Are there ANY plans to reissue Husker Du?

Agree with gor, fact check, etc. about the production and (vinyl at least) mastering of New Day Rising and Zen Arcade. The records sounds GREAT exactly as they were 1st released, and, more to the point, they sound the way they were meant to sound. Yes, that sound is thin, harsh, and somewhat jarring. It undercuts both the pop and the punk, and, in NDR's case, makes for some fairly difficult listening, at least at first. But again, that's what these records ARE. And bbb OTM. The sound expands and deepens at maximum volume. It's not like the muscle you're looking for doesn't exist, just that it's kinda buried. Which makes this a very different situation than the Bowie version of Raw Power (which was NOT improved by Iggy's remix, but I guess that's a different thread). Being a fan of the live act and wishing they'd made different records is fine, but what's done is done.

That said, careful, respectful remastering can be a good thing, and if Bob and Grant really wanted to do it, I'd be curious to hear a remix.

Why does one have to blot out the other? Why can't we have the, like, mono/stereo/bonus cuts/deluxe action-pack a la Village Green Preservation Society on these suckers? That way you can listen to how shitty they sounded in 1984, and how shitty they'd sound with remixing/remastering! A great band, isn't it, that can break through sounding so very shitty and still strike awe into our hearts 25 years later.

I mean, fuck, Blind Lemon Jefferson's records sound better than Hüsker Dü's.

Way late to this thread, but just had a couple Du tracks pop up on shuffle. The tinny sound is what has really kept me from falling head over heels for this band. When I hear a random song pop up unexpectedly, I'm able to really extract from it how great they are, but listening to an entire album just wears me down.

Anyone who thinks the Husker Du CDs sound fine has obviously never heard the vinyl versions. Take Zen Arcade, for instance. Once "Something I Learned Today" hits the needle, the drums pop and crack, then Greg's bass is heavy yet trebly, and when Bob's guitars kick in, you can hear sheets of metallic guitar that just plain disappear on CD.

Yes, the HD albums all had a tinny sound to begin with. Bob said years ago that they wanted the trebly sound because "when you're a kid, you turn the bass all the way down and turn the treble up." He is so right, that's what I always did spinning records on my mom's hi-fi. But believe me folks, the CDs are not an accurate representation of what these records sound like. There are vinyl MP3 and FLAC rips floating around the internets that sound sooo much better than the SST and Warner Bros. CDs. The bootleg CD version of Land Speed Record is a must, even if just for properly breaking it up into 17 tracks (how lazy can you get Ginn, just putting two tracks on the CD, for side one and side two?).

I recently downloaded via eMusic the Rhino reissues of Candy Apple Grey and Warehouse. Not sure if they are true remasters, but they do sound marginally better than the original CDs. Warehouse, in particular, is an album that sounds 100x better on vinyl; there's lots of things going on sonically that just aren't captured on the CD.

Anyway, Bob and Grant's ongoing feud with SST over back royalties is what is holding up any remix/remaster/reissue campaign for this essential catalog. They aren't going to agree to any new releases until they get the back pay they feel is owed them, and we know SST couldn't pay that even if they wanted to.

I never thought much about the Husker's production back at the time, so it can't have been that bad. To be fair, I was always blasting it on a cheap stereo. I was playing (loud) mp3s made from CD in the car yesterday, and again didn't really think much about the sound. It certainly wasn't "great" but wasn't the first thing I thought about. Drums do sound like cardboard boxes...

Am about to do a side-by-side comparison of the New Day Rising needle drop from pbthall's site with a CD rip...

Ok, unless the pbthall rip is a fake (it's from his site) the two versions are laughably similar. I'm sure a remaster would help, but at least in this case I can't see any great reason to fret about only having the CD.

Bob and Grant's ongoing feud with SST over back royalties is what is holding up any remix/remaster/reissue campaign for this essential catalog. They aren't going to agree to any new releases until they get the back pay they feel is owed them, and we know SST couldn't pay that even if they wanted to.
i don't know anything about contracts or back royalties etc., but if the Huskers haven't been compensated by SST properly, isn't there some sort of legal way for them to just get the rights to their recordings back? i mean, if they put out reissues on some other label, does that mean that SST would still get a cut?

I've been waiting on remasters before checking out HD. It seems to happen a lot to me where I'll buy a group's albums and then within a year they get reissued.

yeah i kinda have held off on getting some of their stuff too, because i figure a comprehensive reish program is around the corner. I guess not?

well you think they would reissue sooner rather than later if they're going to do it at all, what with the impending "DEATH OF THE CD" and all - x-post.

People have been talking about reissues for 15 years

Yeah, I'm still waiting for more Springsteen albums to get reissued. It's really taking a long time, though.

bob and grant need to sort out their beefs with each other before they can sort out the legal beefs re: the HD catalogue, so...

How much money do they think SST owes them? it's not like those albums were blockbuster sellers

it's probably more like no one *knows* how much money they're owed. i think sst was notoriously bad at bookkeeping ...

Besides, for every cent the the Husker's get, a little kitten goes hungry!

the black flag cds also sound terrible compared to vinyl imo

guys this is never going to happen

:'(

bob and grant need to sort out their beefs with each other before they can sort out the legal beefs

There was a recent interview with Grant where he said him and Bob don't hate each other any more but he layed into Greg instead.

OK, now that my turntable is back up and running, another reason to go out and buy vintage VINYL!

Does vinyl really help sound quality with respect to hardcore acts like Husker Du?

lol at turning on Greg!

"his food sucks!"

Grant answered a load of fan questions recently on his myspace and remasters didn't sound like they'd be a priority for him from his general tone re: husker

weird because i saw grant open for mike watt in the fall and greg came out and joined both grant, mike w., and mike's band for a big all star jam on "little johnny jewel"....

a couple of friends have been to greg's restaurant and apparently he's an amazing chef

is it greg ginn grant has beef with, rather than greg norton?

LOL @ that confusion.

No it was Greg Norton, not Ginn.

http://www.blurt-online.com/features/view/520

:3(

Haha that interview is hilarious. He's always come off as such a douche.

It was Greg Ginn when I interviewed Grant back in '03 before booking him at the dive bar I was deputy soundguy. He went on about Ginn for a while.

someone like Frank Black who would be eventually bigger in terms of record sales than Husker Du had been, would look back and fool themselves into thinking they were more important or more influential. Maybe more people heard you, but you're not more influential than that which influenced you.
hmmm

http://www.harneyre.com/CountryJournal/Images/SourGrapesPosterSmall.jpg

or which you were influenced by that which has influenced you when you were being influenced by their influence if you ya know what I mean.

jeez grant can be mean

um...there are some statements he makes in there "interesting" to say the least wrt his personal problems

reading about Husker always bums me out. To have made a bunch of really good/great records and to have such a sour taste in your mouth (plus lame-o business problems) about it is kinda sad.

Ok, after spending a couple of days a/b-ing vinyl rips vs. the CD's, I really don't hear any huge difference. The solution to the sonic problems is simple: when you turn it up loud it sounds great. When you don't turn it up loud, it does not sound great. That's it. Problem solved.

wow that interview. what a dick.

http://www.thenortonsrestaurant.com/2006-03-31_Nortons_-_57.jpg

who could say mean stuff about this guy??

i have no doubt he is the nicest member of husker du

seriously

rollie fingers that is

Just smoke a little before you listen to the cds. This works great, especially with Zen Arcade.

Do you ever feel like your contributions to Husker Du are overlooked?

This isn't thrown out as a condemnation of Bob, but I think that my fans know my material better than a lot of Bob's fans know his material. The reason I say that is every time I've gone to see a Bob Mould concert, someone has yelled out the name of one of my songs. When I'm out touring, I maybe hear that one out of five concerts.

i'm not sure that this is what it means?

http://i49.tinypic.com/14cz30x.jpg

Should Husker Du make that decision, and I recognize that's a slim chance, I'd like to think we'd do it for a cause greater than financial remuneration. . . . There was nothing sadder than being around in 1992 or 1993 and watching people like Smashing Pumpkins or Stone Temple Pilots make millions and millions of dollars. That was when the vacuum we created was really obvious.

Yeesh.

Does Greg cook mostly Pringles-based dishes?

http://metadiary.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/beefsteak-charlie-resize.jpg

look for yourself!

http://www.thenortonsrestaurant.com/Dinner%20Menu.htm

looks good!

Not until they very end, and even then it mostly happened in private, and not in person.