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.[1]
Guitarist Turner also considered it to be Mudhoney's first official studio album, despite it being an EP initially.[2]
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."[3] 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.'"[4]
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.[4]
"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.
During initial release, the EP proved a success for Sub Pop, becoming one of the labels biggest selling early releases, alongside Nirvana's Bleach and Mudhoney's Debut LP.[15] 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."[16]Kurt Cobain listed the EP in his top fifty albums of all time.[17][18]Krist Novoselic said in 1993: "When that EP came out it was a must-have, and those were magical times. That was the Seattle scene."[19]
"You Got It (Keep It Outta My Face)" (8-track version)
B-side of "You Got It (Keep It Outta My Face)", 1989
2:55
13.
"Burn It Clean"
B-side of "You Got It (Keep It Outta My Face)
2:58
14.
"Halloween"
Sonic Youth
Split single with Sonic Youth
6:12
15.
"Need" (demo)
3:23
16.
"Mudride" (demo)
6:03
17.
"In 'n' Out of Grace" (demo)
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.
Disc 2
No.
Title
Length
1.
"No One Has" (live)
3:59
2.
"Sweet Young Thing Ain't Sweet No More" (live)
3:45
3.
"Need" (live)
2:47
4.
"Chain That Door" (live)
1:59
5.
"If I Think" (live)
3:18
6.
"Mudride" (live)
6:20
7.
"Here Comes the Sickness" (live)
4:12
8.
"Touch Me I'm Sick" (live)
2:51
9.
"In 'n' Out of Grace" (live)
6:55
10.
"Mudride" (live)
5:34
11.
"Here Comes the Sickness" (live)
4:10
12.
"No One Has" (live)
3:32
13.
"By Her Own Hand" (live)
3:32
14.
"Touch Me I'm Sick" (live)
3:14
15.
"Dead Love" (live)
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.
^Superfuzz Bigmuff Plus Early Singles (Media notes). Mudhoney. Sub Pop. 1990. SP21b.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^ abSuperfuzz Bigmuff (Deluxe Edition) (Media notes). Mudhoney. Sub Pop. 2008. SPCD 773.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
