Hüsker Dü - Candy Apple Grey (1986)

Hüsker Dü was an American alternative rock band formed in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota in 1979. The band's continual members were guitarist Bob Mould, bassist Greg Norton, and drummer Grant Hart. Hüsker Dü never achieved mainstream success, but attained an influence far larger than its modest sales figures would indicate. Following a series of successful albums, including Zen Arcade (1984) and New Day Rising (1985), the band signed to Warner Bros. Records in 1986, becoming one of the first American underground rock bands to sign with a major record label.

Hüsker Dü first gained notice as a hardcore punk band with thrashing tempos and screamed vocals. The band developed a more melodic musical style as they drifted away from their early sound, helping to develop the early alternative rock sound in the process. Mould and Hart split the songwriting and singing duties; Mould's lyrics were known for being more soul-searching and intense than the often whimsical and cryptic ones of Hart.

Hüsker Dü broke up in 1987 without achieving a popular breakthrough. Mould formed another band, Sugar, in the early 1990s and has embarked on a solo career on various occasions; Hart and Norton have been less active since Hüsker Dü's demise. Although never experiencing commercial success, Hüsker Dü influenced a number of later pop punk and alternative rock bands, such as the Pixies, Dinosaur Jr., Superchunk, Green Day, New Found Glory and Foo Fighters.

Moving to a major label doesn't affect Hüsker Dü's sound greatly – although the production is more full-bodied than Spot's razor-thin work, the Hüskers don't change their blazing attack at all. Much of Candy Apple Grey charges along on the same frenzied beat that propelled New Day Rising and Flip Your Wig, and both Bob Mould and Grant Hart are in fine form, spinning out fine punk-pop with "Sorry Somehow" and "Don't Want to Know If You Are Lonely." However, the sound is beginning to seem a bit tired, which is what makes Mould's two acoustic numbers, "Too Far Down" and "Hardly Getting Over It," so welcome. Demonstrating that punks can mature without losing their edge, Mould inverts the rules of conventional confessional singer/songwriter songs with these two haunting numbers, and in doing so, he illustrates the faults with the relatively staid post-hardcore punk that dominates the remainder of the record. ~ Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine (allmusic)