Like his first album, Howlin' Wolf's second was a collection of singles, but Moanin' in the Moonlight's tracks were culled from a near-decade of recording. His self-titled sophomore (often called "The Rockin' Chair Album" because of its cover photo) featured tracks from a much tighter time period: 1960-1962. Ironically, there's more of a diverse spirit on Howlin' Wolf than there was on Moanin'. This is immediately apparent as the record zips from the frenetic clattering of "Shake for Me" to the slow grind of "The Red Rooster" to the intense chugging of "You'll Be Mine" to the rustic bop of "Who's Been Talking?" to the romping "Wang Dang Doodle" and on through other major classics like "Spoonful", "Down in the Bottom", "Back Door Man", and "Tell Me". All this makes for a livelier listen than Moanin' in the Midnight, a terrific album in its own right but one that feels a bit grey in light of Howlin' Wolf's multi-colors.This is also an album with a lot of textures: velvet bass, metallic percussion, rich piano, strangely brassy guitar, and Wolf's bottomless cavern vocals. These sounds really spring to life on Chess' new Acoustic Sounds Edition vinyl. You can just tell how certain elements might go wrong with an inferior presentation. The percussion on "Shake for Me" could be shrill, but it's warm on this reissue. Wolf's voice could distort as it leaps out of the mix on "Who's Been Talking?" and "Howlin' for My Baby", but it never does on this reissue. The deep bass could get muddy or lost, but it remains well-defined, deep, and punchy on this reissue. Googly moogly, does this disc sound phenomenal.
