The grade is an average: the complete show January 30, 1985 set is an 8.5 (high A-) to me, while the 20 selected songs from other shows in 1985 is 7 (B+). So, the entire thing rounds up to 8 (A-), and then I dock it a notch for bloat, which makes it #live and #limited edition. The truth is that even at 8 (A-), I wouldn’t bother because the prices being asked by the lucky few consumers who snatched up copies early are ridiculous. Maybe the label will get smart and do another run, but probably not. Notably, there is no overlap between the two discs, and the better songs are not only from the complete show, but the better performances are too. I wish they would release that first complete show separately (they did release digital-only EPs of some tracks). If the complete show were a notch higher, I would buy the digital tracks of that show and burn it to disc, but I’m not going to pretend it’s 9 (A) just because it’s live Husker Du from their prime period. The whole thing is just too artisanal for me to get worked up about. I am looking into the specific sub-set of songs from the January 30th show that the label issued on EPs prior to this release, just to see if there is any rhyme or reason to that. The whole show is only an hour, so it would fit on a single CD, but maybe that 13-song sub-set is vinyl-appropriate?
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