Zen Arcade

by Huesker Due

Overview

In many ways, it's impossible to overestimate the impact of Huesker Due's Zen Arcade on the American rock underground in the '80s. It's the record that exploded the limits of hardcore and what it could achieve. Huesker Due broke all of the rules with Zen Arcade. First and foremost, it's a sprawling concept album, even if the concept isn't immediately clear or comprehensible. More important are the individual songs. Both Bob Mould and Grant Hart abandoned the strict "fast, hard, loud" rules of hardcore punk with their songs for Zen Arcade. Without turning down the volume, Huesker Due try everything -- pop songs, tape experiments, acoustic songs, pianos, noisy psychedelia. Huesker Due willed themselves to make such a sprawling record -- as the liner notes state, the album was recorded and mixed within 85 hours and consists almost entirely of first takes. That reckless, ridiculously single-minded approach does result in some weak moments -- the sound is thin and the instrumentals drag on a bit too long -- but it's also the key to the success of Zen Arcade. Huesker Due sound phenomenally strong and possessed, as if they could do anything. The sonic experimentation is bolstered by Mould and Hart's increased sense of songcraft. Neither writer is afraid to let his pop influences show on Zen Arcade, which gives the songs -- from the unrestrained rage of "Something I Learned Today" and the bitter, acoustic "Never Talking to You Again" to the eerie "Pink Turns to Blue" and anthemic "Turn On the News" -- their weight. It's music that is informed by hardcore punk and indie rock ideals without being limited by them. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Product Details

Release Date:	10/17/1990
Label:	Sst
UPC:	0018861002712

Tracks

1. Something I Learned Today
2. Broken Home, Broken Heart
3. Never Talking to You Again
4. Chartered Trips
5. Dreams Reoccurring
6. Indecision Time
7. Hare Krsna
8. Beyond the Threshold
9. Pride
10. I'll Never Forget You
11. The Biggest Lie
12. What's Going On
13. Masochism World
14. Standing by the Sea
15. Somewhere
16. One Step at a Time
17. Pink Turns to Blue
18. Newest Industry
19. Monday Will Never Be the Same
20. Whatever
21. The Tooth Fairy and the Princess
22. Turn on the News
23. Reoccurring Dreams

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Huesker Due   Primary Artist
Bob Mould   Lead Vocals,Guitar (Acoustic),Guitar (Electric),Vocals (Background),Percussion,Vocals,Bass,Piano
Greg Norton   Bass,Vocals (Background)
Grant Hart   Drums,Piano,Percussion,Lead Vocals,Vocals (Background),Vocals
Dez Cadena   Vocals

Technical Credits

Huesker Due   Audio Production,Audio Engineer,Engineer,Producer
Spot   Audio Production,Audio Engineer,Engineer,Producer
Greg Norton   Composer
Bob Mould   Composer
Grant Hart   Composer