Takin' A Ride

I remember being at Pat Todd’s apartment about 30 years ago to interview him for Flipside. He had a copy of “Let It Be” by the Replacements on his table. I made a comment about how great it is and he said something to the effect of “Yeah, I love the Replacements, but I think Paul Westerberg’s solo work is even better.” What a bold thing to say! But as years gone by and Westerberg released more and more and more music, I saw that Pat was actually right.

And there’s quite a few solo artists that have a catalogue that can be just as good, if not better, than the legendary bands they came from. Michael Monroe from Hanoi Rocks is one of them. And of course, Bob Mould is another.

Since Bob Mould was motivated by Dave Grohl 13 years ago to stop playing that electronica music and get back to playing rock again, he’s released 5 albums on a consistent basis throughout those 13 years. And one thing you can depend on is this: there’s going to be at least 3 good songs, 5 great songs, and the rest will be just as good as anything he’s ever done in his whole career.  Which is an extremely incredibly high benchmark to have. Bob Mould is the Ric Flair of loud melodic rock.

And this 6th album of his glorious comeback to loud rock is no exception. You know what you’re going to get: loud melodic guitars and Bob’s trademark voice which is basically another beautiful instrument. And 3 good songs, 5 great songs, and 3 songs that are just as good as anything he’s ever done. I’ll let you figure out which songs belong in which category.

There’s a couple slower acoustic numbers here, which normally I wouldn’t point out, but they’re actually pretty good! I mean, how can you top “Too Far Down” from Husker Du’s “Candy Apple Grey”? He at least comes close on these two slower, acoustic-ish numbers. “Lost Or Stolen” builds and builds and builds within its 3 minutes to a big climax. The other, “Your Side”, just explodes unexpectedly in the middle of it. Great stuff. It’s interesting to note that “Too Far Down” is pretty depressing, and while “Lost Or Stolen” and “Your Side” lay along the same lines, there’s an underlying theme of contentment. Is this what his solo acoustic shows are like? I may have to catch one.

The other nine songs are even better with Bob Mould’s trademark sound all over it. “Neanderthal”, “Hard To Get”, “When Your Heart Is Broken”, “Fur Mink Augurs”, “You Need To Shine”, all could’ve fit in on any Husker Du or Sugar records and made them an improvement. Big props to drummer Jon Wurster and bassist Jason Narducy for being there with Bob and also doing such an excellent job on these last 6 albums. I’m going to be bold here and say they’re the best 6 album streak of Bob Mould’s whole career! What an honor!

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