Review Revue: Hüsker Dü - Warehouse: Songs and Stories

Unbelievably, It's been almost exactly 8 years since I last shared an album by Hüsker Dü in this parts, and at the time I was surprised I hadn't already gotten around to it. That actually means that the amount of time between these two Hüsker Dü posts is longer than the band itself existed, and twice as long as the amount of time between their first album and this, their sixth and final LP (and second double album!). What I'm trying to say is this band created an enormous wealth of material in a relatively short career (before any of them even hit 30), and cast an incredibly long cultural shadow, as readers of this blog/listeners to this station are likely be well aware. And by the time this opus was unleashed upon the world, people who were paying attention knew they were dealing with "an important band".

It's nice to see the (mostly) thoughtful, earnest discussion on this LP cover, as compared with the brief exchange on 1982's Land Speed Record. (I'll just type up the whole thing right here as a bonus: "'... Worse than bad ...' -NY Rocker"; "Static"' "These guys are wimps!"' "Give 'em a chance.")

"WOW. While I would argue that this is vastly superior to their last couple of releases, I would also say that this is their finest effort to date. This sucker slashes away in neverending fashion. It is a 'concept' album in that the song order is obviously quite deliberate. The songwriting is brilliant, as is the execution. Seems like the luxury (sic) [I don't think I've ever seen someone (sic) themselves before; I guess that's their way of calling out their own tongue-in-cheek comment as such?] of a two or three month break has done wonders for them. Hey Faith ... let's get another sleeve, split the set, and put both discs in H separately!!! I know Creed agrees with my evaluation. How about the rest of you? Is this amazing, or what? HHHüsker Dü"

"These guys look kind of old in the back cover picture. Could some of them be over 30?

"Does that matter?" [I have no idea what spirit that question was intended in, but no, in 1987 the oldest of them would have been 28. Still maybe old by '80s punk rock standards?]

"Have you heard Metal Circus, Dave?"

"There's something that strikes me strangely about HüDü. The lyrics seem like a cross between stupid metal and pop kitsch. Hmmmm. Next tme, guys, leave out the lyric sheets."

"I liked 'em a bit 'rawer' (as in Land Speed Record) but this is good."

"I think these guys suck."

"Suck what?"

"This is one of the best LPs ever done. Pointillist rock."

"Visionary!!"