''Beaster'' is

Sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double ...

's 1993 EP. Its songs were recorded at the same time as the band's acclaimed first album, ''

Copper Blue ''Copper Blue'' is the debut studio album by American alternative rock band Sugar. It was voted 1992 Album of the Year by the NME. All of the songs were written by guitarist/vocalist Bob Mould, who also co-produced with Lou Giordano. Musically, t ...

''. However, it has a much denser, heavier sound, closer in spirit to Hüsker Dü than that record. "Lyrically it's so unnerving for me to listen to it…" said band leader Bob Mould. "Musically it's harder, it's a little looser. Lyrically, it's a lot wilder than ''Copper Blue''… ''Copper Blue'' was such a great pop record that I just saw this as like the evil twin." The loosely conceptual work is built around religious imagery, and was even released during Holy Week before Easter in 1993. "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 '' ic' for doing no wrong. I think that everyone feels like a martyr sometimes."

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 '' File Under: Easy Listening'')," wrote Danny Eccleston, "and alongside his solo '' Workbook'', it's about the best thing in his bulging portfolio." "It starts with an acoustic guitar," wrote

David Cavanagh David Cavanagh was an Irish writer and music journalist, best known for his the critically acclaimed 2000 book ''My Magpie Eyes Are Hungry for the Prize'', which detailed the rise and fall of Creation Records, and for his editorship of '' Select'' ...

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 ''Flip Your Wig'' is the fourth album by American band Hüsker Dü, released in September 1985. It was the best-selling album to that point for the band's label SST Records, and the last they made for that label. As the band's first self-produce ...

''." "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." "Sugar are about the turmoil of the interior life," observed ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born ...

'', "which is maybe why an album like ''Beaster'' is best listened to loud on the headphones at home rather than live." "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."'' The Daily Telegraph'', c. May 1993, precise date unknown

Track listing

*DVD tracks 2 to 5 were filmed live At Finsbury Park 13 June 1993

Personnel

All songs written by Bob Mould and published by Granary Music (BMI) * Bob Mould - Guitars, Vocals, Keyboards, Percussion * David Barbe - Bass *

Malcolm Travis Malcolm Winfield Travis (born February 15, 1953) is an American drummer from Boston, Massachusetts, best known for his work with Human Sexual Response (band), Human Sexual Response, The Zulus, Sugar (American band), Sugar (with Bob Mould and Da ...

- Drums, Percussion Produced & engineered by Bob Mould and Lou Giordano. Recorded at The Outpost, Stoughton, MA. Mixed at Carriage House, Stamford, CT * Mix assistant: Tom Bender * Mastered by Howie Weinberg at Masterdisk, New York * Art direction: Bob Mould/Kevin O'Neill * Photography
Sandra-Lee Phipps

Russell Kaye

Charts

Album

Note *AChart placing refers to 2012 release ''Copper Blue/Beaster''.

Single

References

External links

Bob Mould's thoughts on the making of ''Beaster'' {{Authority control 1993 EPs Sugar (American band) albums Albums produced by Bob Mould Albums produced by Lou Giordano Rykodisc EPs