it came up in conversation the other night that a friend saw Husker Du in concert right before they called it a day. they looked miserable together on stage while they proceeded to hammer thru Warehouse in it's entirety. i really love this record in places that a lot of people do not. i would give anything to be in that room right now...

Not Crap ever.

I still listen to The Living End more than any of the proper albums. Take that, poll!

ironyengine wrote:I still listen to The Living End more than any of the proper albums. Take that, poll!

One of my favorite Husker Du songs is on this (a Greg one) called "Everytime"

burun wrote:

ironyengine wrote:I still listen to The Living End more than any of the proper albums. Take that, poll!

One of my favorite Husker Du songs is on this (a Greg one) called "Everytime"

I also like Greg's "Drug Party." I have a dvd bootleg of them performing this and the guitar sounds great.

NDR, so great.

Has anyone else heard Mould's latest solo record with Brendan Canty on drums? It's pretty rad.

I'm surprised metal circus didn't make it. I gotta go with Zen Arcade.

I voted for Zen Arcade. Husker Du's poppier moments are my favorite, especially "What's Going On". I really like the whole album though. I really enjoy Tooth Fairy and the Princess, (the first song I heard by them, that was a weird first impression). I remember the whole experience of me listening to that record for the first time a year or two ago, my dad had an old dusty cassestte, so I went and bought a player at Target. It was rewound to Tooth Fairy, and after that for the next month or so I brought that cassette (and Sonic Youth's Sister) with me to school, a nice break from everybody's else's iPod.


Beaster is really great, I love all of it. Copper Blue is quite good too, I've spent many car trips early on in my life listening to these two records. I've heard Bob Mould made a deliberate attempt to rip-off the Pixies on "A Good Idea". I've also heard about Sugar for way longer than I have for Husker Du.

Johnny C wrote:NDR, so great.

Has anyone else heard Mould's latest solo record with Brendan Canty on drums? It's pretty rad.

Get Bob's Circle of Friends DVD from his 2005 tour. Brendan is on drums and Jason Narducy from Bob Pollard's Ascended Masters is on bass. Holy fucking fuck-- they have Sugar's live sound to a tee, so imagine Sugar as they were live, ripping through the first half of Copper Blue follwed by a bunch of solo Bob stuff on roids, followed by classic Hüsker Dü staples, closing out with "Hanging Tree."

I saw that tour when it came through Austin and this is what it was like.

This band was so infuriatingly intermittent but they created songs which remain absolutely glorious to my ears.

'Newest Industry'
'Terms of Psychic Warfare'
'Divide & Conquer'

Holy shit are these great songs. Sometimes they come up on my iPod and it reminds me of how incredible Husker Du could be.

Husker Du confounds me. They are one of my very favorite bands. Like, top 5 or better. They are one of a few bands (the Minutemen, Slint, Sonic Youth, The Pixies, and the Replacements) that I discovered between the ages of 16 and 17 (that was 2000 and 2001) that got me started on indie rock. After Husker Du, I started investigating independent labels, like-minded bands, all that jazz. They changed the way I play guitar forever. Husker Du is simply one of the most important bands in my life.

That said, I cannot think of a single perfect Husker Du album. Just can't do it. I always try to think of an entry point to recommend to friends, and I can never think of one album that encompasses everything about them. That very fact makes each of their albums precious and unique in their own ways, but it makes it hard to hook a new listener. Zen Arcade is notorious for the poor recording, Flip Your Wig sounds awesome (all that swirly guitar . . .) but is song for song about half a great album, Warehouse is HUGE but cornball, etc.

My favorite from start to finish is Zen Arcade. I do wish that sonic veil could be lifted, but I love everything about the music. Even the interludes, free-jazz, and experiments. New Day Rising and Metal Circus after that. There isn't a single Husker Du album I could do without, but those are probably at the top.