The Hüsker Dü Album-by-Album thread

I checked in with the cover of "Eight Miles High" in, what was it, 1984? Was pretty taken with "Zen Arcade" soon after that, and so it goes. Great band!

John is right, by the way about Azzerad's book. It's a nice set of band-bio essays on a number of important bands. A lively read with some very good interview material. Very evocative of the times and places involved, too. In addition to the chapter on the Husker's ,I liked the ones on the Minutemen, Big Black, and Mission of Burma very much.

L.

 

I'm another fan of the book "Our Band Could Be Your Life". I wasn't at Woodstock but I was into that scene.

Being a rock "legend" in they way that HUSKER DU & BLACK FLAG are today seemed much more within reach than being another arena rock band. I thought even without the money of arena rock bands it would be cool to be in a band that is long remembered like HUSKER DU...and that didn't seem nearly as daunting of a task as playing Shea Stadium....of course I didn't come close to either

 

I don't plan to rush through all the albums in just a day, but I get the sense there isn't much more to be said about LSR, and so I thought we should move on to Everything Falls Apart and the singles collected on the CD version, since some folks have already started discussing them a bit. I didn't have a chance to re-listen to EFA today, so I'm just going to put up general information to get things started, and make my own critical comments probably tomorrow.

So:
Everything Falls Apart (released January 1983)
1. "From the Gut" – 1:36 (Norton)
2. "Blah Blah Blah" – 2:09 (Norton)
3. "Punch Drunk" – 0:29 (Mould)
4. "Bricklayer" – 0:31 (Mould)
5. "Afraid of Being Wrong" – 1:21 (Mould)
6. "Sunshine Superman" – 1:56 (Leitch)
7. "Signals From Above" – 1:38 (Mould)
8. "Everything Falls Apart" – 2:15 (Mould)
9. "Wheels" – 2:08 (Hart)
10. "Target" – 1:45 (Mould)
11. "Obnoxious" – 0:53 (Mould)
12. "Gravity" – 2:37 (Mould)
bonus tracks (from 1993 CD release):
13. "In a Free Land" – 2:53 (Mould)
14. "What Do I Want?" – 1:15 (Hart)
15. "M.I.C." – 1:10 (Mould)
16. "Statues" – 8:45 (Hart)
17. "Let's Go Die" – 1:54 (Norton)
18. "Amusement" – 4:57 (Mould)
19. "Do You Remember?" – 1:55 (Mould)

This is the end stages of the hardcore period, and the band's studio debut. The EFA album proper was recorded in June/July 1982. Mould dominates the songwriting at this point, and Greg makes his final recorded appearances as a songwriter until 1986.

The CD release is sequenced in reverse chronological order. The first three bonus tracks were recorded in February 1982 and released as a single the following month. The last four tracks are all 1980 recordings that give the only officially-released glimpses into their earlier pre-HC sound, as Dudley discussed earlier. Statues/Amusement was the band's first single, with "Statues" being edited down to 4:14 and "Amusement" edited to 4:19. The 1993 CD marks the first release of the full-length versions of the songs, and "Statues" is also remixed by Grant. "Let's Go Die" of course is the previously-unreleased studio version of the LSR track, and "Do You Remember" is the band's theme song.

 

I still don't know how I missed these early albums as I was listening to the DKs , Plasmatics, Sex Pistols, Clash, Devo, B52s, but I guess not as much "hardcore." I do remember the dead kennedys getting grief for not being hardcore. i didn't get into Husker du until Warehouses, though.

the local record shop has a few husker du albums in pristine shape, of which i've already picked up zen arcade so i'm following this thread with interest to say the least.

 

great album. actually, listening to it today, i like it more than i thought i did.

"From the Gut" marks the first prominent appearance of one of Bob's signature chords, the Asus2 (a standard A chord with a B instead of a C#). a lot of Bob's songs contain this chord... probably a majority of them, actually. the band's music is still dominated by fast, rough hardcore on this record, but you can immediately tell that something new is happening as soon as you hear that gorgeous chord sequence that begins with the Asus2.

i like the nod to the Ramones at the end of "Blah, Blah, Blah."

the thrashing hardcore on this record is actually pretty good. "Punch Drunk," "Bricklayer," "Signals from Above," "Obnoxious" all have great hooks and amazingly pissed-off vocals from Bob. he was a good screamer.

i've always kind of hated "Sunshine Superman."

"Gravity" - the highlight of the record as far as i'm concerned. this is the first great Bob Mould song, the first to showcase the droning, melodic guitar work that would come to characterize Bob's greatest songs. Greg Norton's contribution to song shouldn't be overlooked, either.

the In a Free Land 7" tracks were remixed for the Rhino release. anyone ever heard the original 7"? how does it sound different?

 

ok, i guess i should note that "In a Free Land" predates "From the Gut" and features an Asus2 chord which is crucial to the feel of the song.

 

Whew! Glad about that. The current solo Beatles thread is just too fast for me, so I just don't post there. I like to have the opportunity to actually listen to the stuff.

 

Everything Falls Apart is a great album, several of the singles are great, the remastering is great. Here is a chance to hear the Huskers with unadorned, cheap'n'good documentian engineering. A great dry punk/hc sound. The original vinyl is also excellent sounding, a little meatier in the mids but not as deep in the bass. This record is underappreciated, probably because it was out of print for a long time before resurfacing with this Rhino issue after the band was dead and gone. I think anyone who likes Husker Du would like it.

Though it is hardcore, and some of the songs are very very fast, it is tight as a nut, melodic, sardonic, all those great Husker Du things. Even as "hardcore" you get Sunshine Superman, Everything Falls Apart, Wheels, Gravity, and From the Gut which all could fit on later releases. The singles were the great surprise, learning, as Jason mentioned, that they were different before they decided to be hardcore. I love Statues in particular, up there with Diane and other Husker dirges.

The one thing that hasn't developed is Bob's guitar sounds more conventional, not the all-over-the-place hazy fractal sound, which really began on Metal Circus. I'm not sure if that is because of the recording techniques (which I suspect) or that he hadn't developed his full sound yet.

 

That fits my perception. Having bought ZEN ARCADE upon first release I don't remember seeing this one in the shops...at the time my perception was LSR and Metal Circus. Later after the demise I remember seeing this one and thinking what in the world is that?

I also don't remember having it at the college radio station back in 84/85.

 

This album must have been fairly rare prior to the CD release. I don't recall ever seeing a vinyl copy in all my years of lurking in record stores. So I haven't given this one nearly the amount of listens as the other records, for the simple reason it wasn't around during in my prime years of getting into the band.

I've been listening to it to refresh my memory today. It's not bad, it's not ultra great. What set the Hüskers apart from their peers in general are Bob's guitar and the songwriting. The former is here in spades, but the latter is not exceptional on most of this record. I'm not a huge fan of the extreme HC approach (the only album of that nature I get much repeated enjoyment out of is the first Meat Puppets, and even that is a pretty offbeat type of HC). Hence the songs that adhere the most to the genre are the ones that don't grab me. I don't mind when Bob screams, but on songs like "Punch Drunk", "Bricklayer", and "Target" he's more shouting than screaming, and I don't dig that. The genius of the band ultimately was the blending of melody with noise, but on much of this album it's still just noise without the melody yet. That can be cathartic but pales in comparison to what they'd be doing soon.

Not surprisingly (given what I've said on the other thread) my favorite track is the lone Hart composition, "Wheels". It's catchy and the most melodic thing here, and the humorous lyrics are a nice contrast to the unremitting anger in most of Bob's stuff ("I've got a really big engine and it goes vroom vroom/Could be a cradle, could be a tomb.") "Everything Falls Apart", Bob's anthem of entropy, is my favorite of his songs (also not surprising, as it's the most like his later work). Good lyrics from him, too ("I've got nothing to do/Got nothing to say. Everything is so fu**ed up I guess it's natural that way.") Bob was the philosopher, Grant the poet, eh? "Gravity" and "From the Gut" are my other favorites. And I'm always a sucker for a goofy cover, so I like "Sunshine Superman."

All in all, a nice album which is a signpost for the direction they were headed, but also the least essential of their studio work.

 

I agree....along with "blistering guitars and scorching rhythms" to quote AMG. Live the scorching rhythms with just enough melody make for a potent combo driving the crowd into a frenzy...especially when they are all pressed together gyrating in unison....quite an experience.
I recall the club owner asking if they could player SLOWER because of the crowd control concern.

...but for the most part I liked the slower pace for records and the melody/noise combo.... "Pink turns to Blue", etc. but I get ahead.

AMG gives LSP 2 stars and this one 3.

 

I think there were only 5 or 10k pressed, maybe two pressings. There was a boot or a licensing in Europe, which was the first time I saw it around 1991. Now I have two--they have a slight difference in the color on the cover but I don't know which is first.

 

Everything Falls Apart should be more than one star better than Land Speed Record.

 

I pulled out my vinyl copy of this last night and it sounded slower than I remembered. After a while I realized that this "album" was cut as a 45. It's probably just slightly longer than Metal Circus.

 

Like Keith Moon before him, Grant Hart almost completely eschewed use of the hi-hat unless deemed absolutely necessary, choosing instead to lay down a thick wash of cymbals as kind of a metallic, sizzling overcoat to the songs.
Moon and Grant shared more than this. They were both pure-feel drummers, not especially good at timekeeping or providing a solid backbeat, who instead used their unorthodox styles as a means of explosive self-expression, first and foremost. and a musical instrument second: for Hart, emotion always trumped technique. Perhaps because of this, Hart's drumming, at times wayward and undisciplined, could be just as intense and threatening as Bob's guitar playing.

Few of the songs on Everything Falls Apart are standouts, but "Wheels", "Target", "Gravity" and "From the Gut" are all impressive performances. From the expanded CD issue, I must make special mention of "In a Free Land," which is one of my favourite Du tunes ever.

 

Grant Hart apparently recorded his cymbal parts separately on the Warners albums so i have read.

Let's make sure the 7" single Eight Miles High is included. its crucial in the Huskers discography.

 

I can't speak for our host Jason C., but he did express an intention to cover everything, which would include that important single too, I would imagine.

 

According to Wikipedia, it clocks in at a whopping 19:18. This is definitely a huge step forward from LSR, and shows most of the elements of their later sound were already in place, especially on the title track. I think that this is among the band's best songs, and a standout in the Bob canon.

Will have to stop listening to that acoustic Metal Machine Music CD and throw this disc on tonight to confirm my impressions of it.

 

Never heard that, but: jumping ahead a bit, I have heard that they were getting pressure to use a drum machine from the suits at Warner Bros, for any third album that would be recorded with them.

 

"8MH" was recorded during the marathon Zen Arcade sessions, so I was planning to bring it up then. Or we could discuss it as a separate entity right before we do ZA, whatever you all prefer.

Huh, I've never heard that. I have heard they were getting pressure to use an outside producer, though. But again, we get ahead of ourselves...

 

Much of Grant's playing on Warehouse is just plain awful (and make no mistake, I love his reckless style), but a drum machine would have been going way too far in the other direction. However, he did use one to great effect on "All of My Senses," so what do I know?

As far as the drumming on EFA, I think any seasoned corporate producer would have shut down "From the Gut" in the fist 30 seconds and demanded another take because of unsteady timekeeping, but that was Grant.

 

So, discussion is still open on Everything Falls Apart, but I wanted to add the following two various artists compilations because they come from the same era:

Barefoot and Pregnant (1982)
Target
Signals from Above
Let's Lie (by Tulsa Jacks)
other tracks by various artists including The Replacements and Loud Fast Rules

Kitten (1982)
Everything Falls Apart (live)
Drug Party (live)
It's Not Fair (live)
other tracks by various artists

Both of these albums were originally cassette-only releases on Hüsker Dü's own Reflex Records label. The original issues are highly rare, but they were reissued on CD in 1998-99. Both contain material not available anywhere else.

Barefoot and Pregnant features earlier versions of "Target" and "Signals from Above" recorded in February of 1982, four months before the Everything Falls Apart sessions. "Signals" is notable for being done at a slightly slower pace than the breakneck EFA version. Meanwhile, this version of "Target" is especially cool, because for some reason Greg's bass is actually very prominent in the mix, and can be heard loud and clear. It sounds great, and makes one wish they'd mixed their majority of their material this way. Perhaps most interesting is the instrumental "Let's Lie" by Tulsa Jacks, a supergroup consisting of Bob, Tommy Stinson, and Chris Osgood. The guitar playing is quite different than what Bob was doing with Hüsker Dü at the time. I've put a 30 second clip up here if anyone is interested. I'll leave it up for about a week.

Meanwhile, Kitten was a compilation featuring live tracks recorded by various Twin Cities artists at Goofy's Upper Deck. The Hüsker Dü tracks were recorded on October 9, 1982. The original cassette just featured "It's Not Fair" but the CD added the other two songs. "It's Not Fair" is unexceptional (mostly consisting of Bob screaming the title lyrics over and over). "Drug Party" is pretty funny, and the performance of "Everything Falls Apart" is nice. A far cry from Land Speed Record is this live performance.

Both of these CDs are still in print and on sale at the Garage D'or website.

 

Thanks for those links, I'll be interested to hear early Rifle Sport (featuring rubber armed Todd Trainer now of Shellac on drums) and Man Sized Action (with Brian Paulson, now one of my very favorite engineers, on guitar).

Also, there is a Reflex discog linked from Garage Dor which states about the vinyl of EFA:
Earliest pressings, which included a lyric sheet,
are of greatest interest to collectors, but later
pressings without the lyric sheet are also worth
seeking. Rumour has it that the master for this
record has been lost. Two pressings of 5000 each.

 

Perhaps the Replacements got a hold of it.

 

Just wanted to add that Husker Du is tops in my book. Love all their records ("Warehouse" being my least fav) and saw several great shows between 1984-87. A notable show was May 15, 1985 in the Cleveland flats at Peabody's Downunder. It was a very hot sweaty night, the place was packed to the gills and the band just roared. I think I experienced nirvana (not the band).

May 15, 1985 Cleveland


Anyway, I wanted to add (perhaps, out of sequence) a couple of limited edition bootlegs to the list (which are superior in quality to other circulating boots of the same material)...



Speaking of ragged recordings, the "Zen" disc features the "recorded from an idle turntable stylus" rehearsals. Now that is a ragged recording but, none the less, interesting to listen to.

"Savage" features what has been reported to be the best version of "Drug Party" recorded in Kent, Ohio in 1984 where they even drift into and instrumental bit of "Norwegian Wood". This also includes all available "studio" recording from the era along with a couple "cassette only" items.