Hüsker Dü - Savage Young Dü
(Numero Group)

The latest exhaustive boxset from Numero Group is a godsend, plain and simple. The archivists of the label were able to piece together an amazing, 69 song box set of early recordings, rarities, unreleased and live material by the legendary trio Hüsker Dü. We won’t get into the specifics of who they were or why they are legendary. That should be firm.
What is in this thing and why do you want it? Well first and foremost, 47 tracks of the 69 are completely unissued. Secondly, the wizards at Numero Group were able to acquire all these stowed away gems from their early soundman and Garage D'or Records owner Terry Katzman and thus, were able to remaster and properly mix them at Steve Albini’s Electrical Audio. The band also pitched in another batch of tapes to round out the truly incredible Savage Young Dü. Included here are also remastered versions of their 2nd EP In A Free Land, their 2nd LP Everything Falls Apart and an alternate version of their first LP recorded live, Land Speed Record. The latter part was taken from a live set 2 weeks after Land Speed Record which the band recorded for Twin/Tone records. The revelation here is the performance is superior and audio-wise, sounds much much better than that original 1982 LP. In terms of everything else, there’s live cuts, lots of rehearsal tapes and their earliest demos as well as covers of “Chinese Rocks” (The Heartbreakers) and “Sunshine Superman” (Donovan).
Of course there’s also the box set itself which is a thing of beauty. Includes a 108-page book full of photos and flyers all pulled from the band. Truly one of the best releases of the year. (Dom)
Check out a track here.