Sugar - Beaster (Retro Review 1993)

Genre- Alt Rock/Pop

I discovered Sugar a bit late. I think I bought Beaster in 1995. I heard of Sugar before this , but never paid attention because of their name. The name made me envision syrupy Grrrl pop, which was very popular at the time. Then one day, I was riding in the car with a friend and noticed he had a Sugar album. It was Sugar’s first album, Copper Blue. I asked him to play it and he happily popped it in the cd player. He went on to tell me that this is Bob Mould’s new band. He reminded me that Bob Mould was the guitarist and vocalist for Husker Du. I was excited. I liked Husker Du in the 1980’s. Their 1984 album, Zen Arcade is still relevant 21 years later. My friend told me he has a better Sugar album back at home that is much more aggressive. So if I liked Copper Blue then I would love Beaster. After listening to half of Copper Blue I knew I would own Beaster within 24 hours. I couldn’t imagine it being better than Copper Blue. The next day I picked up Beaster, and I was not disappointed. Beaster rocked from beginning to end without ever letting up. Bob Mould was delivering punishing riffs over fuzzed out melodies and tortured vocals. You could feel his very soul emanating through each song. It was a special album for me that connected on all levels. There are only about five albums that have ever done this for me and this is one of them. Beaster is still in my player today and sounds just as fresh as it did 10 years ago. Judas Cradle is almost a perfect song. It is everything I could ever ask for in a song. The guitars are thundering and distorted. His solos are drenched in feedback and the vocals come from the bottom of his lungs. Yet despite all that noise it is sweetly melodic. Kind of like Sugar. Best songs are Judas Cradle and JC Auto.

Rating- 9.5/10