Track Listing

1. Act We Act
2. Good Idea
3. Changes
4. Helpless
5. Hoover Dam
6. Slim
7. If I Can't Change Your Mind
8. Fortune Teller
9. Slick
10. Man on the Moon

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #12487 in Music
• Released on: 1992-09-04
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .22 pounds

Amazon.com essential recording
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

From the Label
For Bob Mould, forming his new band Sugar and recording COPPER BLUE, the group's Rykodisc debut, was like "starting again at zero." After two critically acclaimed, darkly introspective solo albums, following nearly a decade as guitarist with the legendary hardcore band Husker Du, Mould was ready for a new beginning. Armed with an exceptionally diverse body of musical expertise, a new batch of songs, ex-Zulus' drummer Malcolm Travis, and Athens, Georgia, native bassist David Barbe, Mould took the plunge. The result, COPPER BLUE, is perhaps Mould's best recording since the mid-eighties, combining the dense, melodic noise of his previous recordings with a sharp, bright, hypnotic musicality. Surging with melody, the album's ten songs are simultaneously coarse and beautiful, a spontaneous, appealing blast of sound.

On songs like "Hoover Dam," "Slick," and "Man On The Moon," Mould's satirical, sometimes nonsensical lyrics create a counterpoint to the songs' evocative melodies and fierce delivery. Yet tracks like "Changes" and "The Slim" are as dark as anything he's ever written. While the opening "The Act We Act" may hark band to his formative years with Husker Du, tracks like "A Good Idea" (a thinly disguised tribute to the Pixies), the boppy acoustic "If I Can't Change Your Mind" and the late-night finale "Man in the Moon" are far different from the work of his former band.

New Musical Express voted COPPER BLUE 1992's Album of the Year; Spin ranked it at #6 in its Top 20 Albums, and the Village Voice Pazz & Jop Critics' Poll placed it at #7. Bolstered by the success of singles like the irresistible "Helpless," the quirkier "Good Idea," and the Top 40 crossover "If l Can't Change Your Mind," the album sold over 350,000 copies, setting the stage for a successful world tour and for BEASTER, the band's next release.

Customer Reviews

Criminally underrated!
I haven't listened to Copper Blue much since my college era, but feel I owe it to the band to recommend this to everyone, as it gave me infinite audio pleasure for years! Bob Mould is a legend and I say that on the strength of his 'Sugar' work alone, as Husker Du were before my time. The songs are of a catchy, feel-good nature, with NO cheese whatsoever. You know you're onto something when a CD can be played from start to finish without needing to skip for poor stuff. A few years old (1992), but this makes no difference, it's class! In my Top 5 albums ever. Even more underrated (in the media sense) is 'Beaster' - 1993 mini-album. Get this too! Loud, sometimes happy, sometimes dark and very thought-provoking. If there was ever a band that deserved to be rich, it's Sugar - for these two releases. I hope they are.

Quite possibly the best CD of the 90s
I'm not much for hype and I don't normally like to use "best" in describing any form of art, but I am honestly hard-pressed to think of any album that was released in the 90s that can match the consistency of excellence, the lyrical prowess and the raw emotion contained throughout "Copper Blue". Bob Mould is one of the unheralded geniuses in popular music over the past 25 years and this album stands as evidence of his brilliance.

From "The Act we Act" through "Man on the Moon", there is not a single low point on this CD. Simply put, it never lets up. This is not to say that it is not dynamic - "Hoover Dam" and "If I can't change yoru mind" are perfect, acoustic complements to the Les Paul-heavy power chords that function as the engine which drives the high level of energy throughout.

This CD is painfully consistent in its emotional intensity and this fact is punctuated both by its melodic energy and its lyrical strengths. Mould's lyrical creations manifest themselves in the form of compassion ("Helpless"), desperation ("If I can't change your mind") and even haunting nihilism ("A Good Idea").

The combination of the raw emotion inherent in the lyrics, coupled with the consistency of Mould's melodic sensibilities and disciplined yet uninhibited vocal talents, make this CD the most emotionally-charged CD in some time. Mould's willingness to bare his emotions allow the songs to move the listener in a manner in which he or she may not be fully prepared.

This CD has not only held up incredibly well over the years, it trumps most, if not all, of what has been released since.

Bob Mould at his best.
In my opinion, this is the best album of Bob's discography. Every song has a pulse but it could still be filed under easy listening. I 1st got Copper Gold on cassette tape after seeing them on 120 minutes. The tape was in my tape deck playing continuously for several months. The music & lyrics from track to track are well-constructed and purposeful, yet, unlike Husker Du, they never veer too far from the mainstream. Get this album!