Zen Arcade

Zen Arcade
Studio album by Hüsker Dü
Released	July 1984
Recorded	October 1983 at the Total Access in Redondo Beach, California (except "Standing By The Sea," recorded during the Metal Circus sessions, Dec 1982)
Genre	Hardcore punk, alternative rock
Length	70:23
Label	SST
Producer	Hüsker Dü, Spot
Professional reviews
Allmusic link Robert Christgau (A-) link Rolling Stone link Spin [1]
Hüsker Dü chronology
Metal Circus (1983) Zen Arcade (1984) New Day Rising (1985)

Zen Arcade is the third studio album from the American punk rock band Hüsker Dü, released in July 1984 on SST Records. Originally released as a double album on two vinyl LPs, Zen Arcade is a concept album about an adolescent who runs away because his home life is unfulfilling, only to find the world outside is even worse. The album incorporates elements of jazz, psychedelia, acoustic folk, pop, and piano interludes, concepts previously unheard of in the world of hardcore punk.

Zen Arcade and subsequent Hüsker Dü albums were instrumental in the creation of the alternative rock genre; the band would later abandon the hardcore aesthetic entirely in favor of a post-hardcore style of melodic, guitar-driven alternative rock. While not commercially successful, the influence of Zen Arcade has stretched beyond the underground music sphere, and it is frequently included on lists of the all-time best rock and roll albums and continues to have cult following.

Background

Hüsker Dü had gained notice in the American indie music scene of the early 1980s as a fast and aggressive hardcore punk band. They were the first non-West Coast signings to the California independent record label SST Records, which at the time specialized in releases by hardcore bands, most notably Black Flag. However, the trio's music was becoming more melodic and nuanced with each release; songs such as "Diane" (from the EP Metal Circus), a true story about the rape and murder of a young woman, covered subjects not addressed in hardcore at the time, and the band indicated an interest in 1960s rock by covering The Byrds' "Eight Miles High."

In an interview with Steve Albini for his Matter column in 1983, singer and guitarist Bob Mould told Albini: "We're going to try to do something bigger than anything like rock & roll and the whole puny touring band idea. I don't know what it's going to be, we have to work that out, but it's going to go beyond the whole idea of 'punk rock' or whatever."^[2]

The band began rehearsing in preparation for the album during the summer of 1983, in a church-turned-punk squat in St. Paul, Minnesota. The band brainstormed lyrics and musical ideas during jam sessions that lasted several hours.^[3] Mould and drummer Grant Hart were the band's songwriters, and prior to embarking to California to record Zen Arcade, Mould was moved (by artwork that Hart had done for another band that did not list songwriting credit) to demand that Zen Arcade list individual songwriter credits.^[4] This practice would continue on all of the band's subsequent albums, and would contribute to ever-growing tensions between Mould and Hart.

Recording and production

As their EP Metal Circus was being released, Hüsker Dü entered the Total Access studio in Redondo Beach, California to record their next album with SST producer Spot. The band recorded 25 tracks, with all but two songs being first takes ("Something I Learned Today" and "Newest Industry"), in 40 hours. The entire album was then mixed in one 40-hour session; the entire album took 85 hours to record and produce and cost $3,200.^[5] The band collaborated with underground comtemporaries during recording; "What's Going On" contains guest vocals from ex-Black Flag vocalist Dez Cadena.

Music

Zen Arcade, in line with previous Hüsker Dü albums, had a mainly hardcore punk focus, with songs such as "Indecision Time" and "Pride." However, the album also marked the point where the band introduced a more melodic and guitar-driven musical style, with elements of acoustic folk ("Never Talking To You Again"), psychedelia ("Hare Krsna" and "The Tooth Fairy And The Princess") and piano interludes ("One Step At A Time," "Monday Will Never Be The Same"), concepts rarely touched upon in early '80s hardcore punk.

Narrative

The lyrics of Zen Arcade are usually interpreted as telling the story, in the first person, of an adolescent who runs away to escape an unfulfilling home life, as typified in the lyrics of "Broken Home, Broken Heart," "Indecision Time," and "Somewhere." The unnamed character tries drugs ("Pink Turns to Blue"), and religion ("Hare Krsna"), but concludes that he is unable to change his circumstances ("Newest Industry").^[6] He shortly discovers that the world outside is even worse. At the very end of the album, after he "turns on the news," it is revealed that this was all a symptom of his insanity, with disorienting 14-minute instrumental "Recurring Dreams." Indicative of the band's desire for the album to be taken as a whole, no singles were released from it.

Release

While the band insisted sales would be strong for Zen Arcade, SST initially only pressed between 3,500 to 5,000 copies of the album. The album was out of stock for months afterward and the delay in further copies stifled sales.^[7]

Critical reception

Upon its release Zen Arcade received positive reviews in many mainstream publications, including NME,^[8] The New York Times^[9] and Rolling Stone. In his review for Rolling Stone, David Fricke described Zen Arcade as "the closest hardcore will ever get to an opera ... a kind of thrash Quadrophenia."^[10]

Zen Arcade placed eighth in the Village Voice annual Pazz & Jop poll. Village Voice crtic Robert Christgau declared in his annual review of the poll's results that, while he preferred rivals The Replacements' Let It Be, the song "Turn On the News" garnered his nomination for song of the year.^[11] The critical praise given to the album garnered attention from major labels, including Warner Bros. Records, with whom Hüsker Dü would eventually sign in 1985.^[12]

Legacy

By spring of 1985 Zen Arcade had sold 20,000 copies,^[13] and in subsequent years it has maintained a high critical status regardless of commercial success. Allmusic says in its review of the album that "Hüsker Dü try everything" and while "that reckless, ridiculously single-minded approach does result in some weak moments," it is "also the key to the success of Zen Arcade."^[14] In 1989, it was ranked #33 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 100 greatest albums of the 1980s. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has placed "Turn On the News" on its list of "500 songs that shaped rock and roll."^[15] It was ranked #4 on Spin magazine's list of top 100 Alternative music albums, ahead of Nirvana's Nevermind (#5), and Patti Smith's Horses (#6).^[16]

Zen Arcade expanded perceptions of what American underground rock could sound like. Zen Arcade has been mentioned as an influence on the development of emo, for it "showed punks everywhere that caustic guitars and literate, angst-ridden lyrics equaled catharsis."^[17]

LP track listing

Side one

1. "Something I Learned Today" (Mould) - 1:58
2. "Broken Home, Broken Heart" (Mould) - 2:01
3. "Never Talking to You Again" (Hart) - 1:39
4. "Chartered Trips" (Mould) - 3:33
5. "Dreams Reoccurring" (Hüsker Dü) - 1:40
6. "Indecision Time" (Mould) - 2:07
7. "Hare Krsna" (Hüsker Dü) - 3:33

Side two

1. "Beyond the Threshold" (Mould) - 1:35
2. "Pride" (Mould) - 1:45
3. "I'll Never Forget You" (Mould) - 2:06
4. "The Biggest Lie" (Mould) - 1:58
5. "What's Going On" (Hart) - 4:23
6. "Masochism World" (Hart/Mould) - 2:43
7. "Standing by the Sea" (Hart) - 3:12

Side three

1. "Somewhere" (Hart/Mould) - 2:30
2. "One Step at a Time" (Hart/Mould) - 0:45
3. "Pink Turns to Blue" (Hart) - 2:39
4. "Newest Industry" (Mould) - 3:02
5. "Monday Will Never Be the Same" (Mould) - 1:10
6. "Whatever" (Mould) - 3:50
7. "The Tooth Fairy and the Princess" (Mould) - 2:43

Side four

1. "Turn on the News" (Hart) - 4:21
2. "Reoccurring Dreams" (Hüsker Dü) - 13:47

The CD and cassette releases of the album combines all the songs onto a single disc/cassette.

Personnel

• Grant Hart - percussion, piano, drums, vocals, background vocals
• Bob Mould - acoustic guitar, bass, percussion, piano, electric guitar, vocals, background vocals
• Greg Norton - bass, background vocals

References

Notes

• Weisbard, Eric; Craig Marks (1995). Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. ISBN 0679755748. 

External links

• Analysis at Nude As The News
• Review from the Univ. of Chicago Maroon
• Zen Arcade at Allmusic