as a second vs.- double nickels on the dime vs. zen arcade.
I'll go with the minutemen. At the moment I have Zen Arcade edging out double nickels. Still I think I'll take the minutemen over Husker for the title.
This is perhaps the most apt comparison ever in any of these "vs" threads...2 punk trios that released a double LP in 84 on SST. Good thread.
It's a tough call, but I'm gnna go with Huskers. Thing is though, I can't really articulate why. Both bands were wildly original, both were game changers, and both were the real deal. Zen Arcade is probably the most listened to LP in my collection, mainly cause I've been listening to it for nearly 25 years. So I'll just go with that.
Gotta go with the Minutemen. I love everything about those guys, the music, the poetic lyrics, the way they were such a tight knit unit of friends. They were what I always wanted my bands to be be. Husker Du was great but the Minutemen were just magical to me. "I live sweat, but I dream light years..."
I'm actually reading This Band Could Be Your LIfe and have been listening to both of these records quite a bit lately (I'm also in a band that is strongly influenced by both bands). I guess Minutemen would edge out by a hair for me, but if I were asked the same question tomorrow I might say Husker Du. Two excellent records by two endlessly inspiring bands.
p.s. learning that the cover of Double Nickels was making fun of Sammy Hagar's "I can't drive 55" was hilarious. I remember laughing for the same reason when that single was popular. Whoa Sammy! Take it easy! Slow that car down!
A lot of my friends were really into Husker Du at the time and I think that I can understand their appeal but Minutemen are just a complete different level. Everything about them makes them one of the most unique and most incredible bands ever, of all time and out of any genre -which is sort of pointless to even mention since they never tried to fit any genre. It's one of those few bands whose records I can play to just about anybody with any sort of musical background and they will love it. Only people with no soul at all could be able to not love the Minutemen. I think if I'd ever played one of their records to someone who then tells me he doesn't like them, I'd be seriously creeped out by that person. Just thinking of songs like "the cheerleaders" puts me in a good mood.
Comments
These two bands completely defined my teen years.
Double Nickels got braeks, yo.
But for encapsulating the '80s punk-art-geek-angst I directly experienced,
gotta give it to Zen Arcade.
When that first feedback wave hits, I am immediately transported back to
being 13 alone in my bedroom at 2am.
It's a tough call, but I'm gnna go with Huskers. Thing is though, I can't really articulate why. Both bands were wildly original, both were game changers, and both were the real deal. Zen Arcade is probably the most listened to LP in my collection, mainly cause I've been listening to it for nearly 25 years. So I'll just go with that.
And Nickels over Zen, too, though Zen is one of the few Husker records I've kept. Zen isn't even the best Husker record - Metal Circus is.
peace, stein.
p.s. learning that the cover of Double Nickels was making fun of Sammy Hagar's "I can't drive 55" was hilarious. I remember laughing for the same reason when that single was popular. Whoa Sammy! Take it easy! Slow that car down!
Fixed. (That was the song that hooked me on the Minutemen.)
haha Thanks. It's been sooo long.
Yeah. Hard to believe it, but D Boon has been dead now for almost as long as he was alive.
By a very far stretch.
A lot of my friends were really into Husker Du at the time and I think that I can understand their appeal but Minutemen are just a complete different level. Everything about them makes them one of the most unique and most incredible bands ever, of all time and out of any genre -which is sort of pointless to even mention since they never tried to fit any genre. It's one of those few bands whose records I can play to just about anybody with any sort of musical background and they will love it. Only people with no soul at all could be able to not love the Minutemen. I think if I'd ever played one of their records to someone who then tells me he doesn't like them, I'd be seriously creeped out by that person. Just thinking of songs like "the cheerleaders" puts me in a good mood.