Reviews (page 10 of 14)
This kind of blues can get a bit repetitive to me, but I liked it for the most part.
Very bluesy Great mixing, very clear instruments A nice relaxed vibe but no absolute stand out songs, it's more of a background vibe. But still very enjoyable
If you don’t like the blues this is not for you. I loved the energy and intensity. It sounds like a live album. Muddy is an authentic America original. Only criticism after listening to the entire album is it all starts to sound the same.
The og
Muddy Waters is the best - this is a good blues album, but I think his Chess Records blues style was more unique and impactful, whereas this record is more like polished bar-blues
I like blues sometimes, but this one is very repetitive... it's fine background music, but it's just not very engaging.
Not memorable to me, but not bad. Felt pretty repetitive, but that's probably just blues, baby.
Good
5,8/10 Mannish Boy est absolument génial mais le reste de l'album est vite répétitif.
3,4/5
Good, but quite traditional sounding, electric blues. 3.5 stars
I love the version of "Mannish Boy" here, but the rest is a little less successful for me. There's some other good tunes like "I Can't Be Satisfied" and "Crosseyed Cat", but a lot of it just veers into generic Chicago Blues territory. Still good though. 3.5 stars.
Not rock hard but maybe a medium 3.5 and a semi-classic late career Chicago Blues effort. Mannish Boy makes for a fine, firm start and there are fits and bursts of engorged blues greatness and vigour later on amongst the floppiness.
Don't like blues
Epic songs. Also, very many blues tunes. Fantastic record.
Off the cuff remark: well some blues I enjoy some I don't, this is the former. Though it never blows me away, I think I get why it does some people. Catching me at the right time is important and this time around it didn't, nt sure I have ever listened to a whole Muddy Waters album before and I may enjoy it more in short doeses? Standout track: the sheer bravado of The Blues Had A Baby and Named it Rock And Roll has to be worth something right? Revisit?: Love to listen to odd songs but not a whole album, I don't think.
i've wanted to listen to more blues albums so i thought this was a good one, needs the right vibe though
Great album
Ricardo y ojo: éstos tipos inventaron la mitad del rock argentino Nota: 3.2
Nicely produced but not my thing. Does not touch me.
Muddy Waters is a pioneer of Blues, this was a great record and I always enjoy his sound.
Obviously a legend but this is whatever for 1976
Great blues album, it really defines the genre well.
Blues is new for me! So while the songs blended a bit for me. I was head dancing - it was great.
Blues blues blues
Love the power of Mannish Boy.
I didn't think I liked the blues, but I would for sure give this another spin. 3.5
Classic blues, love it, feels like the brink of rock and roll
It’s about as good as the blues get. Very raw and energetic, and the production is pretty crisp and sounds like it was recorded live. Weirdly albini like. But it’s the blues and it’s hard to get excited about that at this point, to be honest
Maybe just not the biggest blues person? It's fun but I won't be going back to it.
Fand, die Songs sind etwas zu einem zusammengeflossen, hat mich weder umgehauen, noch genervt oder gelangweilt. Ganz gut gemacht.
3.0 Got tiring towards the end, songs just started to blend into one. Blues standards, good in small doses, but think I need a lie down now.
Great, familiar music. Was it groundbreaking? No idea, but it sounds good.
Straightforward blues with good performances throughout. The opening track "Mannish Boy" stood out to me the most. It has an great energy on the lead vocals and background vocals. The rest of the album blurred together for me.
So good! Love a bit of trad blues
It was okay, not my favorite but not bad.
It was interesting to step into the world of electric blues, and there’s no denying Muddy Waters’ presence. The raw energy and the swagger of the band are awesome. But after a while, the repetition and hyper-masculine energy wore thin for me.
Recognizable
A solid ten tracks of stomping Chicago Blues. Mannish Boy and I Can't Be Satisfied were standouts for me with the rest of it becoming a little one-note for my tastes.
Not too bad
I like but don't love blues. Enjoyed my listen and will keep the album in mind when I'm in the mood for more.
This is really well done, just not really a big blues fan
A solid blues album. I don't really know enough about blues to say much else.
Zoey liked it a lot.
Rating: 2.5 I usually try my best to get the blues thing but it’s hard when it’s so repetitive and every song never really goes anywhere. I understand the appeal of just kicking back and having a good time but my brain couldn’t find anything to latch onto. I can’t fault them for just getting a bunch of legendary skilled players together and seeing if magic would happen. In reality, it was fine.
Heard one, heard em all
Never really active listened to Blues, so that was an experience!
I never much cared for Mannish Boy. Some of the rest was pretty good but the blues just don’t get me if it’s not live and in person.
Probably a classic of the blues genre but not really my bag
Enjoyable enough, fun energy, but blues just ain't my cup of tea.
Unrelenting, don't really care for the blues but Muddy Waters is one of the best to do it. One of the best album titles I've ever heard.
I really enjoyed this album.
Good stuff. Very blue.
Meh
6/10
This is was mediocre album if I’m being honest. It did have great songs, but I feel like I’ve heard better blues elsewhere. I have heard of the artist, but I don’t know if I’d come back to the album. Since I don’t love it and I don’t hate it. I’m gonna have to give it a 3 out of 10, But honestly, it could be higher and it could be lower. Not exactly sure but I’m just gonna put it in the middle to be safe.
I can appreciate it, but not my cup of tea.
Muddy Waters - classic - Love the blues
Never really "got" blues like this... I mean, one song once in a while is fine. But an entire album of more or less the same shit is just not for me. But it does have its charm, I can't deny it that...
Good blues, got a little monotonous after a couple of songs
Long long blues
Blues muuuuy norteamericano. Está bien, pero para escucharlo de vez en cuando, ya que es bastante duro.
I like the second one I like the beat
I really enjoyed the first half of this album, especially the opener Mannish Boy, but started getting a bit bored while listening to the second half. This might be a bit sacrilegious for a guitar player to admit, but I can only listen to so much blues.
***A good album
Muddy Water - Hard Again 1977 I like the tones, the performances and the energy. I understand completely why this is included in the list. I get how foundational MW is to rock n roll and you'll never catch me being dismissive of him. That said, the blues bores the shit out of me. I've been playing music for 30 years and like any good rock n roller, I started with the blues, Muddy Waters included. I seem to remember having a Jimi Hendrix album where he just covered MW. I'm not going to claim I could join a blues jam and be amazing, but the mechanics of this style are so familiar, there's nothing that surprises me. I'll still give this three stars because the overdriven harmonica is pretty rad and MW will always get my respect.
I guess I enjoy it in the sense of how it inspired the artists I enjoy a lot, but I don't think I got much more out of it besides that
clear
Solid blues album, but very much middle of the road in my tastes.
Listenable.
solidan bluz
listened like a week ago. so idk
Blues ain't my thing... yet... maybe
Solid Muddy album but Folk Singer and Electric Mud are better
Vibey for sure 3
As this is a full notch below her other entries on this list, it makes sense that it never sold. One's a fan but doesn't hear much here to get excited about – it's all too theatrical, melodramatic, stiff, non-flowing and excessively arty. Her view that it was a "she's gone mad" record shows considerable (and admirable) self-knowledge. It would seem that the "KB is the female Bowie" theory applies equally to the lowlights as well as the highlights.
This offered absolutely no surprises, it was fun though.
Rehtiä ja rehellistä bluesia. Ei omaa lempparia, tuntuu ehkä vähän liian toistavalta. Mutta silti ihan hyvä meno sen mitä levy kestää. Parhaat: Little Girl, Mannish Boy
This feels like something I'm supposed to really like. I think it's fine. It can get repetitive and long - especially if it's meant to be in the foreground. If it's a sideshow to drive the background, it works really well. It's as classic as classic gets on blues riffs, but that doesn't mean I want to dive into the deep end of it for the whole time. I think live would be a different story.
Better than I thought it was going to be, is this the original blues? If not, a lot of copy / paste going on as every song had that stereotypical blues elements.
Good bluesy rock 'n roll. What an opener with Mannish Boy! The rest of the album didn't live up to the first track, but was enjoyable nonetheless. Favourite tracks: Mannish Boy & I Can't Be be Satisfied Worth revisiting. 3.5/5
-Chicago blues music is cool as hell honestly. that harmonica feels like it’s trying to murder me in the best way… i do love the energy. impossible to hate on this really -and yet i will kind of almost try just by saying it went on for a bit too long… like damn. very strong first half though, i’m intrigued by this guy’s over-the-top swag -Favorites are I Want To Be Loved #2 and I Can’t Be Satisfied
Listened to the album while shoveling chicken shit and it felt great. I didn’t love Mannish Boy, too one idea for 6 minutes for me, but the rest was some great one idea for 6 minutes. It really was that mannish boy stayed on that one riff and never went to the 4 or 5 or anything. The rest was great blues music and some of it was too long. High three.
Liked listening to this album, but it felt pretty 1 dimensional. Obviously blues will be blues, but it felt that Muddy found something that works, and stretched it out across the album. Mannish Boy was a trip. Weak 3/5
very pleasant, i kinda couldn't tell the different songs apart but there wasn't anything i disliked. i feel like it would be fun to hang out in a bar or saloon with this music.
Wasn't that a man!? Fitting to have this followed by The Band. I rewatched The Last Waltz on repeat as a kid and it started by (literally) fast forwarding over most of the The Band songs and finding the guest performances. Muddy Waters 'Manish Boy' was one of those. In that performance they have Paul Butterfield playing one continuous droning note on the harmonica (which is fucking sick). The song was originally written and recorded in 1955 but this version is the lasting one. Its burned into my mind in the downfall sequence of Goodfellas. I've heard a lot of "this was the first rap song" but IMO this is it. Closing thought on this song - it is fucking GREAT. That said - the rest of the album did not do it for me. Blues really is just too limiting compared to other genres and to make it work everything else has to be perfect. In this case it fell short. Some of the guitars i thought were pretty weak. Either way, Muddy Waters was more man than I'll ever be and props to him for that.
A whole lot of rollicking bass and wailing harmonica and twanging guitar and mourning blues...over and over. I guess this was a Historically Important Album, but taken out of context it's just a pretty one-note. Seems unfair to judge it now. One star for fun bluesiness, one star for being apparently extremely influential on rock and roll, and one star for a great name. I should have named my son Muddy Waters
Öreg hobo zene
Cool
Pretty good! Sets a really nice vibe, although it is more background music than something I could listen to with full attention. I loved the guitar.
Clearly very good…I just still don’t really like the blues.
It just feels too constrained in its own pattern, a systemic problem with Blues. The first minute is great, it its repeated for the next 4. It gets tiresome.
Good vibe but once you've heard one song you've heard them all.
Solid album but it didn't set my world alight. I wouldn't choose to put this on but wouldn't complain if someone else did.
I like Mannish Boy and the rest of it is good too...
Как джаз норм, но джаз - не моё
Yeah. Muddy knows his traditional blues.
3.5 - some classic blues. Although it got a little repetitive
MW sounds great at 71 and there’s no doubt these musicians are at the top of their game. Strangely the electrification (Judas!) makes it more rock and somehow less blues.
I do like some blues and this was great, a great vibe. Probably wouldn't listen to again specifically but I did enjoy it while getting through my to do list this evening!
Really distinctive sound.
Great stuff!
All of the songs sound identical
Мадди Вотерса всегда предпочту Роллинг Стоунз. Но альбом особенно не тронул.
Muy monótono. Con excelente solos de guitarra
Beatið í fyrsta laginu er soldið eins og trouble með elvis tihihi Þetta er kinda groovy Ekki alveg mitt vibe en ég appreciatea þetta samt
Muy divertido, muy clásico. Si te gustan las guitarras debe ser un disco a venerar. Me guardo "Mannish boy" y "I can't be satisfied".
Not a blues guy but still a fun listen. The quality of the production is really what carries it for me.
One of the greatest. Great album yet a bit repetitive.
Good album. Cool to see where a lot of modern blues got its roots.
Enjoyable muddy’s tone is so distinctive. Very 70’s album production
Not bad but not my cup of tea
Eyes closed head nods catch you just before you fall kind of blues, really enjoyed. A little jammy at the end but great!! And shoutout Mississippi muddy water
The instrumental parts of this album go so hard. They’re almost psychedelic, which is not something I would think to describe the blues as. I’ve been on a big alt-country/folk kick recently, maybe I’ll expand out to the blues as well.
Goed maar niet zo extraordinair
A good album, was cool to hear that iconic first track! Wouldn’t quickly re-listen to many other tracks but I liked it
Sehr bluesig ond zwar no guete aber ech fende nüd stecht bsonders use ond es ged besseri Blues
I think I wrote on another blues album that the progressions felt pretty predictable, which I'm realising just seems to be a blues thing. I wrote that I had heard the progression on Mannish Boy before but I think I can say that for much of the album, they same goes for Jealous Hearted Man That progression on Mannish Boy must come from that song originally, but I've heard it a million times to the point of cliche. I like the presentation of the song but the writing is pretty repetitive Does also feel like they don't really know how to end songs, they seem to all sound very similar outro wise Muddy Waters is obviously very good and I appreciate the enormous influence blues had on music, it just doesn't do much for me (and I think that probably goes for most of the genre) Highlights: Walkin' Thru the Park
Good listen
A lot of famous songs on here I have heard used in movie and tv. I enjoyed it!
This is a strange album to rate - it’s great blues and I really enjoyed it. I understand it’s some rerecordings and new tracks. My gripe is that for 1977 it’s not innovative or new; and I couldn’t hear the guitar. He’s a guitar player right? So why was it buried so low in the mix? You’d have thought Muddy played harmonica. That said from an enjoyment perspective it makes up for it as a very solid blues album
Much the same as the first muddy waters album, easy listen
This album kicks off with a great start. But after a couple of songs it becomes one big blur to me, with a sound totally dominated by fatiguing slide guitar and harmonica. 5 out of 10.
Music that oozes Black American history. Great soundtrack for while I was toiling in the field (repairing the planter box). Love the harmonicas and slow southern twang, but the guitar & drums heavier stuff really cut through. Mannish Boy is a belter of an opening track - gets right up in your face & demands you pay attention. Also liked Deep Down in Florida. Dad - Right up your alley Dust - Worth a go
Normally the blues always leaves me cold, but this was enjoyable somehow. Maybe because it was inoffensive background music to journalling.
Not really a blues listener but this album with its cozy and yet bombastic southern American feel really itched my brain in a place nothing else could scratch.
Good blues album
Love Mannish Boy! First heard this song in the movie Risky Business. Great American blues.
Harmoni🅱️🅱️a overload
Familiar songs, great vibes, amazing voice, stellar guitar work
7/10 This is a really difficult album for me to rate, in part because I suppose I haven't decided whether I'm going to be rating these 1001 albums based purely on my personal enjoyment, or what I perceive to be their musical merits regardless of my taste. There are lots of individual elements of this album that I love - Muddy's vocals, and everything from guitar to harmonica to piano is played brilliantly. Crosseyed Cat or the famous Mannish Boy are probably the songs that I'd choose to showcase this album at its best. The dichotomy for me is that I find it musically inspiring to learn how to play this stuff, and of course Muddy Waters has been incredibly influential on so many artists that I love, but in terms of just sitting and listening to it I don't derive much pleasure from the album. I guess I have a limited appreciation for twelve bar blues and a whole album of it is a bit much, although it does get my head bobbing. Muddy's legendary status shouldn't affect my rating, but listening to this album does really feel like listening to a legend do his stuff, which is pretty cool. All of that leaves me somewhere in the middle of the road with my final rating: ultimately I just didn't enjoy this as much as the albums I've given 4/5. Listens: 1
BANGER!!!!! Fuck yeah
Energetic, vibrant and funky. Ethan & i found it a bit repetitive :( Not my cup of tea entirely but I loved the vibe! Attending one of these shows live would be so fun.
1001 Albums Generator 3 Blues is a genre that has always been a blind spot for me. While I do love some Blues Rock, a la Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix, I've never really found myself listening to blues. It is fitting that the first album in this challenge that is new to me is an album from the so-called King of the Electric Blues. Muddy Waters was a singer, songwriter, and guitarist who was a highly influential figure in the rise of the electric Chicago Blues movement, which gained prominence through the 40's and 50's and began influencing musicians across the globe in the late 50's to early 60's. But while the world moved away from this pure blues sound and the rock it inspired began taking over the charts instead, Waters stuck to his roots and at the age of 63 in 1977, far beyond the peak of the genre, released Hard Again. The opening track, Mannish Boy (known previously to me as "Bad to the Bone"), is a fantastic opener, featuring one of the most famous and archetypal blues riffs of all time. While it does go on for a bit long (unfortunately not uncommon for this album), the power of the riff and the ad-libs provided by Johnny Winter make this a wonderfully memorable vehicle for the political message of the song. While most of this album, and even parts of this song, are very sexual in nature, the chorus of this song is a direct attack on Jim Crow era America, in which black men were referred to as "boy" in spite of their age, as a way to infantilize and dehumanize them. Muddy Waters wrote this song in 1955 "[as] an assertion of black manhood" goddammit, and the energy and passion of his voice, in spite of his relatively advanced age, forcefully enshrine this song in the blues cannon. As iconic as that song is, it is only one of ten. The other nine songs, to my ears, are largely less memorable basic blues, with songs such as Bus Driver, Deep Down In Florida, and Little Girl feeling much too long for my tastes. This isn't even to say that the songs on this thing are bad; they certainly aren't. Every song is masterfully played, with the guitar and harmonica being standouts throughout. Waters' voice throughout is perfect for this music; his energy is absolutely infectious. My body was moving while I sat at my desk listening to this album. However, by the time I finished it, many of the songs had gone in one ear and out the other, even on subsequent listens. A man can only hear and truly appreciate a 12 bar blues so many times. My favorite songs were the ones that felt distinct from the pack. The largely acoustic affair of I Can't Be Satisfied is a nice break, and is surprisingly one of the songs I could most see myself coming back to. I Want to Be Loved #2 is probably the most infectious song here; Pinetop Perkins prevalently plays piano... persuasively and percussively. Jealous Hearted Man features some rockin guitar and harmonica soloing, probably the best of the album. The previously mentioned Mannish Boy finds itself distinct in that it does not follow a 12 bar blues, instead being built around its signature riff, which is great. This being the first new album for me in this challenge was certainly interesting. While the highs are quite high, I wish I was able to enjoy this more. The general repetitiveness of the music, in form, tempo, and texture, make this album one that I may not come back to often in full, although there are certainly some songs that I loved. 2.5/5 Favs: Mannish Boy I Want To Be Loved #2 I Can't Be Satisfied Least Fav: Bus Driver
A true classic, deserves its spot on the list even though it's not something I personally vibe a ton with.
Hmmm blues rock with a slight polished sheen
Some notable songs, I’m really not into this kind of music so it feels a bit lost on me. Mannish Boy is very recognisable drums
Great blues playing, harmonica work is excellent, a little repetitive maybe
To me this feels older than 1977. 'Mannish Boy' sounds a lot like 'Bad to the Bone', but it turns out there's a whole list of songs from the 50s on that use the same riff. (Guitar stuff isn't my area of expertise!) Anyway, if I were in the mood to listen to "oldies", this would fit the bill. There's something sociologically interesting about the first track being all "I'm a man, not a boy" (valid) and the last track being all "little girl! I want to be your man" (hm), but no need to muddy the waters with all that.
I find it easy to take the blues for granted. To hear the 12 bars as musical cliche; preconfigured by a thousand parodies, always already a relic whose symbolic potency is the preserve of historians, presumably. I also find it easy to park my car dangerously close to my letter box, though. Muddy Waters, here in his seventh decade, is perhaps peerless in terms of influence on 20th century music. The man himself is so abundantly present in this record that you’re almost forced to grapple with the idea that he IS the blues; likewise, it’s tempting to read his biography through the stylistic lens of the genre he pioneered (or to take that idea to it’s logic end: what’s music history if not one long call and response?). I listened to Hard Again four times through, letting the ridiculous assumptions I’d made about blues steadily undo themselves like knots in muscle. What I heard on first pass was what I thought I was hearing. Second time through I heard the record properly for the first time. Third time I got to letting myself be swept away by the sheer charisma of it. Fourth time was because I couldn’t think of anything better to put on. Across the record Muddy Waters corals a rowdy collection of players, serving as leader and focal point for the flow of some truly electrifying musicianship. “Jealous Hearted Man”, “Little Girl” and “Walkin’ Thru the Park” get my personal nod (there was a lot of nodding across the repeated listens, truth be told) … but I can imagine it going another way on another day. It’s perhaps slightly cruel to say so, but for evidence of the all encompassing gravitas of Muddy Waters, the live collaboration with the Rolling Stones, “Hoochie Coochie Man”, offers some perspective. It’s by no means a bad performance on his part but, standing beside Waters, Jagger feels oddly, uncharacteristically background. The peacocking rock n roll godhead is reduced to performative cheekiness while Waters just gets on with it. If only he’d have realised; lucky Mick had the best seat in the house.
Just some damn good blues, and the re-records on this are reminding me of this dudes influence. Unfortunately, I'm just not a blues person. Good for sitting in a bar during a live performance, but not something I'd put on in the car or just to listen to.
Arg bluesig, Mannish Boy einfach nur 1 Akkord durch Nach Track 4 endlich nicht mehr Mundharmonika das präsenteste Instrument The Blues had a Baby dings - krasse Zerre auf der Mundharmonika Crosseyed Cat bestes Riff
As a whole I liked it, but I probably would not listen again
I'm not a huge fan of classic blues and this particular album is not for me 100%. But I like blues/jazz and modern versions in general. I listened to Mannish Boy, one of the most popular Watter songs - liked it way more than the proposed album.
Blues etc. I get it but also I was p bored.
Solid old school blues. 3.5
3.0 - Ok
First and last tunes are my favourites!
Really conscious of the misogyny/machismo of the lyrics in this in a way I wasn’t when I was younger 🫣
All blues music sounds the same to me SORRYYYY
lots of heart n spirit
It end up being a bit repetitive. But not too bad.
Lo que sonaría si digo hey Siri pon rock and roll (?)
This is good; honestly, it's very good. It does kind of feel like exactly what I would expect a blues album to sound and feel like, and I'm not sure if that's a good thing. I really wish it did something different part way through the album. It's just kind of the same thing through the whole album. Again, it's really good! But also, *just* really good and nothing else. Maybe I'm missing something. Maybe I'm looking at this too much from my 2025 perspective and am missing something contextually. Maybe I'm not appreciating the talent and skills of the musicians enough. I don't know, but it gets a good not great rating from me. Favorite Song(s): Deep Down in Florida
01) Mannish Boy - 7,0 02) Bus Driver - 6,0 03) I Want to Be Loved - 6,0 04) Jealous Hearted Man - 5,5 05) I Can't Be Satisfied - 6,5 06) The Blues Had a Baby and They Named It Rock and Roll, Pt. 2 - 6,0 07) Deep Down in Florida - 5,5 08) Crosseyed Cat - 6,0 09) Little Girl - 6,0 TOTAL: 6,06 (61/100) Current ranking: 379/487 I'm sorry, but this is just boring to me.
Nice blues album by a real blues legend.
Enjoyable blues by one of the masters. Guitar and harmonica is fantastically soulful throughout. Best Tracks: - I Can't Be Satisfied - Deep Down In Florida - Mannish Boy Worst Tracks: N/A Rating: 7/10
- I want to rate this higher, because I know Muddy Waters is a legend. But every blues track sounds like the same three songs to me. And even those blur together. - I think "Deep Down In Florida" was my favorite?
Definitely not my style of music but I liked his voice
I’ve never much cared for George Thorogood, but I guess it turns out I’m just not much of a Blues guy. Maybe this shit hits hard if you’re walking along a sun scorched, lonesome dusty road or sitting in a Mississippi jail cell after a run in with the crooked local sheriff, but otherwise it’s gonna be a pass for me. And speaking of George Thorogood, he totally ripped off Manish Boy, so I guess I can hate him even more now. 2.5⭐️ rounding up because it’s not bad…I just don’t like it much 🤷🏻♂️
Overall: 6/10 Pretty good. Blues seems to be repetitive and simple to the point that you sort of wish more was going on at times. Great guitar work (of course) and great voice. Fav Song: Crosseyed Cat Least Fav Song: Bus Driver
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I find a whole album of this kind of delta blues a bit repetitive, but I can’t deny how good these songs are. Proper toe tapping thigh slapping riffs from one of the best the genre has to offer.
3 sterne
Cool, aber nicht ganz mein Genre, klang mir alles zu ähnlich
Definitely no doubt a blues album, nice addition to my knowledge of the genre. I listen to B.B. King and Stevie Ray Vaugn, so it's a sound that I am familiar with
It's was good, not great...maybe I just wasn't in the mood for blues.
Aside from all sounding very similar, this is a good traditional blues album.
Latere albums van heilige bluesmen als Muddy Waters zijn altijd een beetje lastig te peilen, vind ik. Het voelt altijd alsof ze zich toch nog even willen bewijzen in de 'modern age', met de hulp van een nieuwe aanwas aan bluesy sessiemuzikanten met gelikte instrumenten waar de oude garde in z'n hoogtijdagen niet van durfde (en vooral niet konden) dromen. Vaak doen ze daarmee alleen die nieuwe generatie aan bluesmuzikanten een lol mee, want die mogen een aantal dagen met een levende legende de studio in. Het resultaat is vaak een verzameling nummers die ze over de tientallen jaren dat ze muziek maken al meermaals uitbrachten, maar nu met een moderne elektrische gitaar en betere opname-methodes. Ben er vaak niet zo fan van, omdat die stoffige sound van de Delta Blues (of van de Chicago Blues) juist voor mij het genre maakt. Het moet kraken, en je hoort het liefst de fundering van de 'front porch' meebewegen met de slidegitaar. Maar alhoewel dit album voor een groot deel voldoet aan dat profiel, moet ik toegeven dat dit album wel echt bolstaat van het klassieke blues-gogme. De man schrijft de meeste nummers zelf - de één wat sterker dan de ander. Het probleem van openen met je bekendste - en wellicht je sterkste - creatie is natuurlijk dat de rest er al snel een beetje achter aan hobbelt. Tot aan 'I Can't Be Satisfied' kakte het ook even flink in, waarna de tweede helft van het album de blues-energie wel weer aanzwengelt. Het klinkt in ieder geval alsof Muddy zich bovengemiddeld goed voelt bij de ietwat modernere insteek, en de sessie-muzikanten hebben duidelijk de tijd van hun leven. 6,5/10 Highlights: Mannish Boy I Can't Be Satisfied Crosseyed Cat
Pretty good. Sounds so familiar, hard to think there was a time before Muddy Waters. Solid, simple blues, but I wouldn't repeat listen very often. Three stars.
5/10
Good, old fashioned blues.
I don't wanna say he bores me because I've not heard this album before to my knowledge but I've heard enough similar stuff to feel like I'd already heard this album before. 3 stars. Blues is a part of the soul of Chicago, but doesn't mean I have to love it.
Very authentic and full of steam. But it gets a bit annoying from time to time. Probably something to watch live. 6/10
The intro track (Mannish Boy) has some great background yells. It should be sampled more. The rest of the album is solid blues. Pretty enjoyable.
Wasn’t a big fan of about half of the album. The other half was incredible though. Can absolutely hear how influential Muddy is.
Another crop of fun tunes from the horniest man alive.
Some rocky blues def cool
Good bluesy album, again all sounds the same though.
I don't really have much to say about this album. Favourite track: Mannish Boy
It was okay lol. Not my type of music but def fun. The blues had a baby and named it rock and roll was a sick title name
Opening track had me thinking I was in the car with Michael Scott and Darryl after dropping Holly off in Utica. You can really hear the emotion and rigor in his tone with the music not overpowering the vocals. When it’s time to get down to business Muddy Waters is ready to really lay down some verses and let the audience know how’s he’s feeling. When it’s time to take a back seat and let the harmonica do its thing, he’s able to do that as well. Continues to flex his vocal prowess throughout the entire record. 10 songs, very digestible. 3.9/5
Bueno
Good voice, nice sound but beats are heavy and pounding. Almost 4.
Rating: 7/10 It's got some soul but also very same-y.
Blues, jazz club - Great vocals, deep voice - Instrumentals such as harmonica and guitar are nice - Gets boring after a little bit
I've never really listened to much blues. while this isn't really my style & doubt I would seek it out to listen to again, I understand why he's on this list
yeah it was alright. decent unique voice
Det var fett en gangs lytt. Kommer nok ikke til å høre på det igjen.
50th Album!! Muddy Waters is the real deal. I don't always love blues music but Muddy has such a distinct vocal and guitar style that makes his music really enjoyable. Favorite track: Mannish Boy 3.5/5
Good voice, good grooves. Sounds like old school rock and rool mixed with Jazz almost. This dude has got that old school black soul filled voice.
This was decent listening, nice change of pace to all the 80s albums so far.
Sounds great, very listenable, very enjoyable. It doesn't push the envelope (to my knowledge) but was an enjoyable listen.
Very bluesy blues, but all the songs sound the same to me.
Not a huge fan of Jazz but his music was enjoyable.
About as high as I can rate a blues album - enjoy it quite a bit while listening to it but will never willingly stick it on. Can't distinguish it much from other blues artists. Mannish Boy is a classic though.
Really solid blues album
Good stuff
Enjoyed. Good old straightforward blues.
I wish I liked this more. I respect the hell out of it, and I get why people would love it, but it's a music style that doesn't hold my attention.
I am not a blues fan. I can appreciate the skill and music, it just does not float my boat.
⭐⭐⭐ 5/10 Album is allright, but didnt impress me much.
Once you’ve heard the first track, you have it all. 2.5
The blues are fine as an art form and they are so influential on most music moving forward, but I don’t seek them out and this album won’t change that. Muddy hits hard though. There’s a lot of power in his delivery.
Solid, dependable, workmanlike
Fine.
Pretty decent, not one i'd listen to again
Mamma gone took those batteries
Blues like... blues
Very solid, no complaints, even recognized a few.
I'm not a big fan of the blues, and this album perfectly exemplifies why. Having never heard a single track on here before, I knew the exact chord progressions and melodies on most of these songs. It's less like a style of music and more like a prescriptive set of predictable progressions. Some blues can break from the norm, and in those tunes the blues are transcended and beautified with respect to the genre and yet doing something unique with it. Not that Hard Again isn't without its merits. Muddy Waters and team put out a great energy, and can crank it up just as skillfully as strip it down. And vocally, Muddy is anything but muddy. Expressive, invigorated, horny, and present in the moment. And they are somehow able to avoid making these same progressions feel mundane song after song, even with the same instrumentation throughout. They have an unparalleled strut and groove. Favorite here is "I Can't Be Satisfied" since the chord progression is a bit different.
Muddy's singing and playing transport your mind to another place and time. I'm sure he wasn't the first bluesman, but what a hell of a representative of blues music. There seems to be so many musicians influenced by him. Seems like Muddy was at some point the go to guy to hear blues done right. Mannish Boy Is a classic.
The most bluesy Blues album I think I’ve ever listened to. Was pretty solid, just don’t know how often I could listen to it.
I started off listening to this album. Not enjoying it at all. Found it pretty boring and repetitive. I was thinking of giving it a 2, however, by the time I got to "cross-eyed cat" I was really jamming along with it. I started out at 2. I ended at a 4. I guess I'll split the difference with the 3.
I didn't like the repetitive sound but it was chill
This album feels like quintessential blues rock—solid, familiar, and comforting. While it might not push any boundaries or break new ground, I don’t think it needs to. Muddy Waters’ music here feels like “bread and butter”—reliable and satisfying. It’s the kind of album you can put on and instantly settle into, knowing you’re in the hands of a master. The production, overseen by Johnny Winter, gives the album a raw, live-in-the-room energy that adds to its charm. Muddy’s voice is rich and commanding, while the band behind him, including standout performances from Pinetop Perkins on piano and James Cotton on harmonica, keeps the groove steady and engaging throughout. The familiarity of the style might make some tracks blur together for listeners looking for something groundbreaking, but the comfort lies in its timelessness. “Jealous Hearted Man” was a particular highlight for me, with its raw emotion and infectious energy, perfectly capturing the essence of Muddy’s sound. Overall, Hard Again might not surprise you, but it doesn’t need to—it’s the blues at its purest, and that’s enough. Standout Song: Jealous Hearted Man Score: 3/5
Wát een album opener. 1 van de meest bekende gitaarriffjes allertijden. Start dus heel erg lekker, maar ik ga het toch zeggen; Ik vind Blues niet zo'n prettig muziekgenre. Het voelt vrijwel allemaal als precies hetzelfde qua muziek en de zang is niet spannend genoeg. Het is voor mij de matige voorloper van rock en daar ben ik al niet echt wild van. Soul leunt veel zwaarder op muziek en op zang, maar blues is vooral hele lange ingewikkelde gitaarsolos. En dan veel call & response qua zang. Ik ben geen fan. Muddy zelf ziet er echt geweldig uit, man ziet er uit als je gezellige oom op verjaardagen, das natuurlijk een groot pluspunt! Echt een lastig album om te reviewen, ik ga het nooit meer aanzetten, maar heb me zeker niet geirriteerd aan de muziek ofzo. Ik denk dat ik uitkom op 3 sterren, prima maar dat ligt meer aan dat ik niet van Blues houd FAVO: Mannish Boy
Chill ash
General impression: he’s one of the best blues men ever Detailed review: Like the last album, this one strikes me as basically a picture-perfect version of what it’s meant to be. God damn, that harmonica! And the guitar obviously, and Mr. Muddy’s perfectly bluesy voice. Why do white people even attempt the blues? It just doesn’t hit as deep. I dunno. Anyway, again, this isn’t really my preferred style, but damn if it doesn’t rock. Deeper thoughts (context): Score: 3 Number of albums left to review: 934 Number of albums from the list I’d consider “must-listens”: 39 (including this one) Albums from the list I won't include in mine: 28
Interesting jazzy album. Cool for rainy days.
The best version of "woke up this morning" blues.
Raw blues
OK - Muddy Waters is one of my favourite bluesmen, and Mannish Boy is a stonker of a song. And this is a great blues album. BUT apart from a few songs, it's all very same'ish 12-bar blues with the same harmonica howl running throughout. I know that's what blues is supposed to be like (and I love the sound esp. live) but doing that in the 1970's is hardly innovative and I think I can't give this album more than a 3 for those reasons. Muddy Water's voice is perfect though, and the album has a nice rough edge, it's very well (not over) produced IMO.
Mannish Boy onvervalste klassieker Nummers klinken als bijna allemaal t zelfde maar als ze goed klinken is t prima Im your hoochie coochie man
Nice one.
Every blues song sounds the same.
5/10
This was a very solid comeback album for Muddy Waters
This is truly great blues music with impressively delivered lyrics that in some cases haven't aged very well. If you're going to listen to the blues, then it might as well feel true. Muddy Waters will get you there.
If you like blues, you’ll like this. I’m not a fan. It all sounds the same to me.
3.5 Accidentally listened to ‘Electric Mud’ instead and did prefer that, but really liked this nonetheless. Plenty of songs that've survived the years or transformed into more modern versions. Enjoyable!
blues man
Good vibes
Favorite Track: Mannish Boy
It was alright. Not enough songs about trains though.
Correcto.
Muddy Waters playing the blues again, except with more electric guitars and this time it's the late 70s. Newport was better. Just feels so much better without the whole blues rock sound. But if this journey has taught me anything it's that I dislike blues rock with very few exceptions. I am simply easily bored by it, even by the masters of the craft. Nothing brought that into stark relief more clearly here than I Can't Be Satisfied, which is basically Muddy stealing back from the Stones after they stole from him, and there's nary an electric guitar in sight, and it's bloody fantastic. Crosseyed Cat was winning me over however, insomuch as I was stuck between a low 4 and a high 3.
Gear: Abyss DIANA MR Artwork: 🟨🎩☺️ Production: 🎧😘🤌 Music: 🎸+🎙️=🌧️🔥 Rating: 🌧️🌧️🌧️(🌧️)/5
This is good for what it is, but honestly, I've never connected with Chicago blues. I'm glad I listened though.
I mean, it's the blues. Surely he's one of the greats, but it's still the blues, and it could have all been one long song for all the differences we heard.
I really thought I would like this album more than I did. I know it's a classic blues sound, but the blues doesn't always have to be playing the same shit over and over again. The mastering/production also got to me. The harmonica was way too loud at times that it was almost annoying. All irks aside, this wasn't a bad album. Muddy's voice is perfect for blues and is undoubtedly a blues legend. However, this album did leave a bit to be desired.
This sounds like so many cigarettes you’ve smoked before.
really a bit long but pretty enjoyable
Snappy album, and quite enjoyable for a genre I don't particularly like.
The album is probably not the format in which to listen to the blues, but there's a lot of really good stuff here
This was pretty enjoyable! It sounds older than 1977 though. I probably wouldn't listen again since I'm not a huge blues fan, but I enjoyed it while it was on.
I think this album was good but I do find with a lot of core blues albums, it is often just very repetitive riffing with very weak lyrics. When the band starts really jamming on some of these, that's much more my speed, but "Mannish Boy", the most popular song from this albums is actually my least favorite because of just how repetitive it is all throughout. My Top 3: 3. Walkin' Thru the Park 2. Little Girl 1. Jealous Hearted Man
Extremely well executed, exquisitely produced, but otherwise unremarkable blues.
I actually kinda like this. Was more interesting than some of the other blues stuff. Dance-y.
I like me some blues from time to time but this album just grew stale on me and took a while for me to get back into it. Didn't hate it, didn't love it.
3/5
A very fine version of the blues.
The king of Blues, you cannot deny But all things must eventually die And after ten repetitive songs That are all a bit too long You start to understand why Look, I would never speak ill of the great Muddy Waters. He’s single handedly responsible for inspiring some of the greats to pick up the guitar in the first place. And he’s immortal for his contributions to blues and rock music. But like, I get it. After three or four twelve-bar Blues jams, I get it.
Once again, despite the simplicity and repetition inherent to the blues, Muddy makes it hard to deny his monumental influence on guitar-based music.
Live-esityksen kakofonia tuo jotain uutta näihin tulkintoihin, tapahtui äänitys sitten studiossa tai ei. Loistavat vokaalit, loistavat soittajat: jos blues ei mielestäsi genrenä ole pilattu tietynlaisella musaäijäydellä - ja jos lämpenet edes vähän sen modernistiselle romantiikalle - tämä LP kannattaa kuunnella.
Mannish Boy adopts a familiar blues mold with a stomping rhythm and production that sounds like it is being recorded in someone's garage (or front porch). This was some good clean blues rock. Like most within the genre I found it enjoyable but rarely fully stimulating. The blues progressions are so well defined and rarely innovated upon that they rarely inspire more than passing appreciation. Main standout for me was the harmonica work. I've never said that before in my life, but damn that James Cotton plays a mean harmonica. This is a high 3 in my book. Would never turn it off if its already on, but would also never think to turn it on.
This was all very well done, but was very samey and I was getting bored by half way through.
This was a cool listen, but the smoky, bluesiness of Muddy Waters can get a little one-note after a while. I was done before the album was, but I totally appreciate the mastery of the blues style on display here. Three stars.
It was nice, good vibes.
I enjoyed this but I'm not sure how often I would double back and listen again. Some great songs though, and great production!
Need to listen again. Love that guitar tone.
It has been a while that I had listened to this album. It contains a great version of Mannish Boy and Crosseyed Cat might be my favourite track. Overall a very solid blues album, which is perhaps a little too traditional for me.
Strong blues album, quite monotonous though.
Overall. Great vocals, hard to relate to lyrics or even hear them at times. Fantastic instrument playing. A bit janky and overpowering at times.(harmonica). Nice shifts in tones and pace throughout. Nice upbeat numbers and slower paced ones. Repetitive and at times a bit boring. More down to my taste and lack of blues knowledge.
I was loving it to begin with but it really wore me out long before the end.
I like muddy but in small doses.
As a guitar player, I love listening to the old blues legends and hearing their chops and techniques. Some of Muddy's stuff is a little slow, and I don't love his voice, but it definitely fits his style and just the genre in general. Can't complain about this one. 3.5/5
This is a classic, has some amazing banger tunes. But a whole album is a bit too much.
Pretty good
Good ol’ OG blues
Something different from what I would usually listen to. I really liked the guitar riffs.
I think it’s good, but not what I care to listen to.
Little better produced than the live one which helped but it still totally isn’t my thing. Got to respect it though he’s a legend
Mannish Boy is the standout - Iconic, and recognisable. As a sound the rest of the album doesn't massively excite me - it's cool, bluesy and I'm sure was ground breaking but since I think it's been done in better and more exciting ways e.g. Hendrix, Albert King... 6/10
He put his whole mussy waters into this Really enjoyed this but will no be listening again idk
Made my apartment feel like a dive bar - I’m not complaining. Standout track: - Mannish Boy 5/5
mannish boy is a VERY GOOD track to open off the album with. enjoying it extensively even though this type of genre isn't usually my go to - blues always has the best instrumentals though and they are really flexing this on bus driver huh i want to be loved short and sweet, was doing some stuff while listening and was vibing very hard spitting facts with 'the blues had a baby and they named it rock and roll' cause that is accurate but you dont need me to tell you that sadly i do think as the album went on it dropped off a bit, was going to be a comfortable 4 stars originally
I like the blues conceptually, but sometimes I find it hard to listen to a full blues album. I know this probably deserves better (and there’s some amazing guitar work here); I have to go with my gut reaction, though.
3- Stars (7/15)
Runs a little long but undeniably pretty iconic and classic!
Really great classic blues. Got tired of the harmonica after a while.
Enjoyed this one.
Fine album, but it’s a bit too repetitive I can’t really remember a distinct song even after three listens but it flows really nicely so maybe that’s why.
That’s the blues, alright! Good blues, sometimes even great blues — Muddy Waters and Johnny Winter can clearly play their asses off — but most of Hard Again is still that cliché, jammy, 12-bar blues. There’s some songs that rock hard as hell, especially “Mannish Boy” and “The Blues Had A Baby…,” but there’s even more songs that just bore me with their endless minutes of constant soloing. I’m never against it, because again, this record is brimming with talent and clean production, but I’m also rarely into it. Even at its best, I think the blues just isn’t for me, and Hard Again might be some of the best blues I’ve heard, and yet, I’m still not sold. But I’d take Hard Again over a lot of other albums, so I also can’t be that dismissive of it.
Iconic stuff there!
OPzich wel nice
This was good but I got tired of it after a few songs. 3.5/5
Ho chiuso gli occhi ed ero nel New Orleans pure io
Not much to say about Muddy Waters that hasn't already been said. He and BB King are the absolute zenith of the blues in the 70s/80s/90s. What I like about this album is that it's not just the guitar that gets a pile of solo time. There's harmonica breaks, piano breaks, drums, etc. It keeps it a bit fresh. A lot of people put Muddy Waters in top 10 guitarist lists, and I can't say I disagree. He's very good at this particular style of playing where the feeling and progression matters more than the chops. like a lot of blues albums, this sounds very sameish all the way through. It just blends in to itself for the better part of 30 minutes. Doesn’t mean I didn’t like it, but when the chord progressions are largely identical it gets a bit stale. Overall it’s a good blues album but I wish there was a bit more variety.
relate to the title too much
I really don't know blues well, but Muddy Waters is definitely one of the main names I'd associate with the genre. This album is a good exposure to blues - classic off the bat and engaging throughout.
The album opens up with one of the most recognizable musical riffs of all time. Then, similar to eating leftovers, the album gets repetitive, and loses it's charm. Favorite song: "Mannish Boy"
Ok
Blues legend, and he sings it well. Great voice and great band but holy hell I feel this went on forever. I like Muddy Waters and the blues but I think this was just too much of the same thing. Was waiting for it to end for almost 20 minutes
Correcto.
This was really good but I think I would enjoy it more in a smaller dose or maybe even in person. That's not to say the record was too long. Maybe just felt that way to me. Generally, each track felt a little same to me.
Very old-timey rock 'n' roll, maybe a little too? But it had the legendary song 'Mannish Boy', so it deserves 3 stars.
Classicone enorme. Deve piacere per carità, ma é indubbio che venga istintivo battere il tempo e scandire le strofe viscerali di un grande del blues.
I'm gonna be honest. I don't really care for this album that much, but it's still WAY better than that Alex Harvey album I got yesterday. This is an album that I can absolutely see the appeal of even if it's not really my thing. The singing is alright. It's good. The instrumental sound is solid too. The harmonica talent in particular is nothing to scoff at. The writing could be a bit better. It's a bit repetitive and hasn't aged the best. The last song makes me uncomfortable. Why did so many singers in the 70s sing about wanting to fuck underage girls?! It's gross, and yet somehow it was more comfortable than like half of the last album! The most popular song on this album is undeniably "Mannish Boy," a song that proved that this album has more cultural impact than the last one because it has a JoJo character named after it, and that's one of the ultimate tests of the cultural impact of a piece of music from the past 60 years. That song is good, as are most of the others. Overall, this album's fine. I don't really care much for it, but there are some pretty good elements to it that could warrant a higher rating for someone else. As for me... I think I'll give it a 3/5. I've been giving a lot of those lately. I don't know why. Hopefully that changes soon.