New Gov't Mule on its way

RocknRollDave

Any fans on here?
New album due next month. Their first dedicated "Blues" album, with covers and originals. Details here.

https://www.rockandbluesmuse.com/2021/10/01/govt-mule-releases-their-take-on-snatch-it-back-and-hold-it/


Two songs have been released so far, an acoustic (Dobro, maybe?) number - just guitar and vox - and the one featured in the article I have linked to. 

maharg101

Nice - I've heard various tracks from them over the years, but only recently picked up an album - their "Shout!" double LP which is a fabulous listen. What albums would you recommend for someone new to the band ?

RocknRollDave

maharg101 said:

Nice - I've heard various tracks from them over the years, but only recently picked up an album - their "Shout!" double LP which is a fabulous listen. What albums would you recommend for someone new to the band ?

To be honest, they are pretty consistent so most albums are a safe bet, but here are a few pointers:


AVOID "Mighty High" - this is, believe it or not, mostly a Dub Reggae remix album of previous and new songs, featuring Toots Hibbert (of "And the Maytals" fame).  I have nothing against Toots Hibbert or Dub Reggae, but this is a real Marmite album, and definitely not representative of the band or their catalogue!
Also beware: "The Tel-star Sessions" is basically early versions of the first album, so more of a curiosity piece for die-hard fans and "Sco-Mule" is a live, instrumental album featuring John Scofield. Great, if that's your bag, but, again, not representative of Gov't Mule.

RECOMMENDED:
You could do worse than most recent album "Revolution Come, Revolution Go" (especially if you go for the expanded version with extra tracks, as 'bonus track' "Click Track" really ought to have been on the album proper).

Also: "The Deep End parts I and II" - a very varied pair of albums (which you might be able to get as a double set) which came in the wake of the death of the original bassist, so these two albums feature a whole ruck of guest bassists, including some hefty names like Jack Bruce, John Entwhistle, Bootsy Collins, Les Claypool etc..

but, as I say, most of their studio output has merit.

fretmeister

I've only got one of theirs - the 3 disc "The Deep End" that had a variety of guest bassists.

A cracking listen.

RocknRollDave

fretmeister said:

I've only got one of theirs - the 3 disc "The Deep End" that had a variety of guest bassists.

A cracking listen.

Agreed. And, in the nicest possible way (even speaking as a big fan myself), that's really all you need - it encapsulates everything about the Mule.

Philly_Q

I've got all the early stuff up to Deja Voodoo, and a couple of the more recent ones, I was mildly obsessed with them for a while (as I am with many bands).  Warren's a fantastic guitarist and singer.

But I got a bit tired of the endless jam-band live albums and there's a bit too much jazz/blues influence for me... I couldn't keep up.

If the new album's all blues it's not for me.

RocknRollDave

Philly_Q said:

I've got all the early stuff up to Deja Voodoo, and a couple of the more recent ones, I was mildly obsessed with them for a while (as I am with many bands).  Warren's a fantastic guitarist and singer.

But I got a bit tired of the endless jam-band live albums and there's a bit too much jazz/blues influence for me... I couldn't keep up.

If the new album's all blues it's not for me.

Did you ever hear any of his solo stuff? Man In Motion is a bit more towards the Soul vein, albeit through a Warren Haynes filter....maybe still a bit too "jam band/ endless solos" for you, but Ashes and Dust is a very different beast - folky/ Americana-ish. 

Philly_Q

RocknRollDave said:

Did you ever hear any of his solo stuff? Man In Motion is a bit more towards the Soul vein, albeit through a Warren Haynes filter....maybe still a bit too "jam band/ endless solos" for you, but Ashes and Dust is a very different beast - folky/ Americana-ish. 

I've got his first solo album from ages ago, Tales of Ordinary Madness - I really like that.
  
I haven't heard any of the others, Man in Motion sounds like it might be OK for me if the songs are good, but I really hate Americana, I can't stand it (no offence to the many who love it! ).  I'd rather listen to Drill music...

maharg101

RocknRollDave said:

To be honest, they are pretty consistent so most albums are a safe bet, but here are a few pointers:

[...]

Thanks, will deffo check out some more LPs 

RocknRollDave

Philly_Q said:

RocknRollDave said:

Did you ever hear any of his solo stuff? Man In Motion is a bit more towards the Soul vein, albeit through a Warren Haynes filter....maybe still a bit too "jam band/ endless solos" for you, but Ashes and Dust is a very different beast - folky/ Americana-ish. 

I've got his first solo album from ages ago, Tales of Ordinary Madness - I really like that.
  
I haven't heard any of the others, Man in Motion sounds like it might be OK for me if the songs are good, but I really hate Americana, I can't stand it (no offence to the many who love it! ).  I'd rather listen to Drill music...

Ha! Fair enough! In fairness, I am not far behind you in that, but I did like WH's take on it...maybe I'm too much of a fanboy...

I think Man In Motion is a strong album of good songs. Whether the vibe of it is your thing is, of course, all subjective, but I liked it.

ArchtopDave

Always enjoyed seeing Gov't Mule live, and I have the 3 disc Deep End Album. Also I like the Ashes and Dust Album, which is different from the Gov't Mule stuff - saw him tour this stuff 6 weeks after I saw him in Gov't Mule mode, and found that live it was surprisingly emotional.

RocknRollDave

ArchtopDave said:

Always enjoyed seeing Gov't Mule live, and I have the 3 disc Deep End Album. Also I like the Ashes and Dust Album, which is different from the Gov't Mule stuff - saw him tour this stuff 6 weeks after I saw him in Gov't Mule mode, and found that live it was surprisingly emotional.

I saw him at the Stables in Milton Keynes doing the Ashes and Dust stuff. I agree with you - surprisingly emotional.  

Aidanspaghetti

You have to get "Dose".
Unreal.
Got to meet the band after a gig a few years ago and they were great! 
My sons' name is Warren. Nuff said

RocknRollDave

Aidanspaghetti said:

You have to get "Dose".
Unreal.
Got to meet the band after a gig a few years ago and they were great! 
My sons' name is Warren. Nuff said

Oh my, you MET THE MULE?! .... I am not normally a "meet the band" kind of guy, but Warren and the rest of the Mule are definitely guys I'd love to meet. 

Octahedron

I only really like their original stuff.
Don't need any of that "Dub Side Of The Mule" or "Mighty High", that kind of stuff. 

RocknRollDave

Octahedron said:

I only really like their original stuff.
Don't need any of that "Dub Side Of The Mule" or "Mighty High", that kind of stuff. 

Agreed. 

They have a tradition of doing a set of themed covers on Halloween and/ or NYE. Can be hit-and-miss like the dub set, but there have been some decent ones too ("Three Kings" - Albert, Freddie and BB. This was before JoBo did it. And before Bernie Marsden did it.)
But...yeah, I'd rather hear the original stuff.

EricTheWeary

Warren did a QandA on Musicradar many years ago and answered my question ( A: Bob Marley). That's as close as I've got. 

Moe_Zambeek

EricTheWeary said:

Warren did a QandA on Musicradar many years ago and answered my question ( A: Bob Marley). That's as close as I've got. 

Q: General knowledge: Who sang ‘No woman no cry’?

EricTheWeary

Moe_Zambeek said:

EricTheWeary said:

Warren did a QandA on Musicradar many years ago and answered my question ( A: Bob Marley). That's as close as I've got. 

Q: General knowledge: Who sang ‘No woman no cry’?

Who’s music do Ajax walk out on the pitch to? Little known that Warren is a big fan of Dutch football…

Err, I think he’d not long released Dub Side and I asked what got him into reggae and he’d heard Bob Marley and went from there. I might be madly paraphrasing. 

Moe_Zambeek

I have the Deep End and had consigned it to the ‘meh’ box - even Ziffit had refused it - but listened to it again this month and I’m glad I kept it, some great moments on it. 

I also have the Blue Floyd album, which I think is Marc Ford and some of the Mule doing Floyd covers, and it’s a pretty boring listen if I’m honest.