Good News For Modern Man Review
By: NME.COM
The ex-junkie drummer often accused of splitting the seminal Hüsker Dü (artistic difference says Hart; Hart's drug madness says Dü; writing partner Bob Mould), whose subsequent band Nova Mob seemingly couldn't release a record without the label going bust and who were nearly wiped out in a bus crash while on tour...Grant Hart and Lady Luck aren't exactly on speaking terms. But here comes the happy ending. Intermittently, 'Good News...' excels even Hart's Hüsker heights. Opener 'Think It Over Now' is a shimmering Spectoresque stomp, perfectly suiting Hart's anguished vibrato, while 'Nobody Rides For Free' matches hard-learned lessons to the sound of REM at their most hauntingly melodic. Best of all is 'You Don't Have To Tell Me Now', a sweeping, heart-breaking ballad, and perhaps the best song Hart has ever written. No longer consumed by his demons, Hart distils the angst into a simple piano melody and spectral harmonies, finding a tender pause, a rare moment of clarity. "You have to take it or leave it", he sings, bitterly, heroically, "and I think I already know". Elsewhere, the album is patchy, at times teasingly half-formed, though never anything less than captivating. But for its momentary, sublime glimpses at what Grant Hart can achieve, for its simple pop touch and hard-won wisdoms, 'Good News...' easily deserves an 8.

The Gospel of Grant
Pulse of the Twin Cities - October 20, 1999
By Tom Hallett
"I think the Golden Rule is a hard one to top," say Husker Du co-founder and songwriter extraordinaire Grant Hart, when asked about his spiritual foundation and the inspiration for the title of his latest solo album, Good News For Modern Man (the "cool" name for the Bible in the late '60s). "I think we see a lot of abandonment of the Sermon On The Mount, you have people like Rush Limbaugh and Jason Lewis, who say, don't clothe the naked, don't heal the sick, don't shelter the poor. Anytime you have a mass spiritual movement, it's in danger of losing its spirituality. The word religion comes from 'regularity,' not some spiritual connection with any higher power." Hart speaks excitedly, eyes bright with pride, as he recalls the past three years spent on the record. Recorded sans band at Pachyderm Studios (and released on the Pachyderm label) in Cannon Falls, Minnesota, Good News is a poignant collection of songs old and new that the self-described "barefoot, long-haired, singer/drummer" crafted and polished lovingly at his own pace. "With multi-tracking you can one day do the drumming, then go home and rehearse," he laughs, "then come back the next day and have something to add to it. I wish I did have the band that's not on this CD! Hart, a South Saint Paul native, has done his time in some pretty impressive bands, beginning with Husker Du in the early '80s and on through the '90s with Nova Mob. He is suprisingly candid about the Husker days, and more than willing to dispel any myths the punk legends may have spawned over the years. Along with Bob Mould and Greg Norton, Hart began his musical career in the usual fashion. "I had done some jamming in High School," he recounts, "and after that I was working in the original Cheapo Records on Grand Avenue with Greg Norton. I met Bob [Mould] in his freshman year

GRANT HART Good News For Modern Man (Pachyderm)
A review by Citysearch.com
By: Christopher Bahn
When I told a friend of mine I was reviewing the new Grant Hart record, she frowned sympathetically and said, "Oh, that's too bad." I told her, no, it's a good thing, but I knew why she was so skeptical. Once, Hart was a living legend of punk rock, the co-genius behind Hüsker Dü, one of the most important bands to come out of our state. But while his ex-bandmate Bob Mould went on to alt-rock stardom, Hart spent the Nineties as a forgotten also-ran. He and his new group Nova Mob couldn't catch a break, putting out a string of mediocre records amid shufflng labels, a bad bus crash and Hart's ongoing heroin use, an addiction he now says is behind him. But "Good News" is good news indeed: This is Hart's best album since the Dü days. And it's a success indubitably his own, since he plays and sings nearly everything himself—Indigenous' Mato Nanji guests on "Seka Knows," but that's about it. I wouldn't have guessed that the Beach Boys would be a prominent influence, but the spirit of Brian Wilson is all over this record, especially on "Run Run Run to the Centre Pompidou," with its multi-layered choruses and innocent theme about trying to see as much of Paris as possible before the vacation's over. "Nobody Rides for Free" mixes Dylanesque lyrics with a driving piano-and-organ arrangement, while "You Don't Have To Tell Me Now" echoes "Hunky Dory"-era David Bowie. Hart's expressive tenor and strong songwriting keep everything together. In short, an artifact full of gems from a guy I always knew had a great record in him but hadn't thought I'd hear. 4 out of 5 stars.

GRANT HART Good News For Modern Man (Pachyderm)
Minneapolis / St.Paul Skyway News - March 1, 2000
By: Bill Snyder
After some three years holed up in the Pachyderm recording studio, Grant Hart finally emerges with his first release since Nova Mob's 1994 self-titled swan song. Perhaps Hart’s most important work since Hüsker Dü's Zen Arcade, the album shows a level of ambition and a near-obsessive perfectionism that make it well worth the wait. Though often catchy, Good News' strength lies not in it's individual songs, but in the overall depth of the album. It demands repeated listening on the level of Radiohead's OK Computer. To try to absorb it in a few days or weeks seems absurd, and any reviews of the album (including this one) are likely to fall short as a result. Though Hart performed virtually every note on the album, it doesn't come off as 'pasted together." In comparison, even 1989's remarkable Intolerance (on which he used the same approach) feels a bit stiff. Good News holds all the energy of a live band, but matches it with the precision you’d hope from an artist who's been noodling around Pachyderm on and off for 36 months. Sonically, Hart takes a very well-thought-out "kitchen sink" approach. Flashbacks to the 1960's garage rock scene, modern industrial music, Beach Boy-esque harmonies and a touch of psychedelia all come together in strikingly unusual ways. Songs like the loving, almost Beatlesque "Letter From Anne Marie" and the bitter, punked-up indictment of modern culture "In A Cold House" fit smoothly side-by-side. The opening "Think It Over" is class-A guitar pop, while the closing epic, "Little Nemo," starts off as a brooding ballad slowly building to a crescendo of sonic textures reminiscent of Keith Moon destroying the studio at the close of Quadrophenia (it worked, so no one complained). Throughout, Hart’s edgy lead vocals render even his most cryptic lyri