The Phoenix Network:
 
 
 
About  |  Advertise
Adult  |  Moonsigns  |  Band Guide  |  Blogs  |  In Pictures
 
CD Reviews  |  Classical  |  Live Reviews  |  Music Features

Replacements | Rhino Reissues

 Tim + Pleased To Meet Me + Don’t Tell A Soul + All Shook Down | Rhino (2008)
By ZETH LUNDY  |  October 1, 2008
3.0 3.0 Stars
replacementsinside.jpg
Rhino’s second and concluding batch of Replacements reissues (the first four albums were released earlier this year) charts the Minneapolis band’s Great Descent from the heights of rock-and-roll nihilism to the pit of MOR blah. Between the release of Tim (1985), the ’Mats’ greatest record and a raggedy piss-take on success, love, and post-whatever, and All Shook Down (1990), a Paul Westerberg solo album in everything but name, lead guitarist Bob Stinson was made a scapegoat for the band’s chemical indulgences and fired, and Westerberg’s songwriting became boring. That said, Pleased To Meet Me (1987) remains a potent, if polished, rock record, whereas Don’t Tell a Soul (1989) boasts some of the best examples of Westerberg’s ready-for-prime-time revamp (“Achin’ To Be,” “I’ll Be You”). Rhino’s editions sound fantastic, shining up “Kiss Me on the Bus” and putting the knuckles back into Tommy Stinson’s bass. PTMM has the best selection of bonus tracks, like the dunderheaded raver “Bundle Up” and the disheveled wail ’n’ blooze “Election Day.” DTAS, a more sober affair by ’Mats standards, gets the last laugh with a hidden rehearsal snippet of a cover of a certain dead-ape song by one of their contemporaries. Westerberg, still snotty and entitled, hollers, “If the Pixies are seven, then the ’Mats are eight!”
Related: The Replacements: Sorry Ma, Forgot To Take Out the Trash;, The week in boners, Boston music news: September 5, 2008, More more >
  Topics: CD Reviews , Paul Westerberg, Paul Westerberg, Tommy Stinson,  More more >
  • Share:
  • Share this entry with Facebook
  • Share this entry with Digg
  • Share this entry with Delicious
  • RSS feed
  • Email this article to a friend
  • Print this article
Comments

ARTICLES BY ZETH LUNDY
Share this entry with Delicious
  •   KURT VILE | CHILDISH PRODIGY  |  September 28, 2009
    Kurt Vile's punny name, as well as the title of his latest full-length album, bespeaks low-art subversion.
  •   REVIEW: THE STONE ROSES | THE STONE ROSES (LEGACY EDITION)  |  September 15, 2009
    The Stone Roses' 1989 debut LP has been deified by such dubious tastemakers as the NME and Oasis's Noel Gallagher — and the rest of us really like it too.
  •   BETTER ALL THE TIME  |  September 08, 2009
    In 2006, Apple/EMI released the Beatles-soundtracked Cirque du Soleil companion piece Love , which mashed together songs from the band's repertoire in stunning remastered sound.
  •   VARIOUS ARTISTS | ZE 30: ZE RECORDS STORY 1979-2009  |  August 19, 2009
    Impromptu dance parties have begun to interrupt the domesticity of my household, and my family would like to thank Strut for supplying the soundtrack.
  •   REVIEW: CHOO CHOO LA ROUGE | BLACK CLOUDS  |  August 10, 2009
    Choo Choo La Rouge have an affiliation with Boston, but their plaid-shirt-and-jeans rock reaches across the map to warmer climes, maybe to laid-back spots like Athens or Austin.

 See all articles by: ZETH LUNDY

MOST POPULAR
RSS Feed of for the most popular articles
 Most Viewed   Most Emailed 



  |  Sign In  |  Register
 
thePhoenix.com:
Phoenix Media/Communications Group:
TODAY'S FEATURED ADVERTISERS
Copyright © 2009 The Phoenix Media/Communications Group