Track Listing

1. Crystal
2. Don't Want To Know If You're Lonely
3. I Don't Know For Sure
4. Sorry Somehow
5. Too Far Down
6. Hardly Getting Over It
7. Dead Set On Destruction
8. Eiffel Tower High
9. No Promise Have I Made
10. All This I've Done For You

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #13451 in Music
• Released on: 1992-11-09
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .22 pounds

Amazon.co.uk Review
Five years on from Candy Apple Grey, the roster of every major label would be heaving with angry young rock & roll powered by surging electric guitars, howling vocals and non-specific angst. This, of course, was a result of the success of Nirvana's Nevermind. However, as Nirvana themselves never shied from admitting, Nirvana's Nevermind was, in a major way, a result of Hüsker Dü, and specifically Hüsker Dü's Candy Apple Grey. It is probably the first major label grunge album; the Minneapolis trio had already racked up around half a dozen albums of superior and weirdly tuneful punk rock before Warners signed them. Candy Apple Greywasn't markedly different from any of its indie predecessors in terms of style--basically Bob Mould's buzzsaw guitar and jet-engine vocal competing to be heard over a rhythm section playing with the speed and abandon of a runaway locomotive--but the songs had never been this good before. In drummer Grant Hart's "Don't Want To Know If You're Lonely" and Mould's "Eiffel Tower High", Hüsker Dü came up with a giddying hybrid of Black Sabbath and The Byrds. Elsewhere, Mould's acoustic "Hardly Getting Over It" amounted to the beginning of his absurdly overlooked solo career. Candy Apple Grey was the sort of dazzling, unnerving record that made people want to form bands of their own. The fact that so many of these bands were formed in and around Seattle is a phenomenon as yet unexplained by science. --Andrew Mueller

CD Description
After six releases on the indie label SST, the Huskers finally jumped to the majors for CANDY APPLE GREY--though not surprisingly, since it was their most polished effort in termsof production. Yet the general tone is every bit as despairing as ever. At this point, Mould and Hart were moving apartfrom one another due to personal and creative differences, and it is clear that there are two very different songwriters at work here.
Mould sounds like the living embodiment of angst as he shouts himself hoarse on the thrashy opener, "Crystal". On "Eiffel Tower High", he manages to make the lines "she walked out to the lobby/for a box of Junior Mints" sound like the poignant ending of a tragic romance. But on the soft, elegiac "Too Far Down" and "Hardly Getting Over It",Mould's singing is uncharacteristically subdued and conveysreal heartbreak for the first time on a Husker Du record. Grant Hart mellows out, too, on "No Promise Have I Made", butstraightforward pop-rockers like "Don't Want To Know If YouAre Lonely" and "Dead Set on Destruction" are where he really shines.

Customer Reviews

Punk Rock Heresy And A Masterpiece.
Punk Rock Rule No. 1: To ensure credibility never sign to a major label.

In1986 Husker Du did just that by signing with Warner Bros. and releasing `Candy Apple Grey'. For numerous reason this is the ultimate heresy for any punk rock fan or band. The most significant reason though would be the belief that a band had decided instead to pursue the `almighty buck' instead of their previous musical vision. In almost all cases the music is the first to suffer by the fact the music is toned down significantly in order to shift units.

Husker Du had been signed to the seminal S.S.T. records, which is quite possibly one of the greatest independent record labels ever. While Husker Du were there they released `Zen Arcade' and `New Day Rising' which is still regarded by hard core fans to be their best and I have no argument with that because it's true. However I differ with most fans when it comes to `Candy Apple Grey'.

`Candy Apple Grey' is a fine collection of fuzzy pop punk songs. While the album does not contain the same level of hardcore fuzz that previous albums had there is still plenty to ensure no commercial potential. What I feel is always overlooked is the fact that underneath all that fuzz on their original albums is great songs and that is what made them great. The difference is that `Candy' has some of Husker Du's finer crafted pop songs, which you can also hear a bit more clearly. If that makes me a punk rock heretic then so be it because I love this album and think it's criminally neglected. So while it lacks the credibility of previous albums it's still worthy of your attention.

To those who are not familiar with Husker Du buy this album because I think it is an excellent introduction to the band. After that buy `Zen Arcade' & `New Day Rising' or just buy all three now because all three are worthy of a place in your collection. Grunge and the musical revolution of the 90s would not have happened without Husker Du.

Another brilliant Husker Du album.
They were prolific, always moving forward- the pop sensibilities becoming apparent on tracks like 'Makes No Sense at All', 'Games' & 'Books About UFO's' are in excelis here.

Bob Mould was becoming the dominant songwriter on 'Candy Apple Grey'- their first album for Warners (where both REM and The Replacements would follow). As everyone should know- there would be no Nirvana or Pixies without the Du.

Opener 'Crystal' picks up where 'Flip Your Wig's 'Divide & Conquer' left off. It's another redhotred track that takes us to Grant Hart's 'Don't Want to Know if You're Lonely'. While Hart was contributing less songs- the quality is almost as high as Mould's. 'Don't Want...' is a cruel heartbreaker and a key Husker Du song...'I Don't Know for Sure' is another guitar-pop song, which Mould would perfect on 'Warehouse's 'Standing in the Rain'. Catchy as hell...The single 'Sorry Somehow' is next- with its wonderful keyboards and Hart's scream of apolgies...The centre of the album belongs to Mould: first there is 'Too Far Down' which opens with the Beatles-inflected experimentation common to 'Zen Arcade' before shifting into a dark acoustic song. A definite precursor of The Replacements 'All Shook Down'. This is a dark night of the soul...Another key Husker Du song lets a little of the light back in with the achingly gorgeous keyboard backing to 'Hardly Getting Over It'. This is a song that would greatly influence REM- with songs like 'Sweetness Follows' & 'Fretless'...Hart's dumb-Ramonesesque 'Dead Set on Destruction' picks the beat up- though is the duffest moment here...Mould replies with 'Eiffel Tower High'- another manic pop burnout prior to Hart's piano-based ballad 'No Promise I Made'- which almost returns to the intstrumental 'One Step at a Time' from 'Zen Arcade' as its starting point. Finally Mould rounds off the album with the sublime guitar-hook of 'All This I've done for You'- imagine if the Yardbirds had played punk.

'Candy Apple Grey' is a great album- a good introduction to Husker Du and the predecessor to their final masterpiece 'Warehouse (Songs & Stories)'.

Fantastic
What a great punk/rock record.

I often read and hear people saying 'anyone who listens to modern 'punk' rock - should listen to this'.

Well i did force someone to listen to it - and they hated it - they said it sounded wishy washy and stupid and the guitars were not loud enough.

well abviously my heart was broken - but it just assured me that the modern day casual MTV audience has scant knowledge or any desire to hear anything that isnt marketed to them directly with a price tag to boot too.

If you are a fan of proper rock music - thats the stuff written by real people and not made for a mass audience with a shiny pop finish and suitably trendy boys playing guitars - then you have to have this.

Yes it doesnt sound as clean and bombastic as the records made nowadays, but the tunes and the songwirting on it are unrivalled in the world of melodic punk/rock.

It has raw energy, melody, talented musicians, excellent songwriters tangled in a web of sexual frustration, drugs, heartbreak and booze - and ita comes out in the beautiful mix of songs of 'candy apple grey' -

It has 2 mellow tracks on it - but a number of cracking rock songs each with its very own infectious hook. 'Sorry somehow' being my personal fave with its inclusion of a cathcy keyboard hook alongside punding drums and blistering guitar.

i'd say its better than 'flip your wig' - and competing with 'Wharehouse' for their best.