Workbook (album)

Workbook
Studio album by Bob Mould
Released April 1989
Genre Alternative rock
Length 52:11
Label Virgin/Omnivore Recordings
Producer Bob Mould
Bob Mould chronology

Workbook
(1989)		 Black Sheets of Rain
(1990)
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [1]

Workbook is the 1989 debut solo album by American guitarist and singer Bob Mould, following the breakup of the influential rock band Hüsker Dü. The album has a strong folk influence and lighter overall sound than he had been known for up to that point, although heavy guitar still features occasionally. Drummer Anton Fier and bassist Tony Maimone, both of Pere Ubu fame, served as Mould's rhythm section on the album and on the subsequent live shows. The single "See a Little Light" was a hit on the US Modern Rock chart.[2]

The album has been influential in the alternative rock community: its acoustic elements would later be echoed in R.E.M.'s 1992 album Automatic for the People, while Nirvana's 1993 album In Utero used cellos in a similar way.[3]

In the liner notes of the Hüsker Dü live album The Living End, critic David Fricke noted that Mould had an embryonic version of the song "Compositions for the Young and Old" in the waning days of that band.

The album was reissued on CD & double LP for its 25th anniversary in 2014 as "Workbook 25", by Omnivore Recordings. This remastered edition includes an extra track, "All Those People Know", and a second CD-only disc, "Live At The Cabaret Metro".[4]

Track listing

All tracks composed by Bob Mould.

  1. "Sunspots"
  2. "Wishing Well"
  3. "Heartbreak a Stranger"
  4. "See a Little Light"
  5. "Poison Years"
  6. "Sinners and Their Repentances"
  7. "Brasilia Crossed with Trenton"
  8. "Compositions for the Young and Old"
  9. "Lonely Afternoon"
  10. "Dreaming, I Am"
  11. "Whichever Way the Wind Blows"

Personnel

References

  1. ↑ Workbook (album) at AllMusic
  2. ↑ Workbook (album) at AllMusic
  3. ↑ Workbook (album) at AllMusic
  4. ↑ Workbook (album) at AllMusic