Summer may be coming to a close, but there’s still time to make it a celebrated autumn. Earlier today, Numero Group announced a new Hüsker Dü box set cataloging their miraculous 1985. The Miracle Year is a 4-LP/2-CD compilation containing a restoration from Dü’s First Avenue live set from January 30, 1985, followed by another two discs (or one if you’re doing CDs) featuring 20 live tracks from throughout the group’s 1985 touring schedule. The collection hits stores, streamers, and everything in between in November.
Recorded two weeks after SST Records released the band’s landmark New Day Rising album, which came six months after its landmark Zen Arcade album, the First Avenue set is a bangers-only collection. Although heavy on New Day Rising, the album also features tracks from throughout their career, including Zen Arcade, Metal Circus, and some early Flip Your Wig cuts. There’s even a handful of Beatles covers and the group’s glorious version of the Mary Tyler Moore theme, “Love Is All Around.” More deep cuts, early tracks, and a recording of “Chartered Trips” from Switzerland make up the rest of the collection.
The Miracle Year isn’t simply referencing the group’s creative peak, but also the mere fact that these tapes survived. In January 2011, the band’s drummer, singer, and co-songwriter Grant Hart suffered a two-room fire that destroyed much of the Hüsker Dü archive. At the time, Hart was hospitalized, but thankfully, his two cats were unharmed.
Miracle Year is the second collection of unheard Dü material from Numero Group. In 2017, the label released Savage Young Dü, a compilation of early demos, tapes, and sessions from the band’s earliest days through their signing with SST in 1983.
The Miracle Year is set to release on November 7.
