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File Under: Easy Listening
Studio album by Sugar
Released	September 6, 1994
Recorded	1994
Genre	Alternative rock
Length	39:58
Label	Rykodisc, Creation Records
Producer	Bob Mould
Sugar chronology
Beaster (1993) File Under: Easy Listening (1994) Besides (1995)
Singles from File Under: Easy Listening
"Your Favorite Thing" Released: 1994 "Believe What You're Saying" Released: 1994 "Gee Angel" Released: 1995

File Under: Easy Listening (also known as F.U.E.L.) is the second (not counting the EP Beaster) and final studio album by Sugar.

Background

Primary songwriter Bob Mould discussed material written after Beaster in 1993: "It's pretty punk rock. Not real fast, just pretty basic. A lot of it's really vocal-y. Really beautiful and really harmonic, but it's real piledriving… Weird chord changes underneath real traditional vocal lines. So I think it'll be somewhere between these last two records. Also, I'm really starting to hate guitar solos, so I'm trying to avoid them. I'm bending a lot of strings, starting to sound like Johnny Thunders again."

An attempt to record the album in Atlanta proved abortive. "There were seventeen songs done," said Mould. "There were some vocals left to do, and that was it. But it wasn't satisfying me. I erased everything. What are you going to do – keep the tapes on a shelf somewhere? Like you'd ever go into that room again. 'Yes: there is my abject failure.' It's poison – get it out of your life."

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
The A.V. Club	B
Entertainment Weekly	A
The Guardian
NME	9/10
Pitchfork	7.8/10
Q
Rolling Stone
Select	4/5
The Village Voice	A

"F.U.E.L. finds former Hüsker Dü man Bob Mould exorcising more demons over a structured barrage of pop noises," observed Steve Lamacq in Q. "The sounds and textures come from the dark, brooding Beaster while the melodies are lifted from the poppier Copper Blue."

"File Under Easy Listening is the kind of title that a third-rate death metal band would come with…" quipped Clark Collis in Select. "Also, there's the production. Where tracks like 'Changes' or 'Hoover Dam' off Copper Blue leapt out of the speakers with all the unrestrained force and tang of a nuclear-powered kipper, most of F.U.E.L. would probably ask your auntie's permission before even turning up… And then, slowly but surely, it all begins to make sense." The album peaked at #7 in the UK and #32 in Canada.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Bob Mould; except where indicated. "We've come to a realisation," said Mould. "For all intents and purposes, it's my deal."

Personnel

• Bob Mould – guitars, vocals
• David Barbe – bass, vocals
• Malcolm Travis – drums
• James SK Wān – bamboo flute

Charts

Album

Single

References

1. Cavanagh, David (July 1993). "Sidewalking". Select. p. 72.
2. ^ Mundy, Chris (November 3, 1994). "Sugar: Turning bitter into sweet". Rolling Stone. p. 72.
3. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "File Under: Easy Listening – Sugar". AllMusic. Retrieved May 29, 2020.
4. Ryan, Kyle (July 24, 2012). "Sugar: File Under: Easy Listening". The A.V. Club. Retrieved May 29, 2020.
5. Flaherty, Mike (September 9, 1994). "File Under: Easy Listening". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved May 29, 2020.
6. Ellison, Mike (September 16, 1994). "Sugar: File Under: Easy Listening (Creation CRECD 172)". The Guardian.
7. "Sugar: File Under: Easy Listening". NME. September 3, 1994. p. 50.
8. Harvey, Eric (July 30, 2012). "Sugar: Sugar Reissues". Pitchfork. Retrieved May 29, 2020.
9. ^ Lamacq, Steve (October 1994). "Sugar: File Under: Easy Listening". Q. No. 97. p. 126.
10. Evans, Paul (October 6, 1994). "Sugar: File Under: Easy Listening". Rolling Stone. p. 87.
11. ^ Collis, Clark (October 1994). "Sugar: File Under: Easy Listening". Select. No. 52.
12. Christgau, Robert (September 13, 1994). "Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. Retrieved May 29, 2020.
13. Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt Martha, Victoria, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 271.
14. "Charts.nz – Sugar – File Under: Easy Listening". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 19, 2022.
15. ^ "The Official Charts Company - Sugar". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2015-08-10.
16. ^ "allmusic ((( Sugar > Awards )))". Billboard. Retrieved 2015-08-15.

External links

• Great Expectations for Ryko's 2nd Sugar Album

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• 1994 albums
• Sugar (American band) albums
• Albums produced by Bob Mould
• Rykodisc albums
• 1990s alternative rock album stubs