9. Husker DuNew Day Rising
In a lot of ways maybe Zen Arcade is overall a better record, but New Day Rising is special to me and holds a ton of memories. The opener ‘New Day Rising’ makes it clear that the Hüskers mean business. It’s a mainstay in my collection. Again, this is another where people will be like, "I can’t believe he chose that over Zen Arcade…" but while I love Zen Arcade, it’s also two records and it’s really long. New Day Rising is more concise. I like it because I know it more. I think I had it before Zen Arcade.
The crazy thing is, they did Zen Arcade – two records – and then about six months later released New Day Rising, and then less than a year after that, Flip Your Wig. They put out like four records in a year-and-a-half, and constantly toured. Super prolific. At this point in Hüsker Dü they had that much to say, and it’s all really good. It’s kinda scary.
There’s no chance of Battles releasing records that often. Not that it’s harder or more difficult music than Hüsker Dü, but Hüsker Dü is just guitar, drums and bass. You can write a Hüsker Dü record on tour – you can’t really do a Battles record on tour. It’s impossible.
