Beaster Explained

Beaster
Type:studio
Artist:Sugar
Cover:Sugar_Beaster.jpg
Released:April 6, 1993
Studio:The Outpost, Stoughton, Massachusetts
Genre:Alternative rock
Length:30:51
Label:Creation, Rykodisc
CRELP 153
Producer:Bob Mould, Lou Giordano
Prev Title:Copper Blue
Prev Year:1992
Next Year:1994

Beaster is a 1993 mini-album by Sugar. Its songs were recorded at the same time as the band's acclaimed first album, Copper Blue. However, Beaster has a much denser, heavier sound, closer in spirit to frontman Bob Mould's earlier band Hüsker Dü than to Copper Blue.[1] "Lyrically it's so unnerving for me to listen to it…" said Mould. "Musically it's harder, it's a little looser. Lyrically, it's a lot wilder than Copper BlueCopper Blue was such a great pop record that I just saw this as like the evil twin."[2]

The loosely conceptual work is built around religious imagery, and was even released during Holy Week before Easter in 1993.[3] "I still don't know what it's all about," said Mould after its release. "The Jesus thing everybody picks up on – those are words that are not used lightly. Just the notion of somebody who can do no wrong who eventually gets hung for doing no wrong. I think that everyone feels like a martyr sometimes."[4]

Background

Bob Mould said of Beaster:

Reception

"Audibly a disciple of Hendrix, McGuinn and Page, and propelled by the supreme engine room of bassist David Barbe and drummer Malcolm Travis, Mould's sound is dense but never turgid," wrote Mat Snow for Q. "Better still, his melodic instinct to head for the heights of epiphany remains intact; though on the face of it not a song here should raise even the thinnest wintry smile, tune-wise they beam with vitality and engagement." A retrospective review in Q maintained the 4|5 rating. "Mould called Beaster 'the bad Sugar' (destined, sadly, to be followed by the 'crap Sugar' of )," wrote Danny Eccleston, "and alongside his solo Workbook, it's about the best thing in his bulging portfolio."[5]

"It starts with an acoustic guitar," wrote David Cavanagh for Select, "achieves limitless levels of beauty in its 30 minutes and ends with the most gorgeous piece of music Bob Mould has been involved with since his heart-stopping solo on 'Green Eyes' off Flip Your Wig." "Rarely has a band rocked out with such bleak intensity and utter conviction," opined The Times. "A vast cathedral of noise and despair, erected and demolished in half an hour flat, this is an album which has to be heard to be believed."[6]

"Sugar are about the turmoil of the interior life," observed Melody Maker, "which is maybe why an album like Beaster is best listened to loud on the headphones at home rather than live."[7] "The dark but insidiously catchy companion to Copper Blue confirms what those in the know had predicted," concluded The Daily Telegraph, "Sugar are definitely The Next Big Thing."[8]

Track listing

2012 edition

Personnel

Sugar

Technical personnel

Charts

Album

Chart performance for Beaster! Chart (1993/2012)! Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[9] 94
UK Albums Chart[10] 3
US Billboard Pop Albums[11] 130
US Billboard Heatseekers Albums4
US Billboard Heatseekers Albums8
US Billboard Independent Albums46

Note

Single

Chart performance for singles from Beaster! Title! Chart (1993)! Peak
position
"Tilted" b/w "JC Auto (Live)" (Limited edition 7")UK Singles Chart48

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Bogdanov. Vladimir. Thomas Erlewine. Stephen. Woodstra. Chris. All Music Guide: The Definitive Guide to Popular Music. 2001. Backbeat Books/All Media Guide. San Francisco. 9780879306274. 370. 4th. 7 March 2016.
  2. David. Cavanagh. Sidewalking. Select. July 1993. 72.
  3. Book: Earles. Andrew. Hüsker Dü : the story of the noise-pop pioneers who launched modern rock. 2010. Voyageur Press. Minneapolis. 9780760335048. 220. noise.
  4. David. Cavanagh. Sidewalking. Select. July 1993. 68.
  5. Sugar: Beaster. Q. 117. June 1996. Eccleston. Danny.
  6. The Times, c. May 1993, precise date unknown
  7. Melody Maker, c. May 1993, precise date unknown
  8. The Daily Telegraph, c. May 1993, precise date unknown
  9. 271.
  10. Web site: The Official Charts Company - Sugar. Official Charts Company. 2015-08-10.
  11. allmusic (((Sugar > Awards))). Billboard. 2015-08-15.