Bob Mould - Beauty & Ruin - VINYL LP

Vinyl LP pressing. 2016 solo from the alt-rock veteran and former Husker Du/Sugar singer/songwriter. Bob Mould says, InchHere's the deal. In 2012, people loved Silver Age (to a degree that surprised me, pleasantly), likewise Beauty & Ruin in 2014 (despite the heaviness of the subject matter, which I thought might be a bit alienating... apparently not. Another pleasant surprise.). But Patch The Sky is the darkest one. After the Letterman performance in February 2015 where Inchdust fell from the rafters,Inch it would have seemed logical to go the punk rock route-an entire album of two-minute songs-but that wasn't where my soul was at. I withdrew from everyday life. I wrote alone for six months. I love people, but I needed my solitude. The search for my own truth kept me alive. These songs are my salvation. I've had a solid stretch of hard emotional times, and thanks for the condolences in advance. I don't want to go into the details-more death, relationships ending, life getting shorter-because they're already in the songs. Just listen and see if you can fit yourself into my stories. The words make you remember. The music makes you forget. But Patch The Sky is also the catchiest one. I always aim for the perfect balance of bright melodies and dark stories. I've used this juxtaposition for years. This time, I've tuned it to high contrast. The first side of the album is generally simple and catchy. The second side is heavier in spirit and tone. Opposing forces and properties. I love both sides of Patch The Sky. At the core of these songs is what I call the chemical chorus-you hear it once and your brain starts tingling. The heart rate picks up. It gets worse-you know it's coming again and you can barely stand the anticipation. Then, the beautifully heartbreaking bridge appears, and you're all set up-hooked for life. Music is an incredibly powerful drug. I want to be you

Ever-evolving artist Bob Mould-whose face belongs on the Mount Rushmore of alternative music-decided to Inchwrite to the sunshine,Inch as he describes it, not because he likes the current administration. It comes from a more personal place-a place found in Berlin, Germany, where he's spent the majority of the last three years. Here, Mould would draw inspiration from the new environments. The theme, the cathartic vocals, and the strings all amount to Mould's catchiest, grabbiest album since Copper Blue, the acclaimed 1992 debut of his trio Sugar. Back then, Mould's work in Hüsker Dü, as a solo artist, and in Sugar helped define the sound of guitar rock in the alternative age. Sunshine Rock finds him doing it again for an era that has ostensibly eschewed rock. Sunshine Rock follows the 2016 of Patch the Sky, which was hailed by Rolling Stone as Inchconjuring the ecstatic rage of his earlier bands for a grim new eraInch and as Inchtight, sharp musings on aging, fizzled relationships and death that are melodic enough to sound like songs of victoryInch by the New York Times. Patch the Sky completed a trilogy including it's 2014 predecessor Beauty & Ruin and 2012's Silver Age. Album Tracks 1. Sunshine Rock 2. What Do You Want Me to Do 3. Sunny Love Song 4. Thirty Dozen Roses 5. The Final Years 6. Irrational Poison 7. I Fought 8. Sin King 9. Lost Faith 10. Camp Sunshine 11. Send Me a Postcard 12. Western Sunset

In the winter of 2019, Bob Mould bucked the era's despair with his most melodic, upbeat album in ages, Sunshine Rock. Cut to spring of 2020, and he has this to say InchWe're really in deep S**t now.Inch That sentiment informs the new full-length album, Blue Hearts, the raging-but-catchy yin to Sunshine Rock's yang. Recorded at the famed Electrical Audio in Chicago with Beau Sorenson engineering and Mould producing, Blue Hearts nods to Mould's past while remaining firmly planted in the issues of the day. Album Tracks 1. Heart on My Sleeve 2. Next Generation 3. American Crisis 4. Fireball 5. Forecast of Rain 6. When You Left 7. Siberian Butterfly 8. Everyth!Ng to You 9. Racing to the End 10. Baby Needs a Cookie 11. Little Pieces 12. Leather Dreams 13. Password to My Soul 14. The Ocean