5/5 Here's my Mule.
  by B. Stowers (Huntington,WV)
Being a fan of the band since it's beginning I was most interested to hear what the new "direction" was going to sound like. WOW. Is that enough? New bass player Jorgen Carlsson was definetly the right choice and Warren is writing and playing as well as ever. How he does it with so many irons in the fire I wish I knew,but he is THE man. The band is really locked in and "hittin the note".The songs on this collection run the gambut of subject matter and style,and of course Warren has pulled out another lost gem with Railroad Boy,a smoking arrangement of an old field blues standard from who knows where( I don't but I'm sure someone out there does).
Billy Gibbons and Warren trading licks is sweet on Broke down on the Brazos,and Frozen Fear is a bit of Mule style R&B. Scenes from a Troubled Mind is a Warren 'dark' standard in the Life Before Insanity vein with Andy Hess on bass,a nice hold over from his time in the band I suspect. The entire disc is a joy to sink into,so far I can't stop listening to this disc.6 stars!

5/5 Harder Rockin, Better Produced, Possible Best Mule To Date
  by David Brownstein (Los Angeles, CA)
I've been a Mule fan since the first album. Seen them twice, once back in the day, the second time a few months ago.

Just got the new album and love it. I love Warren's playing and singing. The band seems to have gelled into a more cohesive unit, and in new bass player Jorgen, I think warren's found his felix pappalardi.

I'm surprised to see the negative reviews here. Really? You guys don't like this?

All musicians change (if they're paying attention to their muse) and warren has taken a turn more towards hard rock, classic rock then blues.

The riffs and songs are groovier and crunchier. That's why I like 'em. The sound of the album is more like a led zep or hendrix record, without being imitative, but with warren's great voice.

The band has evolved and grown and changed. Warren's tone has changed, on this record. You want blues, listen to the Allmans. (who i love as well.)

You want crunchy, funky, groonin' guitar tone and playing, buy this CD!

I can't believe you guys don't love this!


4/5 Diverse excellence
  by A B
Wow- dumbfounded by some of the negative reviews of this new release.

I happen to love the Mule to death, but I did find the last two releases a bit predictable in production and material. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed both High and Mighty and Deja Voodoo very much, but the approach was beginning to sound a tad stale. I'm not quite sure where the new appeal is derived from, but I simply love this record.

The Mule has always been a band highly influenced by its forefathers, but there is an organic diversity to the new material that really hits the spot. If you're a Mule fan that longs for the days of the Allen Woody approach, well, those days are over. This music is more refined, and deeper and richer for it. Thing is, when they put the pedal to the metal, tracks like "Any Open Window" and "Inside Outside Woman Blues" are prime examples of the gut punch these cats are able to land- sure, they have Jimi and Cream as their spiritual ancestors, but what of it? It's still a sublime listen...

Regardless of the feel of each individual track, I love the fact that Warren seemed to have made a concerted effort to stretch out a bit. I for one applaud him for it- "By a Thread" is pretty darn close to being my favorite Mule record yet.

1/5 Very Disappointed
  by pervisaurus (Upstate New York)
I waited for this cd more than any other release by The Mule just because they kept saying Danny was going to be playing more guitar on this one. But after one listen I thought it was the worse Mule cd i have heard but i thought maybe if I listened to it a couple more times something might happen. Nothing ever happened it is just a lame recording. Warren doesn't play anything good as far as I can hear. It sounds much more like The grateful Dead than Government Mule. I am glad I heard it before I bought tickets to see them because I would have been pissed tp pay money to hear them play any of these songs. Thank god for all the mule recordings before this. And as far as Bass players I think andy is/was much better than this new guy. Sorry to say it but I think the new cd is a waste of time and money.

5/5 The Mule is back at it
  by Floyd Brigdon (Terrell, Texas)
Before I started to write this review, I briefly looked over some of the things that have been said in some of the recent reviews to try to provide myself a sense of perspective. Like a number of the reviewers that I read, when I first listened to Gov't Mule's new CD I felt a little underwhelmed but that sense went away pretty quickly for me... a little more and a little faster with each listening of the CD.
Like almost every CD that you could possibly name (with a few notable exceptions), I think that this one has its strong moments and its weak moments but as I sit here trying to decide what I will tell you I believe the strongest moments are, I find myself at a loss to really put them into that kind of order. I mean, is the funky addictive rhythm of "Broke Down on the Brazos" stronger than the catchy riffs of "Stepping Lightly" or "Any Open Window"? Is the wonderful traditional sound of "Railroad Boy" stronger than the tongue-in-cheek lyrical fun of "Inside Outside Woman Blues #3"? Those are hard, hard questions for me to answer.
And even what I consider to be "weak moments" -- "Monday Mourning Meltdown" and "World Wake Up" primarily -- have elements or moments in them that make them worth listening to at least once. But that is only two tracks out of eleven that I consider "weak" and by anyone's accounting, that is not bad at all.
The Mule's sound is a little different in this CD than in previous efforts but not only do I consider that to be a good thing, I am out of my seat giving the band a standing ovation. I mean, think about it: do you want every CD from a band that you really love to sound like every CD that they have ever done? No. And the reason that you don't want that (at least the reason that _I_ don't) is because differences in sound and style mean that that band is growing and finding new ways to express themselves. And THAT means that there are hopefully many more new CDs in that band's future.
So to you Mule fans who haven't listened to By A Thread yet and to those of you who gave up on it after a listen or two: give it a chance and I think you will really like what is happening in it.
To the guys in the band itself: thanks for making another wonderful and inspiring CD. Keep making 'em. We're still listeing.