New Day Rising

1	New Day Rising 2:31
2	The Girl Who Lives on Heaven Hill 3:03
3	I Apologize 3:40
4	Folklore 1:34
5	If I Told You 2:05
6	Celebrated Summer 3:59
7	Perfect Example 3:16
8	Terms of Psychic Warfare 2:17
9	59 Times the Pain 3:18
10	Powerline 2:22
11	Books About UFOs 2:46
12	I Don't Know What You're Talking About 2:20
13	How to Skin a Cat 1:52
14	Whatcha Drinkin' 1:30
15	Plans I Make 4:16

Barnes & Noble

On 1985's astounding New Day Rising, Minneapolis's Hüsker Dü abandoned the hard-core punk of their brutal youth like it was a bad temp job, emerging into the pop sunlight to take their place alongside R.E.M. and the Replacements as one of the best bands in America. New Day Rising, the power trio's fifth record, was its apogee, with guitarist-vocalist Bob Mould and drummer-vocalist Grant Hart realizing themselves as versatile songcrafters capable of everything from Hart's jaunty piano revelry, "Books About UFOs," to Mould's aching acoustic reminiscence, "Celebrate Summer." Does this mean the band had committed the ultimate punk heresy and (gasp!) softened their sound? Had they traded their steel-toed boots for loafers? No way. New Day Rising is their most visceral album. Hart's atomic drumming on the title track and Mould's shredding vocals on the closer, "Let's Make Plans," are two of the most manic performances ever laid on plastic. Throughout the album, the Byrdsian tinge on Mould's buzz-saw guitar rings as an apt analogy for the perfect middle ground the band had discovered -- between joy and pain, '60s pop and '80s punk. It's enough to make Henry Rollins shed a tear and take up watercolors. Jon Dolan

All Music Guide

For New Day Rising, the follow-up to their breakthrough double-album Zen Arcade, Hüsker Dü replaced concept with conciseness, concentrating on individual songs delivered as scalding post-hardcore pop. New Day Rising is not only a more vicious and relentless record than Zen Arcade, it's more melodic. Bob Mould and Grant Hart have written tightly crafted, melodic pop songs that don't compromise Hüsker's volcanic, unchecked power. Mould and Hart's songs owe a great deal to '60s pop, as the verses and choruses ebb and flow with immediately catchy hooks. Occasionally, the razor-thin production and waves of noise mean that it takes a little bit of effort to pick out the melodies, but more often the furious noise and melodies fuse together to create an overwhelming sonic force. It's possible to hear the rivalry between Mould and Hart on the album itself -- each song is like a game of one-upmanship, as Mould responds to "The Girl Who Lives on Heaven Hill" with "Celebrated Summer." Neither songwriter slips -- both turn in songs that are catchy, clever, and alternately wracked with pain or teeming with humor. New Day Rising is a positively cathartic record and ranks as Hüsker Dü's most sustained moment of pure power. Stephen Thomas Erlewine