the replacements, reissued first four albums
alternate title: "are we recordin this? ... i ain't singin"
they're here, and it's a bear of a listen ...
i'm throwing it out there as always, i love 'let it be'. it's probably in my top 20, maybe top 10 occasionally. there's no denying its importance, its highlights, and fuckit, its place in my life, but i've always considered 'hootenanny' the greatest replacements album. it's a non-starter argument. it has everything that was great and awful about the band. it's the breadth of westerberg in 2 sides (no offense to all involved, but it was always him). sloppy, concise, bad, mocking, even to quote em 'tedious' at times, but my ears heard brilliance. no compromise, no self-doubt, nuthin, pure band at the top of its pre-world game. everything after (however brilliant) reeked in self awareness. this was band in enclosure, feelin their home grown atmosphere. and smart. the squad.
random thoughts (pt. 1) ...
the mats knew how to edit themselves, stinker cuts on albums be damned-- most of these outtakes are downright boring (as was the case on the sire comp a few years back).
anyone "caught by surprise" by the maturity of westerberg's writing on 'let it be' should take a re-listen to "if only you were lonely" on the sorry ma cd. this gem appeared on ... oh yeah, the first record they ever put out (b-side of "i'm in trouble" single).
the sorry ma cd kinda stunned me. in the past i've too easily dismissed it. it's a terrific record. reeks of adreneline. and to FINALLY get to hear the demo tape that caught twin-tone's ear is pretty great. a seed of an idea, with the horse pulling the buggy way beyond its speed
bob stinson deserved to die for not letting the mats do "you're getting married" (stink cd). great to finally hear it on something other than a 19th generation cassette dub. that's right, i said it. sorry bob.
surprisingly candid interview w/ the normally cantakerous (is that a word?) westerberg.
and tommy
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