I was just listening to Warehouse: Song and Stories again, and marveling at how good this band was and it occurred to me that for a band that was as awesomely talented and hugely influential as they were, they aren't mentioned much on BEA. Therefore, I decided to start a little appreciation thread for Husker Du.
I think one of the main reasons why their albums don't appear on more lists on BEA is because their albums really don't sound that great and haven't aged that well. But it's not that the songs weren't great because many of them were and more than a handful of their albums are solid when it comes to the songwriting and musicianship. Try writing a tighter more catchy pop punk song that also rocks than Makes no Sense at All. Unfortunately, the production might be a little too raw and abrasive. It seems that unlike some of their peers, Dinosaur Jr, Sonic Youth, The Replacements, and yes, R.E.M., their legacy is fading somewhat, and I'm not sure why exactly, except for the reason I stated earlier.
I don't know if Kurt Cobain was a fan of Husker Du, but when you listen to Nevermind, you can hear the style that Husker Du pioneered. The Pixies were influenced by Husker Du. You can also hear them in Superchunk and other harder edged indie bands and they really deserve a lot of credit for helping to shape both the punk pop and noise pop genres.
Some interesting facts about Husker Du:
They started off as a hardcore punk band that played ridiculously loud and fast, but gradually got more and more melodic.
They are one of the few bands in history to have not one, but two double albums in their regular catalog, and for an indie college radio type band in the 80's, that is especially astounding.
They had two talented singer/ songwriters in Bob Mould and Grant Hart, and the latter was the drummer!
In an era when gay musicians were typically the likes of Erasure, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, and The Culture Club, it's interesting that there were two gay men playing in a noisy punk rock band defying the stereotypes. I also think it's kind of funny that the member that looked the most stereotypically gay was actually the straight one.
Of the first era of indie rock, they were the first band to make the leap to a major label (even before R.E.M.), and some people think that might have been their undoing (which I don't agree with).
Anyways, who else thinks they deserve more credit? Who else is a fan? Who thinks their catalog needs to be remastered and maybe even remixed? Why aren't their albums more revered on BEA? Do you think there would ever be a chance of a reunion? Discuss. In the meantime, here are a couple of their great songs:
Great band, a personal favourite for years. I discovered them with Warehouse as well. People who like them should check out Sugar, Mould's next band (with a few solo albums in between), very good too, maybe in a less radical way (although Beaster is pretty unconprimising).
I could advise listening to any Hüsker Dü LP, they're all good. Personal favourites are Warehouse: Songs & Stories, Flip Your Wig and Candy Apple Grey.
I'm not sure as to how unfluential they were on Nirvana, but they definitely paved the way for Pixies
they probably influenced half of this band which was a very popular indie band and very good live
Link _________________ "I would expect something wrong with the poll if the chart favorite was not the poll winner" - naples 12-8-11
"I was hoping he was gone for good, guess it was just too much to ask" - polythene pam 05-10-12
"Nickelback > Radiohead" - bork 05-14-12
I used to like them but haven't had the urge to listen to them in well over a year... couldn't tell you why exactly, but the recording quality is poor and they really don't know how to handle their fuzz or noise
More trivia : "Husker Du" is supposed to mean "Do you remember" in Norwegian.
Continued from above...named after a popular children's board game/memory game -- maybe something like Simon?...thnx norman! _________________ My voodoo master, my machine, baby, will not stand in line...
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