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May 20, 2005
Husker Du - Zen Arcade
Husker Du is a band I grew up with. I'm from Minneapolis, and Husker is part of the trio of bands that defined the 80's in MSP -- Husker Du, Soul Asylum and The Replacements. Some Minneapolitan's were fans of all three, but you'd also find, more often than not, a polarized fan base. You liked one of the three and not the others.
Discounting the 'Mats and Soul Asylum, and focused entirely on Husker there were factions as well. Many fans were either Grant (Hart) Fans or a Bob (Mould) Fan.
Me? Husker, Grant. Well, at least as far as the Husker output is concerned. In post-Husker solo releases I was, for a time, a Grant fan -- Intolerance and even the first Nova Mob output were fantastic. For longevity's sake Bob's output stands the test of time far better.
Ahem.
Anyway.
Zen Arcade. This album is considered by some to be a concept record, and it's epic length -- even with mostly short, fast songs -- at 22 tracks made some feel it's an opus of sorts for the band. Many feel that the band went on to make better, more consistent records in the later, Warner Brother's stage of their career. I'm not really sure where I fall on all of that. I do know, that Zen Arcade is the album I pull out most often.
The record is not stellar from start-to-end. There are many gems - more than the duds - on the record. But there is one sequence in the record that is incomparable to any other punk rock record from that year.
These tracks on side 2: I'll Never Forget You , The Biggest Lie , What's Going On, and Masochism World . These are some of the most emotionally confused, conflicting and tense songs. they are fiery, speedy, and catchy. Probably my favorite four song sequence in the whole of their career.
There's no point in describing the meanings or sounds of the individual for songs to me, because the exist as one. These are songs that I could never play randomly in my ipod, or put on a mixed tape. Their ferocity plays from one to the next. The layers of (albeit one take songs) washes into each other, and builds to a massive climax that is Masochism World .
Trust me. Don't go hunting for 30 second samples -- you need to hear the whole songs, in order.
Posted by tdotjay at May 20, 2005 08:30 PM
