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Blue Hearts (album)

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2020 studio album by Bob Mould
Blue Hearts
Studio album by Bob Mould
ReleasedSeptember 25, 2020 (2020-09-25)
Recorded2019–2020
StudioElectrical Audio, Chicago
Granary Music, San Francisco
GenreAlternative rock
Length35:37
LabelMerge
ProducerBob Mould
Bob Mould chronology
Sunshine Rock
(2019) 		Blue Hearts
(2020)

Blue Hearts is an album by the American alternative rock musician Bob Mould, released in 2020. Mould considered the tracks to be protest songs.

The album peaked at No. 181 on the Billboard 200.

Production

Mould was joined on the album by drummer Jon Wurster and bassist Jason Narducy. Thirteen of Blue Heart's 14 tracks are less than three minutes in length. Produced by Mould, it was recorded at Electrical Audio, in Chicago.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic
Rolling Stone
Winnipeg Free Press

The New Yorker concluded that Mould "calls forth his hardest and most focussed music in years ... These tuneful guitar blitzkriegs have plenty of room for playfulness alongside the bile." Rolling Stone wrote that "what makes it jaw-dropping is the precision with which Mould has focused his ire on conservatives, evangelicals, homophobes, while leaving room for some self-criticism as well."

The Morning Call thought that the "blunt lyrics are matched by a furious musical assault." The Winnipeg Free Press determined that "Narducy and Wurster ... are lifers and whose relentless rock ‘n’ roll groove is the perfect complement to Mould’s spiky melodicism." The Sunday Times opined that the album "represents a howl of anger, its muddy production heightening the sense of gloom and claustrophobia."

AllMusic deemed the album "a fast, furious, passionate broadside," writing that "the sound of Blue Hearts bears a certain resemblance to the music Mould made with Hüsker Dü in its physical power and lack of emotional compromise."

Track listing

All tracks are written by Bob Mould

No.TitleLength
1."Heart on My Sleeve"1:58
2."Next Generation"2:20
3."American Crisis"2:28
4."Fireball"1:39
5."Forecast of Rain"2:26
6."When You Left"2:32
7."Siberian Butterfly"2:10
8."Everyth!ng to You"2:51
9."Racing to the End"1:51
10."Baby Needs a Cookie"2:57
11."Little Pieces"2:37
12."Leather Dreams"2:53
13."Password to My Soul"2:53
14."The Ocean"3:56

Personnel

Additional musicians

  • Prague TV Orchestra – strings on "American Crisis"
  • Alison Chesley; Paul Martens – orchestral score transcriptions

Production

References

  1. "Bob Mould on the Unfiltered Truth of New LP Blue Hearts". SPIN. September 22, 2020.
  2. "Bob Mould Unplugs To Perform Songs From His Latest Album, 'Blue Hearts' : World Cafe Words and Music from WXPN". NPR.
  3. "Bob Mould, 'Blue Hearts'". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 24 Sep 2020. p. WE3.
  4. "Bob Mould". Billboard.
  5. Kopp, Bill (September 29, 2021). "Bob Mould Wears 'Blue Hearts' on His Sleeve". SF Weekly.
  6. Horn, Mark C. "Bob Mould Has a New Album and Plenty to Say About the State of the Country". Phoenix New Times.
  7. Curley, John (Nov 2020). "BOB MOULD". Goldmine. 46 (11): 23.
  8. Riemenschneider, Chris (23 Sep 2020). "Bob Mould's on fire with new album". Star Tribune. p. E1.
  9. ^ "Blue Hearts – Bob Mould | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic" – via www.allmusic.com.
  10. ^ Grow, Kory (September 24, 2020). "Bob Mould Rages Gloriously Against Injustice on 'Blue Hearts'". Rolling Stone.
  11. ^ Kendle, John (26 Nov 2020). "POP / ROCK". Winnipeg Free Press. p. D2.
  12. "Bob Mould Blue Hearts". The New Yorker.
  13. Sculley, Alan (19 Nov 2020). "'Blue Hearts' Bob Mould". The Morning Call. p. O2.
  14. "Bob Mould Blue Hearts Merge". The Sunday Times. Culture. 27 Sep 2020. p. 22.
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