Customer Reviews

By A Thread

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I've been a Mule fan since the first album. Seen them twice, once back in the day, the second time a few months ago.

Just got the new album and love it. I love Warren's playing and singing. The band seems to have gelled into a more cohesive unit, and in new bass player Jorgen, I think warren's found his felix pappalardi.

I'm surprised to see the negative reviews here. Really? You guys don't like this?

All musicians change (if they're paying attention to their muse) and warren has taken a turn more towards hard rock, classic rock then blues.

The riffs and songs are groovier and crunchier. That's why I like 'em. The sound of the album is more like a led zep or hendrix record, without being imitative, but with warren's great voice.

The band has evolved and grown and changed. Warren's tone has changed, on this record. You want blues, listen to the Allmans. (who i love as well.)

You want crunchy, funky, groonin' guitar tone and playing, buy this CD!

I can't believe you guys don't love this!

When I first heard Gov't Mule, I thought that they were just a little kickass blues rock trio in the vein of ZZ Top. They had some good riffs here and there, and Warren was a great singer/guitar player, but I've heard better bands and more memorable songs.

That opinion has been flushed down the toilet with this release. To put it quite frankly, this is the best album Gov't Mule has EVER put out, and quite possibly one of the best rock and roll albums of 2009, possibly the decade even. It's all over the place. Barnstomping blues, Hendrix funk, soulful ballads, Led Zeppelin-inspired riffs, psychedelia, and the powerful vocals of Mr. Haynes. It's a fantastic album, and it FEELS like a rock album should sound like. There's a terrific flow to everything.

Broke Down On The Brazos just kicks it. Boogie in the vein of ZZ Top (It even has Billy Gibbons playing guitar), this is one of the heaviest songs the band has ever created (Apart from a certain track I will talk about later in the review.). Warren and Billy tear it up for 6-plus minutes in one of the best guitar duels ever recorded.

Steppin' Lightly is a song that reminds me of old-Mule, but the songwriting and pace of the song works, and it doesn't go into weird forgettable directions like some of the earlier stuff. It all feels right.

Railroad Boy is a reworking of an old Celtic folk song, transformed into something Led Zeppelin would've done circa 1975.

Monday Mourning Meltdown is a fine example of how Gov't Mule has progressed into an amazing BAND, and not just 3 guys backing Warren Haynes. Listen to the trippy keyboard work on this, it's a feast for the ears. And the backwards guitar solo! Just lovely.

Gordon James is a fantastic southern ballad which reminds me of something Counting Crows would do. Lovely song, though I can't place just who it's about though.

Any Open Window is just badassery. You know you're in for some funk when it's dedicated to Mitch Mitchell and Buddy Miles.

Frozen Fear sounds like it would've easily fit onto a Derek Trucks record. While it's certainly the least fulfilling song on the album, it's still quite good, and that's saying a lot.

Forevermore is a dark ballad with some interesting space noises. Very atmospheric song.

Inside Outside Woman Blues #3.....WOAH! Warren lets his hair down with this one! This is borderline heavy metal. If you think Warren has softened over the years, listen to this song. It's just intense.

Scenes From A Troubled Mind is a funky little song with some great slide work. Another keeper from a great album.

And finally, World Wake Up is a dark psychedelic song about how our economy and our world is going down the crapper. It's a fantastic album closer, you could close your eyes and imagine Pink Floyd doing this were it not for the southern accented vocals.

This album has it all. Great songs, terrific playing, showmanship, amazing tones, variety. It's just a perfect album. If you love rock and roll, get this album.

The good news is that the Gov't Mule sound is completely intact. And literally adding fuel to the fire is new bassist Jorgen Carlsson, who's ferocity adds another dimension to the jam band masters. His opening bass line on the first track "Broke Down on the Brazos" is startling, you easily forget that Billy Gibbons is guesting on the song. Carlsson propulsive and innovative playing proves to be the perfect foil for Warren Haynes signature style. There's a little less jamming this time around. The band has never sounded tighter, Haynes vocals never more soulful. "Any Open Window" and "Inside Outside Women Blues # 3" sound like an homage to Hendrix and his legendary rhythm section. Haynes never really strays far from what this band is all about, yet there's new vitality in this intoxicating mix of southern blues rock. It's hard to imagine but this might just be the best work this band has ever produced. Yes, it's that good!

I have heard everything the Mule has released, starting with their debut back in 1995. My first listen of "By A Thread" left me feeling disappointed, but then I realized this is the way I felt listening to all of their albums since "Dose". (In my mind, nothing can compete with the power and emotion of their first two albums.) Upon listening a second and third time I began to appreciate this album a little more, but the disappointment never completely faded. Each song, while not sounding similar, has the effect of melding into the next - like a dramatic movement. There are some boring moments, but things usually shift into an interesting idea or mood and the song is rescued. The album feels organic, much less riff-driven than on previous efforts - though the band has been moving in this direction (at least on record) since The Deep End project. Matt Abts exorcises his inner John Bonham, pounding out the most Zeppelin-esque beats he has ever created. The new bass player adds a raw, pulsating punch, recalling Allen Woody at times, and others, Mel Schacher from Grand Funk Railroad. Warren does a good job of not overwhelming each song with guitar, dropping back into a variety of sometimes-funky rhythmic approaches. Yet, a few songs do seem under-crafted - particularly when Warren goes acoustic. Two or three cuts, quite frankly, sound like outtakes. This is one of those albums best listened to from start to finish. It's a promising, if not undercooked, beginning to yet another chapter for the band.

When I first heard Gov't Mule, I thought that they were just a little kickass blues rock trio in the vein of ZZ Top. They had some good riffs here and there, and Warren was a great singer/guitar player, but I've heard better bands and more memorable songs.

That opinion has been flushed down the toilet with this release. To put it quite frankly, this is the best album Gov't Mule has EVER put out, and quite possibly one of the best rock and roll albums of 2009, possibly the decade even. It's all over the place. Barnstomping blues, Hendrix funk, soulful ballads, Led Zeppelin-inspired riffs, psychedelia, and the powerful vocals of Mr. Haynes. It's a fantastic album, and it FEELS like a rock album should sound like. There's a terrific flow to everything.

Broke Down On The Brazos just kicks it. Boogie in the vein of ZZ Top (It even has Billy Gibbons playing guitar), this is one of the heaviest songs the band has ever created (Apart from a certain track I will talk about later in the review.). Warren and Billy tear it up for 6-plus minutes in one of the best guitar duels ever recorded.

Steppin' Lightly is a song that reminds me of old-Mule, but the songwriting and pace of the song works, and it doesn't go into weird forgettable directions like some of the earlier stuff. It all feels right.

Railroad Boy is a reworking of an old Celtic folk song, transformed into something Led Zeppelin would've done circa 1975.

Monday Mourning Meltdown is a fine example of how Gov't Mule has progressed into an amazing BAND, and not just 3 guys backing Warren Haynes. Listen to the trippy keyboard work on this, it's a feast for the ears. And the backwards guitar solo! Just lovely.

Gordon James is a fantastic southern ballad which reminds me of something Counting Crows would do. Lovely song, though I can't place just who it's about though.

Any Open Window is just badassery. You know you're in for some funk when it's dedicated to Mitch Mitchell and Buddy Miles.

Frozen Fear sounds like it would've easily fit onto a Derek Trucks record. While it's certainly the least fulfilling song on the album, it's still quite good, and that's saying a lot.

Forevermore is a dark ballad with some interesting space noises. Very atmospheric song.

Inside Outside Woman Blues #3.....WOAH! Warren lets his hair down with this one! This is borderline heavy metal. If you think Warren has softened over the years, listen to this song. It's just intense.

Scenes From A Troubled Mind is a funky little song with some great slide work. Another keeper from a great album.

And finally, World Wake Up is a dark psychedelic song about how our economy and our world is going down the crapper. It's a fantastic album closer, you could close your eyes and imagine Pink Floyd doing this were it not for the southern accented vocals.

This album has it all. Great songs, terrific playing, showmanship, amazing tones, variety. It's just a perfect album. If you love rock and roll, get this album.


FREEBIRD

Being a fan of the band since it's beginning I was most interested to hear what the new "direction" was going to sound like. WOW. Is that enough? New bass player Jorgen Carlsson was definetly the right choice and Warren is writing and playing as well as ever. How he does it with so many irons in the fire I wish I knew,but he is THE man. The band is really locked in and "hittin the note".The songs on this collection run the gambut of subject matter and style,and of course Warren has pulled out another lost gem with Railroad Boy,a smoking arrangement of an old field blues standard from who knows where( I don't but I'm sure someone out there does).
Billy Gibbons and Warren trading licks is sweet on Broke down on the Brazos,and Frozen Fear is a bit of Mule style R&B. Scenes from a Troubled Mind is a Warren 'dark' standard in the Life Before Insanity vein with Andy Hess on bass,a nice hold over from his time in the band I suspect. The entire disc is a joy to sink into,so far I can't stop listening to this disc.6 stars!

As a long time Mule fan, I can honestly say there isn't an album they've made that I don't like. There isn't even an album they've made that I think is so-so. I love them all. BUT! By A Thread is, by far, the album I play the most. It is rich with amazing lyrics, kickin guitar riffs, awesome bass and drums (Matt! Jorgen!), and Danny rocks on the key board. I would love to quote some of my favorite Warren lyrics EVER here (so many on this album alone) but I'll let you decide for yourself what you think. If you like the Mule, you don't want to miss this. If you don't know the Mule, this is your chance to fix that. You'll thank me.

I don't have all of their albums but I have been a fan since the first release. I look at this band like its my generation's unsung Led Zeppelin. But bigger in a way...
Every song on this album is positioned so perfectly to create a dynamic both sonic and emotional. They all hit me so deeply.

Some reviewers chastise this recording as "not heavy enough" - or "not fast enough". As if this band is merely a flat rock act expected to play endless wailing guitar leads in between gritty southern lyrics about drinking and life on the road per the proven equation.

This album in particular, has so much range. It's a statement of what the band sees and is able to capture musically. The guitar trade-offs between Haynes and Billy Gibbons is cool on so many levels - the sound, the attitude, the friendship, ... The way the band joins in and Warren's guitar speaks through the spinning leslie cabinet as "Forevermore" reaches new depth in the middle of the second verse reminds me so strongly of everything that I've ever loved and wound up losing. Jorge's churning bass intro to "Monday Mourning" is a swirling tapestry of echos stabbed through by Haynes, Abts and Louis with an opening progression that evokes a lot of the feelings I remember witnessing both during 911 and during the 2009 inauguration. Fear, stress, rage, resentment, cynisism, self-righteousness, false pride - I don't know the exact meaning of this song, and I am not sure how a songwriter/musician approaches writing music and lyrics expecting to effectively convey emotional content like this, but it happened on this record in my opinion.

The reason I love Govt Mule is because, no matter where they seem to land their collective inspiration, it falls in a place that is timely and aligned with some unnamable vibe that I feel in this world too.

Maybe its just what happens in my life but, more likely it is the way that Govt Mule change and evolve - doing what they want to do and reflecting real life in their music.
Their music is very personal to me. I don't tell everyone I know about them. Like a secret. This is one my favorite albums.

Gov't Mule is one of the best live bands you will ever see. Warren Haynes is unbelievable as a musician. As a songwriter, he is good but not spectacular. Hence, G Mule studio albums are not on par with their live shows or live albums.

This album is worth owning, and will be no surprise to fans of the band. To me, Dose was their best studio album, and ever since the albums have all been strong but never stellar. This one is the same. I feel like some of the songs could have been left off (like from song 9 on). Maybe it's just because by that point you've been listening to the album for an hour and it's enough already, but the quality of the last few songs seems to be a big drop off.

Gov't Mule does not disappoint with this classic release. Warren Haynes wields the axe with the greatest of all time. Add to his impressive guitar skills the soulful lyrics of a southern bluesman who seems to have loved and lost with the best of them, and you have a unique throwback to the mid-70's work of such greats as his own bandleader Gregg Allman, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Marshall Tucker Band. But Gov't Mule takes it a step further by giving it a metal edge while maintaining the free will to jam out. By A Thread is easily one of their best albums, up there with High & Mighty and Deja Voodoo, classics of the singular world of Southern Rock Jam that Gov't Mule resides in with contemporaries Derek Trucks and My Morning Jacket merely renting space. When Warren Haynes comes on stage, he's not there out of the band's generous spirit, he's there because he's your daddy. Warren lays down a guitar lick better than anybody out there, and he shows it on a number of tracks, here are my favorite cuts:

1. Broke Down On The Brazos: Heavy bassline starts the album off with a thunderous lament: "Broke down on the brazos, about to lose my mind."

2. Steppin' Lightly: Playful chord progression with a catchy chorus: "One of these days...I'm going to get better." - will have you singing along long after the song has finished.

4. Monday Mourning Meltdown: "If a tear falls in the ocean, does it make a sound?" - a prophetic lyric seemingly predicting the BP spill. On this track, Haynes refuses to let Bush slide into the past, still questioning his political ascent. MMM is a gorgeous track railing the previous administration's actions: "What about all the blood on the battleground?"

7. Frozen Fear: A softer track, Warren lets the target of his poetry know that she is not alone: "Loneliness is just frozen fear."

8. Forevermore: The second in a succession of softer tracks. Another song you will be singing long after it's finished, "Can't you see? My whole world is nothing without you." Warren bares his soul on this track.

9. Inside Outside Woman Blues #3: Now this is a classic track worthy of Jimi Hendrix. Warren lays down some fat licks while describing the difference between the 'inside woman' and 'outside woman'. "Inside woman drive you out your mind; Outside woman ready anytime". This is another gorgeous song with some heavy blues guitar.

10. Scenes From A Troubled Mind: A nicely-paced song arranged to jam on, it ends with a jam session. "Thunder, thunder, please bring the rain, wash away these lies. Scenes from a troubled mind."