Hüsker Dü - New Day Rising (1985)



Following up the magnificent Zen Arcade was going to be no easy task but Hüsker Dü pretty much equalled it with this masterpiece. New Day Rising saw the band more towards a more melodic and song-based sound but still retained a lot of the distortion and emotional intensity that was evident in abundance on Zen Arcade. Songs like ‘Girl Who Lives On Heaven Hill’ and ‘Celebrated Summer’ are very much classic Hüsker Dü songs and their place on this album help make this the shape of alternative rock to come. It was very much evident that the band were straying further and further away from their hardcore-punk roots and helping to define the sound of alternative rock that would have such a huge impact on the musical landscape at the end of the 80’s and well into the 90’s. The band also dip their toes into avant-garde territory with the repetition and mumbled, rambling vocals of ‘Perfect Example’ and of course the bizarre ‘How To Skin a Cat’. There is still some evidence of the band’s punk past with the angry, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it charge of ‘Whatcha Drinkin’’ and the angry noise of the final song ‘Plans I Make’.

Bob Mould’s fuzz-drenched guitar tone is also worth noting and really adds to the enjoyment of what is probably the best-produced Hüsker Dü album. With New Day Rising the band managed to control their passionate intensity and channel it into deeply melodic songs that made the band’s emotions seem more convincing and relevant. As one of the best albums of the mid-80’s and one of the albums that shaped alternative rock this is essential listening.

Recommended Songs: ‘Girl Who Lives On Heaven Hill’, ‘Celebrated Summer’, ‘How To Skin a Cat’



Idlewild - The Remote Part (2002)



With their second full-length album 100 Broken Windows the band shrugged off their punk past and set themselves up as one of the most promising alternative rock bands in the UK at the time. That promise was realised on the follow-up album The Remote Part which earned this Scottish band quite a lot of critical and commercial acclaim. The Remote Part further built on the quiet-loud dynamics of its predecessor and introduced more depth and a greater songwriting scope than before while also showing what a great lyricist frontman Roddy Woomble is. ‘American English’ is a good demonstration of the beautiful, sweeping melodic rock that this band can do and this song contrasts quite well with the noisy and anthemic rock of ‘Modern Way Of Letting Go’ and ‘Stay The Same’. The final song on the album, ‘In Remote Part/Scottish Fiction’, is a very ambitious attempt but the band somehow pull it off. Featuring a spoken-word recital by Scottish poet Edwin Morgan the result is a very widescreen song that sends shivers down your spine and makes for a great ending to the album. The album was recorded in the Scottish Highlands which seems to add a feeling of remote, rural beauty to their sound and ties in perfectly with the album title.

By the time of 2005’s Warnings/Promises the media’s attention had been shifted over onto the new wave of British bands that had emerged such as The Libertines, Franz Ferdinand and the Arctic Monkeys, leaving Idlewild to fade into the background yet still release some solid albums. By listening to The Remote Part and indeed its predecessor 100 Broken Windows you get a great glimpse of a band that could have been a lot bigger had the timing been right.

Recommended Songs: ‘Modern Way Of Letting Go’, ‘American English’, ‘In Remote Part/Scottish Fiction’