Mere weeks after the release of Stoned Side of the Mule: Vol. 1, a limited edition mini-album of live recordings of Rolling Stones songs, Gov’t Mule return with another album of home-county classics.
Dark Side Of The Mule channels Pink Floyd in front of a rambunctious Halloween-night audience back in 1998, and if the idea of a good-time Southern Rock jam band taking on Floyd’s themes of philosophy, isolation and despair worries you, don’t fret. All the usual landmarks, from the cash registers on Money to the Kop Choir fade on Fearless, have been immaculately preserved. And while not everything is a carefully chiselled replica — that vocal on The Great Gig In The Sky has a little more Muscle Shoals muscle than the original, and Comfortably Numb is a little grubbier than on The Wall — there’s nothing here to terrify even the most conservative fan. Best of all, it sounds like enormous amounts of fun. The audience whoop and holler along, a crescendo of recognition greets every familiar intro, and Wish You Were Here features a goosebump-inducing audience singalong. A deluxe version with extra tracks is also available.
