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Saturday, August 16, 2008

CStB: Keith Hernandez’ Stream Of Consciousness Takes A Turn For The Mod

Piffle...The Mrs. Walker thread runs Circles around Keith’s mooning.

Midway thru the Mets’ 2-1 win over Pittsburgh last night, SNY’s Gary Cohen and Keith Hernandez had the following exchange, provoked by the Jamie Moyer/Greg Maddux duel that was about to begin in San Diego.

Gary : the Phillies have stayed on the west coast tonight where they have the octogenarian match-up….

Keith : ….quadrogenarian….

Gary : Is that a word?

Keith : Quadrophenia?

Gary : Who?

Keith : Yes.

Repoz Posted: August 16, 2008 at 11:37 PM | 115 comment(s)
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   1. Dedicated to Esoteric but he wasn't listening  Posted: August 16, 2008 at 10:54 PM (#2906087)
Keith gets massive bonus points for any reference to The Single Greatest Rock Album Of All Time Ever.
   2. Phil Coorey Needs To Know How To Kill A Cat  Posted: August 16, 2008 at 10:54 PM (#2906088)
All Mod Cons!
   3. Phil Coorey Needs To Know How To Kill A Cat  Posted: August 16, 2008 at 11:00 PM (#2906092)
Keith gets massive bonus points for any reference to The Single Greatest Rock Album Of All Time Ever.


...let the debate begin.
   4. Dedicated to Esoteric but he wasn't listening  Posted: August 16, 2008 at 11:04 PM (#2906094)
I might point out that All Mod Cons isn't even The Jam's best album...that's Sound Affects. (Though to be fair so many of their best songs were non-album singles that Snap! might well be their best album.)
   5. DCW3   Posted: August 16, 2008 at 11:25 PM (#2906103)
"What's the name of the group onstage?"

"Who."

"The group onstage."

"Who."
   6. Dedicated to Esoteric but he wasn't listening  Posted: August 16, 2008 at 11:26 PM (#2906104)
Gary could have gotten him back by saying "Fragile".
Well-played, but Tormato would have prompted a bigger "WTF?" from Keith.
   7. Repoz  Posted: August 16, 2008 at 11:31 PM (#2906105)
Quick Jam story (well, sorta)

Back in March of 1980, The Jam were playing around town so the main DJ at Maxwells asked to sub for him that night as he was going to take in the show.

As I was playing "Chubby" Reynolds "The Bells of My Heart" some spikey poser demanded I play (ugh) "Brand New Cadillac" by The Clash (did I say ugh)...I told him to produce the Downliners Sect version and I would think about it.

He hit me with a rather large bench.
   8. Posada Posse  Posted: August 16, 2008 at 11:40 PM (#2906110)
That Who thread Repoz linked is a gas. How on earth did I miss that?


What a great thread! I had never seen it either.

Gotta go, my wife is coming after me...
   9. Chase Utley, Shooty's Favorite Robot (Joey Belle)  Posted: August 17, 2008 at 12:07 AM (#2906119)
I might point out that All Mod Cons isn't even The Jam's best album...that's Sound Affects. (Though to be fair so many of their best songs were non-album singles that Snap! might well be their best album.)


Setting Sons is their best album, with the concession the single version of 'Smithers-Jones' replaces the weaker strings version, that's how I have it on my Ipod, and that's how God intended it.

The Jam at the BBC is also fantastic as well.
   10. Voros  Posted: August 17, 2008 at 12:24 AM (#2906121)
I'd pay money to see Bruce Foxton kick Paul Weller in the crotch.

My opinion on the Jam was more or less stated in the last punk blowout so I won't repeat it here.

Back in Chicago I hung out with some folks for whom the Who and the Jam were pretty much religious icons. Quadrophenia used to play on the TVs at the bars we hung out in.
   11. Dedicated to Esoteric but he wasn't listening  Posted: August 17, 2008 at 01:07 AM (#2906130)
Setting Sons is their best album, with the concession the single version of 'Smithers-Jones' replaces the weaker strings version, that's how I have it on my Ipod, and that's how God intended it.

The Jam at the BBC is also fantastic as well.
I'll admit that I often mentally degrade Setting Sons because it ends on such a "WTF??" note with the cover of "Heat Wave." But you know, you're right: "Thick As Thieves," "Eton Rifles," "Smithers-Jones," "Burning Sky," and (personal fav, here) "Saturday's Kids" are all top-flight Jam material.

However, those non-album singles surrounding it? Man, THAT core Jam: "Strange Town" is probably my favorite Jam song ever. ("Man In The Corner Shop" and the tres obscure ALTERNATE demo of "That's Entertainment" from the boxed set fill out the Top Three.) "When You're Young" is nearly as good. The "rock" version of "Smithers-Jones," too.

I don't own The Jam's BBC disc which, given how much I'm revisiting their complete discography lately, is probably an egregious omission. But I just assumed that since it's mostly live-in-studio versions of songs already available in their regular discography it wasn't much of a revelation. (The truly obligatory BBC sessions are from bands like The Fall or Pavement that regularly featured unreleased/rare songs or radically different early takes.) Am I missing something?
   12. Dedicated to Esoteric but he wasn't listening  Posted: August 17, 2008 at 01:13 AM (#2906132)
As I was playing "Chubby" Reynolds "The Bells of My Heart" some spikey poser demanded I play (ugh) "Brand New Cadillac" by The Clash (did I say ugh)...I told him to produce the Downliners Sect version and I would think about it.
You see my friend, I don't get this. I'm as much of a hipster schmuck when it comes to music as anyone I know (sadly Repoz never likes to drop references to my prog/art-rock lodestones), and I've heard pretty much every version of "Brand New Cadillac" out there. I don't think The Clash's take from London Calling is a highlight of the album, but it's a powerful enough performance, totally undeserving of snarky "ughs."

The Clash may be quasi-frontriders for people who claim to like punk music (only their first album was really punk and even then it's not the greatest punk album...that title belongs, of course, to Wire's Pink Flag), but they're still a great band despite the hype.

Then again, I prefer early '80s hardcore (gimme Husker Du's Land Speed Record and the first half of Zen Arcade anyday) to late '70s British punk, so maybe I'm a poseur myself.
   13. Dedicated to Esoteric but he wasn't listening  Posted: August 17, 2008 at 01:17 AM (#2906133)
While I'm blue-skying here, I might point out that BTF hasn't seen nearly enough discussion of the great post-punk pioneer Magazine. I'm devoted to Devoto myself. All y'all fools need to get your hands on a copy of the songs "Definitive Gaze," "The Light Pours Out Of Me," and "Because You're Frightened."
   14. faustino (no longer the philistine)  Posted: August 17, 2008 at 06:49 AM (#2906146)
I'd pay money to see Bruce Foxton kick Paul Weller in the crotch.

I went to see Foxton's (and Buckler's) band called From The Jam or Not The Real Jam or something like. It was those two with a guitarist and a singer to replace Weller. I can't remember why now but Foxton started getting a bit precious and complained at the audience for some reason. They only played for about an hour and a bit. So much for the joy of being back on stage.

At the end of the gig, Foxton threw out his plectrum into the audience and my friend caught it. I wanted to get it off her so I could throw it back at him.
   15. El Hombre Triple MVP (Alex)  Posted: August 17, 2008 at 06:54 AM (#2906147)
Keith gets massive bonus points for any reference to The Single Greatest Rock Album Of All Time Ever.


I didn't see any mention of Marquee Moon.
   16. Craig Calcaterra  Posted: August 17, 2008 at 07:01 AM (#2906148)
Keith gets massive bonus points for any reference to The Single Greatest Rock Album Of All Time Ever.


I didn't see any mention of E Pluribus Funk.
   17. asinwreck  Posted: August 17, 2008 at 07:45 AM (#2906154)
Keith gets massive bonus points for any reference to The Single Greatest Rock Album Of All Time Ever.


Can we count Meaty, Beaty, Big & Bouncy even if it wasn't recorded as an album? I'd pick that one from The 'Oo.

All y'all fools need to get your hands on a copy of the songs "Definitive Gaze," "The Light Pours Out Of Me," and "Because You're Frightened."


Rays & Hail is an excellent single-disc summary of Magazine's career, with all those songs included as well as the 7" version of "Shot By Both Sides." If I had to recommend just one Magazine record, though, I'd go with The Correct Use of Soap, the finest album Martin Hannett ever recorded.


I didn't see any mention of Marquee Moon.


The Baseball Project's Steve Wynn agrees with you:

3. The greatest album, ever?
Oh, this question. I might have a different answer any given day of any given week but usually it comes right down to Marquee Moon—that’s the instruction manual on how to be in a two guitar-bass-drums combo.
   18. gef the talking mongoose  Posted: August 17, 2008 at 08:44 AM (#2906162)
For some reason, I've always much preferred Adventure to Marquee Moon. Maybe because I owned Adventure for more than a year before I finally found its predecessor, or maybe because I have enough of a pop sweet tooth to like "Careless" & "Ain't That Nothin'" (to name the first two tracks that happen to come to mind) much more than the more ... I dunno ... abstract approach I've always associated with Marquee.

Maybe it's just that, to quote The Ruts, I ain't sofisticated.
   19. gef the talking mongoose  Posted: August 17, 2008 at 08:50 AM (#2906164)
even then it's not the greatest punk album...that title belongs, of course, to Wire's Pink Flag),


That makes two of us, at least.

Then again, I prefer early '80s hardcore (gimme Husker Du's Land Speed Record and the first half of Zen Arcade anyday) to late '70s British punk, so maybe I'm a poseur myself.


I pretty much burnt out on hardcore by '84 or so, with a handful of exceptions (assuming that the Proletariat, Naked Raygun & False Prophets could be classified as HC, which I'm not sure would be the case). So it goes.
   20. jwb  Posted: August 17, 2008 at 09:46 AM (#2906181)
I might have a different answer any given day of any given week but usually it comes right down to Marquee Moon—that’s the instruction manual on how to be in a two guitar-bass-drums combo.
A buddy of mine, a guitar player, called Marquee Moon the post-punk guitar primer. This was well before BP. Nice to hear from another DeVototee.
   21. Chase Utley, Shooty's Favorite Robot (Joey Belle)  Posted: August 17, 2008 at 12:02 PM (#2906220)
I don't own The Jam's BBC disc which, given how much I'm revisiting their complete discography lately, is probably an egregious omission. But I just assumed that since it's mostly live-in-studio versions of songs already available in their regular discography it wasn't much of a revelation.


The reason to get the album is the live disc that comes with it. The Jam circa-1979 right before Going Undergound came out. It's fantastic stuff. The version of Smithers-Jones is incredible.

I think Pink Flag might be my favorite rock album. 37 minutes of perfection.

Glad to see both Marquee Moon and Zen Arcade namechecked. Adventure is pretty underrated, The Blow-Up is a glorious live album. The version of Little Johnny Jewel on that disc is transcendent. The reunion album from 1992 is quite underrated to.

As for Husker Du, I have a tough time choosing between Zen Arcade and Flip Your Wig. Zen is just awesome in scope, while Flip Your Wig is probably their tightest album.

The Minutemen belong somewhere in this conversation too.
   22. Repoz  Posted: August 17, 2008 at 12:31 PM (#2906232)
"I Am The Fly"
   23. gef the talking mongoose  Posted: August 17, 2008 at 12:42 PM (#2906248)
That's the Wire song that makes Voros' head explode (in a bad way), isn't it? How odd.

Speaking of whom (Wire, not Voros), Amazon finally came through with their new album, Object 47, late last week & it's pretty good. Seems like they've largely returned to the poppier landscapes of the Ideal Copy/Bell is a Cup era. Whether that has anything to do with erstwhile lead guitarist Bruce Gilbert's absence, I have no idea.
   24. PreservedFish  Posted: August 17, 2008 at 12:44 PM (#2906250)
The Single Greatest Rock Album Of All Time Ever.

Huh. Quadrophenia? Tough for me to give that title to an album that is variously called a "rock opera" or "concept album."
   25. gef the talking mongoose  Posted: August 17, 2008 at 12:54 PM (#2906271)
Quadrophenia? Tough for me to give that title to an album that is variously called a "rock opera" or "concept album."


Indeed. I think I listened to it maybe twice before I sold it to visiting Mormon missionaries when I was a sophomore in college. Or maybe that was Tommy. In any event, neither of them has taken up space in my (pathetically large) record collection for well over a quarter-century.
   26. aleskel  Posted: August 17, 2008 at 01:50 PM (#2906378)
Tough for me to give that title to an album that is variously called a "rock opera" or "concept album."

to be fair, if you didn't know before, you could probably listen to Quadrophenia on its own and not notice that it's a "concept" album - the songs hold up well on their own, the plot between them is sort of window dressing
   27. vortex of dissipation  Posted: August 17, 2008 at 01:59 PM (#2906388)
Tough for me to give that title to an album that is variously called a "rock opera" or "concept album."


Zen Arcade has been mentioned twice in this thread...
   28. PreservedFish  Posted: August 17, 2008 at 02:04 PM (#2906391)
#28 - I do know. I own the album, and I like it, but it's something I pull out to listen maybe once every two years. It wouldn't make my top 50 list.

It might not be the most concepty of concept albums but there are a number of pretentious touches ... 2 minutes of ocean noises, the themes echoed in multiple songs, the actual rain noises in "Love reign (get it?!) o'er me." Crappy early-synthesizers.

Anyway, that is being critical. I do like the album.
   29. aleskel  Posted: August 17, 2008 at 02:08 PM (#2906399)
It might not be the most concepty of concept albums but there are a number of pretentious touches ... 2 minutes of ocean noises, the themes echoed in multiple songs, the actual rain noises in "Love reign (get it?!) o'er me." Crappy early-synthesizers.

I agree - "Reign O'er Me" in particular is a lame song, and when Townshend had his head up his arse you can always hear it. But damn if there aren't some kickass songs.
   30. Gaelan  Posted: August 17, 2008 at 02:09 PM (#2906402)
Husker Du is the only band that I have ever truly loved.
   31. PreservedFish  Posted: August 17, 2008 at 02:17 PM (#2906415)
As I was playing "Chubby" Reynolds "The Bells of My Heart"


If you google "Chubby Reynolds" this thread is #3
   32. Repoz  Posted: August 17, 2008 at 02:27 PM (#2906424)
If you google "Chubby Reynolds" this thread is #3

Shows you the power and depth of Chubby Reynolds...or something else.
   33. Shiny Beast  Posted: August 17, 2008 at 03:01 PM (#2906477)
The Single Greatest Rock Album Of All Time Ever.

"Well, we all need someone we can leeean on. . . "
   34. Dedicated to Esoteric but he wasn't listening  Posted: August 17, 2008 at 03:27 PM (#2906532)
"Well, we all need someone we can leeean on. . . "
Good album. Great album, really. But not the greatest album ever, and not even their greatest album. (The answer to that question begins with "women think I'm lazy but they're always trying to waste me.")
   35. Chase Utley, Shooty's Favorite Robot (Joey Belle)  Posted: August 17, 2008 at 03:39 PM (#2906556)
"Well, we all need someone we can leeean on. . . "


I'm pretty sure Club Nouveau doesn't belong in this discussion.
   36. aleskel  Posted: August 17, 2008 at 04:01 PM (#2906566)
"Well, we all need someone we can leeean on. . . "

to this date that's the only song I've ever sung in karaoke. The look of vague horror throughout the place when I belted out "if you want in, well you can bleed on me ... ALL OVAH" made it all worthwhile.
   37. asinwreck  Posted: August 17, 2008 at 04:11 PM (#2906570)
As for Husker Du, I have a tough time choosing between Zen Arcade and Flip Your Wig. Zen is just awesome in scope, while Flip Your Wig is probably their tightest album.


It's funny, I think their tightest album is Warehouse. Even though it's a double, there's no instrumentals, only a couple of songs feel like throwaways, and it places it sounds like a greatest-hits compilation. What a way to go out; I still remember how mad I was when I heard the band broke up the next winter.

Wire's tightest album is Pink Flag. Not a second wasted, and "Fragile" is a perfect song.

"Well, we all need someone we can leeean on. . . "

I'm pretty sure Club Nouveau doesn't belong in this discussion.


But Still Bill does. An Australian label paired that on CD with Just As I Am a few years ago, making me very happy.
   38. SoSHially Unacceptable  Posted: August 17, 2008 at 05:37 PM (#2906592)
It's funny, I think their tightest album is Warehouse. Even though it's a double, there's no instrumentals, only a couple of songs feel like throwaways, and it places it sounds like a greatest-hits compilation. What a way to go out; I still remember how mad I was when I heard the band broke up the next winter.


I love Warehouse. That was my introduction to the band, and I worked backward from there. If it's not the album I've listened to the most in my life, it's a close second to Rum, Sodomy & The Lash.
   39. vortex of dissipation  Posted: August 17, 2008 at 05:46 PM (#2906596)
I think you could say that any of Husker Du's five albums from Zen Arcade to Warehouse could be reasonably counted among the best albums of all time. I'm partial to New Day Rising, myself.

That's as impressive a string of albums as any band has ever made, right up there with The Beatles from Rubber Soul onwards, or the Stones from Beggar's Banquet through Exile (or The Go-Betweens from Before Hollywood to 16 Lovers Lane).
   40. Lassus  Posted: August 17, 2008 at 06:10 PM (#2906599)
It's funny, I think their tightest album is Warehouse. Even though it's a double, there's no instrumentals, only a couple of songs feel like throwaways, and it places it sounds like a greatest-hits compilation. What a way to go out; I still remember how mad I was when I heard the band broke up the next winter.

I think I may have cried. In my historical scale of bad, the breakup of Husker Du makes the baseball strike seem like a pretty girl stepping on my foot.
   41. Chase Utley, Shooty's Favorite Robot (Joey Belle)  Posted: August 17, 2008 at 06:11 PM (#2906600)
I think you could say that any of Husker Du's five albums from Zen Arcade to Warehouse could be reasonably counted among the best albums of all time. I'm partial to New Day Rising, myself.

That's as impressive a string of albums as any band has ever made, right up there with The Beatles from Rubber Soul onwards, or the Stones from Beggar's Banquet through Exile (or The Go-Betweens from Before Hollywood to 16 Lovers Lane).


My favorite string is probably R.E.M. from Chronic Town to Document. One album a year for 6 years, and every single one is fantastic, all while touring pretty much steadily.

And for whatever reason Warehouse has never captured my imagination like the rest of Husker's work.
   42. tfbg9  Posted: August 17, 2008 at 07:30 PM (#2906628)
The answer to that question begins with "women think I'm lazy but they're always trying to waste me."


You got the lyrics wrong--they go:

Women think I'm tasty, but they're always tryin' to waste me
And make me burn the candle right down,
But baby, baby, I don't need no jewels in my crown.

But that's not the first song of the record, as your post implies. The albumn opens with:

I hear you talking when Im on the street,
Your mouth dont move but I can hear you speak.
   43. tfbg9  Posted: August 17, 2008 at 07:37 PM (#2906630)
BTW, the Who are quite clearly the absolute worst band in history. They have like 4 good songs and
700 bad ones. And Who Are You is the worst song ever, period. It jumps all over the place, and each place it
jumps to is more painfully bad than the previous one...listen to it some time. Its incredibly awful.
   44. The District Attorney  Posted: August 17, 2008 at 07:47 PM (#2906631)
the Who are quite clearly the absolute worst band in history.
Let's not say things we can't take back!

I mean, they're not worse than Boston.
   45. yo la tengo  Posted: August 17, 2008 at 08:35 PM (#2906642)
I am surprised that none of the Husker love is going to New Day Rising. That one is my favorite of theirs by a good distance. Are the Replacements punk enough to be considered in the punk rock album discussion?
   46. winnipegwhip  Posted: August 17, 2008 at 08:55 PM (#2906650)
I always thought that "The Punk and the Godfather" would be a great song to go to bat with, especially with that opening guitar.

The attitude in the song between rock star and fan could also cross over to baseball as well.
   47. winnipegwhip  Posted: August 17, 2008 at 08:58 PM (#2906652)
Is #45 (tfbg9)really Doug Sandom?
   48. Lassus  Posted: August 17, 2008 at 09:28 PM (#2906664)
47: Yes.
   49. asinwreck  Posted: August 17, 2008 at 09:29 PM (#2906665)
I am surprised that none of the Husker love is going to New Day Rising.

I'm on board with 41. Pretty much every note Husker Du released between 1983 and 1987 gets love from me, and "Eight Miles High" is my single favorite audio recording, period. (An mp3 of John Rooney and Ed Farmer calling game four of the 2005 World Series is #2.)


New Day Rising
is the best horribly recorded album I've ever heard. NASTY sounding, but so powerful and full of hooks.

I like that a thread about the Who morphed into a discussion of Husker Du.
   50. gef the talking mongoose  Posted: August 17, 2008 at 09:32 PM (#2906666)
Probably my fave album that Townshend had any involvement in is Rough Mix, which he & Ronnie Lane did about 30 years ago.

A large part of my lack of enthusiasm for much of The Who's stuff is Daltrey's vocals, I guess. I'm not a fan, at least as of most anything he sang on post-'67 or so.
   51. gef the talking mongoose  Posted: August 17, 2008 at 09:35 PM (#2906670)
like that a thread about the Who morphed into a discussion of Husker Du.


Actually, it became a thread about The Jam right off the bat ...
   52. ghost of perros  Posted: August 17, 2008 at 09:42 PM (#2906672)
Everybody throw out their plectrum and let's see who's is bigger.

Lassus -- bet Bob Mould or Grant Hart would be willing to comfort you over their breakup.
   53. Lassus  Posted: August 17, 2008 at 09:47 PM (#2906675)
Ha! Good point. When you look back on Grant Hart's vocals, it's difficult to believe we never figured that out.
   54. ghost of perros  Posted: August 17, 2008 at 09:51 PM (#2906677)
Great little Grant Hart story, which raises an interesting question -- how far would you let one of your rock'n'roll heroes get? First base? Third base?

What's second base with another guy?
   55. gef the talking mongoose  Posted: August 17, 2008 at 09:55 PM (#2906679)
Buck, I just noticed -- why are you no longer Stately & Plump? Dieting?
   56. Voros  Posted: August 17, 2008 at 10:12 PM (#2906682)
I am the Fly

Trying to provoke me, Repoz? :)

Pure torture.
   57. Lassus  Posted: August 17, 2008 at 10:13 PM (#2906683)
how far would you let one of your rock'n'roll heroes get?

I'd let either of the Deal sisters, Alannah Currie, Liz Phair, Sugarcubes-era Bjork, Kira, and Janis Tanaka (to name a few off the top of my head) get as far as they damn like.
   58. Voros  Posted: August 17, 2008 at 10:21 PM (#2906687)
how far would you let one of your rock'n'roll heroes get?

I'd have given Ian Curtis a hug if it would have helped.
   59. ghost of perros  Posted: August 17, 2008 at 10:27 PM (#2906692)
I'd let PJ Harvey rape me, but that really wasn't the question.

The subtext of most rock threads is #### worship.

Bob Mould could probably get pretty far if he got me drunk. But since he's forsworn alcohol...

Pete Townshend's another story.
   60. Lassus  Posted: August 17, 2008 at 10:36 PM (#2906695)
Nice 1-2 punch of Primey posts, Voros. ;-)

You have to think that Harvey would be in the sex HOM in the "IBNTBM (insane but not to be missed)" metric.
   61. SoSHially Unacceptable  Posted: August 17, 2008 at 10:38 PM (#2906696)
Buck, I just noticed -- why are you no longer Stately & Plump? Dieting?


I don't think they're the same posters. If I'm not mistaken, Buck here had been Loose Nuts until yesterday.
   62. ghost of perros  Posted: August 17, 2008 at 10:51 PM (#2906698)
Should have known that one was already taken, but I was inspired by yesterday's literary discussion.

Paint it black.
   63. JC in DC  Posted: August 17, 2008 at 10:54 PM (#2906700)
Love Rum, Sodomy, and the Lash, love Husker Du, the Jam, et al. Esoteric: Stick with Sound Affects, I think that's their best, too.

I love Wire, and as much as I love Pink Flag, I think I prefer The Ideal Copy, with the Snakedrill EP. Those songs are all over the place. "A Serious of Snakes" is incredible.
   64. Crispix Attacks is in the best shape of his life.  Posted: August 17, 2008 at 11:38 PM (#2906711)
I'd have given Ian Curtis a hug if it would have helped.

That would have made him even more tortured and confused. What he needed was a divorce.
   65. Styles P. Deadball  Posted: August 18, 2008 at 12:21 AM (#2906721)
Paint it black.


You Devils!
   66. vortex of dissipation  Posted: August 18, 2008 at 03:16 AM (#2906734)
Ha! Good point. When you look back on Grant Hart's vocals, it's difficult to believe we never figured that out.


Bob was easy - the non-gender-specific love songs gave it away. But Grant wrote songs about girls, so it never occurred to me at the time...
   67. yo la tengo  Posted: August 18, 2008 at 05:33 AM (#2906744)
JC - I have a hard time imagining anybody's favorite Wire album not being one of the first three. Do I need to revisit later ones? Despite all the love I have for the Huskers, I cannot find any for their post-career other than Grant's amazing 2541 single. I enjoy some Sugar, but can't bring myself to love any of Mould's post-Husker work.
   68. gef the talking mongoose  Posted: August 18, 2008 at 06:53 AM (#2906753)
Grant's amazing 2541 single.


Robert Forster's cover version is even better, fwiw.
   69. gef the talking mongoose  Posted: August 18, 2008 at 06:56 AM (#2906754)
And while I'm at it -- another vote here for Setting Sons. I've almost certainly listened to it as much as all The Jam's other LP combined.
   70. Lassus  Posted: August 18, 2008 at 07:24 AM (#2906763)
I enjoy some Sugar, but can't bring myself to love any of Mould's post-Husker work.

I agree with this for the most part. I thought more of Sugar than just "enjoy" and I know that there is some Mould solo work that's been good here and there that I can't really remember, but overall - like almost every other music act in the history of history - he hit a definite decline phase.
   71. yo la tengo  Posted: August 18, 2008 at 08:55 AM (#2906839)
I have not heard Forster's version of 2541 but I wonder about how personal that song is and how it would translate. Where would I find it?
   72. Van Lingle Mungo Jerry  Posted: August 18, 2008 at 09:01 AM (#2906846)
I enjoy some Sugar, but can't bring myself to love any of Mould's post-Husker work.


C'mon, you may feel loyalty to Husker Du, but Workbook is a great album.
   73. yo la tengo  Posted: August 18, 2008 at 09:16 AM (#2906861)
Workbook is way too draggy for my taste in Mould. I want to hear him roar, not wallow.
   74. Van Lingle Mungo Jerry  Posted: August 18, 2008 at 09:22 AM (#2906867)
Black Sheets of Rain, then.
   75. JC in DC  Posted: August 18, 2008 at 09:58 AM (#2906918)
JC - I have a hard time imagining anybody's favorite Wire album not being one of the first three. Do I need to revisit later ones? Despite all the love I have for the Huskers, I cannot find any for their post-career other than Grant's amazing 2541 single. I enjoy some Sugar, but can't bring myself to love any of Mould's post-Husker work.


I love Wire, and I love their early work, but The Ideal Copy is excellent, and conjures more nostalgia for me.

I really dislike Mould's post-Du work and think Hart's is much better. Intolerance is an excellent album, and I like Nova Mob's 1st. I don't recall Hart writing a lot of songs about girls; he wrote some for certain ("Girl Who Lives on Heaven Hill"), but some (eg "Green Eyes" - now that conjures a [gender very specific] memory for me!) are gender unspecific, IIRC.
   76. BourbonSamurai  Posted: August 18, 2008 at 11:10 AM (#2907012)
Are we still on best rock album ever? The Band's Rock of Ages. Thanks.
   77. vortex of dissipation  Posted: August 18, 2008 at 02:39 PM (#2907347)
I have not heard Forster's version of 2541 but I wonder about how personal that song is and how it would translate. Where would I find it?


It's on his covers album, I Had a New York Girlfriend.
   78. vortex of dissipation  Posted: August 18, 2008 at 02:47 PM (#2907358)
I really dislike Mould's post-Du work and think Hart's is much better. Intolerance is an excellent album, and I like Nova Mob's 1st. I don't recall Hart writing a lot of songs about girls; he wrote some for certain ("Girl Who Lives on Heaven Hill"), but some (eg "Green Eyes" - now that conjures a [gender very specific] memory for me!) are gender unspecific, IIRC.


Maybe not a lot, per se, but enough so that questions about his sexual orientation never occurred to me. As I noted above, my favorite Husker Du album is New Day Rising, and my two favorite Hart songs on that one, "The Girl Who Lives on Heaven Hill", and "Books About UFOs", are both portraits of women.

I actually like a lot of Mould's post-Husker work, although I agree it's a step down. I don't care much for Beaster, but the two full Sugar albums are excellent, and there are enough gems scattered in the solo albums to make them worthwhile. And I love his two Richard Thompson covers, "Turning of the Tide" and "Shoot Out the Lights".
   79. vortex of dissipation  Posted: August 18, 2008 at 02:50 PM (#2907366)
JC - I have a hard time imagining anybody's favorite Wire album not being one of the first three.


Yes, but that doesn't hold true for songs. "Kidney Bingos" is my favorite Wire song, no matter how different it sounds from the rest of their work. It's an absolutely perfect pop song, and it seemed to come out of nowhere.
   80. Repoz  Posted: August 18, 2008 at 02:57 PM (#2907386)
Maybe not a lot, per se, but enough so that questions about his sexual orientation never occurred to me. As I noted above, my favorite Husker Du album is New Day Rising, and my two favorite Hart songs on that one, "The Girl Who Lives on Heaven Hill", and "Books About UFOs", are both portraits of women.

Hu-Du were a weird lot (wrestled with hardcore/wrestled with drugs/wrestled with Zines/wrestled with sexuality/wrestled with pop/wrestled with drinking/wrestled with Kent Hrbek's value/wrestled with wrestling)...I remember once during a tandumb interview with Mould, we asked him if he was a Democrat or a Republican and he answered "Well, we live in a Rupublic."
   81. villageidiom  Posted: August 18, 2008 at 03:03 PM (#2907400)
Well, we live in a Rupublic.
I'm pretty sure that's where RuPaul came from.
   82. Repoz  Posted: August 18, 2008 at 03:14 PM (#2907419)
Well, we live in a Rupublic.

I'm pretty sure that's where RuPaul came from.


/Repoz wrestled with spelling/
   83. asinwreck  Posted: August 18, 2008 at 07:13 PM (#2907692)

I love Wire, and I love their early work, but The Ideal Copy is excellent, and conjures more nostalgia for me.


Every time Wire's come back from time off, they've put out a strong record. Snakedrill and Read and Burn 01 are both amongst their best work, and so far Read and Burn 03 and the new album are sounding pretty good to me.

Worst Wire album? Manscape. It's the only one I don't like.
   84. Dedicated to Esoteric but he wasn't listening  Posted: August 18, 2008 at 07:24 PM (#2907703)
Husker Du's great failing is that they never put out an album as consistent as Zen Arcade. I think they REALLY lost the plot after departing for a major label, but New Day Rising and Flip Your Wing are positively crammed with worthless guff in between the immortal cuts ("New Day Rising," "Celebrated Summer," "Heaven Hill," "I Apologize," "Green Eyes," "Games"). Even Zen Arcade can get too overpoweringly monochromatic in its first half. ("What's Going On" should have been the last "hardcore" song on the album...continuing onward with "Masochism World" is overegging the stew way too far, and "The Biggest Lie" should've been dropped as well.)

But sides 1, 3, and 4 of Zen Arcade are flawless genius. How many bands could put out a 12 minute JAZZ-HARDCORE FUSION INSTRUMENTAL and make it interesting for every second of its running time? So far I can think of only one. And for the record, the best song on Zen Arcade is either "Chartered Trips" (with the greatest riff Bob Mould ever wrote) or "Newest Industry." Though "Eight Miles High" should have been included...it's nearly as good.
   85. Dedicated to Esoteric but he wasn't listening  Posted: August 18, 2008 at 07:28 PM (#2907707)
Also, I might point out that Husker Du's golden run doesn't begin with Zen Arcade. It starts with the Metal Circus EP: "Real Word," "It's Not Funny Anymore," "Diane," etc.
   86. vortex of dissipation  Posted: August 18, 2008 at 08:00 PM (#2907742)
I think they REALLY lost the plot after departing for a major label


I don't think that any band who could put out songs such as "Hardly Getting Over It", "Sorry Somehow", "Could You Be the One", and "No Reservations" were anywhere close to losing the plot.
   87. JC in DC  Posted: August 18, 2008 at 09:05 PM (#2907868)
I'll split the middle on this "argument." I think ZA set the bar so high that it was virtually impossible to meet. The stuff that comes later (and why doesn't anyone mention Candy Apple Grey?) is still pretty feckin' excellent, especially by comparison to what other groups produced.

On another note, regarding their sexuality, it's interesting that vortex found Hart's sexuality more puzzling, when it was the total opposite publicly, IIRC. When the Du played at UVa (during their last tour), Hart had his beau with him. Mould, if memory serves, was much more private - and maybe conflicted - about his sexuality.
   88. SouthSideRyan  Posted: August 18, 2008 at 09:07 PM (#2907870)
Thanks for #6 DCW, still cracks me up. I was kinda hoping this turned into an Animaniacs thread.
   89. SoSHially Unacceptable  Posted: August 18, 2008 at 09:15 PM (#2907882)
On another note, regarding their sexuality, it's interesting that vortex found Hart's sexuality more puzzling, when it was the total opposite publicly, IIRC. When the Du played at UVa (during their last tour), Hart had his beau with him. Mould, if memory serves, was much more private - and maybe conflicted - about his sexuality.


That's true. I read an interview where Hart said that exact thing. He was openly gay for quite some time, while Bob had a lot more difficulty coming out.
   90. Lassus  Posted: August 18, 2008 at 09:21 PM (#2907888)
Just thinking of "Celebrated Summer" and "It's Not Funny Anymore" gives me the incredible chills of the memory of youth.
   91. yo la tengo  Posted: August 18, 2008 at 09:31 PM (#2907894)
I had a friend who was angry with me for months because the first Husker song I played for him was Never Talking to You Again. He loved it and borrowed Zen Arcade. Put it on with his headphones expecting more of Never Talking to You Again and instead got blasted immediately. Took him awhile to recover.

Would I be crazy to suggest that the Replacements are the better band?
   92. JC in DC  Posted: August 18, 2008 at 09:32 PM (#2907897)
Would I be crazy to suggest that the Replacements are the better band?


Yes. They're not. The Replacements are good, but not HD level.
   93. Dedicated to Esoteric but he wasn't listening  Posted: August 18, 2008 at 09:41 PM (#2907907)
Would I be crazy to suggest that the Replacements are the better band?
You wouldn't be crazy, but you'd be provably wrong. The 'Mats had several great songs (they'd fill out a 2-disc greatest hits well) but no consistent albums. Their best run, from Let It Be to Pleased To Meet Me, still suffers from sloppiness and a lack of care. You have classic rock songs ("Bastards Of Young," "Alex Chilton," "I Will Dare," "Can't Hardly Wait") interspersed with junky wastes of time like "Waitress In The Sky," etc. And the Replacements albums after Pleased To Meet Me are downright abominable trash. Little better than Paul Westerberg solo albums - CRAPPY solo albums at that. The 'Mats had neither the sheer quantity or strict quality of Husker Du.

I've always been sorta fond of Hootenanny though.

EDIT: FWIW, I'm listening to Warehouse right now. It's better than I remembered it being.
   94. JC in DC  Posted: August 18, 2008 at 09:46 PM (#2907913)
FWIW, I'm listening to Warehouse right now. It's better than I remembered it being.


I find Grant's stuff significantly stronger on that album. "Turn it Around?" Blow it out your arse, Bob. I mean, WTF is that shite?
   95. Lassus  Posted: August 18, 2008 at 09:49 PM (#2907918)
Yes. They're not. The Replacements are good, but not HD level.

They were a different thing entirely, and in my mind not susceptible to a "better" or "worse" designation. They weren't really comparable. This is kind of how I feel about the Rock and Roll Hall of Stupidity.

As long as we're sticking in Minnesota, there's a great song from Trip Shakespeare's "Lulu" that has a great wordplay about how incredible Husker Du was for us kids at the time.

Lonely when I hear the band
That use to play when we were looking for music
Lonely when I hear the band
Do you remember, do you recall?
Remember when you held my hand, you used to say, I love them so much
Lonely when I hear the band
Do you remember, do you recall?



(I admit bias, Trip Shakespeare is one of my favorite bands of all time.)
   96. Dedicated to Esoteric but he wasn't listening  Posted: August 18, 2008 at 09:49 PM (#2907920)
I find Grant's stuff significantly stronger on that album. "Turn it Around?" Blow it out your arse, Bob. I mean, WTF is that shite?
That's exactly what comes to my mind when I usually think of the WB era of the Huskers.

"Real World" is a badass song, by the way. Their first truly mature work. (Maybe their second - "Everything Falls Apart" is probably the first.)
   97. Dedicated to Esoteric but he wasn't listening  Posted: August 18, 2008 at 09:51 PM (#2907922)
Do you remember, do you recall?
I would love to get my hands on a copy of the board game they apparently named themselves after.
   98. Dedicated to Esoteric but he wasn't listening  Posted: August 18, 2008 at 09:56 PM (#2907928)
"Real World" is a badass song, by the way. Their first truly mature work. (Maybe their second - "Everything Falls Apart" is probably the first.)
Having now put on the Everything Falls Apart album, I revise my view. "From The Gut" is the correct answer.
   99. JC in DC  Posted: August 18, 2008 at 09:56 PM (#2907929)
They were a different thing entirely, and in my mind not susceptible to a "better" or "worse" designation. They weren't really comparable.


I don't know. OTOH, I agree this is highly subjective and I understand anyone's preference of the Mats over the Du; they're not for everyone. OTOH, in terms of influence, in terms of mind-blowing, genre busting music, in terms of consistency and craft I think HD blows the Mats out of the water. The Mats were fun as hell and wrote some great music. But they were just another fun band. Husker Du was something else entirely. They were what much of the press thought Nirvana was, but few of them were paying attention (Cobain was, of course, as was Frank Black).
   100. Dedicated to Esoteric but he wasn't listening  Posted: August 18, 2008 at 09:57 PM (#2907932)
(Cobain was, of course, as was Frank Black)
How strange, then, that I've never been able to get into The Pixies and don't much care for Nirvana. I fully understand what Nirvana is about - I'm just not as impressed as I apparently should be - but I have this nagging feeling that I'm missing the point w/r/t The Pixies.
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