Husker Du : Classic or Dud, Search and Destroy.

anyway

search: New Day Rising + Candy Apple Grey Destroy: Nova MOb

I'll agree that Sugar were the better band, though they didn't exactly blaze the trails that Husker Du did. Better rhythm section, more focused attack, etc. Some of David Barbe's songs are really good, but he's no Grant Hart, is he?

search: Metal Circus, "Pink Turns to Blue", "Eight Miles High", "Gir Who Lives On Heaven Hill", "Eiffel Tower High" (their greatest song, I think)

destroy: Sugar (way booooooooringgggggg)

There were so many great bands that husker du inspired- Pixies (who taught a certain K. Cobain about songwriting), afghan whigs, Royal trux, and that's to name a few.

In their time they made intense, emotional, angry guitar rock. They had honesty and integrity. MBV took a lot from them (weren't they the British version of the Du). Of course, Bob Mould would follow with Sugar, whose Copper Blue was in part influenced by Loveless.

Right now, with Fushitsusha in hibernation (they have not found a replacement for theitr drummer) we could really do with something like husker du.

Search "Don't Want To Know If You Are Lonely" and "She Floated Away", Destroy "Crystal". I knid of like The Baby Song too.... (I see my tatses obvious run counter to nearly everyone else round here).

Definate Classic though - even with the knitting needle production.

Search: most of New Day Rising and Metal Circus, "Chartered Trips", "Pink Turns to Blue", "Turn On the News" Destroy: roughly two-thirds of the catalogue -- a best-of would be nice here because none of the albums are an unassailable listen

I find it really really difficult to work out why I like some American guitar rock a lot and some so little.

I'm interested at the number of dud votes here, though. My concerns about the forum are slightly allayed ;)

if you people really hate the band's production, pick up the live lp "the living end" - makes the "warehouse" stuff much less tame and actually sounds *good* (gosh...)

Then all through the nineties I never listened to any of their records. A couple of months ago, I decided to put on New Day Rising. And I was left feeling ... well, nothing. If anything, it sounded like the Mother of All Emo Records, which would of course be a bad thing.

Funny how a decade can change one's perceptions so greatly.

Anyway, I heard "Don't Want to Know If You Are Lonely" on the radio today for the first time in a long time and it sounded like the Foo Fighters! (Except for the fact that it was much more well written, of course!)

I also really like reading Julio's early posts.

Woah. That is almost exactly the list I'd post, 'cept I'd add in "Books About UFOs" 'cuz it's sweet.

I don't like Zen Arcade that much as an album. I love some of the tracks on it, but I'd be way more likely to listen to New Day Rising all the way through.

Fucking classic, even now. The only album that's not up to scratch is Candy Apple Grey.

"Brick on your head, 'cause you're a fuckhead" to the naysayers.

It occurs to me now Warehouse is the one, that was the name of only album of Husker Du I had. It was about 60% enjoyable as I recall.

The singles were always good, don't get me wrong...Eight Miles High was great too. I heard their version of that before anyone else's, actually. I don't feel cheated by that at all.

That was the Hated's theory, anyway...

Incidentally, listening to DNA and sirone late last year made me realize how the bass could work and what a blind spot that was for me even though those aren't exactly rock. I haven't heard 'zen arcade' in ages so i should revisit this.

(thanks sundar, that must've been one of my v first posts on ilm though for better or worse I could never use a word like 'quality' or 'integrity' again nor 'influence' or 'emotion' without explaining it)

(Did I just say that?)

Also, Greg Norton, being the most underrated member of the band, is such a great bassist. I walk around most days with a loop of "Statues" running on repeat in my brain.

Any coincidence that this thread has been revived just after that special sometime in April when we add another hour?

yeah that was awesome

Huskers are stone-cold St. Paul, which is why they are essentially melancholy

me, 15 and essentially melancholy, at a bus stop near Dunn Bros on Grand in '93, reading the City Pages review of the Everything Falls Apart rerelease

(lol there was a bit in the end credits in that doc that said "'eight miles high' written by robert berry, keith emerson and carl palmer" which was a tad confusing - turns out those guys covered it as the band '3' in 1988. it's um, not a very good version)

I saw that! Also, minor quibble but Twin/Tone never released any Hypstrz records.

Tbh to an outsider, the MPLS vs St Paul thing, even if it’s a bit of fun, is kinda interesting, not least in due to the back in the day flagship bands of both, and partly due to the nature of the Twin Cities

(Clearly countless instances over the years of Husker Du being subsumed under the ‘Minneapolis band’ umbrella)

A new Hüsker Dü live album, Longhorn Tonight, will be released later this year. It will feature a handful of appearances at their local home town venue according to former bassist Greg Norton.

https://www.punktuationmag.com/new-husker-du-live-album-longhorn-tonight-planned/

hey Greg Ginn, stop being an asshole and let them reissue this shit FFS

Serious question? Are there any kit breakdowns for Grant out there on the intertubes? I really wanna know his ride cymbal choices for all studio records. There's a magic in their sound in a way that's as important to me today as they were when I was 17.

listening to Warehouse for the first time ever, it's great!

yeah it should get more shine.

I know it's been pointed out on ILX before but "She Floated Away" really is amazing

... and the drums sound fine to me? playing a 90s CD version

"These Important Years" is great

yeah that got me into it right out of the gate. back in the day I only kept up until Flip Your Wig. now I gotta hear Candy Apple Grey.

CAG is their emo album.

Aw I LOVE She Floated Away. If you like that you should hear the solo Grant song The Main

If you like that you should hear the solo Grant song The Main

one of the greatest songs ever written

oh my god there are 39 copies of that relatively cheap 1989 SST LP release on Discogs, and not a single one ships from the US

https://www.discogs.com/sell/release/1291800?ev=rb

so brutal

(a couple other versions do have a single US shipper)

this is my favorite version

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZToHDEw6fI8

I just got that myself, on the CD single that used it as a B-side!

I like Warehouse a lot, but something about the mix or mastering sounds very weird coming through computer speakers, as if certain frequencies have been misplaced and the stereo balance is off-kilter.

I like _Warehouse_ a lot, but something about the mix or mastering sounds very weird coming through computer speakers, as if certain frequencies have been misplaced and the stereo balance is off-kilter.

listening through computer speakers might be the problem. The OG vinyl sounds fine. As do their other LPs, unlike the SST CDs which most have a real problem with.

Candy Apple Grey CD is the closest you can get to blowing speakers out with that opening track, lol

https://recordstoreday.com/SpecialRelease/15817

Event: RECORD STORE DAY 2023
Release Date: 4/22/2023
Format: 2 x LP
Label: Reflex Records
Quantity: 5000
Release type: 'RSD First' Release
MORE INFO

A 2xLP set of rare, early Hüsker Dü live recordings, featuring original flyers and artwork. Drawn from the historical Hüsker Dü recording archives compiled by Terry Katzman, this double disc live set is an essential companion piece to the band's Savage Young Du Box Set. While the SYD release principally featured studio demos, the 28 tracks presented here are the aural and enchanting equivalent of a time machine that vividly thrusts the listener straight back to Husker Du's embryonic unsheathing on stage.

Side A dates to July 1979. Side B gives us a full year's evolution to July 1980, while Sides C and D land the listener in September 1980. Perhaps 120 people in total saw these three Longhorn performances. Until now, a handful at most have heard the playbacks. So, rare and fresh, it's all here: the songs, the driven performances, the small club intimacy of being in front of select friends, fans, and peers, with one fair shot at getting it right. These four sides compellingly document that you can't doubt that they did.

Side A - July 6. 1979 20:56

1 Insects Rule The World (Hart) (BMG Bumblebee BMI)
2 I’m Not Interested (Hart) (BMG Bumblebee BMI)
3 Sex Dolls (Hart) (BMG Bumblebee BMI)
4 Can’t See You Anymore (Mould) (Granary Music BMI)
5 Sexual Economics (Mould) (Granary Music BMI)
6 Do You Remember? (Mould) (Granary Music BMI)
7 Nuclear Nightmare (Hart/Mould/Norton) (BMG Bumblebee BMI) (Granary Music BMI) (Husker Music BMI)

Side B - July 16 1980 Tiger Night 22:17

1 All Tensed Up (Mould) (Granary Music BMI)
2 Strange Week (Hart) (BMG Bumblebee BMI)
3 Don’t Try To Call (Mould) (Granary Music BMI)
4 Industrial Grocery Store (Mould) (Granary Music BMI)
5 Do The Bee (Hart) (BMG Bumblebee BMI)
6 Do You Remember? (Mould) (Granary Music BMI)
7 Ode To Bode (Norton) (Husker Music BMI)
8 Don’t Have A Life (Norton) (Husker Music BMI)

Side C - Sept 25 1980 Homerock 20:40

1 All I’ve Got To Lose (Mould) (Granary Music BMI)
2 Don’t Try It (Mould) (Granary Music BMI)
3 Writer’s Cramp (Mould) (Granary Music BMI)
4 Gilligan’s Island (Hart) (BMG Bumblebee BMI)
5 What Went Wrong? (Mould) (Granary Music BMI)
6 Uncle Ron (Norton) (Husker Music BMI)
7 MTC (Norton) (Husker Music BMI)
8 Drug Party (Hart) (BMG Bumblebee BMI)

Side D - Sept 25, 1980 Homerock 22:15

1 Chinese Rock (Meyers, Colvin) (Dilapidated Music DoraFlo Music, Quick Fix Music BMI)
2 Termination (Norton) (Husker Music BMI)
3 Call On Me (Mould) (Granary Music BMI)
4 Gravity (Mould) (Granary Music BMI)
5 Statues (Hart) (BMG Bumblebee BMI)

Shit I had not heard of this before

Does "RSD First" release mean it'll be coming out as a non-limited non-RSD thing later?

I hope so ^

I read somewhere there’s a digital release scheduled for autumn; I don’t know for sure about physical.

These days (and this will always change) my favourite Hart is "She's a Woman (and now he is a Man)". So good.

so good!

oh, that RSD release is out on CD apparently: https://www.discogs.com/release/26835887-H%C3%BCsker-D%C3%BC-Tonite-Longhorn

Perhaps 120 people in total saw these three Longhorn performances.

I was likely one of them. "Tiger Night" (side B) was the name of the Wednesday new band night at The Longhorn. No cover, and there was usually free tap beer for an hour from 8-9 pm to get people down there. I went almost every week in 1980.

oh, that RSD release is out on CD apparently: https://www.discogs.com/release/26835887-H%C3%BCsker-D%C3%BC-Tonite-Longhorn🕸

_Perhaps 120 people in total saw these three Longhorn performances._


I was likely one of them. "Tiger Night" (side B) was the name of the Wednesday new band night at The Longhorn. No cover, and there was usually free tap beer for an hour from 8-9 pm to get people down there. I went almost every week in 1980.

http://www.thirdav.com/hd_posters/p19800702.gif

Awesome

25 cent Special Exports. It's a wonder I'm still alive.

Green cans

Bottles! I often picked up a 6-pack on the way to the show and I'd sneak 'em in after the 25 cent special was over.

Green Death

wow THE DADS really got around

sorry The DADS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Hb4r1bCpJw

Thanks so much Dan!

I love talking about this era. What I remember of it anyway...

First: It's been eons since I listened to "New Day Rising," just because there's too much music and too few hours. While I never got to see Husker Du live (though got to see Hart and have seen Mould a bunch), weirdly enough I don't regret it, since the advantage of Spot's production is that I feel it captures the energy and aaaargh of group live, at least based on the bootlegs I've heard. This is kinda true about a lot of SST stuff, too. The Minutemen, for example, I feel most of their albums do a pretty good job offering a snapshot of what the group must have been like live, based on what I've heard.

Second: My memory was primed for "Books About UFOs," but I somehow totally forgot about "Terms of Psychic Warfare." What a great tune. Why don't people cover Husker Du?

When I first heard "Terms of Psychic Warfare," I honestly thought it could've come from the mid-'90s, and that it would've been a massive hit that sounded great on the radio ten years after it was actually released.

I saw them on the New Day Rising tour after hearing the album (plus Zen Arcade) and my recollection is that they were somewhat louder and more saturated-sounding than expected. It was a fairly small room though.

https://i.imgur.com/MxLfp4j.jpg

"Nord-strom riii-sing ... "