Simone Appolloni's Album Reviews
A pivotal band in the development of modern Pop/Rock music, USA's Hüsker Dü didn't score major hits during their career in the 80's despite working with major label Warner Records, but got such a fervent support from the underground community that can be considered on par with Celtic Frost for the developement of music. Formed by friends Robert Arthur Mould (vocals/guitar) and Grant Vernon Hart (drums), with bassist Gregory James Norton coming later, the band started playing gigs in 1979 and became acquainted with Greg Ginn's SST Records (of Black Flag fame), staying with the label for three more albums.
Promoted as a concept album about a boy running from family life and discovering an even worse outside world and a GODDAMN 70 minutes mammoth with four vinyl sides, 1984's Zen Arcade is considered the band's magnum opus. Production sounds a bit old for its time, with obsolete sound engineering, indiscernible, saturated peaks shrilling, roaring guitar distortion more suited to Black Metal than Punk Rock, shrieking vocals that barely hold a melody and plenty of songwriting variety. Almost all tracks were allegedly recorded in one take, and the whole album was mixed and mastered in barely four days.
Classics from the album include opener "Something I Learned Today" (Asus2 chording that really nods to 90's Post-Rock), "Chartered Trips" (great lyrics about the illusion of departing for greener pastures) and a two-chord square mid-tempo anticipating future Nirvana ("What's Going On"). Other non-classics include "Broken Home, Broken Heart", "Indecision Time", "Pride" (some of the last remnants of the band's past hardcore sound), the moody acoustic strumming ("Never Talking to You Again"), Indian raga parody ("Hare Kṛṣṇa"), a mournful waltz ("Standing by the Sea") and a jovial tale of misantrophy ("Newest Industry"). Final 14-minutes mammoth "Reoccurring Dreams" is essentially an instrumental nod to 70's Krautrock with two patterns repeated over and over and improvised guitar leads ("Dreams Reoccurring" is a snippet with reverse recording).
The classics are good, if not having hints of genius, but most of the lesser cuts are too devoted to hardcore thrashing to hold any relevance.
Highlights: "Something I Learned Today", "Chartered Trips", "What's Going On", "Pink Turns to Blue", "Newest Industry".
Promoted as a concept album about a boy running from family life and discovering an even worse outside world and a GODDAMN 70 minutes mammoth with four vinyl sides, 1984's Zen Arcade is considered the band's magnum opus. Production sounds a bit old for its time, with obsolete sound engineering, indiscernible, saturated peaks shrilling, roaring guitar distortion more suited to Black Metal than Punk Rock, shrieking vocals that barely hold a melody and plenty of songwriting variety. Almost all tracks were allegedly recorded in one take, and the whole album was mixed and mastered in barely four days.
Classics from the album include opener "Something I Learned Today" (Asus2 chording that really nods to 90's Post-Rock), "Chartered Trips" (great lyrics about the illusion of departing for greener pastures) and a two-chord square mid-tempo anticipating future Nirvana ("What's Going On"). Other non-classics include "Broken Home, Broken Heart", "Indecision Time", "Pride" (some of the last remnants of the band's past hardcore sound), the moody acoustic strumming ("Never Talking to You Again"), Indian raga parody ("Hare Kṛṣṇa"), a mournful waltz ("Standing by the Sea") and a jovial tale of misantrophy ("Newest Industry"). Final 14-minutes mammoth "Reoccurring Dreams" is essentially an instrumental nod to 70's Krautrock with two patterns repeated over and over and improvised guitar leads ("Dreams Reoccurring" is a snippet with reverse recording).
The classics are good, if not having hints of genius, but most of the lesser cuts are too devoted to hardcore thrashing to hold any relevance.
Highlights: "Something I Learned Today", "Chartered Trips", "What's Going On", "Pink Turns to Blue", "Newest Industry".
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