Candy Apple Grey is the fifth album by the alternative rock

Alternative rock

Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...

 band Hüsker Dü

Hüsker Dü

Hüsker Dü was an American rock band formed in Saint Paul, Minnesota in 1979. The band's continual members were guitarist Bob Mould, bassist Greg Norton, and drummer Grant Hart....

, released in 1986. It was their first major label album, though Warner Bros. had initially lobbied to release Flip Your Wig

Flip Your Wig

Flip Your Wig is the fourth album by the American punk rock band, Hüsker Dü, and its last release on SST Records. By the time of this release in 1985, they had signed a major-label record deal. However, the band felt they owed one more album to SST and delivered Flip Your Wig...

until the band decided to let SST have it. Candy Apple Grey also marks the completion of the band's transition from hardcore punk

Hardcore punk

Hardcore punk is an underground music genre that originated in the late 1970s, following the mainstream success of punk rock. Hardcore is generally faster, thicker, and heavier than earlier punk rock. The origin of the term "hardcore punk" is uncertain. The Vancouver-based band D.O.A...

 to a more well-rounded sonic style which would later come to be known as alternative rock

Alternative rock

Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...

 or college rock

College rock

College rock is a term that was used in the United States to describe 1980s alternative rock before the term "alternative" came into common usage. The term's use of the word "college" refers to campus radio stations located at institutions of higher education in Canada and the United States, where...

. As usual, Bob Mould

Bob Mould

Robert Arthur "Bob" Mould is an American musician, principally known for his work as guitarist, vocalist and songwriter for alternative rock bands Hüsker Dü in the 1980s and Sugar in the 1990s.-Early life:...

 and Grant Hart

Grant Hart

Grant Hart is an American musician, best known as the drummer and co-songwriter for the influential alternative rock and hardcore punk band Hüsker Dü. After the band's breakup in 1987, Hart formed the alternative rock trio Nova Mob, where he moved to vocals and guitar...

 individually wrote tracks on the album. While the band's earlier, more frenetic style is still evident, Candy Apple Grey also features more introverted, toned-down material, including a relatively large amount of acoustic guitar.

The clarity of the production is improved over previous releases, but is still somewhat thin and top-heavy, and is frequently cited for its use of gated reverb

Gated reverb

Gated reverb is an audio processing technique that is applied to recordings of drums to make the drums sound powerful and "punchy," while keeping the overall mix clean and transparent-sounding...

, a mid-'80s drum production fad. The singles released from this album were "Sorry Somehow

Sorry Somehow

"Sorry Somehow" is a song from Hüsker Dü's major-label debut Candy Apple Grey. It was also released an EP and as the first single from Candy Apple Grey...

" and "Don't Want To Know If You Are Lonely

Don't Want to Know If You Are Lonely

"Don't Want to Know If You Are Lonely" is a song by Hüsker Dü from their album Candy Apple Grey. The song was written by Grant Hart. It was released both as an EP in the United States and as a single in the United Kingdom in March 1986...

," both written and sung by Hart. The latter was accompanied by a promotional video which earned airtime on MTV

MTV

MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....

. Candy Apple Grey was the first Hüsker Dü album to chart on the Billboard Top 200

Billboard 200

The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...

, but despite receiving exposure on radio as well as MTV, it could get no higher than #140.

Track listing

Side one

1. "Crystal" (Mould) – 3:28
2. "Don't Want to Know If You Are Lonely
   Don't Want to Know If You Are Lonely
   "Don't Want to Know If You Are Lonely" is a song by Hüsker Dü from their album Candy Apple Grey. The song was written by Grant Hart. It was released both as an EP in the United States and as a single in the United Kingdom in March 1986...
   
   " (Hart) – 3:29
3. "I Don't Know for Sure" (Mould) – 2:27
4. "Sorry Somehow
   Sorry Somehow
   "Sorry Somehow" is a song from Hüsker Dü's major-label debut Candy Apple Grey. It was also released an EP and as the first single from Candy Apple Grey...
   
   " (Hart) – 4:25
5. "Too Far Down" (Mould) – 4:37

Side two

1. "Hardly Getting Over It" (Mould) – 6:02
2. "Dead Set on Destruction" (Hart) – 2:59
3. "Eiffel Tower High" (Mould) – 2:49
4. "No Promise Have I Made" (Hart) – 3:39
5. "All This I've Done for You" (Mould) – 3:09

Personnel

• Bob Mould
  Bob Mould
  Robert Arthur "Bob" Mould is an American musician, principally known for his work as guitarist, vocalist and songwriter for alternative rock bands Hüsker Dü in the 1980s and Sugar in the 1990s.-Early life:...
  
   – guitar
  Guitar
  The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
  
  , vocals
  Singing
  Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
  
  , keyboards
  Keyboard instrument
  A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
  
  , percussion
  Percussion instrument
  A percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
  
  
• Grant Hart
  Grant Hart
  Grant Hart is an American musician, best known as the drummer and co-songwriter for the influential alternative rock and hardcore punk band Hüsker Dü. After the band's breakup in 1987, Hart formed the alternative rock trio Nova Mob, where he moved to vocals and guitar...
  
   – drums
  Drum kit
  A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
  
  , vocals, percussion, keyboards
• Greg Norton
  Greg Norton
  Greg Norton is an American musician, formerly of the band Hüsker Dü....
  
   – bass guitar
  Bass guitar
  The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....