File Under: Easy Listening

Editorial Reviews
From the Label
The ongoing emotional saga of Sugar continues with FU:EL, the power trio's third album and one that bristles with the confidence of a band reaching yet another creative peak. From the adrenalin-charged opening salvo of "Gift" to the moody, emotionally draining farewell of "Explode And Make Up," and the pieces of pop strewn within, Bob Mould's multilayered production brings it all to life with clarity and force.

This third outing of Bob Mould's popcore band has blazed a trail across the alternative landscape, scorching all that it touches. Produced by Mould and recorded in and around Austin, Texas, FILE UNDER: EASY LISTENING may not be as harrowing as its predecessor, BEASTER, but it's just as potent. The high-octane opening track, "Gift," and the disc's first single, the appropriately-named pop gem "Your Favorite Thing," find an unusually optimistic Mould looking on the bright side of life....or so it seems. Lurking beneath the bright, metallic guitar sheen, pounding drums, and tuneful vocals is the kind of ominous undercurrent Mould is famous for.

FILE UNDER: EASY LISTENING has its fun and playful moments -- the allegorical "Gee Angel" and the satirical "Granny Cool" -- and a few surreal, poetic respites such as "Panama City Motel." But, ultimately, the album deals in the hard-won, cathartic rewards found in heart-wrenching tunes like "Can't Help You Anymore" and "Believe What You're Saying." Mould masterfully interweaves acoustic and electric guitar textures over Barbe and Travis' sturdy rhythmic foundation, until his tortured vocals are engulfed by waves of distorion and stinging lead lines on the final cut, "Explode and Make Up."

In part, the album also reflects Mould's admiration for the "low-tech" underground of bands such as Sebadoh and Guided By Voices. After an abortive attempt to make FU:EL in a large studio (the original tapes were purposely erased by Mould), he returned to Texas and went for a more spontaneous production style. "I learned to stop obsessing over every note," he explained. "Instead I said, what does the guitar sound like in this room? What does my voice sound like singing this song? Great, put it on. What that approach does is to push the song up front." It also makes for an album that may be the warmest-sounding of Sugar's three initial releases.

Exceeding and defying expectations -- something Mould helped teach a generation of punks about in the 80's -- has quickly become one of Sugar's trademarks. If COPPER BLUE was Mould's commercial vindication, and BEASTER a reminder that real artists don't always play by commercial rules, then FILE UNDER: EASY LISTENING is proof that with timeless music the two go hand in hand. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Average customer rating:

A great pop underground album which falls short of classic - chances are you'll really like it! - 4.5 stars

Not as good as "Copper Blue," but how many albums are?

Buy Gym Bear DJ Bob Mould's blistering guitar riffs

i'd like this more, but there's some songs in the way

Vapor Trail

File Under: Easy Listening
Sugar
Manufacturer: Rykodisc
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music
General | Rock | Styles | Music
Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music
General | Easy Listening | Pop | Styles | Music
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Similar Items:

Copper Blue

Beaster

Besides

Workbook

Bob Mould

ASIN: B0000009P4
Release Date: 1994-09-06

Tracks:

Gift
Company Book
Your Favorite Thing
What You Want It To Be
Gee Angel
Panama City Motel
Can't Help You Anymore
Granny Cool
Believe What You're Saying
Explode And Make Up

Product Description

Excellent condition, includes the original CD, case, and paperwork, fast shipped, ask me for my CD List! :D

Customer Reviews:

A great pop underground album which falls short of classic - chances are you'll really like it! - 4.5 stars.......2006-01-12

Sugar is basically made up of ex-Husker Du guitar and vocalist Bob Mould. Sugar's "File Under: Easy Listening" is a pretty intense record musically - it's essentially just noisy hard rockin' guitars that more or less overshadow the vocals. You can still hear the singer, but you definitely will have no idea what he's saying a good amount of the time. Even though the album is essentially just a bunch of noise, you can still pick out a great sense of melody, rhythm and beat here. I don't have any idea who else to compare Sugar too, so that's a good thing I suppose. I honestly have no idea what else to say here except that most of the songs sound pretty similar to one another. The standout tracks are easily "Gee Angel" and "Your Favorite Thing" as they have "hit" written all over them, though every song here is very good. It's not a classic, but it comes close (I would argue that it's not because all the songs sound relatively similar, and the singer's voice isn't perfect). All in all, however, this is still highly recommended!

Highlights include:
the entire album!

Not as good as "Copper Blue," but how many albums are?.......2005-11-28

While certainly not as good as "Copper Blue," "File Under: Easy Listening," nevertheless, stands up on its own. I enjoyed reading the fifteen prior reviews, because they're all over the place for what I consider to be an all-around solid album. Additionally, no one seems to agree with me that "Panama City Motel" is clearly the best track on the album, and as good as anything on "Copper Blue."

FU: EL consists of a number of good songs ("Gift," "Company Book," "Believe What You're Saying," and "Explode and Make Up"); one very good song ("Your Favorite Thing" -- elevated by that catchy guitar riff); and one great song (the aforementioned "Panama City Motel"). The album flows well, and is alot more accessible than the preceding "Beaster." As I've said with other bands I've already reviewed, I can't understand why Mould would disband Sugar at this point, after only two albums and an E.P. (and a "B-Sides" album, which doesn't really count), and go solo with largely inferior releases.

I wanted to talk about two songs. First, "Company Book" is the only David Barbe offering for the band (I understand the B-Sides album has others). Although not as good a songwriter or singer as bandmate Mould (and, indeed, most of the previous reviewers don't like this song), I still think Barbe has something to offer, and I would have liked to hear other Barbe songs on future albums that were not to be. In sparse lyrics, Barbe tells of the conformist life of a long-time "company man," with the concluding stanza: "In the epilogue the company man/ Takes his company life with his company hands/ In his revelation he decrees/ Extinction of faceless robots like himself/ Spawned from the company book." Not bad.

As I've mentioned, I feel "Panama City Motel" ranks among the best of Sugar's offering. Like the superb "Hoover Dam" (which, if I had to choose, is my favorite song on "Copper Blue"), the story within the song is told from the perspective of a tourist, this time one without much money in his pocket. Mould's harmonies with himself and acoustic guitar playing were never better. I just love the refrain every time I hear it, about bargaining for a cheap hotel room: "But senor I only have ten dollars/ Can't you give me a room for the night?/ We argue about currency and then/ He says I can stay for the night/ In this Panama City Motel/ I am out on the freeway again." Almost a vignette as opposed a rock song.

Please Sugar, re-unite!

Buy Gym Bear DJ Bob Mould's blistering guitar riffs.......2005-10-18

Let's see, for one penny you can get a copy of Gym Bear DJ Bob Mould's blistering guitar riffs on "your Favorite Thing" and "Believe What You're Saying," arguably among his best work since Zen Arcade. Do you, like Mr. Burns, decide to keep the penny? Or do you buy the album and increase your musical horizons with a high delta? No contest here.

i'd like this more, but there's some songs in the way.......2004-11-07

i listen to this album because i like my bloody valentine so much and loveless is a little strong and easy to overdose on. there are some song on this album that i can't live without and there's some songs here that i wish i had lived without.
gee angel is cute andi want to like it, but the lyrics kill it. and then there's 'explode and make up' and 'can't believe what you're saying' that kill me. they're fantastic. these are exactly the kind of powerful, heart wrenching songs that make bob mould great.

Vapor Trail.......2003-11-10

Sugar shot like a meteor across the musical sky. It burned bright and fast and not many saw it, but the few who did are destined to spend the rest of their days sharing their experience with anyone who will bother to listen. Such was the brief career of Sugar.

After the dynamic COPPER BLUE and the ferocious BEASTER, FILE UNDER: EASY LISTENING was a bit of a letdown. Nevertheless, it still has more than its fair share of classic Sugar songs including the poppy "Your Favorite Thing" (which borrows slightly from My Bloody Valentine's "Blown A Wish"), the singalong "Believe What You're Saying," the dramatic "Explode and Make Up," and the clever toetapper "Gee Angel." David Barbe steps up front (for better or worse) with "Company Book," which, if nothing else, did prove once and for all that Sugar was more than "Bob Mould and The Two Other Guys."

Ultimately, though, Sugar will be best remembered for COPPER BLUE and BEASTER and rightfully so. While FU:EL has plenty of pop, it has very little of the conviction and intensity that made those two albums so memorable. In the meteoric career of Sugar, FU:EL was little more than a vapor trail.

File Under: Easy Listening
Average customer rating:
File Under: Easy Listening
Sugar
Manufacturer: Rykodisc
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music
General | Rock | Styles | Music
ASIN: B00008FPYP
Release Date: 1994-09-13

Tracks:

Gift
Company
Your Favorite Thing
What You Want It to Be
Gee Angel
Panama City Motel
Can't Help You Anymore
Granny Cool
Believe What You're Saying
Explode and Make Up

Average customer rating:

Sugar/ File Under: Easy Listening

Manufacturer: RYKO/Gm
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD
ASIN: B0007MYIUY

Product Description

These 10 Easy Listening tracks are: Gift, Company Book, Your Favorite Thing, What You Want It To Be, Gee Angel, Panama City Motel, Can't Help You Anymore, Granny Cool, Believe What You're Saying, and Explode And Make Up.

Average customer rating:

mediocre city
Amazing work from Bob Mould
A great CD at a bargain price
very good album by Sugar
A cheap cutout for a reason

File Under: Easy Listening
Sugar
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Tracks:

Gift
Company Book
Your Favorite Thing
What You Want It To Be
Gee Angel
Panama City Motel
Can't Help You Anymore
Granny Cool
Believe What You're Saying
Explode And Make Up

Customer Reviews:

mediocre city.......2002-03-18

This album is so terrible, it does not deserve the Sugar name. If you are thinking of this as your first Sugar album, I'd strongly recommend Copper Blue, and Beaster over this one. Every song sounds the same, it is poorly produced, and it is a frustratingly uninspired effort.

Amazing work from Bob Mould.......2001-06-19

I can't believe this CD is a cutout! It is so good and a must for any fan of Bob Mould and Husker Du. "Gee Angel" is one of the best pop songs ever. I personally have owned 2 copies in my life and would get it again for friends.

A great CD at a bargain price.......2001-06-12

I bought this CD many moons ago at full price and have always felt it worthwhile. At this bargain price it's an absolute must have. Just listen to track 1 "Gift" - if your pulse isn't racing after the first go round, then you must be dead! Admittedly, the entire CD doesn't hold up to this incredible opening, but it's not for lack of trying, and it does come frickin' close in a few places. Some kind of masterwork, FU:EL is one artifact of the grunge era which still holds up.

very good album by Sugar.......2001-06-06

Sugar's FILE UNDER EASY LISTENING is a fine CD, with plenty of good songs.

You probably know Bob Mould from his days co-fronting the legendary Husker Du. He went on to make some solo records, then he worked in SUGAR. Sugar made an album entitled Copper Blue, then they made this little gem.

In a nutshell, Sugar are noisy but very tuneful post-punk pop music. Bob Mould's music was always marked by sharp songwriting and rough production. The production on FU:EL is a bit tighter than what Husker Du had, and the songs sound about as much like Pixies as they do Husker Du, but the magic is still there.

"I Can't Believe What You're Saying" is a poppy little song, easy to sing along to, with a catchy chorus. It almost sounds like "Sugar Unplugged" compared to the rest of the songs.

Most of the other songs on the album tend towards noisy but tuneful rock. "Panama City Motel" strikes a chord with anyone who has spent a night in a foreign city, feeling homesick. "Company Book" has a different feeling altogether; I think it may have been written by one of the other members of Sugar. My favorite song is called "What You Want It To Be," which is heavier and more repetitive than the rest of the songs on this record.

All the songs on this CD do NOT sound the same. There's quite a bit of diversity here; I haven't listened to the CD in months, and I can distinctly recall the melodies of each of these songs I've mentioned.

Most of the songs here are strong. There is only one I don't like. If you like noisy 90s pop music with strong songwriting, don't overlook FILE UNDER: EASY LISTENING. I think it's an essential purchase.

ken32

A cheap cutout for a reason.......2001-05-10

I bought this when it came out because I moderately like "Believe What You're Saying" and figured I would give it a try. Sadly, that was the only worthwhile or tolerable song on the album -- and even that one now doesn't do as much for me as it did when I first heard it on the radio.

The main problem is that all of the songs get bogged down in that sort of white-noise mush that unfortunately many bands still think is cool. No instruments stand out -- everything is just a bunch of nondescript jet roar.

This makes every song sound almost exactly alike. Most of them have no good melodies to speak of and try to survive on the "roar." It doesn't work. The sound is WAYYYY too trebly and gets incredibly annoying after a few songs. After a while, everything just blends into one another and there ceases to be any "songs" on the album -- just noisy instruments doing, well, *something*. And that something isn't very engaging.

Give this one a miss.

File Under: Easy Listening
Average customer rating:
File Under: Easy Listening
Sugar
Manufacturer: Ryko
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000LYLZYU

Average customer rating:
File Under: Easy Listening
Sugar
Manufacturer: Rykodisc
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000008NNX
Release Date: 1994-09-06