10 Albums That Created Grunge Music

The title is nothing if not truth in advertising. The debut album by the Minnesota legends is unbelievably fast, cramming 17 songs, all played and recorded live, into just over 28 minutes.

While that aspect of the sound doesn’t have too much say on the direction of grunge, the band’s approach certainly does. To say this is no frills rock does a disservice to frills. For the most part the tempo and amp settings remain the same throughout. And yet each track is given distinct personality and texture.

Early highlight “Do The Bee” has a fantastically deranged Grant Hart vocal, while Bob Mould somehow sounds as though he’s playing lead and rhythm guitar at once, slipping into brief melodies without losing track of his thudding chords for a moment. “Ultracore” even manages to carve out a catchy chorus at top speed.

The whole grunge ethos was to make music for the average Joe. to steal back the scene from the hairsprayed try-hards. Husker Du’s sound is right in that sweet spot, music for release, for leaping around to in a crowded club.