See a Little Light: The Trail of Rage and Melody Review

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(More customer reviews)After creating many excellent songs and albums while a member of Husker Du, Sugar, and as a solo artist, Bob Mould comes through with another winner in his 2011 autobiography, "See a Little Light: The Trail or Rage and Melody", co-written with Michael Azerrad (author of the widely praised "Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground 1981-1991"). Bob recounts his own history, both personal and professional, in a mostly chronological, easy-to-read manner. On the personal (non-music) side, Bob explains his struggles with growing up as a gay person in a dysfunctional family in a small, rural town, his three primary, long-term romantic relationships, his quitting cold turkey both drinking and cigarettes about a decade apart, his body image issues, his 7 month foray as a creative consultant with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in 1999-2000, and his coming of age and full self-acceptance as gay man that gradually increased in the late 1990s and fully bloomed in the mid-2000s. On the musical side, Bob discusses his early interest in music from 45 RPM singles he received as a young child, moving to the Twin Cities for college and (fairly quickly) forming Husker Du with like-minded musicians Grant Hart and Greg Norton, the musical evolution Husker Du went through from their formation in 1979 to their dissolution in January 1988 (with the band's break-up, at least from Bob Mould's point of view, chronicled in a story I had not read or heard about before), the varying personal circumstances between the creation of the two albums released in his first part of his solo career, the mostly positive highs, especially early on, of his time playing in Sugar with David Barbe and Malcolm Travis, and the various aspects of the second part of his solo career, ranging from his go-it-alone approach to his late 1990s albums (the eponymous Hubcap album and "The Last Dog and Pony Show") to his boredom with alternative rock and interest in electronica to ultimately finding a balance between loud guitar rock, singer-songwriter material, and electronic music in his mid-to-late 2000s albums, starting with 2005's "Body of Song". At least to this reader, Bob was able to find a good balance between talking about Bob Mould the musician and Bob Mould the human being, and perhaps the most striking thing about the book is how much Bob has grown as a person and gained self-acceptance, happiness, and comfort with who he is during his life, especially since about 2004. "See a Little Light" is an engrossing read, and I was able to read the entire book within a 24 hour period between the time it came in the mail until the time I finished it.
One final thought: in this reviewer's opinion, this book is a better and much easier to read book than Andrew Earles' Husker Du biography that was published in late 2010. Not only does this book cover a broader scope in the musical (not to mention personal) life of one Husker Du's members, rather than (mostly) covering just the 1979-1987 Husker Du period, and not only is it written from a first-person point of view rather than a third-person point of view, but it is also edited much better, avoiding the frequent repeating of stories and information that plagued Mr. Earles' book.
If you have any interest in Bob Mould as a musician, or even in Bob Mould as a "non-stereotypical" gay man (with this reviewer speaking as a heterosexual male), this book is well worth picking up.

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The long-awaited, full-force autobiography of American punk music hero, Bob MouldBob Mould stormed into America's punk rock scene in 1979, when clubs across the country were filling with kids dressed in black leather and torn denim, packing in to see bands like the Ramones, Black Flag, and the Dead Kennedys. Hardcore punk was a riot of jackhammer rhythms, blistering tempos, and bottomless aggression. And at its center, a new band out of Minnesota called Hüsker Dü was bashing out songs and touring the country on no money, driven by the inspiration of guitarist and vocalist Bob Mould. Their music roused a generation.From the start, Mould wanted to make Hüsker Dü the greatest band in the world - faster and louder than the hardcore standard, but with melody and emotional depth. In SEE A LITTLE LIGHT, Mould finally tells the story of how the anger and passion of the early hardcore scene blended with his own formidable musicianship and irrepressible drive to produce some of the most important and influential music of the late 20th century. For the first time, Mould tells his dramatic story, opening up to describe life inside that furnace and beyond. Revealing the struggles with his own homosexuality, the complexities of his intimate relationships, as well as his own drug and alcohol addiction, Mould takes us on a whirlwind ride through achieving sobriety, his acclaimed solo career, creating the hit band Sugar, a surprising detour into the world of pro wrestling, and most of all, finally finding his place in the world.A classic story of individualism and persistence, Mould's autobiography is an open account of the rich history of one of the most revered figures of punk, whose driving force altered the shape of American music.

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