Sugar - Copper Blue
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CD Details
Artist: SugarEdition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 1992-09-04
Music Label: Rykodisc
Soundtracks:
- The Act We Act
- A Good Idea
- Changes
- Helpless
- Hoover Dam
- The Slim
- If I Can't Change Your Mind
- Fortune Teller
- Slick
- Man On The Moon
Music reviews of Copper Blue
Music Review: Bob Mould at his best
Rating: 5 Stars
I once saw Bob Mould being interviewed about the success of his then new band Sugar, which, for him, was a fairly radical departure from Husker Du, a band originally known for thrash metal (although they did get slightly more mainstream in later albums). Mould responded that he was pleased to discover that he could write really good pop songs. With the excellent "Copper Blue," Mould demonstrated, in a big way, how he could craft a "pop song" to give it a harder edge, as well as how talented he was on both electric and acoustic guitar. His band-mates, David Barbe on bass and Malcom Travis on drums, were now slouches either.
I guess I first heard of Sugar when I heard the song "If I Can't Change Your Mind" on an alternative rock station. As it turned out, that song turned out to be only my sixth favorite on the album. In the glory days of vinyl records, classic rock stations would play "perfect album sides." There were some records that clearly had two of those (think "Born to Run" and "Who's Next"), whereas other albums had that one "perfect" side, clearly better than the other (e.g. side one of "Led Zeppelin IV," or side two of The Moody Blues' "Days of Future Passed"). If "Copper Blue" were a record, side one ("The Act We Act" through "Hoover Dam") would, in my view, fit into the category of a "perfect album side" The second half isn't bad either, but not really comparable to what precedes it.
The album literally blasts off with the first four songs, which deliberately have little space between them, and really must be listened to together for the full effect. (When I saw Sugar at a small N.Y.C. venue, they started off the concert by playing Copper Blue's first four songs without pause). If you notice, each progressive song ("The Act We Act," "A Good Idea," "Changes," and "Helpless") become slightly less hard and more melodic, almost as if Mould wants to show off his entire spectrum right from the start. I just love how the sound then morphs into the almost Beatlesque "Hoover Dam," which is almost like a sing-a-long about a tourist's contemplative moment while "standing at the edge of the Hoover Dam." If I had to make a choice, "Hoover Dam" tops my list as the best Sugar song.
Although I don't like the second half of the CD as much, I do think "Slim," "If I Can't Change Your Mind," and "Fortune Teller" are just fine, although the last two tracks ("Slick" and "Man on the Moon") are inferior to the rest of the album. Overall though, "Copper Blue" holds up extremely well with age, and has remained one of the most played albums in my collection.
First footnote: After hearing "Copper Blue," I tried to listen to Husker Du and some of Bob Mould's solo work. I just couldn't get into these, other than a few songs on some of the later Husker Du albums. Parts of "Zen Arcade" sounded like sheer noise to me, but, to be fair, I never grew accustomed to this style of rock.
Second footnote: One previous reviewer heard a similarity between "Hoover Dam" and Squeeze's "Tempted." Comparisons between songs are something that I try to listen for, and indeed the tune corresponding to the line "Standing on the edge of the Hoover Dam," does sound similar to the tune corresponding to the line "Tempted by the fruit of another." But the rest of the song is quite different, and I think "Hoover Dam" is a much more exciting song. (I'll give you another interesting comparison that I recently noticed: compare Roxy Music's "Both Ends Burning" to the Soup Dragons' "Drive the Pain," which are both terrific songs).
Description of Copper Blue
This limited edition LP is pressed on 180 gram vinyl and includes specially-compiled liner notes from Bob Mould as well as David Barbe (Sugar), Ben Gibbard (Death Cab For Cutie), Samuel Fogarino (Interpol), Paul Banks (Interpol), and Lou Giordano (co-producer/engineer). The critics lauded the album and to this day their top-ten lists are packed with bands who would never have gotten there unless there was Mould and his Sugar.Bob Mould realized his career goal--a rock & roll trio like Hüsker Dü, only without another strong personality to compete with him--most completely with Sugar's 1992 debut. It's mixed strangely, with little bass and lots of treble, but that gives it a buzzing power, especially on heavy-guitar songs like "Hoover Dam" and "If I Can't Change Your Mind." By the end of "A Good Idea," the narrator inexplicably drowns the woman he loves and Mould's voice assumes a frightening monotone. The only real relief from Copper Blue's intensity is the constant flood of catchy melodies. --Steve Knopper
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