File Under: Easy Listening

Last updated
File Under: Easy Listening
Sugar - File Under Easy Listening.jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedSeptember 6, 1994
Recorded1994
Genre Power pop [1]
Length39:58
Label Rykodisc, Creation
Producer Bob Mould
Sugar chronology
Beaster
(1993)
File Under: Easy Listening
(1994)
Besides
(1995)
Singles from File Under: Easy Listening
  1. "Your Favorite Thing"
    Released: 1994
  2. "Believe What You're Saying"
    Released: 1994
  3. "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.

Contents

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." [2]

Initial sessions for the album in Atlanta were suspended because the band was unhappy with the way the album sounded. Mould proceeded to erase the master tapes and "[recorded the album] in reverse, where I did all my stuff. Then I brought David back in, and we brought Malcolm in. We did drums last, and it turned out great." [3]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [4]
The A.V. Club B [5]
Entertainment Weekly A [6]
The Guardian Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [7]
NME 9/10 [8]
Pitchfork 7.8/10 [9]
Q Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [10]
Rolling Stone Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [11]
Select 4/5 [12]
The Village Voice A [13]

"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 ." [10]

"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." [12] The album peaked at No. 7 in the UK and No. 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." [14]

Original album (2012 edition - Disc one)
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Gift" 4:14
2."Company Book" David Barbe 3:45
3."Your Favorite Thing" 3:51
4."What You Want It to Be" 4:13
5."Gee Angel" 3:56
6."Panama City Motel" 4:07
7."Can't Help You Anymore" 3:29
8."Granny Cool" 3:33
9."Believe What You're Saying" 3:56
10."Explode and Make Up" 4:54
2012 edition - Disc one - B-sides
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
11."Mind Is An Island" (B-side of "Your Favourite Thing") 3:37
12."Frustration" (B-side of "Your Favourite Thing")Barbe5:18
13."Going Home" (B-side of "Your Favourite Thing") 2:40
14."In The Eyes Of My Friends" (B-side of "Believe What You're Saying")Barbe3:32
15."And You Tell Me" (B-side of "Believe What You're Saying") 5:02
16."Believe What You're Saying (Campfire Mix)" 3:53
2012 edition - Disc two - The Joke Is Always on Us, Sometimes (Live At First Avenue, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 2 November 1994)
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Gift" 4:12
2."Company Book"Barbe3:28
3."Hoover Dam" 3:08
4."After All The Roads Have Led To Nowhere" (B-side of "Gee Angel") 3:42
5."Where Diamonds Are Halos"Barbe4:21
6."Slick" 4:04
7."Going Home" 2:13
8."Running Out Of Time" 2:29
9."Frustration"Barbe4:38
10."Changes" 3:44
11."Can't Help You Any More" 2:59
12."Helpless" 3:04
13."If I Can't Change Your Mind" 3:04
14."In The Eyes Of My Friends"Barbe3:12
15."Clownmaster" (B-side of "Gee Angel live") 2:43
16."Gee Angel" (A-side of "Gee Angel live") 4:17
17."Explode And Make Up" (B-side of "Gee Angel") 4:39
18."The Slim" (B-side of "Gee Angel") 8:36
2012 edition - Disc three - DVD
No.TitleLength
1."Your Favourite Thing" (Promo video) 
2."Believe What You're Saying" (Promo video) 
3."Gee Angel" (Promo video) 
4."MTV Sugar Feature" (TV appearance) 
5."Believe What You're Saying - Bob Mould & Lou Barlow (Live On MTV 120 Minutes)" (TV appearance) 

Personnel

Charts

Album

Chart performance for File Under: Easy Listening
Chart (1994)Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA) [15] 72
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) [16] 10
UK Albums Chart [17] 7
US Billboard 200 [18] 50

Single

Chart performance for singles from File Under: Easy Listening
TitleChart (1994)Peak
position
"Your Favorite Thing" UK Singles Chart [17] 48
"Your Favorite Thing"US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks [18] 14
"Believe What You're Saying" UK Singles Chart [17] 73

References

  1. Gerard, Chris (15 April 2024). "The 100 Best Alternative Songs of the 1980s". PopMatters . Retrieved 23 December 2024. ...a pair of acclaimed power pop LPs in the '90s with Sugar...
  2. Cavanagh, David (July 1993). "Sidewalking". Select . p. 72.
  3. Comaratta, Len (September 6, 2012). "Interview: Bob Mould". Consequence . Archived from the original on February 7, 2023. Retrieved March 25, 2025.
  4. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "File Under: Easy Listening – Sugar". AllMusic . Retrieved May 29, 2020.
  5. Ryan, Kyle (July 24, 2012). "Sugar: File Under: Easy Listening". The A.V. Club . Retrieved May 29, 2020.
  6. Flaherty, Mike (September 9, 1994). "File Under: Easy Listening". Entertainment Weekly . Retrieved May 29, 2020.
  7. Ellison, Mike (September 16, 1994). "Sugar: File Under: Easy Listening (Creation CRECD 172)". The Guardian .
  8. "Sugar: File Under: Easy Listening". NME . September 3, 1994. p. 50.
  9. Harvey, Eric (July 30, 2012). "Sugar: Sugar Reissues". Pitchfork . Retrieved May 29, 2020.
  10. 1 2 Lamacq, Steve (October 1994). "Sugar: File Under: Easy Listening". Q . No. 97. p. 126.
  11. Evans, Paul (October 6, 1994). "Sugar: File Under: Easy Listening". Rolling Stone . p. 87.
  12. 1 2 Collis, Clark (October 1994). "Sugar: File Under: Easy Listening". Select . No. 52.
  13. Christgau, Robert (September 13, 1994). "Consumer Guide". The Village Voice . Retrieved May 29, 2020.
  14. Mundy, Chris (November 3, 1994). "Sugar: Turning bitter into sweet". Rolling Stone . p. 72.
  15. Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt Martha, Victoria, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 271.
  16. "Charts.nz – Sugar – File Under: Easy Listening". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 19, 2022.
  17. 1 2 3 "The Official Charts Company - Sugar". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2015-08-10.
  18. 1 2 "allmusic ((( Sugar > Awards )))". Billboard. Retrieved 2015-08-15.