The Battle of Minneapolis: Husker Du / The Replacements / Soul Asylum [OPO]

Voted suburbs

Also a+ on balloon guy

Husker Du = Spot
Replacements = no Spot

Replacements

Loud Fast Rules 4 eva, though. Who the fuck thought 'Soul Asylum' was a good idea?

husker du are st. paul as a mother IMO, they feel like st. paul and the replacements feel like mpls.

seems weird tho since HD are the modernists and the replacements are the classicists?

i think of st paul as cramped, industrial - more east coast than minneapolis.

I'm not the guy to do it, but I'm sure plenty here can defend pre-breakout Soul Asylum. My understanding was they were a heck of a band, back in the day.

Anyway: Husker Du for the catalog, 'Mats for the songs. Alternatively, Husker Du for energy, 'Mats for ... empathy? Actually, between the two of them, that's a pretty tough choice. Both mean a lot to me, but for totally different reasons. Hmmm ...

Jon Lewis otm about Made to Be Broken: from what I've heard, that album is sweet. Feel bad for Soul Asylum, almost as if they deserve their own poll, against the Goo Goo Dolls and the Christ Punchers or something...

St. Paul was great in The Family.

Feel bad for Soul Asylum, almost as if they deserve their own poll, against the Goo Goo Dolls and the Christ Punchers or something...

That's exactly right. It's not a knock to say that Made to Be Broken was a pretty good album. There were hundreds of pretty good Amerindie (or whatever you want to call it) albums in the mid-'80s. But Soul Asylum was qualitatively different than Husker Du or the Replacements.

My best memory of Soul Asylum is suppyly-teaching ("substitute-teaching" if you're American...an American friend once thought supply teaching meant you went in and looked after supplies) for a grade 5 or 6 class when "Runaway Train" was huge, and having most of the class quietly sing along as it played on the radio while they worked. For better or worse, I don't think you'd encounter the same thing today.

"supply"...

Cue aero coming in all like "I'd rather have monkeys hurl snappers & feces at my ears every day for the rest of my life than have to listen to one more second of Gravedancers' Union!" lol...

i saw soul asylum open for husker du circa flip your wig, they were definitely energetic but their music didn't seem anything special

Replacements were my first boyfriend, but I can barely listen to them now because it's a little too emotional. Somewhere in my piles of nostalgic junk I have a Poloroid of myself with Paul Westerberg and I cherished it so much I hid it. Now I can't find it.

Meanwhile, Husker Du has been with me through SO MANY LIFE EVENTS, and there's a HD song for every mood I have. Have made friends with Husker Du, grown up to Husker Du, and enjoy annual Husker Du binges.

I don't care about Soul Asylum at all, and avoiding bands with Soul _____ is always a good idea imo.

So...let's see. Huskers are probably better, and more multipurpose, but I will always be in love with the Replacements. Voted emotion. Don't care if it's wrong because it feels right. Both are bands that I can't imagine anyone taking lightly because I have loved them so much.

fwiw: HUSKER DU V. Replacements

wow somehow i managed to control myself and not carry on emotionally last time
and look what happened

Thanks for that link PP - I almost posted the EXACT SAME THING (nearly) as I did back in '07!

Anyway, I'm gonna change my mind and vote Replacements this time, just 'cause it's my right to do so. Plus they were funnier.

So...let's see. Huskers are probably better, and more multipurpose, but I will always be in love with the Replacements. Voted emotion. Don't care if it's wrong because it feels right. Both are bands that I can't imagine anyone taking lightly because I have loved them so much.

― Ralpharina (La Lechera), Tuesday, March 8, 2011 11:23 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

^^^ Voted Replacements but feel very similar to LL about both them and HD.

I will also say that I have big soft spot for early Soul Asylum but not enough to consider voting for them against these two.

actually I change my vote to Savage Aural Hotbed

I cherished it so much I hid it. Now I can't find it.

Ha.

but yeah, Soul Asylum is a strange addition to this poll.

Someone should print this thread out when the poll closes, mail it to Dave Pirner and be all like IN YOUR FACE.

HOW'S THAT FOR SOME "MISERY," DAVE????

I don't care about Soul Asylum at all, and avoiding bands with Soul _____ is always a good idea imo.

― Ralpharina (La Lechera), Tuesday, March 8, 2011 11:23 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

Been trying to sell Soul Batch as a band name for a while now
No takers

Dü over Mats, but barely.

Voted Replacements, based primarily on my love of Sorry Ma and Hootenanny (but only bits and pieces thereafter.) LOL at Soul Asylum = Freddie and the Dreamers upthread, yeah they were nowhere near the importance of Husker Du, but based on the number of LPs in my collection and shows I attended, SA actually edge out the Du, who were always too dour and humorless (and loud) for me, just not really my thing. But correct answer for me is really this:

Voted suburbs

― O_o-O_0-o_O (jjjusten), Wednesday, March 9, 2011 1:36 AM (14 hours ago)

TVBC is an amazing amazing band

Let It Be is probably my favorite album ever, but I've been on a major Husker Du kick of late, and might love more of their songs on the whole. Close, but I'm going with HD. Don't care about Soul Asylum really.

I agree that Soul Asylum here is the band not quite like the others, but I feel like someone needs to step up and rep for Hang Time and The Horse They Rode In On.

And c'mon, Grave Dancers Union is one of the decade's best albums, if you exclude every track after the first one.

Hang Time was great

Here's an MP3 of TVBC, kinda strange mutant punk/funk/weirdo stuff...this is from 87's "Ex Cathedra" album

http://www.tvbc.tv/mp3/Veil_of_Seven_Sorrows.mp3

band leader paul metzger has released a ton of stuff in the last decade, lots of folk/raga/improv stuff on various modified banjos and stuff like that

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UkzRUWdbOU

three more underrated old school mpls bands:

Man Sized Action (featured Brian Paulson who got famous as a producer for Wilco, etc)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqSi8SUkiB0

Rifle Sport (feature Flour and Todd Trainer later of shellac) -- a little more allied with the chicago/albini axis stuff, this doesn't quite capture how amazing they were at their reunion show a few years ago

NNB's deathless "Slack"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AWTGExPigI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8b8jQGf5Xk

oops Rifle Sport:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AWTGExPigI

Magnolias were around forever and a little closer to the Replacements type stuff but a little more 60s classic pop

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l61p5ZWH92U&feature=related

dropping Soul Asylum quickly, I saw the other 2 bands about six times each, and have to go narrowly w/ Husker Du for that Zen Arcade-thru-Candy Apple Grey quartet.

Still, the 'Mats were better at show business, live.

Someone should print this thread out when the poll closes, mail it to Dave Pirner and be all like IN YOUR FACE.

No need to mail, I can just swing by liquor lyles and drop it off for him.

Du's joy-punk sound is so singular and perfect. Du all the way

No need to mail, I can just swing by liquor lyles and drop it off for him.

― O_o-O_0-o_O (jjjusten), Wednesday, March 9, 2011 7:28 PM (17 minutes ago) Bookmark

omg is this a snap??? or does the dude actually work there

ps - i am sorry about my st paul crack upthread u_u

i'm sure it's very nice there.

St. Paul Civic Center -- $8.50 -- i bought a headache.

Wait, joy-punk?

du easily

Nah Dave doesn't work at LL but he was/is a staple there for years (I don't go there much anymore but when I lived next door he was there about 50% of the time)

hmmm- saw all three, prolly had the most fun at SA shows, but i voted R with no hesitation. loved HD but i skew sloppy moreso than serious so...

ps. Run Westy Run/Blue Hippos show was a most memorable show candidate

I hold Let It Be very very close to my heart but that run of Husker Du albums from Zen Arcade to Warehouse just contains so many great songs, I can't not vote for Husker Du. Also I heard Husker Du in my teens whereas I didn't discover The Replacements until I was 22 and I think that's huge big factor in why the former are so dear to me.

I honestly don't mind Soul Asylum (pre-Grave Dancer's Union) nearly as much as all of you, they're probably as under-rated here and there as the Replacement are over-rated.

Would be interested in how Pirner would vote on this as he was obviously in mucho debt to both Westerberg and Mould.

i bet if it hadnt been for grave dancers union SA would be another great lost band. Hang Time is a great album.

Holy crap I haven't heard this in 20 years but even this GDU-era Soul Asylum song, don't mind the verses, but listen to how perfectly Pirner apes Mould on the chorus:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrrE5bCA5lg

<iframe title="YouTube video player" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ve4hwVMFZ0g"; frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe title="YouTube video player" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/igK9yHHcM9Q"; frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

yuck. sorry.

I kind of never need to hear Husker Du ever again their stuff is recorded so harshly/shittily whereas I have more of a sentimental attachment to the 'Mats and their catalog is just funnier

^^this

lol

I spent yesterday listening to Soul Asylum -- from Made to Be Broken through Let Your Dim Light Shine. Gawd, those early albums are incredible -- up to Hangtime and the Clam Dip EP. YouTube has a ton of evidence of how mind blowing they were live around that time. I feel fortunate to have seen them a couple times then.

Totally otm. I mentioned my soft spot upthread but I may have understated it a bit. At one point SA were one of my top fave bands. As a young teenager I was, er, in their fan club and i distinctly remember taping the Christmas card they sent out inside my binder. I had such crush on Dan Murphy. I still love those early albums and even GDU a lot.

Runaway Train = if Jon Bon Jovi sang Unsatisfied

Though maybe that's a good thing

Whatever, SA and GGD, whatever their merits, allowed themselves to become bland anonymous guitar rock, free of annoying things like identity and character. So fuck em.

Even before Sandusky, I thought this dude looked like Joe Paterno.

http://i.imgur.com/FKZMh.png

ONE VOTE?!

fückin Hüskers....

Soul Asylum can't compete here, but this revive made me realize I once played "Cartoon" like seven times in a row while drunk. Fuckin great track.

Babes in Toyland

Bob Mould's new one, "Silver Age," is awesome. It's like a third Sugar album, and much better than the second.

wish i were more fond of babes in toyland overall. loved the "dusk cake boy" 45, but lost interest not long after.

xp just saw a recent photo of Bob and now I get where the album title came from

Never felt either way about Soul Asylum, but enjoyed this a lot:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiEYrOrP4uY

omg those results

xp just saw a recent photo of Bob and now I get where the album title came from

rude

i had the first five Soul Asylum albums and then Runaway Train came out and killed my interest stone dead. think i would probably enjoy a nostalgic drunken singalong to any of the early stuff though if i ever went there

Such a crazy turn, went from getting called (by some) the best live band in America, to persona non grata, even in their home town. They were amazing live, albums good but it was all about the live show

literally a screenshot from bob's ig

https://i.postimg.cc/J7P1LbqX/bm.png

bulb after bulb at 8:26 5 Mar 26

Such a crazy turn, went from getting called (by some) the best live band in America, to persona non grata, even in their home town. They were amazing live, albums good but it was all about the live show


they still have a big and devoted fanbase here

Thanks. Had been wondering about that statement

png not the right phrase, but the fanbase they had before Runaway Train is not the fanbase they have had since, playing BBQ fests and mainroom holiday shows

of course there's 33 years to account for there too

I only got to see them once, at the Marquee in London, along with fellow Minneapolitans and no-one’s favourite band on SST, Run Westy Run. That was just before Runaway Train came out, definitely didn’t enjoy hearing that for the first time

Run Westy Run speaking of bands with a smaller, but nearly religiously devoted fanbase in Minneapolis. never could get into them myself.