Favourite Hüsker Dü Album?

I'll be lame and vote for Warehouse. *ducks*

On that third flyer, check out the shape of the pylon in the background.

yeah noticed it before.

What was the 1st Husker Du everyone heard? Mine was Metal Circus. I said somewhere on the sst thread

Was the first husker du i bought, Tower had it in glasgow for £8 on import sometime in 1992. The next week I went back into Glasgow and bought all the Husker Du i could find in Missing Records.

― pfunkboy (Herman G. Neuname),

first i heard: zen arcade, early 90s
favorite: new day rising, as it has seen me through both hard and good times

I think the first Husker song I ever heard was "Makes No Sense at All" on a mixtape, but the first album I bought was Candy Apple Grey.

What was the 1st Husker Du everyone heard?

1986 - heard 'Don't Want To Know If You Are Lonely' on late night Radio Luxembourg, it was their "Power Play" selection for a week. That EP was pretty good, other tracks were 'All Work And No Play' and 'Helter Skelter'.

I'll be lame and vote for Warehouse. *ducks*

i'm ducking too. at least it will have two votes.

Candy Apple Grey in summer '92, after loving Sugar's Copper Blue. Disappointed that CAG didn't roar like CB, I refrained from buying any more Husker albums until the end of the year, after which I bought Flip Your Wig and finally Got It.

I still prefer Copper Blue to most of Husker's catalogue though.

first heard: either Zen Arcade or Metal Circus, in 1984.

favorite: Zen Arcade is shamefully the only one I still have on my shelf (on CD -- LP is long gone), but my gut tells me New Day Rising is better. Didn't like anything after Flip Your Wig.

First I heard was "Eight Miles High." Theoretically, everything of theirs I heard after that should've been a letdown, but fortunately it wasn't.

new day rising

First heard "Zen Arcade" in early '85, the day Konstantin Chernenko died (or possibly the day Gorbachev took over, which would've been the very next day)

Did you 'Turn on the News'?

Candy Apple Grey was the first one I heard, but I already had Copper Blue & Beaster then.

New Day Rising is probably my favourite, but I love the raging hardcore of Land Speed Record.

Always meant to re-buy Candy Apple Grey on CD, but just couldn't bear the fuck-up with the artwork. Did they ever get that sorted?

Voted and first heard: Zen Arcade in 1984.

1986 - heard 'Don't Want To Know If You Are Lonely' on late night Radio Luxembourg, it was their "Power Play" selection for a week.

Amazingly, I think this is the first place I heard them too! I remember they broadcast a live show around the same time which really floored me, coming out of a Sisters Of Mercy phase I'd never heard anything remotely like it. New Day Rising just pips it from Zen Arcade and Flip Your Wig for me.

High five! I was ankle-boot deep in goth at the time myself.

new day rising

zen arcade narrowly over new day rising for me. former is psychedelic pop dressed up in a hardcore haze, sort of. latter is metal dressed up in a psychedelic pop haze, sort of. i love them both to death. heard zen arcade first and immediately fell in love.

yeah it's a tossup pretty much

i guess for me new day rising has:

the ultimate husker blast of hugeness (title track)

the ultimate sorta wistful punk husker proto-indie rock tune (celebrated summer)

the ultimate grant sunny 60s pop song (books about ufos)

New Day Rising.

I assume you guys who voted for Warehouse are actually voting for your personal playlist where you've deleted the shitty half of the album.

First I heard was "Gilligan's Island" from Land Speed Record, which a friend had put on a punk compilation which blew my mind. Metal Circus and Zen Arcade soon afterward.

zen arcade - even the hippy freakout song rocks.

first heard: land speed record, when i was 17, expecting to hear more stuff like sugar, who were rocking my world. blew my mind, though i hated it the first couple of spins. warehouse was next, and was more my speed. then zen arcade, which i thoroughly loved - bridging that gap between melodic, pop-orientated song-writing and full-on buzzsaw thrash, without compromising either one iota.

warehouse has a couple of clunkers but i still wouldn't junk them. mostly, its incandescent.

the ultimate sorta wistful punk husker proto-indie rock tune (celebrated summer)

that's one of the tipping points against new day rising for me.

I love the SST records, hate the Warners ones.

really? man celebrated summer was like the first husker song i ever heard when i was little and it seemed so epic and sad to me ;_;

(btw everything falls apart is probably gonna be the most underrated one here, that's a dope collection of tunes)

especially the cd version with the great singles like In A Free Land.

ah! i'm a sucka so i only know the CD version...actually losing "in a free land" would knock it down a peg for me...that's top 5 huskers songs for me

in a free land rules...

don't really like the production of the rest of the record though, lacks the fullpelt chaos of land speed record for their hardcore era. title track's a charm though.

(xp) "celebrated summer" always seemed so labored and fussed over to me, like they were trying to write one for the ages, or for the radio, or something. what i love about zen arcade and most of new day rising is how free spirited and loose and off-the-cuff it sounds. also, "celebrated summer" strikes me as one of the least-catchy major songs in their oeuvre.

Flip Your Wig, with New Day Rising a close second. Always thought Zen Arcade was overrated: a couple of songs that rank with their best ("Something I Learned Today" and "Newest Industry"), a few good ones, some waste (pretty much all of the hardcore side), and one famous song ("Turn on the News") the appeal of which I just don't get.

In A Free Land has always been my fave song jointly with Diane.

xp

Bob maybe wrote more better songs but Grants best is the equal of Bobs for sure.
xp

Turn On The News is one of my faves! I love it.

it took me just 10 seconds to find Best Hüsker Dü Album (POLL Ends 4th May)

but yeah what ilx needs is more polls it's already run

mind you, i have a LOT of HD faves, they're in my top 5 fave bands of all time. Hence my shitloads of bootlegs collection (the advantage of knowing real hardcore husker du fans)

well LJ i couldnt find it, but thanks for finding it for me!

great first response to that one imo

and since it was 3 years ago, what is your problem?

Warehouse for me as well. "It's Not Peculiar" may be my favorite HD song of all.

― Johnny Fever, Thursday, April 26, 2007 7:45 PM (2 years ago)

At least I am consistent.

my problem is with the words I know I ran this poll before but for some reason It's been deleted at some point so here it is again

specifically but for some reason It's been deleted at some point

spoken with such flip certainty

anyway keep on keepin' on folks, i won't bother ye no longer

well i couldnt find it and you're full of shit for saying it took you 10 seconds to find it.

do you want to know my deadly secrets?

ok, I copied

Land Speed Record (1982)
Everything Falls Apart (1982)
Metal Circus (1983)
Zen Arcade (1984)
New Day Rising (1985)
Flip Your Wig (1985)

and then pasted it into 'search posts'. was on the first page of results

insane # of votes though

seriously

i hope the people who voted for warehouse and candle apple grey are lurkers who stay lurkers.

why are those albums so disreputable

they are horrible in comparison to the good stuff!

they're good, just not great like the others. But those voters were hardly lurkers, they posted in the thread they were voting for those.

Warehouse yes. But CAG is just plain unlikeable.

naw its good. I prefer it to warehouse. In the UK, CAG was seen as the last of their great albums. The US seems to prefer Warehouse.

I dont know why anyone would prefer warehouse

i hope the people who voted for warehouse and candle apple grey are lurkers who stay lurkers.

― scott seward, Wednesday, April 14, 2010 12:25 AM (2 hours ago) Bookmark

Well, toxic different-opinion-belittling bullshit like this doesn't exactly make people want to TRY To engage in the conversation. You'll get the board you foster, really.

When that band played Warehouse straight through with no apologies, introductions, stage chatter, or encores to the fans (in fact there was a fuck you to the fans on college radio earlier in the day, on account of the fact that some fans were hoping for a really special show because the last local show had gotten shut down early from the noise even though everybody should have known not to put one of the loudest bands on in a new venue in the fucking suburbs; so they made it very clear we had nothing coming, and we didn't get anything other than a headache or an MIP, or maybe Christmas opening, not bad), I realized that they can live at home now, but now I am a man.

The art on that major label double is vibrant, but I voted for the earlier double on Aggressive Rock Produktionen available at your local Hastings in the import section, with slightly less vibrant treated photography.

I dont know why anyone would prefer warehouse

imho:

"These Important Years"
"Standing in the Rain"
"Ice Cold Ice"
"Could You Be the One?"
"Friend, You've Got to Fall"
"Visionary"
"She Floated Away"
"No Reservations"
"Turn It Around"
"She's a Woman (And Now He Is a Man)"
"Up in the Air"
"You Can Live at Home"

love the 'ballads' of CAG but, 'lonely' aside, not a huge fan of its punk-pop.

i voted zen arcade btw

wish i had given metal circus a vote now

Warehouse is pretty fucking awesome.

Yeah, I voted "NDR," but the Hart songs on "Warehouse" are killer. "She Floated Away" and "You Can Live at Home" are epic.

yes, but unfortunately most of his songs are crap on it.

my problem with Warehouse is the limp late-80s major label production and those horrible gated drums. songs are awesome live - Warehouse tour was one of the best shows I've ever seen, the encore was Turn On->Reoccurring Dreams :D

Apologies if my previous comment seemed overly harsh but seriously sometimes ILX reminds me of this exchange from one of my favourite philosopher, E. Phillips:

I was walking across a bridge one day, and I saw a man standing on the edge, about to jump off. So I ran over and said "Stop! don't do it!" "Why shouldn't I?" he said. I said, "Well, there's so much to live for!" He said, "Like what?" I said, "Well...are you religious or atheist?" He said, "Religious." I said, "Me too! Are you christian or buddhist?" He said, "Christian." I said, "Me too! Are you catholic or protestant?" He said, "Protestant." I said, "Me too! Are you episcopalian or baptist?" He said, "Baptist!" I said,"Wow! Me too! Are you baptist church of god or baptist church of the lord?" He said, "Baptist church of god!" I said, "Me too! Are you original baptist church of god, or are you reformed baptist church of god?" He said,"Reformed Baptist church of god!" I said, "Me too! Are you reformed baptist church of god, reformation of 1879, or reformed baptist church of god, reformation of 1915?" He said, "Reformed baptist church of god, reformation of 1915!" I said, "Die, heretic scum", and pushed him off.

ILX as "a yearbook full of autographs of friends you might have had."

great job grandstanding about utterly innocuous and generally friendly poster scott seward

Yeah I know, I like scott and generally have no problem at all with his posts - for some reason that comment really rubbed me the wrong way though. Again, apologies all around.

warehouse, since it doesn't feature the obnoxious trebly distortion of their previous efforts

lol

I've written a lot about Husker Du over the years--interviewed Mould and Hart in '86--so let me join in. I used to get my back up when Chuck would dimiss Candy Apple Grey and Warehouse, but sure, they're not nearly as good as Metal Circus, New Day Rising, or Flip Your Wig. (I'll leave Zen Arcade out of it, where I'm missing whatever everyone else hears.) I haven't listened to either in quite a while; I'm guessing Warehouse is the better of the two, and that Candy Apple Grey has dated the least well. I still think they're both fine records. They're just song records--I doubt they're going to affect anyone like Metal Circus affected me, but there's a bunch of good songs on Warehouse, and a few on Candy Apple Grey. If you're a band and the worst record you ever do is Candy Apple Grey, I'd say that's pretty impressive. (Ignoring that first one...)

Hart's snare always sounded awful on record. There was a muddiness to it on the earlier stuff but it at least sounds like a snare. It sounds godawful on Flip Your Wig, hardly there at all.

"great job grandstanding about utterly innocuous and generally friendly poster scott seward"

i'm not any of those things! i'm evil!!! grrrrrrrr!!! i eat warehouse fans for breakfast!

naw its good. I prefer it to warehouse. In the UK, CAG was seen as the last of their great albums. The US seems to prefer Warehouse.

― pfunkboy (Herman G. Neuname), Tuesday, April 13, 2010 8:47 PM (2 days ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink
I dont know why anyone would prefer warehouse

― pfunkboy (Herman G. Neuname), Tuesday, April 13, 2010 10:40 PM (2 days ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

You seem to be answering your own question here Herm. Something about Warehouse must appeal to God-fearin, gun-totin, junk food eatin, fatass yanks, while CAG appeals to people who merely fear visits to the dentist and like warm beer.

ugh beer

I'm a sap, but "These Important Years" always gets me

great live version, also...god bob's clothes in this clip....we should do a "Worst Dressed SST Band" poll..that would be some heavy competition.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IPJLiIZMVc

"ugh beer"

wow, really? sometimes i wish i felt this way, because i have a seriously unhealthy love for it.

"....we should do a "Worst Dressed SST Band" poll..that would be some heavy competition."

This would be the hardest poll ever.

I drink Kerr's share of the beer, it all evens out in the end.

beer owns

Huskers were a sartorial trainwreck it's true... but then you had Ginn in his sweatpants flailing around next to rollins naked but for his sweat-soaked swim trunks...

Warehouse is a better single LP than CAG, once you pare off the gristle. As a double Warehouse is a debacle.

Bob Mould now = smokin' hot.

As a double Warehouse is a debacle.

ludicrous hyperbole

I dont know why anyone would prefer warehouse

it's less hard-edged, and more melodic than their other discs. i love husker du, and warehouse got my vote.

"Debacle"? Yeah--hyperbole. I remember it as being about 80% good, solid songcraft.

With the occasional vintage high point--e.g., "You're a Soldier."

Okay okay please take 'debacle' to mean 'they really really should've edited this fucker down to a long single LP'.

I mean there are some UNBEARABLE duds on that record where it feels like Bob-by-numbers and Grantbot.

We need a Warehouse poll.

We tried it once but she floated away

but she floated away

would be my vote!

Mine too. Ice Cold Ice in 2nd place.

We need a Warehouse poll.

At the risk of irritating everyone:
HÜSKER PÖLL: Warehouse - Songs and Stories

Me, I eventually came to respect CAG (if not love it) but never, ever could get into "Warehouse". Seriously couldn't tell the Mould songs apart, seemed like each one had the same arpeggiated non-riff.

It wasnt the best album to go out with

Hated the title, too

haha I'm beginning to think you hate Warehouse

I count Metal Circus as the first review of mine ever published--soon after it came out, in a University of Toronto paper called The Varsity. (A friend of mine ran a review of Damaged in his campus paper a year or so earlier, but it was so badly mangled--the friendship remains intact--that one's in purgatory.) I gushed--boy, did I gush. In my defense, it was a record worth gushing over.