Genre: Punk Rock Sub-Genres: Hardcore Label: Reflex Records Tracks: 12 Length: 19 Minutes (Medium-Length) Style: Angry/Mysterious My Rating: 6/8 By this point in my reviews you've probably already heard a lot of about Hüsker Dü. Well, they were a rock band. This is their second LP they released, and the first studio LP they did. Like most of their early sound (actually I read that they were New-Wavers when they first started), it's extremely fast, hard -- standard for a typical hardcore punk record. It was their last album they released before signing to SST Records (excellent choice!) later on in the same year.
1. From the Gut Alternates between rolling drums and more linear beats. The lyrics seem to either be about a heartbreak or getting punched in the gut. Either way, about pain, it seems.
2. Blah Blah Blah This song's pretty fast. It's about a loudmouth douchebag who talks crap to the song's protagonist, as the protagonist asks if the enemy is "talking in tongues, or is his brain out of gear?". There's a pretty awesome solo in here. The song ends with the sounds of a group of people talking about a bunch of random stuff.
3. Punch Drunk This one's even faster! It's only 30 seconds long -- the lyrics are about punk violence as kids in the bar kick and punch eachother -- "think it's a fucking gym??", asks Bob Mould... when asked where his friend is, he replies, "guess he'd rather be punch drunk".
4. Bricklayer Extremely fast n' angry! It's about a dude who throws heavy bricks from a window of a building at peoples' heads.
5. Afraid of Being Wrong This one's about bullies who refrain from saying much, hide with their insecurities in their crowd, "don't speak unless spoken to" and become passive because they're "afraid of being wrong".
6. Sunshine Superman This one's a Donovan cover. An early hint towards Hüsker Dü's eventual expansion in musical direction. A classic-sounding guitar solo can be heard in the song. Actually, there's a ton of lead in this song. I can tell by these lyrics that Donovan was probably on something when he wrote 'em. Heheh.
7. Signals From Above Starts with some healthy noize, until the thrash kicks in, as angry vocals are sung, criticizing the world's hippies who "think the whole world is incense, peace, and love" -- proclaiming they ignore the "signals from above", mocking their ideas of 'free love' by calling "dirt-cheap love" a "thing of the past". End of Side 1.
8. Everything Falls Apart This one's kinda happy-sounding. I think there's a usage of a keyboard in this song, too. Sounds really pretty. The song's premise is simple -- everything falls apart. It's only natural. Another nice solo, too.
9. Wheels This song mocks people who use their cars to show off, loving their cars more than people; forgetting that a car is a dangerous tool which could eventually be your grave!
10. Target This song criticizes stupid scenesters who "think it's all passe, even though they listen to the same records every day", and hate others who "caught on late, even if they're having fun" -- however, the Target never makes his/her own music or does anything productive... simply a leech, an internally ugly troll existing to feed off its own hatred and feelings of superiority. "YOU'RE A HYPOCRITE! YOU'RE THE TARGET!"
11. Obnoxious Fast and short. It's a big 'fuck you' to all of the people in society who looked down upon them for being punks and playing fast music, or "not talking right", saying "they won't last".
12. Gravity Longest song on the album (two-and-a-half minutes). It's one of the slowest, too. Like a few others on this album, it resembles their more melodic sound that would become regular for them in the next album. The song is about the pressures of the world crushing in on us all just like gravity, but it's not actually gravity.
Ten years later, the band re-released the album on CD with bonus tracks from the "In a Free Land" single, some outtakes, and an 8-minute song called "Statues"! After this album, the band got signed to SST and released "Metal Circus", which I have already reviewed, so you can find the review to that album and their classic double LP that came after that, "Zen Arcade" on this site if you look around, so yeah, this album makes a good example of Hüsker Dü's earlier, more erratic hardcore punk, in better quality than "Land Speed Record"...
Top 3 Favorites: 1. Everything Falls Apart 2. Bricklayer 3. From the Gut
Genre: Punk Rock Sub-Genres: Hardcore, Post-Punk Label: SST Records Tracks: 23 Length: 70 Minutes (Long) Style:Mysterious/Rebellious/Emotional My Rating: 7/8
Many say that this album was something of a major turning point for Hüsker Dü as well as punk rock in general. Regarded as one of the first "alternative rock" (whatever that is) albums ever, it's essentially a hardcore punk record with a lot of creativity and new experimentation -- pianos, acoustic numbers. It's even a rock opera! -- possibly the first punk opera ever. The story is pretty simple, but the colors used to portray it give the ride much more depth. What IS that story? Well, basically, a young nerd living in a broken home with incessant fighting and abuse between his parents, alienated by the distress, finally decided to seek true escape from the miserable life and runs away. As he experiences new things about the "real world", the new lands filled with hope and excitement quickly transform into a world darker than where he was in the first place, as he fights to survive. What's the ending?? Well, we'll just see at the end...
1. Something I Learned Today A near-epic yet seemingly simple opener. Begins with pattering drums with a curious bassline which explodes into a fiery, brave riff which seems to promise new worlds of exploration. The lyrics seem to provide insight into the mind of a disillusioned child. Still, the song just barely scratches the two-minute mark.
2. Broken Home, Broken Heart In this song we get to peer into the physical realm of our protagonist's existence... a realm where there is little peace even in a place of supposed safety: his (her?) home. With Mom and Dad fighting all of the time, the song explains that it's difficulty for him to even get any sleep at night. Coolest part, musically: the instrumental part punctuating each verse and chorus with the twice repeated four chords and the drumming that accompanies it. Great for dancing. One of the greatest songs on the album.
3. Never Talking to You Again Here, we take a break from the seemingly predominant thrash style to an acoustic ballad. While when listened to on its own it could be mistaken for a typical "breakup" anthem, but when placed in proper context; it's about the album's hero "giving up" on his caretakers and seeing their foolishness and destructiveness, leaving them behind for something that seems brighter ahead. The vocal harmonies are beautiful here. For that reason and just the melody, I also love this track (just like the two before it).
4. Chartered Trips Here's where the adventure really starts to take off -- the hero, according to the song, "packs up his belongings in a nylon carry-all". As he takes off for his long journey, he imagines the sights and sounds and places he may see down the road ahead, optimistic as can be. Like every other song here so far, the melody is beautiful and truly personifies the emotion communicated through the song in a musical format, especially in the chorus.
5. Dreams Reoccurring This one's really weird. It's basically a creepy, avant-garde jazz-punk piece which seems to be played backwards. With that said, it isn't very long, but interesting enough. No vocals or lyrics, either.
6. Indecision Time The riff and such are much darker than the initial upbeat feel of the album. Lyrically, it's where the harsh reality of the hero's situation sinks in: "you wonder if life could be much worse"... sleeping on the streets, plagued by paranoia and fear, unable to figure out what the hell to do next. The noisy swooping guitars are reminiscent of uncaring automobiles driving by.
7. Hare Krsna Accompanied by eastern clattering of an instrument I feel unable to name, the song is melodically done in the style of an Asian religious chant, as supposedly the song is about the protagonist's decision to turn to religion to bring the missing light back into his light. Incessant mumbling and musical moaning can be heard in the background. With that being said, it's a much happier-sounding song than the track before it, and here we have yet another diversion from the standard hardcore formula that already sounded captivating when Hüsker Dü played it. End of Side 1.
8. Beyond the Threshold A song about feelings of isolation in a crowd land of strangers, wishing to revisit those who may have actually loved you, but unable to do so even if you tried. The vocals have an effect on them to make them seem as grating and unfriendly as the character's situation. Lost in the concrete jungle.
9. Pride Hopeless screaming of hard-to-understand lyrics already by themselves painting a picture of the pain and confusion of the young and innocent hurled into a world of darkness and evil. People who mug you at the slightest pang of offense, jerks in general, the greedy, those who are cruel to the needy, it's a place that's fucking seedy. Still, the guitar solo done here is damn excellent and sexy.
10. I'll Never Forget You When you finally find someone in a natural disaster of a world that you feel like you can trust, it's a bit risky, because we all have a tendency to get tired of unwanted guests. But when you throw away the people who really need your company... the results are just not good. The vocalist continually and erratically screams "I'LL NEVER FORGET YOU/I'LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU", just as if he's actually experiencing the subject matter of the song as he sings it. The riff is totally badass.
11. The Biggest Lie Slow, droning intro. Basically about how the people most vulnerable to harm are those who actually be themselves, and the average, mundane life is a result of "the biggest lie".
12. What's Going On (Inside My Head) The music here is abrasive, almost sounding like No-Wave music, here. The protagonist of the song realizes that he didn't "listen enough" to what other people had to say to him and feels that he only listened to himself too much at times -- feeling insane as a result. Towards the end of the song, some piano also accompanies the raging guitars and the beat. When the song seems like it's about to end, it all returns back like a boomerang at twice the normal pace just before exploding into some post-punk noize stuff.
13. Masochism World As a means to escape the frustration and real pain in his current life, the character in the story decides to resort to a new sexual fetish for S&M, as the lyrics consist of things he may have said or thought during this. Midway through the song, there is a chorus of soft female vocals. The tempo sort of lags in a fashion that's hard to explain, but it's real cool. The final few seconds of the song are another noise section.
14. Standing By the Sea They say this was actually an out-take from the "Metal Circus" sessions, but they evidently found the song worthy enough to make it onto their next album. The title basically sums up the song. The instrumental parts of the song have the sounds of the crashing of waves against the shore, adding to the feel, as the lyrics describe the viewpoint of the lonely protagonist standing by the sea listening to the sound of the waves. End of Side 2.
15. Somewhere The riffs on this one are great! This song features the main character daydreaming about "somewhere", a place where he can forget about his troubles, feel like he belongs, and feel at ease and safety. The second half of the song features a backwards version of the riff being played alongside the regular riff, adding to the dreamy aura of it.
16. One Step At a Time A short, psychedelic instrumental piano piece. The melody played on the keys is beautiful, underneath a calm sea of bizarre but peaceful sounds and great chord progressions. The song is less than a minute long.
17. Pink Turns to Blue In this song, it is said that the main character begins to turn to drug use, distorting reality in hopes of making it more peaceful against the harsher reality, as "pink turns to blue" in his eyes. There's a little piano used in the beginning parts of the song, also.
18. Newest Industry Like the track before it, it's melodic hardcore punk with a little piano thrown in. It's about the deterioration of the American industrial realm and how society and the government are unable to maintain it for the wars and other meaningless projects they'd rather keep around. And the riffs and such are great, here.
19. Monday Will Never Be the Same Much like "One Step at a Time", this is a short, sad little piano piece, reflecting the hopelessness and sorrow beginning to drip from the eyes of the protagonist. Not very long, but very powerful and helps to shift the consistency of the album.
20. Whatever Back to ol' Mom and Dad, the song has the parents of the main character wondering why their son chose the path in life he did... perhaps it was because of their neglect that "he turned out wrong", as he lives in his own world where he feels safe from the surrounding harm. The mid-section is pretty nice to listen to, as without any vocals or lyrics you can feel the void disconnection between the two pieces who have come so far apart.
21. The Tooth Fairy and the Princess Something strange is happening... music played in a similar fashion to "Dreams Reoccurring"; backwards instrumentation, as voices whispering all around the protagonist's head repeatedly say "Don't give up", "don't let go", and "don't give in", among other things as the character tosses and turns in the bed he has, falling into a strange hole through reality that ends with one loud scream as the voices tell him to "Wake Up". End of Side 3.
22. Turn On the News It was all a dream. The whole escape was just a the character losing his mind. But he's woken up. Back to the real world. He "turns on the news", as we hear little clippets of broadcast news playing in a storm of chaos until the main part of the song starts up. The lyrics are musings on why the bad things in the world happen and why the world works the way it does sometimes. "All this uptight pushing and shoving keeps us away from who we're loving." Amazing guitar solo here.
23. Reoccurring Dreams Well, Reoccurring Dreams DO occur, don't they? Well, this dream reoccurred (the one in track 5), but this one izn't backwards anymore. It's a long instrumental symphony of jazz-esque punk rock, extending just 14 minutes long! And that's the end.
Well, it didn't end GREAT or anything, but it was better than the hero dying alone on the streets or something like that, I suppose. And it all works very well. Probably one of the longest hardcore punk LPs ever. This album marked the shift from hardcore punk to post-punk and a new change in Hüsker Dü's sound. Pretty good, huh? Well, I thought so. I can imagine buying this album in 1984 and being BLOWN AWAY by the quality of it. Of course, now there have been at very least a handful of songs that have been written that are better than the songs from this album, but this stuff was completely top-notch for its time and still is! Well, if you're punk and haven't heard this, listen to this album NOW. It will totally change your perception of what punk rock can do for you.
Genre: Punk Rock Sub-Genres: Hardcore Label: SST Records Tracks: 7 Length: 18 Minutes (Medium-Length) Style:Political/Emotional My Rating: 7/8
Hüsker Dü were a punk rock band from Saint Paul, Minnesota. In 1981, they released their first album, which was a live album, and then they released a studio LP called "Everything Falls Apart". This is their third album, and it marks the transition between the sound of the early records and the more experimental, melodic sound of their later works (like "Zen Arcade"). With that said, while not really an alternative album, it's one of the oldest records to make a shift towards the beginning of that genre.
1. Real World Really neat buzzsaw-sounding guitar riff. This is an upbeat song that questions the motives and ideals of most punks at the time, asking whether anarchy and breaking laws will cause more harm or help. Aggressive-as-fuck vocals. This one is great!
2. Deadly Skies A song simultaneously expressing fear of nuclear war and also attacking people who protest against it just to look good. I like the chorus riff.
3. It's Not Funny Anymore Even more joyful-sounding than the previous two songs -- almost pop-punk! Nice solo.
4. First of the Last Calls Great riff. It's a song about people who battle alcohol addictions. End of Side 1.
5. Lifeline The angriest-sounding song on the album. Sounds like it's either about fighting drug addiction or just being stuck in a rut in life. Not sure.
6. Diane One of the most well-known tracks on the album, and rightfully so -- it's a slow, beautiful punk-ballad about a woman who was kidnapped by a man who raped her and then murdered her. The chorus is just the word "Diane" repeated. Sounds like not much, but it's way more effective in displaying the sadness in this song than anything else (the background vocals are great, too). The subsequent verses go on to sing about all of the deceptive things the man said to Diane in order to lure her into his car. A very moving song.
7. Out On a Limb The lyrics almost seem to be alluding to suicide -- singing of going out on a limb and knowing that it will break anyways. Slightly faster than "Diane" but slower than all of the other songs. Later on in the song, there's a huge chaotic noise-solo. The bass is kinda out-there, too. Very crazy. Unfortunately, it ends there! :-(
While not recognized as Hüsker Dü's best piece (that distinction goes to "Zen Arcade"), this is still a great album in its own right -- Zen Arcade actually came out within months after this was released. But this marks a transitional period; they began embracing the beautiful, experimental ballads, but there's still a lot of angry thrash-type stuff on here as well. Almost seems like the kind of record that early emo could have gotten inspiration from! But I really do like that guitar-sound on this one. You should totally listen to this if you like punk. If you haven't already heard 'em, Hüsker Dü will make you realize how great punk-rock can really be.
Genre: Punk Rock Sub-Genres: Hardcore Label: New Alliance Records Tracks: 17 Length: 26 Minutes (Medium-Length) Style: Political/Fun My Rating: 6/8
Hüsker Dü was a punk rock band that formed in 1979. They were one of the several bands to help build the alternative rock genre in the mid-'80s, and were known for their classic album, "Zen Arcade". However, awhile before that, they were a lot like any other hardcore band. They wrote really fast, hard songs. They sang about their disgust with the Cold War and Ronald Reagan's policies. They sang songs that didn't really hold any meaning. This was their first LP, and it was recorded live in August 1981 at 7th St. Entry, Minneapolis. As a result, the sound quality is a little blurry, and it's almost impossible to understand the lyrics, but fortunately, they provided a lyric sheet with the album.
1. All Tensed Up Starts with the sounds of a few members of the crowd screaming. It's a pretty good fast thrash song. The lyrics are about a guy who took so many pills to curb his appetite that he's really jittery and can hardly stand still.
2. Don't Try to Call Really cool riff. It goes well with the beat. The song's about a person whose friend is turning into an unstable maniac, and the protagonist is trying to beckon the other person to "forget his name" and "forget his number" and to stop calling him.
3. I'm Not Interested This song is about a girl who's "living in another world" and "is too damn surreal"; probably a popular girl with few problems in life 'er something like that. The chorus part of the song is about the singer not being interested in what she has to say "because it's all lies anyway."
4. Guns at My School This song is about, well, guns at school. Basically a criticism of violence as a use of solving problems and how society thinks guns are "cool". Just under a minute long.
5. Push the Button I like the riff for this one, as well. It's about a hypothetical situation if the government became so paranoid that they "pushed the button" and started a nuclear war in which everybody would have to live underground in a cave. This song has a relatively lengthy solo.
6. Gilligan's Island A song about wanting to fuck Ginger from "Gilligan's Island" under a palm tree and making the professor make good drugs. These sentiments are succeeded by a solo. Ironically, two-thirds of the members of Hüsker Dü were gay.
7. MTC Not quite sure what this one's REALLY about, but it describes a guy rushing to get onto the bus, where everybody's scurrying about and there's hardly any room for him to sit.
8. Don't Have a Life This one is more interesting. It has a neat, noisy riff and a crazy bassline. The song is basically about the song's protagonist not having a life that he/she would want to spend with a certain other person, for according to their idea, it would REALLY suck. End of Side 1.
9. Bricklayer This one is extremely fast. It's about a dude who throws heavy bricks from a window of a building at peoples' heads.
10. Tired of Doing Things The single line of this song is "Tired of Doing Things Your Way", which is repeated, as the song's tempo gradually speeds up.
11. You're Naive This song attacks politicians and those who follow them. It also attacks Nazi punks who claim to be anarchists but celebrate the ideas of White Supremacy, putting all of the targets of this song off as naive sheeple who don't know what to believe.
12. Strange Week This song names all of the names of the days of the week and repeats "Strange Week" a lot. This week must've been really strange. Uhh, there are seven days in a week. Words of wisdom from Hüsker Dü indeed. But yeah, their week was apparently really strange. I'll just take their word for it.
13. Do the Bee A new dance invented by Hüsker Dü! It's called "the Bee!". You buzz around to the guitar noise, fly around like a queen and... pollinate? Somehow. I like the riff of this one. Yes, I'm a sucker for songs in the key of "E". "E" rhymes with "Bee". And "Bee" rhymes with "Be". And "Be" rhymes with "B". And "B" rhymes with "Bee". THE BEE.
14. Big Sky The sky is pretty big. The city is big, to a lesser extent. There are black and white people. And they also remind you to "shove that tape-deck up your ass". I probably wouldn't have known to do that if they didn't tell me in advance.
15. Ultracore An anti-Cold War tune. Very fast. The chorus goes "Ultracore, ultracore, we don't wanna die in your fucking war". Basically expressing the fury and reluctance of what Ronald Reagan almost imposed on his own citizens.
16. Let's Go Die I think it might be about a punk trying to run away from jail who gets caught and is stuck because "Now you've got me, I'm here to stay". It could also be about a punk trying to run away from home. Not sure
17. Data Control The slowest and longest song on the album. It has a good riff. Really interesting lyrics about the government attempting to keep track of all data of every citizen ("a nine-digit number for every living soul"). Exposes the corporate and multinational monolith that becomes more and more prominent in society. This song is more relevant now than it was in 1981. There's a pretty legit noise solo at the end. Ends with Grant Hart telling the crowd, "we'll be back for another set..."
So, that's "Land Speed Record". I don't think they kept that record for long, though. 'Cause, like, Deep Wound n' stuff... anyways, the lyrics here REALLY remind me of something Jello Biafra would write. Maybe not as intriguing as his lyrics, but they definitely share a lot of the same ideas, especially with the final track. However, it sounds a lot different from "Zen Arcade", or another one of their more well-known records. Here, they were just starting out, and they still had a way to go, but there are still some very good songs on this record.
