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Blue Hearts is an album by the American alternative rock musician Bob Mould, released in 2020.[1][2] Mould considered the tracks to be protest songs.[3]

Blue Hearts
Studio album by Bob Mould
Released	September 25, 2020 (2020-09-25)
Recorded	2019-2020
Studio	Electrical Audio, Chicago Granary Music, San Francisco
Genre	Alternative rock
Length	35:37
Label	Merge
Producer	Bob Mould
Bob Mould chronology
Sunshine Rock (2019) Blue Hearts (2020)

The album peaked at No. 181 on the Billboard 200.[4]

Production

Mould was joined on the album by drummer Jon Wurster and bassist Jason Narducy.[5] Thirteen of Blue Heart's 14 tracks are less than three minutes in length.[6] Produced by Mould, it was recorded at Electrical Audio, in Chicago.[7][8]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[9]
Rolling Stone	[10]
Winnipeg Free Press	[11]

The New Yorker concluded that Mould "calls forth his hardest and most focussed music in years ... These tuneful guitar blitzkriegs have plenty of room for playfulness alongside the bile."[12] Rolling Stone wrote that "what makes it jaw-dropping is the precision with which Mould has focused his ire on conservatives, evangelicals, homophobes, while leaving room for some self-criticism as well."[10]

The Morning Call thought that the "blunt lyrics are matched by a furious musical assault."[13] The Winnipeg Free Press determined that "Narducy and Wurster ... are lifers and whose relentless rock ‘n’ roll groove is the perfect complement to Mould’s spiky melodicism."[11] The Sunday Times opined that the album "represents a howl of anger, its muddy production heightening the sense of gloom and claustrophobia."[14]

AllMusic deemed the album "a fast, furious, passionate broadside," writing that "the sound of Blue Hearts bears a certain resemblance to the music Mould made with Hüsker Dü in its physical power and lack of emotional compromise."[9]

Track listing

Personnel

• Bob Mould – lead vocals, guitar, keyboards, percussion
• Jason Narducy – bass, backing vocals
• Jon Wurster – drums, percussion

Additional musicians

• Prague TV Orchestra – strings on "American Crisis"
• Alison Chesley; Paul Martens – orchestral score transcriptions

Production

• Bob Mould – producer
• Beau Sorenson – engineer
• Matthew Barnhart – mastering
• Daniel Murphy – art design
• Blake Little – photography

References

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