This is a watershed mark in the history of guitar-based music. Hüsker Dü was a hardcore punk band from California in the USA who wanted to branch out and deliver something more artistic and long-term than just a thrashy, overdriven sound. After brainstorming and creating ideas, the trio of Grant Hart (drums and percussion, piano, vocals), Bob Mould (vocals, guitars and piano) and Greg Norton (bass guitar and backing vocals) came up with a fantastic idea on paper. That idea was to make a double-disc concept album that would completely go against the grain of what traditional Punk Music was about. The concept was about a teenage runaway who found that the real world outside of the home was much worse than expected. The album itself was produced by Hüsker Dü and Spot at Total Access Recording in Redondo Beach, California. The album itself was released on July 3, 1984, and inspired label friends the Minutemen to release their own double disc album, Double Nickels on the Dime shortly thereafter. Let’s listen to this album, and we shall hear what it is like.

Something I Learned Today begins with choppy drum rolls, melodic bass guitar playing and overdriven electric guitars. It sounds moody and melancholy throughout. Instantly, this is very brutal, shouty and above all, good to listen to. For those of you who have had a troubled childhood, this will be very close to the bone for you. Nonetheless, this does sound really energetic and powerful throughout. The backing vocals are also very sweet. A good start to this album, it ends with some clean guitar riffs.

Broken Home, Broken Heart begins with more powerful drumming, awesome guitars, and more shouty and aggressive vocals. This is exactly what those teenage rebels of the early to mid-1980s may want to hear. It is Hardcore Punk but it also has a good and interesting musical flair to it all. A really upbeat and different listen, although the lyrical matter is deep. A good guitar solo is present on this tune, and it sounds really awesome. Again, it’s short at two minutes long, but it does the trick. Worth hearing. It ends with sustained and feedback-laden guitars.

Never Talking To You Again begins with an uptempo acoustic guitar and some rather pure and sweet vocals being sung here. This is a moody, melancholy piece of music that gives some variety and excellence to this album. This is a song about ending a relationship with another person who isn’t worth one’s time. This is a nice and enjoyable jam throughout which is really great. A very awesome listen throughout, this music is timeless. A great tune.

Chartered Trips begins with overdriven and fuzz-styled guitar, fast drums and gurgling basslines. This launches into a more subdued than usual Hardcore Punk song. This continues the conceptual story of the album, as our teenage runaway makes his way through the world. Nonetheless, this is a good listen, although the shouty style of music will not appeal to all. Regardless, the concept and music at hand is sweet and good. In any case, an excellent listen for what this is. The vocals are drowned out somewhat in the second half, and the screaming is a bit much to bear. A little more singing and a lot less screaming may have benefitted this music. In any case, a good if flawed listen. One can tell instantly where Green Day got their ideas for their 2004 release American Idiot. It gets very full on towards the end, before fading out nicely.

Dreams Reoccurring begins with some warped tape sounds and backwards loops, including backwards guitars. Very, very weird to listen to. This music is very unusual and warped sounding. It is part of the overall concept here and sounds really weird and unusual. This is a bit of a Psychedelic trip set to Hüsker Dü’s music, which sums it up. One of the more interesting moments of the album.

Indecision Time begins with some hiss and has some rather ordinary guitars and shouting throughout. The album’s appeal has worn off by this point. This isn’t really music, more like a concept of art and sound that doesn’t have a huge appeal towards it. The screaming and profanities throughout aren’t really that great to hear. In any case, Hüsker Dü could have done better to make a more mellow and structured album than this. The guitar solo is quite good, though, even if the rest of the song is not. Quite awful, to be frank.

Hare Krsna begins with sleigh bells reversed and some other percussion-based sounds. This quickly enters into a better song than before that mocks the Indian Hare Krishna movement. In any case, this is a strange addition to the musical story that sounds very weird. A good listen though, if anything. It sounds very upbeat and powerful throughout, and if this is intended to be a parody of sorts without any humour, it makes sense. Very weird, but again, this music comes across as one-dimensional garbage to listen to. It just lacks appeal musically, outside of screamed and inarticulate music. Which is not intelligent nor needed to be heard by most people out there. It’s barely okay and does not sound impressive at all. The drums and guitars in the background stop towards the end, before this gradually fades out, with just a percussion sound to conclude. Very weird.

Beyond the Threshold begins with some cool drumming and guitars, launching into a mayhem and frenzy of the sort of thing Kurt Cobain would love. It has some robotic-styled vocals throughout, which are different. Another short, sharp shock on the senses, this is a bit better than before, as it does not have any screaming in it until later on. A good tune to hear, this sounds menacing.

Pride begins with some awful screaming and drum rolls, launching into a horrific-sounding tune. Nothing worth hearing by this point. This is an awful moment of the album that sounds like absolute garbage. Only really worth listening to if you like Hardcore Punk, otherwise avoid completely. This really needs a big rethink throughout which is obvious after some time listening, and just sounds awful. Avoid totally, you aren’t missing out on much here.

I’ll Never Forget You begins with a warped bass guitar riff and launches into another fuzz guitar-driven piece of music. It sounds dark and menacing throughout. Some awful vocals emerge throughout that sound like a cat being strangled. This is not good music, and it sounds seriously lacking. Do not listen to this album, period. The guitar soloing is impressive, but the rest of the music is downright awful. Avoid thoroughly and you’ll be fine. The screamed vocals in particular ruin this music, and the jam at the end is barely okay. Terrible.

The Biggest Lie launches into another awful piece of music with horrible guitars and feedback. The biggest lie? This album is supposed to be listenable, but it is not. It sounds absolutely terrible. This quickly launches into a doom-and-gloom piece of Hardcore Punk that is really awful. Fortunately, this is a short song to listen to and it is easy to hit stop and go and do something else for a bit. The guitar solos are also unimpressive.

What’s Going On is not Marvin Gaye, unfortunately. It begins with some okay drumming, and awful bass guitar and electric guitars. This is a downright disgrace in the history of music, and it is likely the Punk Music equivalent of fingernails down a blackboard. In short, this is not good at all. It sounds extremely bad, like music out of your worst nightmare. A real disappointment and shame throughout, this is not good at all to listen to. Avoid this if you can, it is really dreadful to listen to and refers to mental health decline throughout. The piano does not help things, either. This is some of the worst music ever made, and there is absolutely nothing worth enjoying to listen to here. A terrible excuse for an album and music throughout. Just not good at all. It’s not hard to hear how Classic Rock or most other forms are way better than this garbage. Just hit stop, right now. It ends with some awful chords and drum hits, before returning back into a headshakingly bad conclusion. Terrible.

Masochism World leads into it with some rough and ready guitars and drums, sounding a bit better than what has come before. Still, this does not mean that the album is a good one. In any case, a better listening experience that sounds really interesting to hear throughout. There are even some harmonies throughout this tune. A better listen, proving that if these guys were really serious about music, then they could have made this less Hardcore and more Punk throughout. Nonetheless, a better and more interesting listening experience about the crisis of identity with young men. Good to hear, and a better tune from this album. It ends with a frenzy of drums and guitar work.

Standing by the Sea begins with the sound of air that is filtered, followed by bass guitar and pounding drums. Some awful guitar feedback enters, and this goes into a terrible song about being alone and lonely. A really terrible-sounding piece of music, this is not at all musical, even with the singing as opposed to screaming. This is not good enough, to be frank. If you want Punk Music, try the Sex Pistols or The Clash instead. This is downright awful. A good listen if you like banging your head against a brick wall set to music, otherwise, avoid this trash. Not very good at all. Avoid like the plague throughout. Not a good piece of music to hear. It ends with the sounds from the intro to conclude with.

Somewhere begins with some more overdriven guitars and launches into a song that is okay, but only okay. This is the best side of Hüsker Dü, but it is still a very mixed-bag quality of an album. Nonetheless, this is a more Pop Punk-oriented piece of music that has a broader appeal throughout. A good listen but still far from great to listen to. Some reversed guitars are present here, which sound different. All in all, a really cool and interesting tune to hear. A quite good listen, this is a better example of Hüsker Dü.

One Step at a Time has some guitar violining and electric piano. This sounds awkward and out of place on this album, which is worth junking already anyway. Just a subpar musical interlude less than a minute long, nothing special here.

Pink Turns to Blue is a rough and raw tune that has more piano in the background. This is a weird tune about love and other deeds, and it sounds more Poppy throughout. Unfortunately, this is still a trite piece of music that can be easily put out of your musical life. It still sounds less than impressive and is not worth your listening time. Unexceptional and ordinary, Hüsker Dü have blown a perfectly good opportunity on a double album to make a serious impression musically. This is okay, but only okay at best. Enough to give one a headache listening to, it ends with the riff repeating from the song.

Newest Industry begins with some clean guitars that sound very 1980s and are multitracked. This enters into a tune that sounds like The Smiths somewhat. It is a good listen, without being a really great listen. It has chugging guitars and other interesting musical parts throughout, but overall, this is still subpar. Towards the midsection are pounding drums and other interesting musical parts. This continues on and sounds really quite bad. This is more conceptual rather than actual music. It is just not really worth hearing, sounding like an appalling garage band throughout. Not a pleasant song. Just not worth it.

Monday Will Never Be the Same is an awful selection of tinny piano and melodies that sound like an afterthought on this album. Less than a minute long, and definitely not worth hearing. Avoid, this is Hüsker Dü attempting to sell out here. Not good.

Whatever is sadly not the legendary Oasis song. It begins with some punchy drums and awful guitars, not sounding at all good. This tune is a poor listen, and it is like polishing a you-know-what. All the same, this is not really worth hearing or remembering in the future. A clearly dated and poor attempt at making music, Hüsker Dü did not clearly have a clue about what they were making musically here. A poor listening experience with more shouty vocals throughout, this album is a joke compared to other great albums of the era. In any case, just turn off this garbage and go and do something better with your time. This is a tune continuing the awful concept, melodies and sounds of this song. It is a real drag to listen to and sounds really bad. A really pathetic-sounding piece of music. Too long and repetitive as well.

The Tooth Fairy and the Princess begins with a fade-in of backwards guitars and murmured vocals, in a poor attempt to sound Psychedelic. Again, not necessary on this album. A really shameful and poor excuse for a piece of music, even if it is part of the overall concept of the album. It makes zero sense to put such a thing on an album as this. There is no point in listening to this absolute junk. Avoid it, and you will be happy. This is a weird tune and sounds like drug-induced psychosis. Pathetic, not worth listening to at all. It ends with a scream and whispered voices saying, “Wake up!”. Lame.

Turn on the News begins with some sampled TV samples and a dark, clanging piano. This is not very good and sounds really bad as a result. Some equally bad guitars eventually enter, and this piece gets going. Some rather more song-based singing emerges, and this song sounds really poor, even so. A really lame and pathetic tune about the mediocrity of the news reports, set to trashy music. Another shockingly bad song with little musical direction or sense. It is difficult to praise this music at all, it just sounds absolutely horrible. Handclaps are present as well, why on earth anyone would love this junk is beyond belief. A shameful and pathetic attempt at a song. The guitar riffs in the second half are okay, but the whole thing crashes and burns. A poor tune. This album is really very bad and this song illustrates that. Just no, Hüsker Dü. Do not listen to this garbage.

Reoccurring Dreams is the final track on this album and goes on for 14 minutes. It begins with whistling and launches into a bass guitar and drum sesh which sounds a bit different. Electric guitars then enter, and this tune gets going. This, again, sounds really awful and is not worth your time. A sad and bad attempt at making a lengthy Rock Music instrumentation in the vein of Hardcore Punk, this sounds incredibly bad. An ordinary and poor tune to explore, this has nothing of musical merit in it. This has got to be one of the worst albums made that is seen as a “Classic Album”. It is not. Sustained guitar feedback occurs before this piece of music continues on and on. Not worth your time or listening skills, the guitars throughout in particular are really very horrible. Just no, do not hear this garbage. The drums may be frenetic and energetic, but this is not good music. This has to win an award for being the most overrated album of its sort ever. A very poor attempt at instrumentation and musicianship from start to finish. The guitar work is absolutely appalling, and the mixture of bad melodies, feedback and poorly made sounds make this an album and tune one to avoid in the future. Nothing, not even the pounding drums that are actually okay, make for a decent listen. This goes on for a while, just sounding really poor and trashy. Towards the middle are some super bad melodies on the guitar that anyone with a musical ear will hate. This continues for far too long and is enough to drive one crazy. Weird, out there and awful, just like the album artwork as well. In the midsection, the drums are muted with the electric guitars burning a hole in your brain. Press stop, go and do something else instead. Not a really good listen, at all. This music is some of the worst that you will ever hear. The guitar playing throughout in particular is a disgrace to anyone with ears. It just doesn’t sound refreshing, quality-based, interesting or brilliant. If you get a headache from listening to this, then you are not alone. One of the worst instrumental pieces of all time. The Velvet Underground did way better than this album ever did, go and listen to their music instead. A shame, this album would have been much better off not being heard by anyone in the first place. In the second half, the drums and bass guitar are restrained over some terrible guitars, before they eventually come back in. To be fair, Van Halen III is a better album than this one. This is extremely bad to listen to. Towards the end is some sustained guitar feedback for a long time, whilst, unbelievably, the rest of the band keeps playing over it. The drums and main guitar riffs return, as this stupid piece of music gradually reaches the end of its track length. The drums and bass guitar end, as this tune concludes with shockingly bad guitars and feedback to conclude with. Junk. Turn off this trash and listen to something else.

This is one of the worst and most overrated albums ever made, even for fans of either Punk Music or Hardcore Punk. Nothing at all is worth hearing here, and although this has been cited as a classic album, it is far and away from that identification as a so-called “masterpiece”. This is an appalling, unmusical and unfocused release that does not need to be heard. Avoid like COVID-19. Should you hear this? Absolutely not, this is a disgrace of a release.

Absolutely terrible.

2/10