New Day Rising

New Day Rising
Studio album by Hüsker Dü
Released January 1985
Recorded July 1984, Nicollet Studios, Minneapolis, MN
Genre Post-Hardcore[1]
Alternative rock[1]
Length 40:49
Label SST
Producer Hüsker Dü, Spot
Hüsker Dü chronology
Zen Arcade
(1984)		 New Day Rising
(1985)		 Flip Your Wig
(1985)
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [1]
Rolling Stone [2]
Robert Christgau A[3]
Piero Scaruffi [4]
Spin [5]

New Day Rising is the third studio album by the American punk rock band Hüsker Dü, released in 1985 on SST Records. Though less ambitious than prior album Zen Arcade, New Day Rising, in some ways, helped set the template for alternative rock for the next decade. Guitarist and lead singer Bob Mould's trademark miasma of fuzz distortion is still present, but with much of the harsh rawness of previous efforts abandoned in favor of a more melodic sound.

Contents

Music

The title track opens the album with mantra-like repetition of "new day rising," delivered with slowly-increasing levels of intensity and despair. Also present are a few of the group's most famous songs, such as "The Girl Who Lives on Heaven Hill" and "Celebrated Summer".

At the very end of "Plans I Make," there is a short in-studio conversation, most likely between Spot, Hart, and Mould, which appears to have taken place immediately after the recording for the song finished. It is almost inaudible.

Possibly Grant Hart: "What do you think, Spot?"
Possibly Spot: "I think he's going to be mad because we opened up the trashcan."
Bob Mould: "[In a mocking tone] Now the bleed came in. Who cares? Cause that's the last song on the album, it doesn't matter what it sounds like anyways. [guitar noise]"

Critical reaction

The album is praised by many critics as the band's best album, though most give that title to Zen Arcade. New Day Rising was ranked thirteenth in Spin's "100 Greatest Albums, 1985-2005." In 2003, the album was ranked number 495 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. The magazine also included the title track in its "100 Greatest Guitar Songs" list, ranking it at #96.[6]

Track listing

All songs by Bob Mould except as indicated.

Side one

  1. "New Day Rising" (Mould, Hüsker Dü) – 2:31
  2. "The Girl Who Lives on Heaven Hill" (Grant Hart) – 3:03
  3. "I Apologize" – 3:40
  4. "Folk Lore" – 1:34
  5. "If I Told You" (Hart, Mould) – 2:05
  6. "Celebrated Summer" – 3:59
  7. "Perfect Example" – 3:16

Side two

  1. "Terms of Psychic Warfare" (Hart) – 2:17
  2. "59 Times the Pain" – 3:18
  3. "Powerline" – 2:22
  4. "Books About UFOs" (Hart) – 2:40
  5. "I Don't Know What You're Talking About" – 2:20
  6. "How to Skin a Cat" (Mould, Hüsker Dü) – 1:52
  7. "Whatcha Drinkin'" – 1:30
  8. "Plans I Make" (Mould, Hüsker Dü) – 4:16
  9. "Erase Today" Unreleased in the U.S. version

References

  1. ^ a b c Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "allmusic ((( New Day Rising > Review )))". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r9694. Retrieved October 23, 2010. 
  2. ^ Brackett, Nathan. "Hüsker Dü". The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. November 2004. pg. 398, cited March 18, 2010
  3. ^ Christgau, Robert. "Hüsker Dü". robertchristgau.com, Retrieved on March 18, 2010.
  4. ^ Scaruffi, Piero. "Hüsker Dü". pieroscaruffi.com (Italian). Retrieved on March 18, 2010.
  5. ^ Weisbard, Eric. "Hüsker Dü". Spin Alternative Record Guide. October 1995. p.187
  6. ^ Rolling Stone - The 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time. Retrieved 2011-01-24. "Eighties hardcore punk was never more simple or stubbornly hopeful: three chords, a three-word chorus and magnificent speed-of-light hammering that never seems to quit but is over way too soon. Bob Mould beats his strings like a homicidal Johnny Ramone, but there's no mistaking the battered-church-bell ring in his stacks of chords and his stressed-amp roar."
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