Superfuzz Bigmuff

{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2025}}

{{Infobox album

| name = Superfuzz Bigmuff

| type = Album

| artist = Mudhoney

| cover = Mudhoney sfbm.jpg

| alt =

| caption = Original cover

| released = 1988

| recorded = July 22–24, August 6, 15, 21, 25 and September 29, 1988

| venue =

| studio = Reciprocal Recording, Seattle, Washington

| genre = {{hlist|Grunge|garage punk}}

| length = 41:31

| label = Sub Pop (USA)
Au Go Go (Australia)
Glitterhouse (Germany)

| producer = Jack Endino

| prev_title =

| prev_year =

| next_title = Boiled Beef & Rotting Teeth

| next_year = 1989

}}

Superfuzz Bigmuff is the debut album and first major release by the Seattle grunge band Mudhoney. It was released in October 1988, through record label Sub Pop. The album was later re-released in 1990 in the form of Superfuzz Bigmuff Plus Early Singles.

Background and writing

The album was named after two of the band's favorite guitar effects pedals: the Univox Super-Fuzz and the Electro-Harmonix Big Muff, which helped to provide the band's signature "dirty" sound.

The cover artwork is a photograph of frontman Mark Arm (left) and guitarist Steve Turner (right) performing live by photographer Charles Peterson. Other artwork on the album includes more photos of the band performing and them posing topless.Superfuzz....liner notes

Guitarist Turner also considered it to be Mudhoney's first official studio album, despite it being an EP initially.{{cite web|title=Steve Turner Ranks the Band's 10 Albums|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/rank-your-records-mudhoney-steve-turner/|access-date=October 30, 2020}}

During the writing process, some of the songs were named after a band that inspired it or whose material the song resembled. For instance, "No One Has" was originally called "The Wipers Song."{{Cite web |date=May 20, 2008 |title=Mudhoney: Superfuzzy Memories (An Oral History) |url=https://magnetmagazine.com/2008/05/20/mudhoney-superfuzzy-memories-an-oral-history/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250120052332/https://magnetmagazine.com/2008/05/20/mudhoney-superfuzzy-memories-an-oral-history/ |archive-date=January 20, 2025 |access-date=March 23, 2025 |website=Magnet}} As Turner put it, "all these songs came together so quickly, there wasn't a whole lot of thought, but usually in my mind, I always try to think of something that I think it sounds like... Like, you know, 'What are we accidentally ripping off?' if you will. And sometimes it's like, 'Great, we're ripping it off. Cool.'"{{Cite web |date=2024 |title=THE MAKING OF SUPERFUZZ BIGMUFF by mudhoney - FEATURING Mark Arm and Steve Turner - Notes and Transcript |url=https://lifeoftherecord.com/mudhoney-notes |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241228011414/https://lifeoftherecord.com/mudhoney-notes |archive-date=December 28, 2024 |access-date=March 23, 2025 |website=Life of the Record}}

The band approached "In 'n' Out of Grace" as a direct homage to Blue Cheer's debut studio album Vincebus Eruptum, even including a "bass and drum break" and "dual out of tune guitar solo" inspired by the album.

"In 'n' Out of Grace" opens with a sample of the eulogy from Peter Fonda's character in the 1966 movie The Wild Angels, saying "We wanna be free to do what we wanna do…"; a similar sample was later used on Primal Scream's song "Loaded", and also a refraining soundbite and quote in the 2013 film The World's End.

Reception and legacy

{{Music ratings

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1score = {{Rating|4.5|5}}{{cite web |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/superfuzz-bigmuff-plus-early-singles-mw0000654790 |title=Superfuzz Bigmuff Plus Early Singles – Mudhoney |publisher=AllMusic |access-date=June 4, 2023 |last=Huey |first=Steve}}

| rev2 = Mojo

| rev2score = {{Rating|5|5}}{{cite magazine |title=Mudhoney: Superfuzz Bigmuff |magazine=Mojo |issue=175 |date=June 2008 |last=Wilson |first=Lois |page=120}}

| rev3 = NME

| rev3score = 8/10{{cite magazine |title=Sublime Subversives |magazine=NME |date=February 18, 1989 |last=Pouncey |first=Edwin |author-link=Savage Pencil |page=31}}

| rev4 = The Observer

| rev4score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2008/jun/15/features.musicmonthly1 |title=Mudhoney, Superfuzz Bigmuff |newspaper=The Observer |date=June 15, 2008 |access-date=June 4, 2023 |last=Smith |first=Caspar Llewellyn}}

| rev5 = Pitchfork

| rev5score = 9.1/10{{cite web |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/11680-superfuzz-bigmuff-deluxe-editionthe-lucky-ones/ |title=Mudhoney: Superfuzz Bigmuff Deluxe Edition / The Lucky Ones |website=Pitchfork |date=May 20, 2008 |access-date=February 14, 2018 |last=Masters |first=Marc}}

| rev6 = PopMatters

| rev6score = 9/10{{cite web |url=https://www.popmatters.com/mudhoney-superfuzz-bigmuff-2496149654.html |title=Mudhoney: Superfuzz Bigmuff |website=PopMatters |date=May 29, 2008 |access-date=February 14, 2018 |last=Ranta |first=Alan}}

| rev7 = Record Collector

| rev7score = {{Rating|5|5}}{{cite magazine |url=http://www.cduniverse.com/search/xx/music/pid/1120354/a/Superfuzz+Bigmuff+Plus+Early+Singles.htm |title=Mudhoney: Superfuzz Bigmuff |magazine=Record Collector |access-date=June 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100502144037/http://www.cduniverse.com/search/xx/music/pid/1120354/a/Superfuzz+Bigmuff+Plus+Early+Singles.htm |archive-date=May 2, 2010 |url-status=dead}}

| rev8 = The Rolling Stone Album Guide

| rev8score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite book |chapter=Mudhoney |last=Kot |first=Greg |author-link=Greg Kot |title=The New Rolling Stone Album Guide |title-link=The Rolling Stone Album Guide |editor1-last=Brackett |editor1-first=Nathan |editor1-link=Nathan Brackett |editor2-last=Hoard |editor2-first=Christian |editor2-link=Christian Hoard |publisher=Simon & Schuster |edition=4th |year=2004 |isbn=0-7432-0169-8 |page=[https://archive.org/details/newrollingstonea00brac/page/565 565]}}

| rev9 = Spin Alternative Record Guide

| rev9score = 8/10{{cite book |chapter=Mudhoney |last=Cohen |first=Jason |title=Spin Alternative Record Guide |title-link=Spin Alternative Record Guide |editor1-last=Weisbard |editor1-first=Eric |editor1-link=Eric Weisbard |editor2-last=Marks |editor2-first=Craig |publisher=Vintage Books |year=1995 |isbn=0-679-75574-8 |pages=261–262}}

| rev10 = Uncut

| rev10score = {{Rating|5|5}}{{cite magazine |title=Mudhoney: Superfuzz Bigmuff |magazine=Uncut |issue=133 |date=June 2008 |page=104}}

}}

During initial release, the EP sold incredibly poorly (even by Sub Pop standards){{Citation needed|date=September 2014}}; however, it has since been acknowledged as one of the seminal records of the Seattle scene. In mid-2008 the EP charted at #25 on the UK Indie Album Chart, a peak for the EP, twenty years after its release.

Along with Mudhoney's second album Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge, it was included in 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. In its review, Jamie Gonzalo called it "sexy, smart, humorous and hard", as well as writing "[Mudhoney] emerged from the underground with this mischievous workout, achieving tense and dramatic musical structures with Turner's scalping guitars, Mark Arm's angry vocals, Matt Lukin's mighty bass and Dan Peters' propulsive drums."{{cite book |last=Dimery |first=Robert |title=1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die |publisher=Octopus Publishing Group, London |date=2009 |pages=589 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PIyEkArSW0EC |isbn=9781844036240 |access-date= 2012-09-23}} Kurt Cobain listed the EP in his top fifty albums of all time.{{cite web|title=Top 50 by Nirvana [MIXTAPE]|url=http://www.joyfulnoiserecordings.com/journal/top-50-by-nirvana/|access-date=8 May 2013}}{{cite book |title=Nirvana: The Complete Illustrated History |last=Cross, Gaar, Gendron, Martens, Yarm |year= 2013 |isbn= 978-0-7603-4521-4 |page= 121}}

Track listing

Adapted from the album liner notes.{{cite AV media notes |title=Superfuzz Bigmuff|others=Mudhoney |date=1988|publisher=Sub Pop|id=SP 21}}{{cite AV media notes |title=Superfuzz Bigmuff Plus Early Singles|others=Mudhoney |date=1990|publisher=Sub Pop|id=SP21b}}{{cite AV media notes |title=Superfuzz Bigmuff (Deluxe Edition)|others=Mudhoney |date=2008|publisher=Sub Pop|id=SPCD 773}}

=Original release (1988)=

{{Track listing

| total_length = 23:04

|all_writing = Mudhoneyhttp://www.discogs.com/Mudhoney-Superfuzz-Bigmuff/release/833064 Superfuzz Bigmuff Original Track listing Discogs

|title1 = Need

|length1 = 2:58

|title2 = Chain That Door

|length2 = 1:51

|title3 = Mudride

|length3 = 5:44

|title4 = No One Has

|length4 = 3:26

|title5 = If I Think

|length5 = 3:37

|title6 = In 'n' Out of Grace

|length6 = 5:28

}}

=''Superfuzz Bigmuff Plus Early Singles'' (1990)=

{{Further|Superfuzz Bigmuff Plus Early Singles}}

{{Track listing

| total_length = 43:39

| all_writing = Mudhoney, except where notedhttp://www.discogs.com/Mudhoney-Superfuzz-Bigmuff-Plus-Early-Singles/master/30019 Superfuzz Bigmuff Plus Singles Track listing Discogs

| extra_column = Origin

| title1 = Touch Me I'm Sick

| extra1 = Non-album single, 1988

| length1 = 2:35

| title2 = Sweet Young Thing Ain't Sweet No More

| extra2 = B-side of "Touch Me I'm Sick"

| length2 = 3:46

| title3 = Hate the Police

| writer3 = Dicks

| extra3 = Mondo Stereo, 1988 (*)

| length3 = 2:08

| title4 = Burn It Clean

| extra4 = B-side of "You Got It (Keep It Outta My Face)", 1989

| length4 = 3:00

| title5 = You Got It (Keep It Outta My Face)

| note5 = 8-track version

| extra5 = B-side of "You Got It (Keep It Outta My Face)"

| length5 = 2:53

| title6 = Halloween

| writer6 = Sonic Youth

| extra6 = Split single with Sonic Youth, 1990

| length6 = 6:12

| title7 = No One Has

| extra7 = Superfuzz Bigmuff

| length7 = 3:26

| title8 = If I Think

| extra8 = Superfuzz Bigmuff

| length8 = 3:37

| title9 = In 'n' Out of Grace

| extra9 = Superfuzz Bigmuff

| length9 = 5:28

| title10 = Need

| extra10 = Superfuzz Bigmuff

| length10 = 3:00

| title11 = Chain That Door

| extra11 = Superfuzz Bigmuff

| length11 = 1:51

| title12 = Mudride

| extra12 = Superfuzz Bigmuff

| length12 = 5:43

}}

=''Superfuzz Bigmuff'' deluxe edition (2008)=

{{Track listing

| all_writing = Mudhoney, except where notedhttp://www.discogs.com/Mudhoney-Superfuzz-Bigmuff/release/1698667 Superfuzz Bigmuff Deluxe Track listing Discogs

| headline = Disc 1

| extra_column = Origin

| title1 = Touch Me I'm Sick

| extra1 = Non-album single

| length1 = 2:35

| title2 = Sweet Young Thing Ain't Sweet No More

| extra2 = B-side of "Touch Me I'm Sick"

| length2 = 3:46

| title3 = Twenty Four

| extra3 = Dope-Guns-'n-Fucking in the Streets Volume One, 1988 (*)

| length3 = 2:46

| title4 = Need

| extra4 = Superfuzz Bigmuff

| length4 = 3:01

| title5 = Chain That Door

| extra5 = Superfuzz Bigmuff

| length5 = 1:51

| title6 = Mudride

| extra6 = Superfuzz Bigmuff

| length6 = 5:43

| title7 = No One Has

| extra7 = Superfuzz Bigmuff

| length7 = 3:26

| title8 = If I Think

| extra8 = Superfuzz Bigmuff

| length8 = 3:37

| title9 = In 'n' Out of Grace

| extra9 = Superfuzz Bigmuff

| length9 = 5:28

| title10 = The Rose

| writer10 = Amanda McBroom

| extra10 = Sub Pop 200, 1988 (*)

| length10 = 4:04

| title11 = Hate the Police

| writer11 = Dicks

| extra11 = Mondo Stereo (*)

| length11 = 2:09

| title12 = You Got It (Keep It Outta My Face)

| note12 = 8-track version

| extra12 = B-side of "You Got It (Keep It Outta My Face)", 1989

| length12 = 2:55

| title13 = Burn It Clean

| extra13 = B-side of "You Got It (Keep It Outta My Face)

| length13 = 2:58

| title14 = Halloween

| writer14 = Sonic Youth

| extra14 = Split single with Sonic Youth

| length14 = 6:12

| title15 = Need

| note15 = demo

| length15 = 3:23

| title16 = Mudride

| note16 = demo

| length16 = 6:03

| title17 = In 'n' Out of Grace

| note17 = demo

| length17 = 4:53

}}

  • Tracks 15–17 recorded April–May 1988, mixed November 2007 by Johnny Sangster.
  • Releases marked with an asterisk (*) are various artists compilation albums.

{{Track listing

| headline = Disc 2

| title1 = No One Has

| note1 = live

| length1 = 3:59

| title2 = Sweet Young Thing Ain't Sweet No More

| note2 = live

| length2 = 3:45

| title3 = Need

| note3 = live

| length3 = 2:47

| title4 = Chain That Door

| note4 = live

| length4 = 1:59

| title5 = If I Think

| note5 = live

| length5 = 3:18

| title6 = Mudride

| note6 = live

| length6 = 6:20

| title7 = Here Comes the Sickness

| note7 = live

| length7 = 4:12

| title8 = Touch Me I'm Sick

| note8 = live

| length8 = 2:51

| title9 = In 'n' Out of Grace

| note9 = live

| length9 = 6:55

| title10 = Mudride

| note10 = live

| length10 = 5:34

| title11 = Here Comes the Sickness

| note11 = live

| length11 = 4:10

| title12 = No One Has

| note12 = live

| length12 = 3:32

| title13 = By Her Own Hand

| note13 = live

| length13 = 3:32

| title14 = Touch Me I'm Sick

| note14 = live

| length14 = 3:14

| title15 = Dead Love

| note15 = live

| length15 = 14:18

}}

  • Tracks 1–9 recorded live at the Metropol in Berlin, 10 October 1988, and tracks 10–15 broadcast live at KCSB-FM, Santa Barbara, 16 November 1988. Tracks 1–9 mixed November 2007 by Johnny Sangster.

Personnel

Adapted from the album liner notes.

;Mudhoney

;Technical personnel

Charts

class="wikitable sortable"
scope="col" | Chart (1989)

! scope="col" | Peak
position

UK Indie Chart{{cite book|first=Barry |last=Lazell |url=http://www.cherryred.co.uk/books/indiehits/m.htm |title=Indie Hits 1980-1989 |publisher=Cherry Red Books |date=1997 |access-date=September 5, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606125743/http://www.cherryred.co.uk/books/indiehits/m.htm |archive-date=June 6, 2011 }}

| style="text-align:center;"|3

References

{{Reflist|30em}}