The Living End is a live album and final release by American punk rock band Hüsker Dü, released on April 7, 1994, by Warner Bros. Records. It was recorded at various venues throughout October 1987, but was not released until 1994.
| The Living End | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Live album by | ||||
| Released | April 7, 1994 | |||
| Recorded | October 1987 | |||
| Venue | Various locations | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 76:44 | |||
| Label | Warner Bros. | |||
| Producer | Hüsker Dü, Lou Giordano | |||
| Hüsker Dü chronology | ||||
| ||||
The album's tracks span the entirety of the band' recorded output, from the band's debut album to their final album. The album also features some unreleased tracks, and a cover of the pioneering punk rock band Ramones' "Sheena Is a Punk Rocker".
The album was deleted from the Warner Bros catalogue in 2003, and reissued through Rhino Entertainment's Encore imprint in June 2008. In an interview with Spin magazine in January 2008, Bob Mould stated that he had never heard this album.[3]
The liner notes were written by rock critic David Fricke and discuss the band's disintegration. The liner notes also mention several songs that were considered for inclusion on the album, but were left off due to space reasons.[citation needed]
Recording
editGuitarist Bob Mould and drummer Grant Hart handled the overwhelming share of songwriting duties in the band, though Greg Norton has a solo credit for "Everytime". The track listing is reflective of the band's set lists. "New Day Rising" was a common choice to open shows. As explained in the liner notes, the band preferred to group like-minded songs into what they called "packs of three." Examples of these "packs" include "Standing in the Rain" followed by "Back from Somewhere" and "Ice Cold Ice", as well as "Terms of Psychic Warfare" followed by "Powerline" and "Books About UFOs."[citation needed]
Over half of the songs were recorded at Le Spectrum in Montreal. Songs from seven different performances were compiled by producer and long time Husker Du sound man, Lou Giordano.[4]
Critical reception
edit| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [5] |
| Robert Christgau | A−[6] |
| Rolling Stone | [7] |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [8] |
Franklin Soults of the Chicago Reader praised the album, writing that "as a recap of Hüsker Dü’s epic career, it’s more instructive and exciting than any boxed set could have been. Vividly reconstructed from several dates on the tour taped by their sound man, Lou Giordano, the record has many unexpected sequences in which the meaning of each tune is deepened by its proximity to other songs and by the intensity of the band’s seamless, full-throttle execution. It proves the thrill wasn’t all high-volume buzz and ringing overtones: this band could play."[1] Milo Miles of The New York Times conceded that "the band's enveloping noise always eluded recording," but he argued that their "headlong dynamics and sudden bursts of roaring compassion" were well-documented in The Living End.[2]
Track listing
edit| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Original Release | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "New Day Rising" (Washington 10/21/87) | Bob Mould, Grant Hart, Greg Norton | New Day Rising (1985) | 3:06 |
| 2. | "Girl Who Lives on Heaven Hill" (Montreal 10/14/87) | Hart | New Day Rising | 3:08 |
| 3. | "Standing in the Rain" (Toronto 10/13/87) | Mould | Warehouse: Songs and Stories (1987) | 3:35 |
| 4. | "Back from Somewhere" (Washington 10/20/87) | Hart | Warehouse: Songs and Stories | 2:25 |
| 5. | "Ice Cold Ice" (Montreal 10/14/87) | Mould | Warehouse: Songs and Stories | 4:19 |
| 6. | "Everytime" (Montreal 10/14/87) | Norton | "Could You Be the One?" single (1987) | 2:39 |
| 7. | "Friend, You've Got to Fall" (Montreal 10/14/87) | Mould | Warehouse: Songs and Stories | 3:11 |
| 8. | "She Floated Away" (Montreal 10/14/87) | Hart | Warehouse: Songs and Stories | 3:30 |
| 9. | "From the Gut" (Providence 10/16/87) | Mould, Norton | Everything Falls Apart (1983) | 1:33 |
| 10. | "Target" (Washington 10/20/87) | Mould | Everything Falls Apart | 1:46 |
| 11. | "It's Not Funny Anymore" (Montreal 10/14/87) | Hart | Metal Circus (1983) | 2:11 |
| 12. | "Hardly Getting Over It" (Toronto 10/13/87) | Mould | Candy Apple Grey (1986) | 5:54 |
| 13. | "Terms of Psychic Warfare" (Montreal 10/14/87) | Hart | New Day Rising | 2:01 |
| 14. | "Powerline" (Montreal 10/14/87) | Mould | New Day Rising | 2:27 |
| 15. | "Books About UFOs" (Montreal 10/14/87) | Hart | New Day Rising | 2:25 |
| 16. | "Divide and Conquer" (Montreal 10/14/87) | Mould | Flip Your Wig (1985) | 2:56 |
| 17. | "Keep Hanging On" (New York City 10/17/87) | Hart | Flip Your Wig | 3:23 |
| 18. | "Celebrated Summer" (Montreal 10/14/87) | Mould | New Day Rising | 4:36 |
| 19. | "Now That You Know Me" (Montreal 10/14/87) | Hart | unreleased; later appeared on the Grant Hart album Intolerance (1989) | 3:31 |
| 20. | "Ain't No Water in The Well" (Toronto 10/13/87) | Mould | unreleased | 2:47 |
| 21. | "What's Going On" (New Haven 10/18/87) | Hart | Zen Arcade (1984) | 3:21 |
| 22. | "Data Control" (Providence 10/16/87) | Hart | Land Speed Record (1982) | 5:09 |
| 23. | "In a Free Land" (Toronto 10/13/87) | Mould | "In a Free Land" single (1982) | 3:35 |
| 24. | "Sheena Is a Punk Rocker" (Montreal 10/14/87) | Joey Ramone, Johnny Ramone, Dee Dee Ramone, Tommy Ramone | Ramones cover | 3:13 |
Personnel
editCredits adapted from the album's liner notes.[9]
- Hüsker Dü
- Bob Mould – guitar, vocals
- Greg Norton – bass, vocals
- Grant Hart – drums, vocals
- Technical
- Hüsker Dü – producer
- Lou Giordano – producer, engineer, sequencing, editing
- Howie Weinberg – mastering
- Fake Name Graphx – art direction
- Kirsten Turbenson – artwork
- Daniel Corrigan – photography
- Doug Myren – project coordinator
References
edit- ^ a b Franklin Soults (November 3, 1994). "A Career in Punk". Chicago Reader.
- ^ a b c Milo Miles (October 23, 1994). "RECORDINGS VIEW; A Punk Patriarch Comes of Age". The New York Times.
- ^ Steve Kandell (January 28, 2008). "The Spin Interview: Bob Mould". Spin magazine.
- ^ Earles, Andrew (2010-11-15). Husker Du: The Story of the Noise-Pop Pioneers Who Launched Modern Rock. MBI Publishing Company. pp. 286–. ISBN 9781616739799. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
- ^ Raggett, Ned. "allmusic ((( The Living End > Review )))". Allmusic. Retrieved March 18, 2010.
- ^ Christgau, Robert. "Hüsker Dü". robertchristgau.com, Retrieved on March 18, 2010.
- ^ Brackett, Nathan. "Hüsker Dü". The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. November 2004. pg. 398, cited March 18, 2010
- ^ Cross, Charles R. (2004). "Hüsker Dü". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 399. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
- ^ The Living End (CD). Hüsker Dü. Warner Bros. 1994. 9 45582-2.
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