Grant Hart - Intolerance (1989)

Very sad news recently with the death of Grant Hart at age 56. I was too young to follow Husker Du when they were an active band, but I got into them in the mid-90s through being a fan of Bob Mould's subsequent band Sugar and going backwards through his catalog. The BMG Music Club had the Huskers' final album Warehouse: Songs and Stories at the time, so that one came first for me, then after not too long I found used vinyl copies of most of their SST records. Husker Du has been one of my favorite bands ever since, and I think my natural preference for distorted melodic music is most likely attributable to them. I've realized through the years that a lot of my favorite Husker Du songs were ones that Grant Hart wrote and sang. "Pink Turns to Blue", "Sorry Somehow", "Flexible Flyer", "Green Eyes"... holy shit, those songs are untouchable and will live on for a long time to come. While Grant Hart's post-Husker Du output, both solo and with the band Nova Mob in the 90s, was more erratic, it's a shame how overlooked his records are. Intolerance was the first solo record Grant made, shortly after Husker Du's breakup. I think I initially picked this one up in the Sam Goody 99-cent cassette bargain bin at some point in the 90s. I'm listening to it again in the wake of his death. Free of the limitations of the HD sound, Hart can do whatever he wants and that's certainly what he does here. It's often more of a folk-rock record than a rock record, but there is absolutely no compromising artistically. Grant goes beyond the sound of his former band to bring out his eccentricities and prove all of what he's capable of doing. Keyboards make a solid presence on many of the songs, but they are tastefully employed and work so well within the context of the songs. But for all that is going on musically, the arrangements have plenty of room to breathe and it's a very natural-sounding record. In fact, the production is so much better than the tinny, echoey sound of the last few Husker Du records it's shocking. Why do those final HD albums sound so bad?!? But what's most important are the songs themselves, and they're all excellent. "2541" is probably the most recognizable tune and a great singalong. "Now That You Know Me" is the closest to a Husker Du-style song here (listen to The Living End for an early live HD version). "The Main" and "She Can't See the Angels Coming" are both touching ballads. These are some of the standouts, but the album as a whole is well worth a listen or three. R.I.P. Grant. You will be missed.
https://open.spotify.com/album/5hTyhepxgW8r3UML8jqteh