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Album Details
- Artist: Bob Mould
- Album: Workbook
- Label: Virgin
- Year of Release: 1988
- ME Rating: Indie Classic
- Reviewed by: dscanland on 2004-08-26
RecommendThose who know of Bob Mould know him and love him. He was one of the geniuses behind the very influential Husker Du. Once Husker Du broke up Mould would resort to a couple of very personal solo albums, Workbook being the first. If you lost track of Husker Du before their highly underrated Candy Apple Grey then you may not realize the personal nature of songwriting that Bob is capable of. Workbook hit the streets in 1989 to some fairly unsuspecting fans. His heavy guitars were set aside (later to be brought out in Sugar) in favor of his highly melodic acoustic. Workbook is an album that starts out strong and wanes a little near the end but when you have songs as strong as "Heartbreak A Stranger" involved, it's hard to keep consistency. It is probably one of the most beautiful rock ballads that I have ever heard, one of the one's that send shivers down your spine. The albums starts out with a gentle instrumental called "Sunspots" showcasing some of the guitar you can expect throughout the rest of the album. "Wishing Well" is a bit more upbeat and even contains some strings. Then on "See A Little Light" we do as the song says. Mould starts to get a little brighter at this point, only to be brought down by "Poison Years" a bit of a bitter track, although brilliant. When we get to "Brasilia Crossed With Trenton" it almost sounds like Bob is a folky shooting for a more rock sound. It's a brilliant 3/4 song that has a bit of a Gordon Lightfoot feel to it. Another nice upbeat track is "Lonely Afternoons". Of course Mr. Mould couldn't refrain from turning up the amps. We get escorted out of the album with the rocking "Whichever Way The Wind Blows". If you are interested in Mould's solo output, start here and then head over to his self-titled release that came out on Rykodisc back in 1996. Bob Mould is a musician that should never be forgotten about. His output is always solid.
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on 2009-08-21 ToddLevinsonFrank Said:
The collision of acoustic guitars layered over crashing drums& the dynamics of loud moments and quiet ones living on either side of a wall but under the same roof of a song. The haunted whine of his vocals and harmonies; the crispy but not-too-slick production. This album has it all.
This album has texture. It has moods. And the cool album cover, with the blue title lettering that Ive always thought matches the music perfectly. Oh yea, and great songwriting. The songs are strong, without which the rest of what I described wouldnt mean a damn thing.
Workbook has a 2-minute instrumental intro track ( Sunspots ) that leads nicely into the first actual song (track 2 Wishing Well ) and it really sounds like a perfectly placed first song, if that makes sense. The occasional string arrangements are always haunting, never cheesy. And you really cant go wrong with such great song titles as Sinners and Their Repentances and Compositions for the Young and Old. Sure, the last track is a bit of a throwaway for me; its D-tuned distortion and screaming seem a bit out of place& but its a sonic blast to remind us that despite all the acoustic guitars laying around in his living room, Bob Mould still rocked like Nirvana before Nirvana existed.
Ive never really been into Husker Du or Sugar (Moulds two bands that sandwich his early solo stuff), but Ive loved this Workbook album since I was working in a record store when it was released and was lucky enough to be introduced to it.
So I made a point to meet up with it again and it seems we still get along quite well.
Rating: 9/10
