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When Bob Mould broke through with Hüsker Dü, he was the fire-breathing front man who gave hardcore punk its most blazing guitar work ever. But soon, through the mist of mayhem emerged a songcraft—a melodic and harmonic sense—that had more in common with the great pop composers than anyone had initially imagined. In the decades since he went solo, even as he’s shifted from strumming acoustics to massive sheets of electric guitar to dance-floor electronica, Mould has only grown in greatness as a songwriter. An incomparably prolific and regenerative songwriter like this deserves an anthology like what we have here. Let’s start with the vinyl set, as everything in there is also in the CD edition. This is the first of four vinyl sets that will cover the same span as the CD set; here, on eight 140-gram LPs (clear splattered vinyl), are Bob’s solo releases "Workbook," "Black Sheets of Rain," his Sugar releases "Copper Blue," "Beaster" (their 1993 EP), "File Under: Easy Listening," "Besides" (a comp of Sugar B-sides and non-album tracks) and the new, exclusive collection "Distortion Plus: 1989–1995," which includes "No Water in Hell," "Can’t Fight It" and more rare cuts plus collaborations with Vic Chesnutt ("Hickory Wind"), Throwing Muses ("Dio"), Golden Palominos ("Dying from the Inside Out") and more. The 24 CDs here continue on from ’95 to 2019 via the albums "Bob Mould," "The Last Dog and Pony Show," "Modulate," "Long Playing Grooves" (last two were his 2002 electronica albums, the latter of which was released as by LoudBomb), "Body of Song," "Blowoff" (another electronica project), "District Line," "Life and Times," "Silver Age," "Beauty and Ruin," "Patch the Sky" and "Sunshine Rock." Also in the CD set: more rarities and collaborations via the extended "Distortion Plus: 1989–2019" plus live albums recorded at Cabaret Metro (’89), the Forum in ’98 ("LiveDog98"), Kutshers Country Club in 2008 ("Live at ATP 2008") and, with Sugar, First Avenue in ’94 ("The Joke Is Always on Us, Sometimes"). Among those live tracks: "Wishing Well," "Heartbreak a Stranger," "Dreaming, I Am," "See a Little Light," the Hüsker Dü favorites "Celebrated Summer," "I Apologize," "Makes No Sense at All," "Hardly Getting over It," the Sugar tunes "Hoover Dam," "If I Can’t Change Your Mind," "Man on the Moon," "Gift" and more. A 28-page booklet arrives with the vinyl, and a 72-page booklet full of notes, testimonials, lyrics and memorabilia comes with the 24 CDs that comprehensively cover one of the most enviable careers in rock! Edsel/Demon.