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I doubt his pop stardom would've made me think otherwise. A few redeeming moments, but one left off the album. (noteworthy: "Church," "I won't," "we know the night") Pales in comparison to classic lp's "Let it Be," and "Tim". The number one reason why chorus is a poor choice for guitar. Paul Westerberg is too good of a songwriter for a total flop, but his grain-heavenly voice can't save this one.
If you want a good example, look for the bootleg "Sheet Shower and Shave", it's got two sets, one opening for Tom Petty and another in a club in Madison. I recommend the book 'All Over But The Shouting' to anyone. I like this album a lot. The first word isn't really "sheet" but the censors like it better. A fun read, puts you in the heart of the Minneapolis scene of the 80's. Westerberg's songwriting was maturing, the band was trying to find a way to stay fresh and interested in what they were doing. They missfired on a few songs, but mainly in the arrangement of them, as many of these songs really came alive in concert.
Oh, and the Pixies thing at the end isn't funny. The remastering is really good and the bonus tracks, especially "Wake up" and the Slade cover, are too. It's not their best and it may not be as important and essential as "Ant music" but it holds up fine after two decades, actually it sounds even better now.
"I'll Be You" (the band's only top forty hit)is a great single. "They're Blind" is a fine teenager ballad with a late 50's slow-dance backdrop. "Rock 'n' Roll Ghost" and "Talent Show" are both great Westerberg outings that often get overlooked. Enough yammering about the original album though.These reissues have been fraught with various issues (edited tracks, audio drop-outs, poor choice of bonus tracks, corny footsteps ending each album proper which cue the bonus tracks, ill-advised and uninformed/uninformative liner notes, etc). The band recorded an entire album (plus) with Tony Berg at Bearsville Studios but mysteriously decided to scrap it and start again with Matt Wallace.
"Achin' To Be" contains some cliched lyrics that should make you cringe but Westerberg gives them an entirely sincere reading with a perfect arrangement for them. It looks like that didn't happen. It's not as bad as some will have you believe (a bad album by The Replacements is probably still better than an okay album by several other artists) but it's still a pretty maddeningly-uneven album if there ever was one. The failure to include the Tony Berg sessions as bonus tracks leads one to believe (from what was included) that the band was under-pressure, uninspired and creatively scratching it's head, losing what was amazing about the band in the production in the process.
no dynamic range, everything in the red) is not so much of an issue with this reissue. There are some great songs. This album was The Replacements' supposed 'adult, Middle-Of-The-Road, intended for tons of airplay, attract a legion of new fans' album. And "Asking Me Lies" (which plenty of fans have decried several times) to these ears sounds like The Replacements in a good mood re-writing late 70's era Rolling Stones (nothing too cringe-worthy). Although if you're buying this album for the first time: this is the decidedly definitive version.
And what's worse is, if you have any prior knowledge of the band at all, you can here this upon the very first listen. This DTAS disc has a surprising amount of mid-range and the loudness issues (i.e. An alternate version did appear for the vague "We'll Inherit The Earth" (sounding like an entirely different, almost very good, song). This didn't exactly happen and it upset some fans to boot.
There's an alternate version of "Rock 'n' Roll Ghost" that could have appeared here, but did not. One would think that a few more could have been included as bonus tracks here but alas, once again, it is not to be. A great studio demo for "Talent Show" contains a subtle slide guitar part and shows the song fully-formed. The sound quality on all of the tracks have been somewhat improved and not at all compromised as on reissues of earlier albums. You can only fathom that there's a box set in the works for all these puzzling oversights and glaring omissions.
The Slade cover ("Gudbuy t' Jane") is a fine, if insubstantial addition and The Pixies' "Monkey Gone To Heaven' secret reprise at the end is kind of funny. are pretty okay additions but are new no one. Maybe we'll hear an entire pre-Petty tour live show from 1989 to hear what this band really sounded like around this time, one day.Recommended: Almost no, but just, yes. "We Know The Night" and "Date To Church" (both also on the 'Nothing For All' comp).
"I Won't", "Back To Back", "Anywhere's Better Than Here" and "We'll Inherit The Earth" are hollow, counterfeit rockers and pseudo-anthems written by an artist under the pressure of a label hungry for hits. Only "Wake Up" and the fine "Portland" have been released from these sessions. So much so that one can't help but wonder if any one QC'd (Quality Checked) these before they went anywhere. So great that Tom Petty (for whom the 'Mats opened for on this tour) borrowed the "rebel without a clue" line for his "Into The Great Wide Open".
It's unfortunate that for every great song on the album there's an awful one right behind it.
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