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Rating: The story of Sugar has come to an end. The assault on the world's hit parades has failed. Sugar leaves this final double CD filled to the brim with B-sides as a last testament. B-sides? Of what? How can 38 tracks be the B-sides of a handful of singles? Thirty-eight, at first glance, is an impressive number, no doubt about it.
But upon closer inspection, the knowledgeable fan of the band will notice that 12 tracks are already present, in their "A-side" version, in previous works, and that of these, three appear in two versions, one on disk 1 and another on disk 2. This makes a (partial) total of 15 tracks already heard. Then, if we consider the 23 previously unreleased tracks, where seven are present on disk 1 as well as on disk 2, well then 15 + 7 = 22 non-new tracks, for a total of "only" 16 truly "unreleased unreleased" tracks. Nonetheless, for a fan of a band that releases a new album every year, sixteen all-new tracks are still quite a bounty not to be underestimated.
Disk 1, among live tracks and unplugged versions, stands out for some very good previously unreleased tracks, almost all well inspired and virtually free from pop lapses, among which "Where Diamonds Are Halos" and "In The Eyes Of My Friends", both sung by bassist David Barbe, and additionally "Anyone" and "Going Home". The last three would be worthy of real production and a CD single each. Listening to the second disc, on the other hand, you immediately realize you are dealing with a live performance (hence so many published tracks...!) all at once, start to finish. The band, devoid of session men, spits out 18 tracks in a row without the slightest pause, hardly even allowing the audience time for applause or a shout. Within it are the unreleased tracks from disc 1, there are some - not all - of the band's singles, among which an accelerated and electrified version of the ballad "If I Can't Change Your Mind" stands out. There's the scrambled "Slick", really rambunctious, and the speedy unreleased "Running Out Of Time". There's a pre-final devoted to "Explode And Make Up", the penultimate track also on disk 1 and the last track of the album "File Under: Easy Listening", and there's a finale instead dedicated to the excellent "The Slim", the last track here and on disk 1, but the sixth in "Copper Blue".
The Sugar chapter, for Bob Mould, will close without ever reopening, and this summative album will be the final seal. However, in the presence of sixteen previously unpublished tracks, one wonders why they didn't opt for a disk 1 exclusively of new tracks, and a disk 2 entirely live, perhaps a "greatest hits live". What remains is the essence, namely yet another demonstration by a great rock author, as well as the manifestation of excellent form and great cohesiveness of a powerful band. For the fans, for the "devotees" of Mould (are there any left around?); certainly less suited to Bob's newcomers, although his songwriting would manage to make an impression on inexperienced ears, even from here...
Tracklist and Lyrics
13 In the Eyes of My Friends (03:35)
I don't want you to look at me
Though the eyes of a stranger
Because you might come to realize that I am stranger
Than a fish that never fries,
Than an eye that never cries,
Than people who swear up and down that they have never lied
Regardless, insecurities that others may perceive,
Are benign in the eyes of my friends
I don't need you to see me flailing at my nervous habits
Each one taunting me for being unable to stab it
Digging holes inside my head about what I should have said
Wishing I could find an answer or a little to shed
Regardless, insecurities that others may perceive
Are benign in the eyes of my friends
I don't want you to always know exactly how I feel
I need your help to weather what the epicenter deals
When doubt is held at bay, but the surface rubs away
The sun is shining everywhere, but I can't find a ray
Regardless, insecurities that others may perceive
Are benign in the eyes of my friends
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