Sugar: Copper Blue [BMG]

Why you'll love it

This remastered edition on eco vinyl brings Bob Mould's post-Hüsker Dü classic back into print. NME named Copper Blue its Album of the Year for 1992, and it placed seventh in the Pazz & Jop critics' poll.

This edition

• Remastered
• Eco vinyl
• Original 10-track album

About the album

When Nevermind changed what radio would play in 1991, Bob Mould was ready. The former Hüsker Dü guitarist had a stack of new songs written on a long solo tour of Europe, and he later said that without Nirvana's breakthrough, Copper Blue might not have stood a chance. With it, Sugar arrived at exactly the right moment, ten songs strong and louder than anything he'd made in years.

Mould recruited bassist David Barbe and drummer Malcolm Travis, and co-produced with Lou Giordano at the Outpost in Stoughton, Massachusetts. The sound keeps Hüsker Dü's thick wall of guitar but slows the tempo and turns up the melody: "The Act We Act" roars out of the gate, "Helpless" and "If I Can't Change Your Mind" are pure power-pop joy, and "Hoover Dam" and "The Slim" go somewhere bigger and darker. Leftovers from the sessions became the Beaster EP.

The Toronto Star said Mould's singing had never been better, and the album made 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. The band took their name from a sugar packet at a diner, which remains the most productive coffee break in alternative rock.

Also at Kops: more Sugar on vinyl · browse Alternative

Tracklist

Listen

On Granary Music / BMG (cat# 964211111), a reissue of the 1992 album.