Ranking the Albums: Hüsker Dü // Bob Mould/Grant Hart/Greg Norton

Flip Your Wig has always been my favorite.

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.

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.

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.

Great video, VIVA Husker Du!!

Excellence! Thank you sir this is a band that I am baffled is to why they get so little attention on YouTube. 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

I enjoyed that assessment. Thumbs up!

Thanks for that!

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.

Totally in agreement with your ranking. Flig Your Wig has always been my favorite as well. Nicely done.

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

Big love for that #1 pick. I’ve long considered it my favorite as well.

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!!

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! you seem to know your stuff but you're not snobby at all and you actually gave these records the time/thought they deserve.

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

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.

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 !

Love Bob Mould, Husker du and Grant Hart