Purify Yourself In The Waters Of Lake Hüskertonka!! Hüsker Dü's Eight Miles High!!!

Celebrated Stunner

Except for the original single, this Cd Ep is the only place to get Hüsker Dü's fantastic cover of the Byrds Eight Miles High, which many consider to be the greatest cover ever done. Frankly, I could not disagree. If someone knows a better one, please share. I'd like to hear it. The song is destroyed, reinvented and celebrated on this monumental 3:56' of punk catharsis. The Clash may have sung about No Elvis, No Beatles, but the Hüsker's were the ones who finally dropped the Neutron Bomb on their elders. Critics may contend that the era of love and peace ended at Altamount, but Mould, Hart, and Norton brought the final end by spontaneous combustion.

That live-in-the studio blast by Hüsker Dü was part of the whirlwind recording period that gestated the classic punk concept double album Zen Arcade, and it completely rips the roof off of the studio. Molten guitar riffs, the bellowing emotional howl of Bob Mould, the possible sounds of people smashing furniture during the song.

The song ends so abruptly, but it felt like the world changed once my eardrums began to heal. A punk manifesto, a new world order.



A band so great, yet it is 2010, and there music has yet to get a proper issue. Just the old crappy sounding Cds, you can only here them properly on vinyl. But if you love great music, you need to have this, even if just for that song. Of course on this Ep is the decent thrashy Masochism World from Zen Arcade, plus Makes No Sense At All from the unbelievable album Flip Your Wig and the b side to that single, the Hüsker's take on the theme to the Mary Tyler Moore show.

Hüsker Dü are of course Bob Mould, (guitar,vocal), Grant Hart, (drums, vocal), and Greg Norton (bass). They are one of the most important American bands of the past 30 years along with Mission of Burma, combining the brutal power of punk and hardcore and blending it seamlessly with the melodies and harmonies of the 60's.

Bob Mould is an icon of American music, whether or not the industry deems to recognize him as such, or not. In England, he would be viewed as part of the same elite rock club with Keith Richards, Rod Stewart, Elton John. But things don't work that way in the old US. And in his Post-Hüsker career he has continued to distinguish himself, both as a solo artist, and as the leader of noise pop savants Sugar. (He also does a great cover of Richard Thompson's Turning Of The Tide on the Beat The Retreat tribute album).

So please check out Eight Miles High--things may never be quite the same.


P.S. Some further empowering music to reflect upon this holiday season......