When I saw Husker Du in 1984 a couple of weeks before Zen Arcade came out, they were already playing most of New Day Rising. Of course, at the time, I only knew it as really awesome new stuff. They had so much creative power. Anyway, my list would have been 8) Land Speed Record, 7) Candy Apple Grey (I found it to be a bummer, and not the good kind), 6) Warehouse, 5) Everything Falls Apart. For the remaining 4 records they could do no wrong, really. They could be in any order. But I'd choose, 4) Metal Circus, 3) New Day Rising (perhaps the best songs, but the sound was so hazy, even by Husker standards), 2) Zen Arcade, 1) FLIP YOUR WIG. Divide and Conquer is my favorite song, period.
I came to the comments mostly to see if anyone specifically mentioned Divide and Conquer. Wow, what a song! It's very powerful and very original. And I don't like "political" music, but the common-sense, prophetic, anti-globalist lyrics of that song take it to an even higher level.
Metal Circus is top 3. It was the most invasive album in the Indy scene in the mid 80's. Metal Circus was one of the handful of albums everyone had in the 80's that was into everything Indy and crossed lines. It wasn't just in the collection but an album that was always pulled out and ready to play.
Warehouse was my starting point. I wasn’t even aware of who they were until the summer of 1988 which of course is the year they split up. Somehow I stumbled on this cassette at a friend’s house and I was hooked. A lot of people shit all over Warehouse and yes it was kind of weak when compared to albums like Zen Arcade, New Day Rising and Flip Your Wig but it holds a special place in my heart because it’s where I came into the Husker World. “Could You Be The One?” and “Tell You Why Tomorrow” are my 2 fave tracks.
@@Thedarkstuff I'm from California but I have a buddy who lives in Saudi Arabia and I used this video to guide him on his Husker journey. His favorite after a day or two is Candy Apple. Probably the best starting point for someone without much context of the scene.
Absolutely fantastic ranking Dave. I couldn't have chosen another person to honor and rank the music of Hüsker Dü. I was very happy with your top three. I thought I knew their career, the albums and info on the band since I first heard them in the early eighties. But you knew just about everything about them. Killer intro as well. Loved your top three picks. Way to go Dave~ Rob/Boston
Excellence! Thank you sir this is a band that I am baffled is to why they get so little attention on RUclips. Even Bob Mould hardly ever seems to get much attention when his albums come out this band along with the screaming trees or ones that I fell have been grossly overlooked so I appreciate the video you are as always amazing and I continue to be a fan. thank you
New Day Rising was the first tape I got and the first song I heard... set me up for a turn back towards melody with the noise of punk and metal I grew to love in my youth... many years later got Grant to sign the tape at a Nova Mob gig... love all their albums !
I really enjoyed this video, however, there is one area about Husker Du I don't think gets it's due and that is the lyrics. Some of their songs lyrically are so far ahead of their time. Take Real World which is an "Anti Punk" punk song. Divide and Conquer- a song about the internet and global technical digital connectivity written a decade BEFORE the internet came to be. These are only two of MANY examples of just how deep this band was. Which, I suppose, can attribute to why we are still talking about them 30 odd years later....
I came across this video after playing a Husker Du video and I must say, I really like your approach and analogy in regards to their discography. Nice work.
Hiya Dave. What to say but a fan-friggin-tastic video here, and you're the perfect guy in the VC to bring it to us all. I'm with you on your reasoning for metal circus. Not every discography has the luxury of being clean and linear, but counting metal circus shows their progression. To be honest I never thought of land speed record as a live album, they're in esteemed company with the mc5! As to your reasoning for particular songs and the general flow (eg the instrumentals up the end of flip your wig) as well as the points on production (if anything, the one thing that holds their music back from worldwide mainstream acceptance) - I really can't argue. You make a ton of great points over whose songs are in the ascendant and whose are less dominant, in the same way lennon and McCartney had thru their tenure. And yes, Mould and Hart are that important!! You speak eloquently about these albums cos you've lived with them 30+ years now. As for ranking I'd probably be Zen/New Day/Warehouse/Flip/candy, and flip only because it's my least known of those 5. Of course I need to revisit now! Again, great stuff Dave, really enjoyed this :) cheers, Dean
Wow, Dean, thanks so much for the kind words. It's good to hear from someone with obvious knowledge of the band. It's funny because a lot of people these days are less familiar with 'Flip Your Wig' than they used to be. Will from Vinyl Potato said the same thing. Well, re-visit if you must. I still stand by keeping it as my #1. Thanks so much.
@@Thedarkstuff No doubt about it. I think it's one of those things where the order goes by which album you got at a certain time. They've been my favorite band for decades and I've always flip flopped over the years on the order of them. It's a great problem to have since they never put out a bad album. I'm glad The Living End wasn't included either. It's a decent album but there are probably 20 better live bootlegs out there that sounded so much more real and accurate. The Spin Radio concert and Camden Palace shows definitely come to mind.
@@HuskerF-inDu Yeah, Living End is flawed, but it's still an enjoyable listen. When I saw Greg Norton in 2019, he thought my vinyl copy was a bootleg. He'd never seen it on vinyl before.
As seminal as Husker was, they had some glaring faults, mostly on the production side. The white noise guitar wall dominated their early records and their live show, often obscuring chords, notes, and vocals. This may seem nitpicky, but it is an important part of their history, and major reason why they never advanced beyong college rock circles in the 80s. That being said, musically they advanced at an astonishing rate, releasing 2 dbl lps in a few years. Hardcore purist fans write off the WB releases, and that is a mistake. Song for song, Candy Apple Grey is their most consistent work imho. Obviously it is not as groundbreaking as the sprawling Zen Arcade, but the conventional arguement of dbl lps does have some validity: most would be more effective as a single release. However, Zen is far from a conventional album, and one of the uncompromising records of the 80s. Wig and New day could have easily been another dbl lp, as both records share similar attributes, and in terms of ranking, essentially cancel each other out. Warehouse is a polarizing record that contains some of their best work, although from a listener standpoint, sounds like 2 solo albums combined into one.
@@iggypopisgod9 The big issue regarding their early releases is there were far superior quality demos and live tapes out there. One huge one is the Colin Mansfield demos/Northern Light demos. Those were basically their first ever recordings of their sound to come. It wasn't all LSR/Everything Falls Apart type hard-core. You could already here the melodic sounds and Zen Arcade type style early on. I really don't mind the Spot produced stuff because it had that raw sound to it. But yeah, to a conventional listener or (shitty) commercial radio audience; it definitely wouldn't appeal to the masses. Regardless of all that, Husker Du is arguably a top 3 most influential band of the past 40 years.
Man, what a great list. I’d have Warehouse a bit higher. Friend, You’ve Got To Fall and Up In The Air were such great Bob songs, among others. But this is just great because it’s Hüsker Dü, and that’s always going to be awesome
I have a more harsh view of Warehouse than many HD fans. Those two songs you mentioned are incredible, and Bob has lots more, too. But, like I said in the video, Grant's stuff wasn't as good on that album. And I love Grant's songs.
Could not agree more with your assessment of Flip Your Wig, and the record being 2 songs too long. 'Hanging On would have been the most poetic end to the album. That aside, listening to the record now again after a couple decades, there's a mystery to the album as a whole... like looking at an old, grainy, black and white photograph from a bygone era, it conjures up the imagination and mystery of what was going on in the band during the mid '80s with the larger punk scene as a backdrop. Hard to articulate, but I hope you get what I'm saying.
BTW- When I met Bob Mould many years ago I asked about Dead Set On Destruction and why they didn't ever play it and he told me it was ine of his favorites.
Some great picks. I’d struggle to rank Husker Du’s discography personally as my opinion changes from season to season, but I tend to plump for ‘New Day Rising’ as my favourite… though a few years back someone who’d never heard of the band asked me to recommend a starting point and I went for ‘Flip Your Wig’, so maybe you’re right. I agree about ‘Land Speed Record’. There’s a very fine line between loud music and noise, and I think this record does not tread it at all carefully. If you look at the band’s influences: the Beatles, the Ramones etc they were always inevitably going to go in a much more melodic direction and I’m glad they did. I also think ‘Warehouse’ gets too much hate. It was the first Husker Du record I ever heard though, so I had no prejudices or expectations and was able to just enjoy it for what it was.
My opinion changes all the time, as well. If I did it today, I would probably still have Flip where it is, but there might be some shuffling of the others. Thanks for watching.
Enjoyed this. I agree with the general sentiment. New Day Rising was my introduction to the band and is always one of my favorites. For some reason, Flip Your Wig comes 4th for me after NDR, Zen and CAR. Powerline is also one of my favorites - so underrated. As for Zen Arcade, it'd be #1 for me if it just contained sides 2 and 3. Well, with the 1st three songs thrown in there.
The Flip Your Wig commentary is 100% on point, good work! I wonder if this would have been their major label debut vs CAG if their career would have been different.
understand why you didn't get it later but at the time it was new and exciting and different. It's good the legacy still lives on and that people can hear it discover and enjoy.
I could never decide which Du album I liked best, New Day Rising or Flip Your Wig. No disrespect to Zen Arcade, some of their best songs on it for me but I would agree that New Day Rising and Flip Your Wig are better albums. Need to go back and revisit all their stuff I think! Great video and selection!
I saw them at the HUB Ballroom in Seattle in '86 and stood in front of their Marshall stacks just feeling the breeze, without any ear protection. I am surprised I can still hear pretty well at 58. I can't imagine what the band went through in terms of their hearing. It was my only Du show. I'd rank everything after Flip Your Wig at plus LSR (which established their speed punk roots) at the bottom. I guess I'd put Zen Arcade (the first one I heard) or New Day Rising (depending on how much time you have) at the top. I think that's pretty typical of many fans. Great Video!
I agree with you about the last two instrumental songs on Flip Your Wig. C'mon give us a couple more songs with lyrics! That is why I believe New Day Rising and Warehouse and Zen Arcade all rate higher for me. Only recently heard Flip Your Wig all the way through a couple times. I like the clarity of the guitars and maybe the less furiously hardcore or punk approach. Anyway, great list and you have given me some listening to do on some of their earlier stuff such as Out on a limb and Dead Set on Destruction.
Great list. I agree about Candy Apple Grey being the best from an engineering point of view. Production is the biggest hurdle to get past to understanding how great Husker Du were, cos let's be honest none of their records sound great mix wise. Candy Apple Grey is marginally less inhibited in that respect, however I never got on with the songs and pacing. It feels like leftover B sides of Flip Your Wig with a slightly better mix. Warehouse, on the other hand, I love. It is indeed a bit thin sounding, but so is a lot of their records. Amazing songs, particularly from Bob as you say. I might even put it #2
Production has been a hurdle for some people getting into Husker Du posthumously. But Once someone gets past it, they usually become fans for the rest of their lives.
I'm not sure that I agree with everyone about Bob's stuff vs. Grant's stuff on Warehouse. "She Floated Away"! Bob had good songs at the end of Huskers, but he kind of lost me overall. The things that I liked about him to start with - so much anger and so many words - started to wear on me. He got me back with Workbook. A friend of mine described the vibe of listening to Candy Apple Grey as, "Your girlfriend who you thought was The One tells you that she's dumping you for the neighborhood heroin dealer." That's how late period Huskers sounds too me, with the ironic exception of some of Grant's songs.
Enjoyed your video Dave .I could tell by your comments on Land speed record that Zen Arcade wasnt gonna be no 1. For me both are just too fast and furious. I like the power pop/rock of New Day rising and Flip your wig. Enjoyed your video and look forward to more
I agree the two instrumentals at the end of "Flip Your Wig" seem out of place. Might have been better if they used the non-LP B-side to "Makes No Sense At All" if they needed to fill space. It's a cover of the "Mary Tyler Moore" show theme, but they really rock it.
Great list. My new years resolution should be to listen to more husker du because I don't know much about their records. Funny that zen arcade and new day rising are very popular but I never hear much about flip your wig. I'll start with that one.
You definitely should listen to more Husker Du. Knowing what I know about your musical taste, they influenced a lot of it! Flip Your Wig is a great place to start.
Yeah man... Fortunate to catch living end tour.... Then work book ... But my fav post du was Grant's album.... Rip... Yet my last show as a fan predemic was Norton with porcupine... So good.
That’s pretty close to how I would rank them, although I’d probably put Candy Apple Grey just above Land Speed Record. I still love the album, but I honestly listen to it the least out of all the studio records for whatever reason. The pacing is definitely off like you said. It just feels incomplete or like something’s missing. Also, I’d like to recommend Superchunk for another ranking video
No, it's a custom created song for me from a band called Drakes Hotel. The song is about 90 seconds total, and I use only 30. Check out their music on bandcamp, as their CDs are pretty hard to find.
Would have loved to see them live. In my top 5 along with rem, the smiths, the fall and helmet!!! Disagree about land speed record tho. It's such a cool Record. I think you need to listen to it more. Interesting choice for top spot but not an job easy to list them all.
Great video I have to agree with your rankings except I put Zen Arcade in the 2 spot... although it pains me to rank Warehouse low since it's such an important album for me
The album (Warehouse) is a solid record. Lots of great tunes. But that production always holds it back for me. It's inexplicably horrible sounding. I actually asked Grant Hart about it, and he seemed to not understand what I was talking about. He liked it.
Id prolly rank similarly except id probably switch 1 and 2, new day rising was the first one i discovered. I heard terms of psychic warfare in a place and i was like wtf is this, i shazaamed it and since ive been hooked! was like one of the few albums ive ever liked top to bottom, for the most part.
Not going to argue with the ranking. However, worth mentioning re. "Flip Your Wig" I did catch a recorded (bootlegged) live version ('87 or so?) of "Wit and the Wisdom" that featured spoken lyrics. Dunno if Bob was improving or what. "Don't Know Yet" I really liked when I first heard it, more than I do now. Backward guitar just does it for me and Bob employed quite a bit of it w/ Huskers and later w/ Sugar. The only one I didn't get--and probably no one else either--"The Baby Song"? Maybe just to test the fans a bit? Who knows? My hat's off to you for keeping the Du in the light.
@@Thedarkstuff I have the original New Alliance pressing of the In A Free Land 7" anyway, I just think it would have been a perfect match for Metal Circus, and it would be closer to a real album then.
Dear sir, I must, literally must disagree with your thoughts on candy apple grey, it's a BOB album...because of Too Far Down and Hardly Getting Over it. Crystal does not work on this album, thank you for being the only other person I know (and my friends are MC5 fans) how has noticed this. Those two songs are the beginning of "workbook" (and please don't get me wrong, I love and own Admiral and intolerance) The best of Husker Du is New day rising and celebrated summer, but yes, you aren't wrong, but I could quibble. great content, thank you
Agree on your top spot, Flip Your Wig is fuckin' awesome. As for the other albums, I'd rate them in the following order: 2. Zen Arcade (best double LP of all times?!) 3. Warehouse (my late introduction to the Hüskers, and as you stated a great selection of songs), 4. New Day Rising (Pink Turns Blue, Books About UFO's or Girl On Heaven Hill are real belters), 5. Metal Circus (Diane, the first Grunge song ever, and just love that psychotic sound of How To Skin A Cat) 6. Candy Apple Grey (as for my liking a bit to tame) 7. Everything Falls Apart (would have liked to hear the cover of Donovan's Sunshine Superman with their later sound and arrangement) 8. Land Speed Record (never been into Hardcore, lack of decent melodies. That's what makes the Hüskers transformation so astonishing and great, gelling that ferocious sound with great melodies). Lucky to see them on their Warehouse tour, and by far the loudest gig I have ever witnessed, my ears were still ringing 3 days later. Also got to see Grant a couple of years later with Nova Mob. What a special treat it was, as Grant stepped away from the mike performing Admiral Of The Sea, singing without amplification in front of about a thousand spectators. I was in one of the back rows, instantly the usual crowd noise died down, listening in awe to Grant's phenomenal vocal performance. Goosebumps run down my spine, and surely everybody else's, and you guess it, the applause was thunderous. RIP Grant, he was such a great talent. As for suggestions, what do you make of John Cale? I believe him not only to be one of the most versatile musicians ever, but easily one of the most influential and instrumental persons (be it as a musician, producer or arranger) in the early shaping of the punk/alternative sound. Massively underrated I say. Anyway cheers for your interesting views on the Godfathers of Grunge, stay safe!
It's a debate that can never be "won." That's the great thing about catalog rankings. I never saw Husker Du, but have seen either Mould or Sugar more than a dozen times, and saw Grant or Nova Mob another dozen. Though I love VU, I haven't spent enough time with Cale's solo work to be able to rank it. Lou Reed, maybe.
@@Thedarkstuff I've seen Bob Mould once, must have been sometime in the late 90's, as far as I can recall. Been to so many gigs, unfortunately been quite wasteful with the tickets to remember them all. As with the Hüskers, the Velvets had two main protagonists, Reed being the lyricist and songwriter, but Cale being mainly responsible for the sound and arrangements. Surely you know all the Velvets albums, at least up until Loaded, but there's an evident change between WL/WH and the third album The Velvet Underground. With Cale's departure the menace and cutting edge of their sound went missing. Knowing you are heavily into Rock guitar, I would like to recommend you two of Cale's albums, firstly Sabotage from 1979 ruclips.net/video/q8DTuRdcy0k/видео.html, and Caribbean Sunset from 1984 ruclips.net/video/tJ-PI2YTo9Q/видео.html. Maybe there is something new for you to discover there.
For what it's worth, Metal Circus was originally intended as a proper album but while the band were recording it the power went out and because of time constraints they decided to just leave it as an E.P. However, there was some outtakes released on the Savage Young Du box set as a bonus E.P. called Extra Circus. Check it out here: ruclips.net/video/9LNRO6JFPao/видео.html
I wasn't able to get the one with Savage, as it sold out quickly. But I had heard most of those songs on old bootlegs. I used to trade HD related tapes way back in the day.
They broke all the rules. Few bands have ever reached the high temperatures the Huskers held. I put them up against any so-called metal or thrash metal band on this planet--and it becomes clear no one matches the organic energy they released, nor did anyone ever match their output (5 albums, 2 double albums, an EP and many one-off singles in JUST 7 years). They really were playing with fire, and their acetylene torch lit the way to a better tomorrow...
You question "The Wit and Wisdom" and "Don't Know Yet" (and I pretty much agree with you), but you don't mention the mood-killing nonsense of "The Baby Song"?
The only thing I would quibble with is Flip your Wig's placement. Flip wouldn't be in my top 5. The Baby Song just annoys me, the production really bothers me, the record was just disjointed for me. New Day Rising on the other hand was perfect for me, every song an absolute banger that would be my number 1, followed by Candy at number 2 Metal Circus number 3, Zen number 4, Warehouse number 5, Flip 6, Everything Falls Apart 7, Land Speed Record 8
The Baby Song does suck, I'll give you that one. But, Flip Your Wig is a power-pop masterpiece. I love it. If they could have merged the tunes from Flip with the production on Candy, they could have been the biggest band ever. Just my opinion.
This band means a lot to me. Still, like you I can't really stand most of their early hardcore sound. It's just noise to me. Grant finally started pushing Mould to stop being a bad Black Flag cover band with "It's Not Funny Anymore" and "Diane", two of the best tracks the band ever made. Zen Arcade is a statement record but is a (deliberate) mess, I respect it more than I listen to it. New Day Rising is where they really hit their stride, so many great tracks on that record. That album got me through high school. Flip Your Wig is an all time classic and a flawless album from a songwriting perspective, I agree with your assessment that it's their best. Candy Apple Grey seems dead set on undercutting the great track list, leading off with the worst song on the album and featuring weird pacing throughout. It took me a few listens, but now I really like it. Many of my favorite Husker songs are on Warehouse, sides three and four of that album are particularly incredible. "She's a Woman", "In The Air" and "You Can Live at Home" is an absolutely incredible triple punch at the end of that album.
When I saw Husker Du in 1984 a couple of weeks before Zen Arcade came out, they were already playing most of New Day Rising. Of course, at the time, I only knew it as really awesome new stuff. They had so much creative power.
Anyway, my list would have been 8) Land Speed Record, 7) Candy Apple Grey (I found it to be a bummer, and not the good kind), 6) Warehouse, 5) Everything Falls Apart. For the remaining 4 records they could do no wrong, really. They could be in any order. But I'd choose, 4) Metal Circus, 3) New Day Rising (perhaps the best songs, but the sound was so hazy, even by Husker standards), 2) Zen Arcade, 1) FLIP YOUR WIG.
Divide and Conquer is my favorite song, period.
Divide and Conquer is one of my favorites, as well.
I came to the comments mostly to see if anyone specifically mentioned Divide and Conquer. Wow, what a song! It's very powerful and very original. And I don't like "political" music, but the common-sense, prophetic, anti-globalist lyrics of that song take it to an even higher level.
Good points ..but funnily i think New Day Rising is the best sounding of them
Did Husker Du ever put "Erase Today" on a proper album. I have it on the SST sampler "the Blasting Concept." Great, great tune.
Flip Your Wig has always been my favorite.
Metal Circus is top 3. It was the most invasive album in the Indy scene in the mid 80's. Metal Circus was one of the handful of albums everyone had in the 80's that was into everything Indy and crossed lines. It wasn't just in the collection but an album that was always pulled out and ready to play.
It is great and I love the extra tracks that emerged on the 'Savage Young Du' box set.
Warehouse was my starting point. I wasn’t even aware of who they were until the summer of 1988 which of course is the year they split up. Somehow I stumbled on this cassette at a friend’s house and I was hooked. A lot of people shit all over Warehouse and yes it was kind of weak when compared to albums like Zen Arcade, New Day Rising and Flip Your Wig but it holds a special place in my heart because it’s where I came into the Husker World. “Could You Be The One?” and “Tell You Why Tomorrow” are my 2 fave tracks.
Warehouse is a decent album, of course. It was the first one I heard, as well.
Big love for that #1 pick. I’ve long considered it my favorite as well.
They kinda created 90s alternative rock right there in 1985.
@@Thedarkstuff I'm from California but I have a buddy who lives in Saudi Arabia and I used this video to guide him on his Husker journey. His favorite after a day or two is Candy Apple. Probably the best starting point for someone without much context of the scene.
great video! you seem to know your stuff but you're not snobby at all and you actually gave these records the time/thought they deserve.
Thanks.
Absolutely fantastic ranking Dave. I couldn't have chosen another person to honor and rank the music of Hüsker Dü. I was very happy with your top three. I thought I knew their career, the albums and info on the band since I first heard them in the early eighties. But you knew just about everything about them. Killer intro as well.
Loved your top three picks. Way to go Dave~
Rob/Boston
Thanks Rob! I was pretty sure you were a Husker fan. Glad you enjoyed the video.
Great video. Everything falls apart live at the camden palace is so great!! With grant on the back vocals its now one of my top 10 songs!!
Grant did a lot of great backing/harmony vocals. It was a huge part of the sound.
@@Thedarkstuff Amazing voice he had
Excellence! Thank you sir this is a band that I am baffled is to why they get so little attention on RUclips. Even Bob Mould hardly ever seems to get much attention when his albums come out this band along with the screaming trees or ones that I fell have been grossly overlooked so I appreciate the video you are as always amazing and I continue to be a fan. thank you
1. New Day Raising
2. Flip Your Wig
3. Warehouse : songs and stories
4. Candy Apple Gray
5. Zen Arcade
New Day Rising was the first tape I got and the first song I heard... set me up for a turn back towards melody with the noise of punk and metal I grew to love in my youth... many years later got Grant to sign the tape at a Nova Mob gig... love all their albums !
Thanks so much for watching.
Thanks for that!
I really enjoyed this video, however, there is one area about Husker Du I don't think gets it's due and that is the lyrics. Some of their songs lyrically are so far ahead of their time. Take Real World which is an "Anti Punk" punk song. Divide and Conquer- a song about the internet and global technical digital connectivity written a decade BEFORE the internet came to be. These are only two of MANY examples of just how deep this band was. Which, I suppose, can attribute to why we are still talking about them 30 odd years later....
Great video, VIVA Husker Du!!
I came across this video after playing a Husker Du video and I must say, I really like your approach and analogy in regards to their discography. Nice work.
Thanks. It's one of my most popular videos despite the fact that I look like I just woke up from a lengthy coma!
Hiya Dave. What to say but a fan-friggin-tastic video here, and you're the perfect guy in the VC to bring it to us all. I'm with you on your reasoning for metal circus. Not every discography has the luxury of being clean and linear, but counting metal circus shows their progression. To be honest I never thought of land speed record as a live album, they're in esteemed company with the mc5!
As to your reasoning for particular songs and the general flow (eg the instrumentals up the end of flip your wig) as well as the points on production (if anything, the one thing that holds their music back from worldwide mainstream acceptance) - I really can't argue. You make a ton of great points over whose songs are in the ascendant and whose are less dominant, in the same way lennon and McCartney had thru their tenure. And yes, Mould and Hart are that important!!
You speak eloquently about these albums cos you've lived with them 30+ years now. As for ranking I'd probably be Zen/New Day/Warehouse/Flip/candy, and flip only because it's my least known of those 5. Of course I need to revisit now! Again, great stuff Dave, really enjoyed this :) cheers, Dean
Wow, Dean, thanks so much for the kind words. It's good to hear from someone with obvious knowledge of the band. It's funny because a lot of people these days are less familiar with 'Flip Your Wig' than they used to be. Will from Vinyl Potato said the same thing. Well, re-visit if you must. I still stand by keeping it as my #1. Thanks so much.
Husker du wow what a band they are best
Great stuff! I'd definitely have to go with Zen Arcade and New Day Rising as 1 and 2 though
Flip, New Day Rising, and Zen could all be #1. It's hard to rank.
@@Thedarkstuff No doubt about it. I think it's one of those things where the order goes by which album you got at a certain time. They've been my favorite band for decades and I've always flip flopped over the years on the order of them. It's a great problem to have since they never put out a bad album. I'm glad The Living End wasn't included either. It's a decent album but there are probably 20 better live bootlegs out there that sounded so much more real and accurate. The Spin Radio concert and Camden Palace shows definitely come to mind.
@@HuskerF-inDu Yeah, Living End is flawed, but it's still an enjoyable listen. When I saw Greg Norton in 2019, he thought my vinyl copy was a bootleg. He'd never seen it on vinyl before.
As seminal as Husker was, they had some glaring faults, mostly on the production side. The white noise guitar wall dominated their early records and their live show, often obscuring chords, notes, and vocals. This may seem nitpicky, but it is an important part of their history, and major reason why they never advanced beyong college rock circles in the 80s. That being said, musically they advanced at an astonishing rate, releasing 2 dbl lps in a few years. Hardcore purist fans write off the WB releases, and that is a mistake. Song for song, Candy Apple Grey is their most consistent work imho. Obviously it is not as groundbreaking as the sprawling Zen Arcade, but the conventional arguement of dbl lps does have some validity: most would be more effective as a single release. However, Zen is far from a conventional album, and one of the uncompromising records of the 80s. Wig and New day could have easily been another dbl lp, as both records share similar attributes, and in terms of ranking, essentially cancel each other out. Warehouse is a polarizing record that contains some of their best work, although from a listener standpoint, sounds like 2 solo albums combined into one.
@@iggypopisgod9 The big issue regarding their early releases is there were far superior quality demos and live tapes out there. One huge one is the Colin Mansfield demos/Northern Light demos. Those were basically their first ever recordings of their sound to come. It wasn't all LSR/Everything Falls Apart type hard-core. You could already here the melodic sounds and Zen Arcade type style early on. I really don't mind the Spot produced stuff because it had that raw sound to it. But yeah, to a conventional listener or (shitty) commercial radio audience; it definitely wouldn't appeal to the masses. Regardless of all that, Husker Du is arguably a top 3 most influential band of the past 40 years.
Man, what a great list. I’d have Warehouse a bit higher. Friend, You’ve Got To Fall and Up In The Air were such great Bob songs, among others. But this is just great because it’s Hüsker Dü, and that’s always going to be awesome
I have a more harsh view of Warehouse than many HD fans. Those two songs you mentioned are incredible, and Bob has lots more, too. But, like I said in the video, Grant's stuff wasn't as good on that album. And I love Grant's songs.
Could not agree more with your assessment of Flip Your Wig, and the record being 2 songs too long. 'Hanging On would have been the most poetic end to the album. That aside, listening to the record now again after a couple decades, there's a mystery to the album as a whole... like looking at an old, grainy, black and white photograph from a bygone era, it conjures up the imagination and mystery of what was going on in the band during the mid '80s with the larger punk scene as a backdrop. Hard to articulate, but I hope you get what I'm saying.
I definitely get what you're saying.
Love Bob Mould, Husker du and Grant Hart
BTW- When I met Bob Mould many years ago I asked about Dead Set On Destruction and why they didn't ever play it and he told me it was ine of his favorites.
Some great picks.
I’d struggle to rank Husker Du’s discography personally as my opinion changes from season to season, but I tend to plump for ‘New Day Rising’ as my favourite… though a few years back someone who’d never heard of the band asked me to recommend a starting point and I went for ‘Flip Your Wig’, so maybe you’re right.
I agree about ‘Land Speed Record’. There’s a very fine line between loud music and noise, and I think this record does not tread it at all carefully. If you look at the band’s influences: the Beatles, the Ramones etc they were always inevitably going to go in a much more melodic direction and I’m glad they did.
I also think ‘Warehouse’ gets too much hate. It was the first Husker Du record I ever heard though, so I had no prejudices or expectations and was able to just enjoy it for what it was.
My opinion changes all the time, as well. If I did it today, I would probably still have Flip where it is, but there might be some shuffling of the others. Thanks for watching.
Enjoyed this. I agree with the general sentiment. New Day Rising was my introduction to the band and is always one of my favorites. For some reason, Flip Your Wig comes 4th for me after NDR, Zen and CAR. Powerline is also one of my favorites - so underrated. As for Zen Arcade, it'd be #1 for me if it just contained sides 2 and 3. Well, with the 1st three songs thrown in there.
Agreed that Zen Arcade is too long. Thanks for watching.
The fact that no one else was doing what they were doing on Land Speed Record makes it in the top three for me but fair ranking nonetheless
The Flip Your Wig commentary is 100% on point, good work! I wonder if this would have been their major label debut vs CAG if their career would have been different.
understand why you didn't get it later but at the time it was new and exciting and different. It's good the legacy still lives on and that people can hear it discover and enjoy.
New Day Rising has always been my favorite. Celebrated Summer, I Apologize, The Girl Who Lives on Heaven Hill are amazing!
Can't go wrong with NDR
Totally in agreement with your ranking. Flig Your Wig has always been my favorite as well. Nicely done.
Thanks, Michelle.
I could never decide which Du album I liked best, New Day Rising or Flip Your Wig.
No disrespect to Zen Arcade, some of their best songs on it for me but I would agree that New Day Rising and Flip Your Wig are better albums.
Need to go back and revisit all their stuff I think! Great video and selection!
Thanks for watching and enjoy revisiting those Husker records.
Still have my 1st pressing of Land Speed Record after all these years. :)
Very nice!
I don't have that, but I do have Everything Falls Apart.
I saw them at the HUB Ballroom in Seattle in '86 and stood in front of their Marshall stacks just feeling the breeze, without any ear protection. I am surprised I can still hear pretty well at 58. I can't imagine what the band went through in terms of their hearing.
It was my only Du show.
I'd rank everything after Flip Your Wig at plus LSR (which established their speed punk roots) at the bottom. I guess I'd put Zen Arcade (the first one I heard) or New Day Rising (depending on how much time you have) at the top. I think that's pretty typical of many fans.
Great Video!
Thanks. Yeah, most people say Zen Arcade, and it's, obviously, incredible. I'll always have something for Flip Your Wig.
I really love Warehouse. ‘Back From Somewhere’ is my fav Grant song; ‘It’s Not Peculiar’ my fav Bob song.
Both are fantastic songs!
I enjoyed that assessment. Thumbs up!
Thanks so much.
Totally agree with your picks (maybe would have given Zen Arcade #2), Flip Your Wig might be the high point of Punk rock
I agree with you about the last two instrumental songs on Flip Your Wig. C'mon give us a couple more songs with lyrics! That is why I believe New Day Rising and Warehouse and Zen Arcade all rate higher for me. Only recently heard Flip Your Wig all the way through a couple times. I like the clarity of the guitars and maybe the less furiously hardcore or punk approach. Anyway, great list and you have given me some listening to do on some of their earlier stuff such as Out on a limb and Dead Set on Destruction.
Great list. I agree about Candy Apple Grey being the best from an engineering point of view. Production is the biggest hurdle to get past to understanding how great Husker Du were, cos let's be honest none of their records sound great mix wise. Candy Apple Grey is marginally less inhibited in that respect, however I never got on with the songs and pacing. It feels like leftover B sides of Flip Your Wig with a slightly better mix. Warehouse, on the other hand, I love. It is indeed a bit thin sounding, but so is a lot of their records. Amazing songs, particularly from Bob as you say. I might even put it #2
Production has been a hurdle for some people getting into Husker Du posthumously. But Once someone gets past it, they usually become fans for the rest of their lives.
I'm not sure that I agree with everyone about Bob's stuff vs. Grant's stuff on Warehouse. "She Floated Away"! Bob had good songs at the end of Huskers, but he kind of lost me overall. The things that I liked about him to start with - so much anger and so many words - started to wear on me. He got me back with Workbook. A friend of mine described the vibe of listening to Candy Apple Grey as, "Your girlfriend who you thought was The One tells you that she's dumping you for the neighborhood heroin dealer." That's how late period Huskers sounds too me, with the ironic exception of some of Grant's songs.
Warehouse is my no.1. Awesome record. And I love Crystal. And Eiffel Tower High.
Cool. Thanks for watching.
I knew as soon as I clicked on this video: “Flip Your Wig is gonna be #1, I almost guarantee you.”
Enjoyed your video Dave .I could tell by your comments on Land speed record that Zen Arcade wasnt gonna be no 1. For me both are just too fast and furious. I like the power pop/rock of New Day rising and Flip your wig. Enjoyed your video and look forward to more
Thanks for watching!
I agree the two instrumentals at the end of "Flip Your Wig" seem out of place. Might have been better if they used the non-LP B-side to "Makes No Sense At All" if they needed to fill space. It's a cover of the "Mary Tyler Moore" show theme, but they really rock it.
Great list. My new years resolution should be to listen to more husker du because I don't know much about their records. Funny that zen arcade and new day rising are very popular but I never hear much about flip your wig. I'll start with that one.
You definitely should listen to more Husker Du. Knowing what I know about your musical taste, they influenced a lot of it! Flip Your Wig is a great place to start.
Much agreed... Du's and duh's... All and all I remember. Flying v and the flanneled beer belly ripping the show.
I'd love to see Mould whip out a Flying V again. But he claims he gave them all away.
Yeah man... Fortunate to catch living end tour.... Then work book ... But my fav post du was Grant's album.... Rip... Yet my last show as a fan predemic was Norton with porcupine... So good.
Good video. I'd put "Candy Apple Grey" #2, but that's just me. One of my favorite bands.
Thanks for watching. CAG is a complicated record, and my opinions on it change frequently.
That’s pretty close to how I would rank them, although I’d probably put Candy Apple Grey just above Land Speed Record. I still love the album, but I honestly listen to it the least out of all the studio records for whatever reason. The pacing is definitely off like you said. It just feels incomplete or like something’s missing.
Also, I’d like to recommend Superchunk for another ranking video
Superchunk. That's a good one!
Long Live Bob Mould!
I like the dark stuff intro song. Is there a full version? I went looking and couldn’t find it.
No, it's a custom created song for me from a band called Drakes Hotel. The song is about 90 seconds total, and I use only 30. Check out their music on bandcamp, as their CDs are pretty hard to find.
Would have loved to see them live. In my top 5 along with rem, the smiths, the fall and helmet!!! Disagree about land speed record tho. It's such a cool Record. I think you need to listen to it more. Interesting choice for top spot but not an job easy to list them all.
Honestly, I've heard Land Speed enough for a lifetime.
I need a charted trip away
Great video I have to agree with your rankings except I put Zen Arcade in the 2 spot... although it pains me to rank Warehouse low since it's such an important album for me
The album (Warehouse) is a solid record. Lots of great tunes. But that production always holds it back for me. It's inexplicably horrible sounding. I actually asked Grant Hart about it, and he seemed to not understand what I was talking about. He liked it.
Id prolly rank similarly except id probably switch 1 and 2, new day rising was the first one i discovered. I heard terms of psychic warfare in a place and i was like wtf is this, i shazaamed it and since ive been hooked! was like one of the few albums ive ever liked top to bottom, for the most part.
Not going to argue with the ranking. However, worth mentioning re. "Flip Your Wig" I did catch a recorded (bootlegged) live version ('87 or so?) of "Wit and the Wisdom" that featured spoken lyrics. Dunno if Bob was improving or what. "Don't Know Yet" I really liked when I first heard it, more than I do now. Backward guitar just does it for me and Bob employed quite a bit of it w/ Huskers and later w/ Sugar. The only one I didn't get--and probably no one else either--"The Baby Song"? Maybe just to test the fans a bit? Who knows? My hat's off to you for keeping the Du in the light.
Baby Song is kinda dumb, but Grant had just had a kid, so I have always let it slide.
Agreed on "The Baby Song." I wondered if it would be mentioned.
I wish they had included "In a Free Land" on Metal Circus.
Do you have the Savage Young Du box set? It comes with the extended Metal Circus. It's cool, but Free Land was not on it.
@@Thedarkstuff I have the original New Alliance pressing of the In A Free Land 7" anyway, I just think it would have been a perfect match for Metal Circus, and it would be closer to a real album then.
Dear sir, I must, literally must disagree with your thoughts on candy apple grey, it's a BOB album...because of Too Far Down and Hardly Getting Over it. Crystal does not work on this album, thank you for being the only other person I know (and my friends are MC5 fans) how has noticed this. Those two songs are the beginning of "workbook" (and please don't get me wrong, I love and own Admiral and intolerance) The best of Husker Du is New day rising and celebrated summer, but yes, you aren't wrong, but I could quibble. great content, thank you
Agree on your top spot, Flip Your Wig is fuckin' awesome. As for the other albums, I'd rate them in the following order: 2. Zen Arcade (best double LP of all times?!) 3. Warehouse (my late introduction to the Hüskers, and as you stated a great selection of songs), 4. New Day Rising (Pink Turns Blue, Books About UFO's or Girl On Heaven Hill are real belters), 5. Metal Circus (Diane, the first Grunge song ever, and just love that psychotic sound of How To Skin A Cat) 6. Candy Apple Grey (as for my liking a bit to tame) 7. Everything Falls Apart (would have liked to hear the cover of Donovan's Sunshine Superman with their later sound and arrangement) 8. Land Speed Record (never been into Hardcore, lack of decent melodies. That's what makes the Hüskers transformation so astonishing and great, gelling that ferocious sound with great melodies).
Lucky to see them on their Warehouse tour, and by far the loudest gig I have ever witnessed, my ears were still ringing 3 days later. Also got to see Grant a couple of years later with Nova Mob. What a special treat it was, as Grant stepped away from the mike performing Admiral Of The Sea, singing without amplification in front of about a thousand spectators. I was in one of the back rows, instantly the usual crowd noise died down, listening in awe to Grant's phenomenal vocal performance. Goosebumps run down my spine, and surely everybody else's, and you guess it, the applause was thunderous. RIP Grant, he was such a great talent.
As for suggestions, what do you make of John Cale? I believe him not only to be one of the most versatile musicians ever, but easily one of the most influential and instrumental persons (be it as a musician, producer or arranger) in the early shaping of the punk/alternative sound. Massively underrated I say.
Anyway cheers for your interesting views on the Godfathers of Grunge, stay safe!
It's a debate that can never be "won." That's the great thing about catalog rankings. I never saw Husker Du, but have seen either Mould or Sugar more than a dozen times, and saw Grant or Nova Mob another dozen.
Though I love VU, I haven't spent enough time with Cale's solo work to be able to rank it. Lou Reed, maybe.
@@Thedarkstuff I've seen Bob Mould once, must have been sometime in the late 90's, as far as I can recall. Been to so many gigs, unfortunately been quite wasteful with the tickets to remember them all.
As with the Hüskers, the Velvets had two main protagonists, Reed being the lyricist and songwriter, but Cale being mainly responsible for the sound and arrangements. Surely you know all the Velvets albums, at least up until Loaded, but there's an evident change between WL/WH and the third album The Velvet Underground. With Cale's departure the menace and cutting edge of their sound went missing. Knowing you are heavily into Rock guitar, I would like to recommend you two of Cale's albums, firstly Sabotage from 1979 ruclips.net/video/q8DTuRdcy0k/видео.html, and Caribbean Sunset from 1984 ruclips.net/video/tJ-PI2YTo9Q/видео.html. Maybe there is something new for you to discover there.
@@ForARide I'll try it out.
Pink turns to blue is not on that album baby
What Band is the song from the beginning of this video? (I Like the dark stuff?) I like it. Please help me. HÜSKER DÜ FOREVER.
Drakes Hotel
@@Thedarkstuff THANK YOU. BUT I DIDNT FOUND THIS SONG ON SPOTIFY :-(
For what it's worth, Metal Circus was originally intended as a proper album but while the band were recording it the power went out and because of time constraints they decided to just leave it as an E.P. However, there was some outtakes released on the Savage Young Du box set as a bonus E.P. called Extra Circus.
Check it out here:
ruclips.net/video/9LNRO6JFPao/видео.html
I wasn't able to get the one with Savage, as it sold out quickly. But I had heard most of those songs on old bootlegs. I used to trade HD related tapes way back in the day.
Warehouse is my favorite!Candy apple Grey is 2nd!
Thanks for checking out the video.
Would you rank Bob's solo records?
It’s definitely something I have thought about. Would be a massive undertaking.
Vardis has a solid live debut album
Not familiar with them.
understand why you didn't get it at the time and maybe later as no-one was doing that the time.
.
They broke all the rules. Few bands have ever reached the high temperatures the Huskers held. I put them up against any so-called metal or thrash metal band on this planet--and it becomes clear no one matches the organic energy they released, nor did anyone ever match their output (5 albums, 2 double albums, an EP and many one-off singles in JUST 7 years). They really were playing with fire, and their acetylene torch lit the way to a better tomorrow...
You question "The Wit and Wisdom" and "Don't Know Yet" (and I pretty much agree with you), but you don't mention the mood-killing nonsense of "The Baby Song"?
You are right, it does suck. But it's really short, and it does represent a good moment in Grant's life (having a kid), so I let it slide.
Have to say I preferred Grant’s work on Warehouse. I would say he has the best and worst on there I suppose.
It was definitely a mixed bag.
Sounds like you Said warehouse was after candy apple grey.?
Chronologically, it is. But in my ranking, Warehouse was lower than Candy.
Zen Arcade 4ever
Cool. Nobody really does album rankings of indie and punk stuff.
That's what I thought. I just posted one for Superchunk.
Never Bob Mould made better songs apart Husker Du because in Grant Hart had big rival .
What you think ?
I would basically agree. However, Grant and Bob's first solo albums had pretty amazing songs.
Now try ranking every Guided By Voices or Fall LP -- I've got a spare 12 hours.
Check back in a few months....
The only thing I would quibble with is Flip your Wig's placement. Flip wouldn't be in my top 5. The Baby Song just annoys me, the production really bothers me, the record was just disjointed for me. New Day Rising on the other hand was perfect for me, every song an absolute banger that would be my number 1, followed by Candy at number 2 Metal Circus number 3, Zen number 4, Warehouse number 5, Flip 6, Everything Falls Apart 7, Land Speed Record 8
The Baby Song does suck, I'll give you that one. But, Flip Your Wig is a power-pop masterpiece. I love it. If they could have merged the tunes from Flip with the production on Candy, they could have been the biggest band ever. Just my opinion.
This band means a lot to me. Still, like you I can't really stand most of their early hardcore sound. It's just noise to me. Grant finally started pushing Mould to stop being a bad Black Flag cover band with "It's Not Funny Anymore" and "Diane", two of the best tracks the band ever made. Zen Arcade is a statement record but is a (deliberate) mess, I respect it more than I listen to it. New Day Rising is where they really hit their stride, so many great tracks on that record. That album got me through high school. Flip Your Wig is an all time classic and a flawless album from a songwriting perspective, I agree with your assessment that it's their best. Candy Apple Grey seems dead set on undercutting the great track list, leading off with the worst song on the album and featuring weird pacing throughout. It took me a few listens, but now I really like it. Many of my favorite Husker songs are on Warehouse, sides three and four of that album are particularly incredible. "She's a Woman", "In The Air" and "You Can Live at Home" is an absolutely incredible triple punch at the end of that album.
You Can Live at Home is epic.
St. Paul
The other of the twin cities. Yes.
Whaaatttt!!! U don't like too much spice!?
Unpopular opinion. I think Flip your Wig is their weakest album. None of the songs stand out.
There are no wrong answers. Except that one. 🤣🤣