While the blending of power/pop extremes was nothing the Velvet Underground, or even the Beatles, hadn't done years earlier, the Hüskers pulled it off in a way that transcended gimmickry, and did so on such terrain - the American hardcore punk scene - where nobody saw it coming or even believed it possible. Mould and Hart would, in a way, finish the job Reed and the others tinkered with one-dimensionally almost two decades earlier, compounding their kindergarten melodies with equally hefty injections of hippie love and heavy-metal thunder.

Before their stormy demise in late 1987, the band would release six full-length albums, two EPs, and a catalog of singles and extras. But the pinnacle of all that output was a double LP called "Zen Arcade," first delivered to stores in July 1984, by California-based SST Records.

"The most important and relevant double album to be released since the Beatles' 'White Album,'" bragged SST's press release. Such lofty hyperbole would be preposterous, until you consider the full context -- or lack thereof -- of the underground in 1984. Eleven years later, Spin magazine would award "Zen Arcade" the No. 4 spot on its ranking of the hundred best-ever "alternative" records. Rolling Stone, in its laughably manic list of the best of the '80s, gave it lip service at No. 33. Not the choicest of praise, until you remember that not only this band, but their entire musical domain, lived and died far below the mainstream waterline.

"Zen Arcade" is best savored not as a CD but in the old, cardboard-and-vinyl format. Each of its four sides is a distinct chapter with its own temperature and architecture, and each flip of the licorice seems a perfectly placed respite. Even more than "London Calling" or "Sandinista!" -- the Clash's multiside megaprojects -- "Zen Arcade" sets the mark for the most brilliantly arranged opus of all time.

The scourge of most double LPs, back when there was such a thing, is they went on for too long -- padded with live cuts, covers and extras. But here, each and every song belongs exactly in its place, a flawless complement to those on either side. "Zen Arcade" can haughtily claim par with the likes of "London Calling" in the pantheon of classic two-record sets that aren't bogged down by their own overreaching ambition or conceit.

Side 1's leadoff is the straightforward kick of "Something I Learned Today," and it concludes with the entrancing earthquake of "Hare Krsna," a deafening, tambourine-backed instrumental. The first time I heard this song, sizzling over the stereo in a Boston-area record shop 20 years ago, I remember the young clerk furrowing his brow, looking up toward the speakers and saying, "Somebody should write a dissertation about this song." The seven opening cuts alone are worthy of any landmark LP. But there are 16 more to go. This is the ultimate workhorse album from the ultimate workhorse band, one so rich with sonic nooks and crannies that an in-depth listen leaves you not only battling incipient tinnitus, but tired. So many changes from fast to slow, hard to soft, love to hate, all in perfect working sequence.

Over the course of the 23 songs, you'll find a gamut of daring effects: acoustic guitar, chair throwing, the crashing of waves, whispers and chants. There's even the breezy piano of "Monday Will Never Be the Same." (If Ken Burns ever directs a documentary about the history of alt-rock, the tinkling of "Monday ..." needs to be its backing theme.) Such eclectics are brave, maybe, for what was supposed to be a punk album, but they never become overly reflective or maudlin. Take "Never Talking to You Again," for instance, a can't-forget anthem of wrist-snapping guitar (Mould) and heartbreak vocals (Hart) done entirely in 12-string acoustic: not the syrupy, melodramatic strum you'd hear in 2004, but a brash, coldly atmospheric attack. These interludes tame what is essentially a hurricane of neo-psychedelic guitar, Mould and his Ibanez flying-V changing speeds across the four sides like a race-car driver slamming through gears. Ruddered firmly by Mould's metallic storm, the experimental tweaks don't have a chance to fester or steal the show.

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