and gloomy.

"Copper Blue" is where Mould looked at all the bands that copped his deal, from Pixies to My Bloody Valentine, and said, OK, if that's what you want, I'll give you that, and then some. Then, having gotten it out of his system, apparently decided he didn't really have it in him to do it again, though like I said, his recent run is a pretty strong return to form.