It's cleaner and more produced than any of their records, which is one reason why many
Huesker Due
fans have never fully embraced their second double album,
Warehouse: Songs and Stories
. Granted,
Warehouse
boasts a fuller production -- complete with multi-tracked guitars and vocal, various percussion techniques, and endless studio effects -- that would have seemed out of place a mere two years before its release. However,
Flip Your Wig
and
Candy Apple Grey
both suggested this full-fledged
pop
production, and it's to
's credit that they never sound like they are selling out with
. What they do sound like is breaking up. Although there was a schism apparent between
Bob Mould
Grant Hart
on
, they don't even sound like they are writing for the same band on
. But the individual songs on the album are powerhouses in their own right, as both songwriters exhibit a continuing sense of experimentation --
Hart
writes a
sea shanty
with
"She Floated Away"
and uses bubbling percussion on
"Charity, Chastity, Prudence, and Hope,"
while
Mould
nearly arrives at
power pop
"Could You Be the One?"
and touches on
singer/songwriter
-styled
folk-rock
"No Reservations."
doesn't have the single-minded sense of purpose or eccentric sprawl of
Zen Arcade
, but as a collection of songs, it's of the first order. Furthermore, its stylish production -- which makes
concessions without abandoning a
punk
ethos -- pointed the way to the kind of "alternative"
rock
that dominated the mainstream in the early '90s. In all, it was a fine way for one of the most important bands of the '80s to call it a day. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine