Band: Husker Du

[Loretta]

i love em.

[Champion Rabbit]

This poll is what's CRAP.

[Jeremy]

you shouldn't even have to ask.

[tommydski]

i can't believe it hasn't been done!

obviously NOT CRAP for the period between 1983-1985 when they were incredible. 'metal circus' through to 'flip your wig' was basically my introduction to independent rock.

some of the early stuff is good too, though 'the land speed record' is ridiculously unapproachable and 'everything falls apart' is patchy. 'in a free land' is a great tune.

the last two albums weren't amazing. 'candy apple grey' had it's moments but 'warehouse' was downright laborious. it wasn't completely dreadful but compared to the classic era it was insipid.

nova mob and sugar both had a good album each and both mould and hart had one great solo album each - 'workbook' and 'intolerance' respectively.

NOT CRAP!

[timpickens]

Not Crap

Does anyone else really enjoy Land Speed Record? It took me a while to get used to the fairly-bad recording quality but after that it became quite blazing thunder hot-lightning ice! to my ears. I think that if they recorded these songs in a studio this would be up there with Zen Arcade and Metal Circus for a lot of people.

[RSMurphy]

Some of you might be interested in a couple of Husker Du performances I found while searching for some information on an old Minneapolis punk band. Both videos are from the Joan River's Show, and the material is taken from the Warehouse: Songs and Stories-era. The first video is Husker Du performing "Could You Be The One," with a short interview conducted afterwards, while the second video tacks on their second number of the night, "She's A Woman (And Now He's a Man)."

Video One

Video Two

Both YouTube videos are remarkably in synch audio/visual-wise.

Edit: please hold yr disdain for latter-period Husker Du. It's a good performance.

[garble]

There are some really great videos of them on YouTube. I particularly like the one from the Pink Pop festival. Eight Miles High. So much better then the recorded version.

Somebody probably posted it here.

Not Crap, but I'm only crazy about one or two of their records about once or twice every six months.

[slowriot]

more like, husker WHO?









oh, not crap.

[agent202]

of course not!....crap!!

[Adam CR]

Ha! If you search YouTube for Husker Du, it brings up a video of Scotland's Joyriders (ex-Cateran if memory serves) who's sound is so derivative of Husker Du as to be actually quite impressive.

here

[tommydski]

for historical reasons i'd like to link this amusing discussion of husker du in another thread.

so, in the year 2525 when someone bumps this thread again they will read it and guffaw. it's like a goddamn time capsule is what it is.

[Ally In Exile]

i have nothing against Husker Du, but i've never been a huge fan.

for me there are a lot of "seminal" bands like this, bands that i can appreciate from time to time, bands whose albums i own and sometimes listen to, but bands that i don't consider anywhere nearly as monumental as people make them out to be; ultimately, bands that i more or less like but don't particularly care about. perhaps this is a credit to the common sentiment, that it's "just music"? i dunno... but i've got plenty of records in my collection that are a hell of lot better and more inspired than Zen Arcade. (sure, it's got some great moments, and a few awesome songs, but on the whole it's a blustery hodge-podge. you can tell it was made in a day or so. when people declare it one of the fifty best albums ever, i can't help but cringe.)

i've heard most of their other early records as well, and though i recall them being all right, i honestly see no good reason why Husker Du should be cannonized for all eternity. maybe they were stellar live, or people like them so much because of their personlities/history/regional significance/etc., but i'm just not sold on Husker Du's alleged genius.

not crap, but hardly worth the endless superlatives heaped on their legacy.

[Zap]

Statues, gravity -> This band around 1987 was just amazing. Original, raw,different. Saw Sugar (very good too), I love Bob Mould guitar scaping, Grant (saw solo, he has a great voice).

I consider this band as one of the best bands in history so far!

[Brett Eugene Ralph]

A good band albeit a bit overrated in my estimation but definitely not crap. Wish they'd let the drummer sing more though. And write more.

[space junk]

I have just listened to this band for the first time (Zen Arcade). It's vicious. It's ace.

Two of them were gay.

[Jodi S.]

Two of them were gay.

One of them is a chef, and has an awesome pornstar moustache.

What's your point? Did you think "fags can't rock"?

I used to see Bob Mould on the subway sometimes, and I would wonder if anyone else in the car knew what I knew: that he was one of the best songwriters on the planet, in one of the best bands ever, and used to play a Flying V.

[space junk]

One of them is a chef? My day is getting better and better.

[LBx]

"are" gay would be more accurate.

[space junk]

Yes - they're still alive, of course. Silly me.

But...Husker Du have split up, right? Which makes them past tense. So maybe "were" is appropriate. I don't know.

[rocker654]

Having seen the band through various formulative phases, they started out good ("Amusement/Statues", went goofball for awhile ("Gilligan's Island", fer chrissakes), then became a real serious mind stretch for what punk could be like ("In a Free Land"), I'd have to say that overall, they were:

NOT CRAP.

Grant Hart did his best stuff with this band. Bob Mould did better later on, but I tend to prefer some of Grant's stuff with Husker than Bob's.