Hard Again

J’aime bien le blues et muddy waters, mais je trouve l’album inegale. Quand meme du blues a l’etat pure. 3.5

solid classic blues

I’ve always known the name Muddy Waters but wouldn’t have been able to tell you they were a Blues signer. I really enjoyed the album though blues aren’t my top genre.

Not too long ago, we had a live album from Muddy, and I remember saying in my review that I was missing hits like "Mannish Boy." Well, guess what track opens this album? It's a blessing and a curse, because I love that track so much that the rest of the album paled in comparison. I hate to say it, but I think I preferred the live album overall. Still a good listen, the music is consistent, but my interest fizzled out fairly quickly. Even in his older age, Mannish Boy is such a powerhouse hit that the rest seemed tame in comparison. Favorite tracks: Mannish Boy, Bus Driver, I Can't Be Satisfied. Album art: This looks super goofy to me. There's no way he's hard again while dressed like that. 3.5/5

classic blues

An enjoyable electric blues album. Typically not my style, but as the title implies, there’s a nice selection of harder-edged tracks on here that do occasionally hit. STANDOUTS: -Mannish Boy -I Want to Be Loved #2 -Jealous Hearted Man -The Blues Had a Baby and They Named It Rock ‘n’ Roll -Crosseyed Cat -Walkin’ Thru the Park

Classic, classic record. Great listen, though no single song sticks with me past "Manish Boy," except maybe "The Blues Had a Baby and They Named it Rock and Roll."

First two tracks are a Led Zeppelin II rip off but I guess that's ok. Pretty enjoyable, fun, delta shit... It's 1977 but still part of that style that influenced all the 70s rock I love. Some of those old iconic blues guys are inaccessible but this is very listenable and has some enjoyable shredding. Same groove over and over again but its a good groove.

Bueno, pero plano

I feel like my enjoyment of this record would have been enhanced greatly by hearing it loudly in a sweaty room while drinking cheap beer. Instead, I listened comfortably while washing dishes and drinking tea. Love his voice and the overall sound of the record. The first song’s a classic (though his spelling needs work), but most of the rest just kind of washed over me.

it's alright I can respect it but classic blues isn't really my cup of tea, all the songs started to blend together for me quite quickly is this record in the book purely because every human on the planet knows the tune to mannish boy? probably

Solid blues record. Fun listen.

had this on in the background and was fairly enjoyable. some of the songs sounded more country than blues and that was kinda not it.

Great blues album

With respect to Muddy - it felt like 50 minutes of the same song. Far from bad, but not much stood out (with the exception of Mannish Boy)

classic

some good songs, but very busy backing

I appreciate the artistry, I guess but I've never been able to listen to blues music and enjoy it.

I want to be buried New Orleans style with a parade and a bunch of drunk people while the song "Crosseyed Cat" is played.

Fun listen, not really my style.

This fucks

Shrug

Not as electric as the Newport album

When I was a boy

1977. Key Songs: Mannish Boy

Pretty darn good - Solid guitar licks. But hard to distinguish one song from the next.

Honestly, i didn't like this album that much. I didn't like half of the songs, they're not my style, it's too masculine vintage style. My favorite song was 'The Blues Had a Baby and They Named It Rock & Roll', overall, to me is a 4.8/10.

Could not finish, reminds me of jail blues but bad

Сара није слушала, класика Марко 2

I feel like I should’ve been more interested in this but I just wasn’t. Muddy’s great and it’s not a bad album, but it just didnt intrigue me.

J’aime pas trop le blues honnêtement

I like that people like it; it should be liked. I don’t like it.

1.7/5 While the blues sound is solid, it all just blends into one after awhile

I was unfamiliar with “Hard Again” by Muddy Waters when I saw it pop up on the website, and I don’t normally listen to the blues, so I was pretty excited to listen to my first album of this kind for the challenge. Also, interesting title. However…this was a challenging listen. It started okay, with “Mannish Boy,” but then got increasingly worse, and I found myself restless toward the end, even writing in my notebook during “Little Girl,” “Oh no no no not 7 minutes of the same thing over and over again.” You can probably tell where my review is going with this, but I’ll sum it up in the wise words of another listener: “Listening to this album is like eating 6-day-old leftover food for the 4th time in the same week. The first night, it was delicious, but in the end, we eat it out of principle so as not to waste.” Building off of the quote, I now realize why “Mannish Boy” is the most popular track of the album: they listen to it once, like me, and then go down the tracks, beginning to realize that each track is basically the same thing as all of the above, with the same electric guitar, with the same type of Muddy Waters vocals and spontaneous shrieks that get old after hearing them fifty times. Don’t get me wrong, I think Muddy Waters’ vocals are great and completely different from what I’ve heard, but after the first three songs on this album, everything else becomes genuinely unbearable because it's quite literally 49 minutes and 28 seconds of the same stuff. I pretty much zoned out after 12 minutes, though—and the lyrics might have helped if they hadn’t been sung to the same tune every single time (I’m really sorry, I can’t stop stressing this). Maybe this album would be better if it were released as 10 separate singles, 10 years apart. I hope “At Newport 1960” will help me maybe see what I’m not yet seeing, but in the meantime, I don’t think I’ll listen to any more of Muddy Waters’ music. I hope tomorrow’s album won’t make me crash out. 2/5

Not for me

Cool and jazzy? Is that the genre? Unsure I am, a good vibe but yet again, not something I would go out of my way to listen to.

Not for me, but I can hear how we got a lot of influence from this album.

Guy is looking forward to the women after the show.

just not my kind of music - bluesy, etc.

Listen, I know this stuff is important but electric blues I just find so same-y. But the opener is great and distorted harmonica is always fun.

Sounds like the blues. Harmonica rips.

Rating does not reflect Muddy or his performance on this album. I just don't like blues music.

Tämmöstä perusbluesiahan tää on. Ei kovettunut.

did’nt like

Two days in a row ☠️ 5 stars to the musician, 2 to the album

Not really my cup of tea.

Best Track - "Mannish Boy"

Dit geeft me het gevoel alsof ik een stokbrood zonder dip aan het eten ben.

Sólido disco de blues.

I listened to this twice because I wanted to love it. It's not bad I just don't think it's my cup of tea. 2.5

Todo sonaba igual :(

no es mi onda, pero blusero viejo

2/5

Long and noisy

Kuu

Ok

imean its typical blues

Not quite the kind of blues that does it for me, but an easy listen. 2.75 rounded down.

Fine

L'harmonica m'a fatiguée, pas mon style

J'ai l'impression d'avoir écouté deux fois le même album, et j'aime pas la country

Buen blues. Tremenda turra.

#323/1001. Q magazine called this a guaranteed delight for students of the post-war blues. Shit, I took Post-Humanism in Feminist Punk. Well actually, I don't regret my choice.

Listening to Blues gives me the experience other people have when listening to hardcore music. It just sounds like a bunch of overlapping noise to me. I do think it's odd that Muddy Waters doesn't feel like the focal point of any of these tracks. I just don't think I like Blues. I will say, I can completely understand why people do like it. If I was drunk at a speakeasy and these guys were on stage going absolutely apeshit on the guitar and harmonica as they are want to do on this album, it would be difficult for me to not jump in the pit. Do they have "pits" at Blues shows? If they don't, then they should. Unfortunately for me once you've heard James Cotton wail on the harmonica once, you've heard it a thousand times. And for me that's the issue with this album - nothing much stands out. These guys are definitely talented but I can't imagine ever returning to this album.

I’m tempted to give this three stars because Hard Again as an album title is too funny. But, alas, like all my two star reviews it seems, the 2 stands for 2 long.

Blue Chew’s favorite album

Love blues but this is a bit meh. I assume the rhythm section is spitting out bog standard 12 bar patterns so that Muddy has a chance to shine. But there's not enough creativity in the melody or solo lines to carry it off. Sorry Muddy. I know you're a legend and all that, but this won't be troubling the decks again. 2*.

Thought I would like this wayyyyyy more than I did. No denying that Muddy Waters is a legend, and it's great to listen to some straight up blues. But man this music can only go so far. By design, 12-bar blues only have like 3 chords in them -- add to that a very similar tempo and vibe for every single song, and unfortunately it gets old fast. Not to mention that damn harmonica. Fuck man, that's grating. Sorry, Mudster.

Not my cup of tea at all :) I guess Blues aren't my thing. Composition was "nice" in the sense that it was comfortable to listen to.

I really want to like this but I just can’t. He seems very talented but the blues just don’t work for me. Can’t get into the genre no matter who does it.

instrumentals were interesting but its just not my style and i had a hard time getting through the album

nice

I can hear this is epic. I’m just not the listener. Great for a casual party!

I'm not entirely convinced that I didn't hear the same song over and over again. Obviously I respect that Muddy Waters influenced so many genres, but I didn't like this, sorry.

Not my cup of tea.

sounds all the same :(

Listened in the car. I mean it's really well made with the greatest blues musicians of the time, but even in 1977 this music was old fashioned. I can only take the same 12 bar blues progression so many times before I want to turn it off and listened to literally anything else. Appreciate the art, didn't love listening to it.

I don’t know it was fine? Listened to it yesterday and don’t really remember anything

Pretty boring

2,5

I can appreciate it for what it is, but not my fav. Very repetitive sound

Okay blues album but heard better.

Ñe

one good song

Typical blues songs and therefore quite repetitive

i leaned that i'm not a fan of blues, very samey.

I'm think I enjoy what the Blues gave us down the line, more than I like the Blues themselves. There are good guitar parts here and there, but overall it's a completely forgettable album.

My ears are not exactly bleeding but still as annoying as a fly buzzing around your head. I guess these blues sounds and guitar solos just are not my jam.

All of the songs on this album are good and Muddy Waters is a talented musician. That said, I'm not a fan of blues music in general. The songs are repetitive in nature and after about 3 minutes of the same riff, it gets a bit boring. Great musician, but not for me.

Well composed, however what you hear in the beginning is as far as the sound develops. And for a genre so defined by jamming I was hoping this would experiment a bit more.

Album #45: Hard Again - Muddy Waters Genre (W): Chicago blues No singles. I have not listened to this album before. Thoughts?: Well, I think I’m in for an insane ride with as energizing a track as Mannish Boy. I hope the rest is as decent. The more I listen, the more I kind of like this classic blues sound. I haven’t been exposed to much blues music, but I feel like I’ve been missing a lot. Maybe it isn’t my style, maybe I’m just not into blues. I should be. Favorite songs: Mannish Boy, Jealous Hearted Man

12 bar blues slop please make it stop

I'll be honest, I didn't even know Muddy Waters was still recording stuff in 1977. This just sounds like a 50s album with enhanced production to me. To me, most blues of this ilk sounds all the same. As much as I like a good bluesy lick in a classic rock song, every actual blues album I've heard of this type is just a load of guitar and harmonica and no great songs putting their heads above the parapet. A number of these are old songs such as Mannish Boy, his most famous track. I'm sure he's a great talent and all, but not my bag.

This album concludes that I don't have interest in blues anymore

It was fine. That's all.

just not my thing i think! haven't really listened to blues for 10-odd years, and when i did i preferred it more acoustic, muddier (lol), deeper. this would be a killer kind of thing to see live but i don't get much out of sitting down and listening to it

i’m not a blues person myself nor i never heard a blues album. at first it felt fun, but then it kind of felt repetitive.

Cool sound, and I really liked it at the start, but this album is pretty one-note. Maybe I just didn't listen hard enough, but nothing really changes or develops throughout the album.

Classic blues

werd kein Blues-Fan mehr in meinem Leben

Hat mir nicht gefallen, war mir zu repititiv.

I didn't like it, but that's probably because that wasn't my style of music.

More mature than other of his albums. It sounds really well and it is a great comeback album to the rockier side of his discography. However, I'd much rather have 'Electric Mud' in the list as his magnus opus. 7/10 [SWAP]

You can tell a great deal of talent went into the making of this album. Not for me though.

Repetitive instrumentals, nothing catchy. It's a typical blues jazz/rock album, exactly what you would expect.

Ya heard one Muddy song and ya heard ‘em all. Opening track is a great starter, they just get very, very similar from there. Not a bad 15th album, maybe just ran out of ideas and new material. (2.2*s) Hoochie Coochie Man will likely make the 1001 List one more time…

Muddy is a blues classic and this album features his top track as the opener. I prefer the Yardbirds cover but still a great song. As for the rest of Hard Again, it's again, hard for me to distinguish any song from the other just like all blues. There is always the same guitar riff, with piano and harmonica accompaniment and a down-on-their-luck grumbler at the helm. Heard one blues song, heard 'em all. It's not bad though, just repetitive. I just got get older, drunker and less fortunate to have more appreciation I guess. Getting a slightly better rating than the previous live one from MW at 1.92 stars.

Well aware that Muddy Waters is a well respected legend of the blues genre. Many artists cite him as influential but I can't say I've ever listened to his music. That's definitely some growling blues. Pretty much the same song over and over again which I guess it to be expected. I have to admit I liked it more than some a lot of the other traditional blues as it was a little more upbeat. This felt like something to listen to on the front porch of a southern bar as opposed to a dark smokey late night lounge. It's not my genre for the most part but can appreciate it for what it is even if I'll never listen to it again. File it away with a lot of the other classic artists that have been passed by. Manish Boy was somewhat familiar from other versions I've heard from other artists. 1.86 stars

Chugging electric blues with a raunchy harmonica, bouncy bass, and guitar tone that cuts through, bringing those hot pentatonic licks straight to your ear hole. The singing is the best bit: saucy, expressive, funny. But even in 1977 this was a pretty tired sound, and even if MW was one of the original masters, mere authenticity doesn't make it any more interesting.

Favorite tracks: I Want to Be Loved #2, Crosseyed Cat We get it: you have sex. I can't deny that Muddy Waters is talented but boy does it get repetitive after about 2 songs.

not for me 1 song added

The first two or three songs even seemed interesting and listenable, but the further I listened, the more I got annoyed by the endless shuffle in every song, the shrill harmonica, and the pianist. I let out a sigh of relief when the album was over.

If you are looking for a blues album to listen too, this is definitely that. I have never been a blues fan so this album is not for me.

Typisk musik som jag nog skulle uppskatta live men som inte intresserar mig så mycket på ett album såhär.

I just don't think I'm a blues man.

Sounded like one continuous track.

Not to be that asshole but...how many songs can I hear that are "Da, duhna da DA. Nuh nuh, nuh nuh"

Whilst I can appreciate the talent, as well as the fact there would be no modern blues guitarist without Muddy Waters, it just wasn’t really for me. The best I can say is I thought “Walkin’ Thru the Park” was really interesting to listen to. Probably a 1.5* really, but not as bad as a 1*.

I find this tedious. So formulaic and predictable. I don't like blues music much anyway. And the lyrics are so literal and on the nose. His voice is cool though which just gets it a 2. It's the kind of thing that might be fun to watch live if your drunk in a bar in Louisiana, but I would need to be drunk and that says a lot.

I can get that Muddy Waters was super influential and stuff but this stuff is a snoozfest.

En tykkää bluesista, mutta ihan hyvä.

Sadly not really my thing. The songs are overlong and blend all together.

Folk, blues, black, 70s rock. Not quite my tempo…

I’m sure this is a fine album for people who really like this type of music. I don’t hate it but it’s not something I would go out of my way to hear.

The blues had a baby and they named it rock and roll easily best song name and song

Not my kind of vibe, but I know he’s a legend

Was not a fan… lowkey didnt get through more than like two songs liked his voice though

Yeah I am unfortunately not a fan of blues. I tried to like it, I really tried. This music needs a specific mood, I need to get into my long black dress, smoke a cigarette and have a glass of wine, go to a nice bar and listen to this type of music. I liked some songs, Crosseyed cat and I can't be satisfied are good, but overall not my genre

Another album where I thought it was cool, but wouldn’t necessarily listen again. The production was great, and I can see how this helped usher blues into the 70s

Too american for me. Состарившийся (и избитый) звук, мне кажется с этим даже спорить смысла нет... Короче мне скучно и неинтересно. До конца не дослушала

not into blues at all. not for me.

Correcto

I'm not impressed by the vocals nor the instrumental. The tracks have a similar sound to them that gets tiring halfway through the album.

Using all stellar artists for a backup band, it was hard to tell who was in control of this album. Most cuts were messy instrumentalists vs intramentalists vying for attention. In one song, it sounded like 3 guitar solos going on at once while pitted against the harmonica. A bit of a mess. I don't think this is the Muddy Waters that I want to be associated with.

Definitely a blues album...... can't deny that

Pretty samey.

Not for me. Good for its genre. I just don’t enjoy that genre. It didn’t help that I had a headache while I listened to it.

I truly hate this. 1.5/5 just because the first song is semi-good.

Pretty generic blues, really didn’t blow me away

Important but not incredible as an album 60 years on

Not necessarily my cup of tea but hey it’s something new

Something about this album sounds very annoying.

Goed genoeg om het gras bij te maaien. Beetje veel van hetzelfde wel.

NICE

This kind of blues is just not my thing.

Something that has its place within music but just isn’t for me

Bluesy.

Not quite.

Good mix of soul, blues, (early) reggae, etc. The guy has got a soulful voice. Not exactly my cup of tea but difficult to criticise.

The kind of blues where every sing sounds identical in a bad way

Kingdra used Muddy Water! It’s super effective!

Gets a little boring hearing lots of 12 bar blues with no real distinguishing features

Some enjoyable tow tapping tunes but it's more repetitive than cohesive

качественная музыка, но мне было категорически неинтересно это слушать.

As much as I wanted to like this album, it was also fairly unforgettable for me. I found it to be such a drag and I was bored. I made it through, but I had to set a timer just so I’d be able to say I accomplished listening to the song. It’s just not my cup of tea.

Meh not really blues

Another artist I've heard absolutely zilch about. Guess I have nothing else to do but get into this one. I’m teetering between a soul or jazz album with my prediction. He has the jazz getup in the album cover, but Waters’ poise is giving me more of a soul energy. Ah, blues. I should have known. I’m far from a fan of this genre, and this album doesn’t do much to assuage my prejudice. The dreaded harmonica from hell is on full display, and the songs generally sound pretty messy and thrown together. Muddy Waters’ vocals are well-suited to this genre of music, but they don’t resonate with me. There’s nothing about this which really sticks out, admittedly. There’s no room to breathe with how aggressive that blown-out harmonica is, though there’s some alright bits. I especially enjoyed the acoustic guitar sound on “I Can’t Be Satisfied”. It’s a good breather I’m gonna check the book. A late-career album. I think those generally make for interesting picks, so I’m already favourable to this one. Warmly received by critics and won a Grammy. The instrumentals on this seemed like they were different from the status quo of blues, so I guess I can cosign this one. It seems like a solid pick. I spent most of this album picking at some food which was properly lodged inbetween my teeth, and only during the last handful of songs did it finally come out. Best feeling of my life. I think I might love this album, come to think of it.

Don't know shit about blues. It's not bad per se, just sounds very samey to me. A lot of the songs seem to go on far too long. Vocals are really good, fit the vibe perfectly. Fav songs - none. They all just blend together.

No a big fan of blues

Great opener, pretty forgettable afterwards.

I really have to be in the right mood to listen to blues, and even then, I can only tolerate short bursts. This is a comparatively late-era Muddy Waters record and the sound hasn’t evolved at all. The early blues records can be interesting in a historical sense, but this is just re-treading a formula . I can’t see what makes it stand out. I confess I didn’t actually make it through the whole album but I don’t think I really need to in order to know it sounds largely the same as every other blues record.

I've yet to find Blues that I like. This isn't it. To me all the songs sound quite similar.

Just like comparing a limerick io a novel , every blues song is the same old repetitive structure with different words and an ever-so-slightly different tune. It really had to evolve because it had nowhere else to go. Hats off to Muddy Waters, the Edward Lear of popular music, for keeping old blues alive for people with simple tastes. But thank God other people came along and developed it into something better.

Not for me

a good album, but blues are definitely not what im into musically

i didnt hear the end or the start of any songs

It was ok. I liked it overall but nothing really hooked me, it like never got going.

Pretty good, I guess, but frankly Muddy Waters is not one of my favorite bluesmen.

Inte dåligt egentligen men Blues är ju inte min kopp av te.

Tough. It's good at what it does but a little samey for my liking, even some of the songs themselves. This feels a bit harsh but going with a 2 as it just doesn't feel like something I'd reach for again.

Blues means 2s. It's always fine but it's the same thing over and over again

It was fine

Pierwszy numer dobry reszta brzdąkanie

I got them 'my baby left me' formulaic blues 😐

I find this boring

I remember listening to this album on an earlier iteration. Aside from Mannish Boy, I can't really remember another song that I liked fully. 2/5.

Zzz

I’m sure it’s a personal failing, but I have never been drawn to the Blues, and this album did not sway me.

This kind of blues just doesn’t do it for me. I appreciate it, but don’t really enjoy it.

Wasn’t really my thing. I had a really bad migraine today so that probably didn’t help

Der erste Titel hat Laune gemacht. Aber der Rest ist Pentatonik hoch unter runter mit tausendfach gehörten Licks.

It was a fine album. Blues feels kinda “samey” to me. Songs were a little long. I can’t be satisfied had some cool harmonica work.

dont care

I have to agree with people saying that this is energetic, as I did feel that the musicians were giving they best. But, I didn't really like it. I think it is way long than it should, specially the longer songs, which felt boring most of the time.

It was a bit much for me. Nice change though

I imagined that I would have a lot to say about our hundredth record. It is a milestone that requires to be marked. On seeing that we were given a late seventies blues album, I knew I wouldn't be able to conjure up much. It is unfair to criticise the blues for the compositional limitations inherent in the structure. I wouldn't do that anyway. But the slick guitar sound from a lot of late blues puts me off big time. Still, I listened to this and it isn't bad. In opposition to a lot of the reviews here, I liked Mannish Boy precisely because it stayed on the I for the whole thing. If the song is never going to move somewhere interesting, why not refuse to move? There was some great hollering on it too. The production is lively and clear, even making blues harmonica sound like a vital, growling texture. And the slide guitar on I Can't Be Satisfied sounds beautiful - it almost sounds like Captain Beefheart. I'm unlikely to listen to this ever again, but I guess it says something about the journey, now we're 10% of the way through: I am largely right about what I like and don't like in music generally, but, on a close listen, I can always find something to enjoy, briefly. 2 A couple of these tracks would nearly do. Does anyone sit down and listen to this whole thing? 50 minutes of 12 bars, turnarounds as old as the hills, and bursts of pentatonic noodling broken up by the classic ‘same note for ages’ gag. Sleazy barroom blues is great fun but it’s as good fun when any half-cut, half-competent set of players blast it at you and 6 other people on a Thursday night with a few drinks in you. What is there to praise here besides Muddy Waters’ iconic voice? Playing blues is like playing Monopoly - you learn the rules and away you go. Listening to blues is like watching Monopoly. I appreciated the relative austerity of ‘I Can’t Be Satisfied’ breaking up the constant party-clamour of honking harmonica, guitar, drums and bass, and piano (mostly all at the same time which can be great but generally - take turns kids) but honestly, it was track 5 and I was already partied out by that stage. I was probably looking for my coat by the end of track two. Or a pint at least. 2/5

Chicago Blues consisting of a standard bass line, noodling guitar solo and a lot of harmonica. Unfortunately this becomes rather repetitive and does not draw me back for repeat listens.

Mannish boy is a classic rest of the album is very repetitive don’t know if blues just isn’t for me

The opening to mannish boy was sweet and then it went on for so long. I really didn’t mind this album, but I also didn’t enjoy this kind of blues. I’ll take that live bb king record over this no problem or the healer too. I did like how ridiculously loud and distorted the harmonica was on this, that was sweet. Mid 2/5

It just not for me

no tan buenisimo

Serious question. Does all Blues sound the same to everyone else? Do some people just really like that one song? I get so bored by this, and it's like my 8th Blues album. Maybe I've gotten through them all now?

Artiste connu par quelques morceaux, mais c'est la première fois que j'écoute un album complet. Cet album confirme que je ne suis pas vraiment fan de blues, très répétitif par construction, avec des morceaux bien trop long et avec des chorus vraiment très (trop) classiques dans ce cas. =>2/5

Blues er kjedelig

It's was ok.

Like it! Blues makes me feel cool.

I liked the music but I don't really care for the genre to be honest. I think my issue with this record is that either the genre is so uniform that I've already heard all of these classic, groundbreaking-for-their-time riffs, or I've heard so many people who were influenced by these classic, groundbreaking-for-their-time riffs that have already taken these ideas and fleshed them out in compelling ways already - in genre's I more prefer. In either case, it's a good record but every few songs I couldn't shake the feeling that I'd already heard some variation on the theme already. A cool record, but not necessarily a record I need to hear before I die - at least not anymore.

Meh. Mostly forgettable.

there's better blues i guess

I mean, if you like the blues, this man has it. Mid 2s

blues, not a big fan of blues

Too much country

TBH, I didn’t care for this album. It started with Mannish Boy and Muddy bragging about what a ladies man he is. Then, the songs were too long so they seemed to drag on.

Not my vibe, probably wouldn’t come back to this

Not a blues guy personally but this was easy listening

Eh, old blues aren't for me. The album songs started to blend and sound the same. The harmonica melody and the beat got very repetitive

Same song for 40 mins

Boogie woogie blues that George Thorogood got his shtick from. I don’t like him, and I don’t like this. Jimmie some Mississippi John Hurt or Skip James or Taj Mahal or RL Burnside. Keep this shit to yourselves ye drunken vapid party people.

He's a legend. I just don't like blues.

muddy is cool as fuck just nothing that special about it to me besides being muddy waters doing his thing not bad, just fine

Not a big fan of delta blues :(

Just doesn’t do it for me

блюз для меня абсолютно песня на одном аккорде. альбом на одном аккорде. и он с душой под этот аккорд поёт но я ничего не поняла и никогда от других не отличу

Classical blues album. Not my kind of music.

"I first heard him as a little boy and it scared me to death"

I hate the blues but I liked his voice.

Oude blues in een modern jasje. Niet altijd met de gewenste uitkomst, maar vaak wel met een betere productie. Dat is ook goed te horen op Hard Again. De plaat begint meteen met de Muddy Waters-klassieker; Mannish Boy. En als je met het beste werk begint, hoe houd je dan het niveau op de rest van de plaat hoog? "Door gewoon hetzelfde te blijven doen" moet Muddy gedacht hebben. Eer ik bij Little Girl ben aanbeland kan ik mij niet herinneren of er een nummer ten einde is gekomen, of dat ik nog steeds naar een solo van Mannish Boy aan het luisteren ben. Op de hele plaat is Muddy heerlijk aan het bluesen, maar is het wel veel hetzelfde. Eigenlijk is alleen I Can't Be Satisfied een beetje anders (Seasick Steve avant la lettre) en een break in de verder continue blues-stroom. Well, I'm not satisfied enough by that... 6/10 Highlights Mannish Boy I Can't Be Satisfied

its the blues

3/10

Nice for a few songs but i got really tired of it fast.

Very good album but not the kind of thing that really makes me want more. A solid 2 star for great musicianship and tempo.

Need more variety

Such generic sounding blues

Ich hatte das Gefühl das Album litt ein bisschen unter dem Seinfeld Effekt. Kann mir vorstellen dass es extrem wegweisend war aber für mich klang es so Basic und abgedroschen dass ich es nicht ernst nehmen konnte

Uh, no

Yes I know he inspired great guitar players but it just doesn’t do it for me.

This isn’t for me. I respect the blues and all it influenced, but the variety isn’t there for me. I’m sure if you’re super into the blues then it’s great, and I’m glad I got to take the time to listen to it, but it probably won’t be listened to again.

The Blues Had a Baby and They Named It Rock and Roll, Pt. 2

This all sounds the same to me.

Loved the first song, but not sure I can do a whole album

Boring again

Harmless blues, but sooo repetitive

Old timers doing their thing well. Lively and competent blues playing. Blues sure was the foundation of rock. Simultaneously it was the foundation of decades of boring blues rock. I respect the craft but I just want to move on.

Blues isn’t my thing. Sounds like a typical blues album to me.

Look it went on a bit.

I realised I don’t like blues

Most songs are the exact same formula with slight variation. This album could be three songs long and would probably get a better rating without the feeling of redundancy.

I think we all need to be honest that blues music is actually boring. An album's worth of the same melodies over and over again is objectively exhausting to listen to.

Minusta nämä kaikki biisit kuulostavat liian samalta. Hyvä soundi, hieno ääni, puhdas salonkikelpoinen blues. Mut ehk just salonkikelpoisuus tökkii, en oikein saa otetta. Sen takia ei ihan kolme.

Nothing inherently wrong about this album, just every song is derivative of its predecessor

2.5

not for me

Good guitar, most songs sound the same though. Saved a few

Not the most interesting blues sound i've heard. Lacks a bit of grit that I was hoping for.

Somehow less interesting to me than the first, perhaps cuz not live and longer songs. Oops sorry mr. Waters

easy listening but it felt like every song dragged on forever (even though I looked and some were only 2/3 mins) bonus points for the banjo though

boring

Blues is just not my jam. But I can see the talent.

Good song and instrumentals . But, they get repetitive and irritate me. Good but not my taste

I really wanted to like this album. But it's hard for me to get into an album when every song has the same pattern and musical development aside from tempo changes. Blues songs are great when by themselves, but start to turn into a slog when everything starts to sound the same. Underwhelming overall. Top tracks: Manish Boy, Crosseyed Cat

I don't like harmonica

This was a lot like listening to Public Enemy, Fear of a Black Planet. Legends, and rightfully so. The album was huge and it’s easy to see why. And you can tell immediately you’re listening to world class performers. But for me, it was one track after another of the same thing over and over without any surprises. I hate saying this about music that people love, but this just didn’t do it for me at all, and I was actively waiting for it to be over. Versus Kenny Wayne Shepherd's "Blue On Black". It auto played afterwards. It’s blues rock and it’s pretty much a 4 chord song, but everything about it surprises and delights me, and I’ve heard this song 4,000,000 times.

Never listened to before, Mannish Boy is the song I know from the radio. Nice blues record, although all the songs sound very alike.

Have to be in a mood for it which I think would be rare. Good background but gets annoying after awhile.

I enjoyed Muddy Waters live performances that I heard, and I knew this one was one of his bigger studio releases, so I imagined I'd like this too, but while the energy was certainly there, I think I just have to accept the fact that I do not enjoy the blues. I understand the appeal of it while listening, and this is certainly better due to never feeling empty like many older blues records, but nothing here grabbed me, and with its run time I got sick of the same song and dance relatively quickly. Nothing here is bad, and I get the praise, but it just isn't for me.

It felt ordinary and the songs were like all the same.

Very difficult to get through, it was all the same

Not really for me, and songs were very long and repetitive

Why does every song sound nearly identical? Sometime it’s a little faster, sometimes slower, but it sounds like the same song over and over again with little variation. Maybe it’s a blues thing… maybe it ain’t an album friendly genre.

let me start out by saying that I respect the blues. without the blues, there would be no rock and roll. it is literally the foundation of rock and roll. with that being said, most of the songs on this album are incredibly redundant. the blues, at least on this album, are incredibly formulaic with the same themes and rhythms. the blues has its place in the history of music, but listening to it now it sounds undeniably dated.

not really my thing

The blues just weren't hitting on this one. Couldn't tell one song from the next. Felt too long

For when you need to get a nice stomp out

Im not a fan of the „old“ Blues stuff

This was a slog for me. Blues just aren't my thing.

Just classic (boring) delta blues. Not my cup of tea at all. 2/5

Blús ...

I got on with this better than I expected. Not really what I'd listen to, but nice to have something different

It actually sounded what muddy waters would feel like. And that isn't a compliment.

Not so hard

Blues is the greatest scam in music history. Playing the same damn song over and over again, with slight variations from a musician to another.

Feel bad rating this down but I just can't bring myself to care about it.

I already find blues to repetitive enough even within the same song, but a whole album of the same blues standards everyone has heard over and over? Holy god damn. I hope there aren't too many more blues records on here. Great musicianship but really not a joy to listen to at lengths.

Om man som jag inte lyssnar på texten så blir blues bara en blues tolva med olika tempon. Ibland bytte han inte ens ackord så det var ett ackord och en snubbe som skrek. Någon låt var annorlunda vilket jag uppskattade för det gjorde det lite lättare att ta sig igenom denna.

I've been crawling through the trenches of late, 2-star dross on repeat. fingers crossed that the next Album offers something more

I had a professor once who talked about blues traditions. When blues artists were making in-group music, it was about the words and the message. Instrumentation was there to give feeling. When the music was made for a white audience, words didn't matter as much, it was all about solos. That has always resonated for me with great blues and consumer blues. I mean, get that money Muddy, I ain't mad at you, but this is the pinnacle of white people consumer blues.

I won't lie and say that I don't like blues, but to me the album dragged HARD. Which is crazy, cuz the album is just over 45 minutes.

pretty okay i guess?

I enjoyed it but it did get a bit repetitive. I was bopping along on the bus to it though.

Probably wouldn't end up going back to it but was it was fun.

It got a bit samey after a while. Not a huge fan but didn't outright dislike it. Don't think I'd listen to again.

Klingt wie Blues. Ganz okay.

I know this is supposed to be classic music, but I've always found most blues really boring and hard to pay attention to, especially the earlier stuff that wasn't recorded very well. Not surprisingly, I could hardly pay attention to this album. So monotonous and the lyrics were all either boring or annoying. 2 starts because at least it wasn't an assault to my ears.

Blues music is too basic. You have to do something way more interesting to the genre to capture my attention. Were people really vibing to this in 1977 (let alone 2024)? Hard to imagine for me. 1.8/5

While I like the blues, I just can't get excited about this album or others like this. After about 15 minutes (2 songs), I'm ready to take a nap. Clearly others love this ... but not me. 2/5

Really is not for me. Every single song sounds very similiar and when i don’t like the sound im not going to love the album. I get som people can like it but not me.

Bastante meh, nada reseñable

Classic blues record, but not sure why exactly this album is on this list

“Mannish boy” was great, “the blues had a baby” was fun, the rest was derivative. But he did sound like chef from south park so 2.

Very very classic blues. It was good but unfortunately I don’t like blues. Listens: 1 Fave Track: Crosseyed Cat (subject amused me)

Not really my type of music. I'm sure that it is great for the genre just not for me.

not for me, didnt like the harmonica Significant 38/122 Liked 17/122 Added 4/122 NNN

meh....there is better Muddy

Didn’t really connect with this.

This made me feel like I'm a mosquito in a barn and not in a good way

the blues had a baby and they named it rock and roll

1. mannizh boy - 2 2. buz driver - 1.5 3. i uuant to be loved - 1 4. jealouz man - 1 5. i cant be zatizfied - 1 6. the bluez had a baby - 1 7. deep douun in florida - 1.5 8. crozzeyed cat - 1.5 9. little girl - 1.5

I usually like the blues but not this one

Found the harmonica supremely abrasive, so I guess I'm not a fan of all of Muddy Waters' work.

Mannish boy это, по всей видимости, то на что потом сделают кавер black strobe - i'm a man. Только мадди уотерс не кричит об этом, как малолетний гангста. Он говорит об этом спокойно и уверенно. А ещё так назывался станд в жоже УУУууууоООООО!!! а ещё этот альбом наполовину забанен в ютубе и полностью отсутствует на ямузыке. Ничего не хочу сказать, но неудобно. Говорю, алиса, включи мадди уотерс. Она включает mind vortex. Ну гений В остальном -- ну типа дефолт блюзец, я не сильно в нём разбираюсь. Ставлю двойку наверное, не то что бы за альбомом я провёл ультрахорошее время.