Chicago reissue label Numero Group will give fans a comprehensive look at the early days of Hüsker Dü when they release the massive Savage Young Dü box set this November 10th. Compiled over seven years from tapes and early demos, the 69-track collection is already being streamed in full over at NPR.
Available as four LPs or three CDs, Savage Young Dü features fresh remasters from sound board tapes, session masters, and demos captured between 1979 and 1982, many of which come from the band’s former soundman Terry Katzman. Included in the set are all the band’s 7-inch singles from that time, such as “Statues”/”Amusement” and “In a Free Land”; a new remaster of Hüsker Dü’s sophomore full-length, 1983’s Everything Falls Apart; and 47 previously unheard demos, alternate takes, live versions, and never-before-released songs.
(Read: The 50 Albums That Shaped Punk Rock)
There’s also a new version of their 1982 debut, Land Speed Record. The original release came from the first of two sets the band performed at Minneapolis’ 7th Street Entry on August 15th, 1981. However, the original tape was stolen some time ago, and all that’s left is a multitrack copy and decades-old mixdown. Though Numero has the original tape from the second set that night, they decided to use a third tape, one recorded two weeks later at a Twin/Tone Records showcase. “They played basically the exact same set,” Numero’s Ken Shipley told NPR. “They’re even better than they were two weeks earlier. And the soundboard tape was way better. It was just a marked improvement over Land Speed Record. We said, ‘Let’s do a better version of it.'”
Housed in a linen-finished slipcase, the deluxe box set features a 144-page hardcover book, 40 previously unpublished photographs, and a 12,000 word essay by Erin Osmon. Those who pre-order via mail order will also get a bonus 7-inch called Extra Circus and containing five previously unissued songs from the 1983 Metal Circus sessions. Pre-order everything at the Numero Group website.
Stream disc one here, disc two here, and disc three here. Below, find the cover art and full tracklistings.
Savage Young Dü Box Set Artwork:
Savage Young Dü Tracklist:
Disc 1
01. Do You Remember?
02. Sore Eyes
03. Can’t See You Anymore
04. Picture of You
05. The Truth Hurts
06. Do the Bee
07. Nuclear Nightmare
08. All I’ve Got to Lose Is You
09. Chinese Rocks
10. Uncle Ron
11. Data Control
12. Insects Rule the World
13. You’re Too Obtuse
14. Outside
15. Sexual Economics
16. What Went Wrong
17. Statues
18. Amusement
19. Writer’s Cramp
20. Let’s Go Die
21. Walk with the Wounded
22. Industrial Grocery Store
Disc 2
01. Drug Party
02. Call On Me
03. Termination
04. I’m Tired of Doing Things
05. Stick It to Me
06. Wheels
07. All Tensed Up
08. Don’t Try to Call
09. I’m Not Interested
10. Guns at My School
11. Push the Button
12. Gilligan’s Island
13. MTC
14. Don’t Have a Life
15. You’re Naive
16. Strange Week
17. Big Sky.
18. Ultracore
19. Let’s Go Die
20. Won’t Say a Word
21. Don’t Try It
22. Private Hell
23. Diane
24. Sex Dolls
Disc 3
01. In a Free Land
02. What Do I Want?
03. M.I.C.
04. Target
05. Signals From Above
06. From the Gut
07. Blah, Blah, Blah
08. Punch Drunk
09. Bricklayer
10. Afraid of Being Wrong
11. Sunshine Superman
12. Signals From Above
13. Everything Falls Apart
14. Wheels
15. Target
16. Obnoxious
17. Gravity
18. Do You Remember?
19. Travel in Opposite Car
20. It’s Not Funny Anymore
21. Real World
22. Out on a Limb
23. It’s Not Fair
