Shoulda been huge unleashes some uneasy listening for Easter in the guise of the misunderstood Sugar mini-album Beaster, the evil twin of the excellent Copper Blue album.
Beaster was recorded over one weekend at the end of the Copper Blue sessions. Band leader Bob Mould was reputedly at the end of his tether, and this manifested itself in the darkest, heaviest and most compelling music Mould has ever produced. Beaster uses the religious imagery of crucifixion and resurrection as a metaphor for investigating relationships. It was wrongly interpreted by some critics as Mould equating his struggles to those of Jesus. It was also perceived as an exercise in self indulgence.
The mini-album commences with the melodic and mesmeric (and mostly instrumental) Come Around, lulling the listener into a false sense of security ahead of the onslaught to come. Tilted is high octane and ferocious. Judas Cradle (the betrayal) is slow and intense, with tortured vocals - arguably the closest Mould has ever strayed towards Heavy Metal. JC Auto (i.e. Jesus Christ Autobiography) (the crucifixion) is faster but no less intense. In contrast Feeling Better (the resurrection) is melodic, positive and optimistic, while Walking Away is atmospheric, featuring vocals over a wonky organ.
Sugar - 1993 - Beaster
1. Come Around
2. Tilted
3. Judas Cradle
4. JC Auto
5. Feeling Better
6. Walking Away
FLAC Pt1, Pt2, Pt3
MP3
One of the best live bands I have ever seen. I saw them at a tiny club in Birmingham, I got caught in the mosh at the front, whirled around and found myself directly in front of ol' Bob. I seem to remember they played 'Copper Blue' in the albums running order. It was so hot that the colours ran from my necklace (don't judge me, it was the 90s!) and onto my neck and chest and it took days to wash the dye off. Serves me right.
ReplyDeleteOh yeah, thanks for this - it's dark as 100% cocoa chocolate and heavy as all hell. Yum yum.
Great write up of an underappreciated album!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comments, fellow Club Awesomers!
ReplyDeleteI just got a car and it only has a cd-player, so I had to dig into the dusty and rarely used cd-shelf for driving music, and Beaster has been locked in the cd player ever since. Always a favorite, but just incredible to realize that it holds up THAT good. Amazing record, thanks for the writeup
ReplyDeleteGoogled "Beaster" "Sugar" "Underrated" and came here because I was thinking the same thing.
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