Hardcore punk of the 1980s was marked by songs of minimal length. Like an eerily quick pizza chain, many bands seemed to promise delivery of a complete song in two minutes or less (or your money back). For instance, an oft-repeated anecdote claims that influential punk band Minutemen were named as such for the length of their songs, which rarely topped the one-minute mark in their early days. This may or may not be true, but you'd be hard-pressed to find a song in the far reaches of their back catalog longer than 60 seconds.
Basically, the songs were short. And for good reason: their blistering fury was enough to melt faces in large doses.
Accordingly, the last thing any mosher would expect would be a swirling 14-minute instrumental epic, but that's exactly what legendary band Hüsker Dü does. The last song on their classic 1984 album Zen Arcade, "Reoccurring Dreams" is an exhausting aural assault (in the best way possible) that seems to never end, and yet the listener feels cheated when it finally does. Aside from intermittent breaks that blast the listener with a wash of feedback and noise, this marathon song hardly lets up. The hypnotic ascending riff over a backdrop of jazz-infused-drumming-on-speed (provided by underrated drummer Grant Hart) combines for a dizzying listening experience. Admittedly, the song may drag on a few minutes longer than it should, but this one-take jam is a must-listen anyway.
Here is a condensed live version. Though this version is just half the length of the album version, it makes up for the missing 7 minutes with raw fury.
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