The Replacements: Classic or Dud?

what is this???

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fi5pPxHIqCo

Sonny Vincent! Benefits coming up around town for him soon, I think his kids/grandkids were in a house explosion/fire.

https://www.gofundme.com/xnvynbcc

snarkiest Paul interview comment from old days: "They've ALL been solo records"

― son of a lewd monk (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, September 23, 2014 3:33 PM

i don't think anyone who doesn't live in Minnesota can understand how popular they are w/a certain set of people who went to college in the 90s in this state, last year they did 5 nights in a row at First Avenue at $20 a pop and sold it all out.

I resent this remark, there's people from northern Iowa who totally get the Gear Daddies

haha that's where I'm from

i don't think anyone who doesn't live in Minnesota can understand how popular they are w/a certain set of people who went to college in the 90s in this state, last year they did 5 nights in a row at First Avenue at $20 a pop and sold it all out.
I resent this remark, there's people from northern Iowa who totally get the Gear Daddies

― tremendous crime wave and killing wave (Joan Crawford Loves Chachi), Wednesday, March 9, 2016 1:45 PM (33 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

haha the 7 miles that separated my town from the border of Iowa have some of the highest per capita narcissism of small differences in the world

or the narcissism of no differences

If Paul Westerberg ran for governor of MN based on a promise that he would erect a 40 foot wall around the state and promised to keep Minnesota for Minnesotans he would win in a landslide.

When he took the oath of office he could even "forget" the words and it would be so charming cuz he's so talented and smart but doesn't anything seriously. Also, he is an underdog.

His vice governor could be Craig Finn and he could finish all of Westerberg's speeches and they'd always wear Twins hats.

And we could get on this board and talk about how they were both our guys before they were your guys.

At what point did Chris Mars stop giving interviews? He's not talked to in the new book, is he?

I would play black ops and release this photo days before the election.

http://i.imgur.com/hdVCHrY.jpg

xpost Washington Post interview w/ Mehr:

You talked to Paul and Tommy but what about Chris Mars? In the book, you recount how his relationship with the others soured to the point Paul openly antagonizes him. Did Mars talk to you?

I had done an interview from him in 2008 when I was doing a story on the Replacements. Chris had moved on from the Replacements. He had almost moved on when he was in the band. He was the most reluctant to go back.

Why would he be so reluctant?

He genuinely does have a hard and fast rule in talking about the Replacements. He’s trying to put a distance between his band life and art career. And I think there is some lingering animus. He was basically fired and was probably not well treated in the last couple of years within the group.

I would play black ops and release this photo days before the election.

i would counter that the only replacement who appears to be on or near the iowa side of the border is tommy (assuming the sign is properly placed exactly on the border, as all "welcome to" signs should). and he went there only to discard either a cigarette butt or some snot.

I always forget this is out there:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axN4jeuKEiY

Okay, listened to some Paul solo material and my reaction was: overall I enjoyed the singing, the guitar tone and the snappy drumming on whatever I happened to hear, the songwriting was fine if not outstanding, and maybe if I listened some more it would grow on me, but not sure what in fact there is to make me listen again except renewed curiosity after having read the book.

Westerberg's solo material sounds sad, as in, this quiet snowfall of melancholy buries the often good tunes.

by the way I bought the bio. Hooray.

Enjoy.

Westerberg's solo material sounds sad, as in, this quiet snowfall of melancholy buries the often good tunes.

So maybe I should scroll back up thread again to see prior discussion /zingtouch but for those who vastly prefer Twin/Tone material, is Tim the acme because of the slower stuff like "Unsatisfied" and " Sixteen Blue" or is it a little bit of a drop off because of, I dunno, corny Peter Buck solo?

Aargh I meant to type Let It Be, not Tim. I need to go to sleep.

I'll be home when I'm sleeping.

let it be was the first mats album i heard and a life-changing album for me. still my sentimental fave for a million reasons, but not because of "unsatisfied," which i find kind of annoying, but "androgynous" is a great slow one and "favorite thing" is a great fast one and there's a seeming effortlessness to the whole thing that i've always found endearing and magical. the songwriting peaks here too, i think.

but there are days when i prefer the hopped-up carelesscore of sorry ma or the careening rock and roll sloppiness of hootenanny, which are both great four-musketeer us-against-the-world rock band albums to my ears. "customer" are "lovelines" are as good as they ever got. as is "god damn job." as is "i.o.u." for that matter. it's not as if they immediately started sucking when they dumped bob. they just changed.

Objectively I would agree with every word of your excellent post. And yet

I was wondering yesterday how anyone would feel about the band if they had broken up after "Let It Be." I'd argue that it's the iconic stuff on the next two major label albums that have accounted for the band's longevity (as such). If the group had called it quits earlier do you think people would talk about the Replacements the same way, or maybe the way they talk about cultier fare like Mission of Burma, or the Feelies, or even the Descendants or something? Maybe they'd be on par with the Minutemen in terms of reputation?

Tim has "Bastards of Young" and "Here Comes a Regular" which are the 2 songs that really almost self consciously turn the Replacements into a myth

There was this discussion I got involved in once many years ago about Aerosmith's Rocks vs. Toys In The Attic, which may be relevant. Toys has some bigger hits but Rocks is a completely solid slab of, um, rock, from beginning to end.

(Improving my Let It Be streaming experience now by manually inserting a side break)

yeah, they would be regarded like those bands. there were many late 30s-early 40s biz types and crit dudes in the 1980s, like the Musician magazine cohort, who had no use for the pre-hootenanny shit and very much were rooting for PW to become the kind of Springsteen/jackson browne singer-songwriter classic rock guy that they desperately wanted to stem the tide of hair-metal, hip-hop and Janet Jackson/madonna. those people were "be professional, stop fucking around with Ted Nugent & Kiss and hardcore and do songwriterly real rock." they never forgot paul and afforded them opportunities and courtesies that, say, would not be extended to Mike Watt. but it would seem the advent of the Goo Goo Dolls showed what the future would be like if they were obedient and followed instructions.

The mats were one of my favorites in the '80s (I am not offended by DTAS like many are), but I must admit that I didn't figure out what that selfname nickname meant until around the Forest Hills gig in 2014.

Westerberg's solo material sounds sad, as in, this quiet snowfall of melancholy buries the often good tunes.

hey that quiet snowfall of melancholy unlocks the melody of "angels walk"

if they had a "different" ie hardworking career, I doubt the 'legend' would be bigger.

hopped-up carelesscore

Great description! I like Let It Be fine, but Sorry Ma is my favorite Replacements record by miles. I was there for their earliest shows, and they were so ferociously good right out of the gate.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TsVsrlDErw

to veronica moser's point above-it went well beyond rooting, I remember Rolling Stone named Westerberg Best New Songwriter or something after Let It Be.
the critical adulation was off the charts.

yeah, they would be regarded like those bands. there were many late 30s-early 40s biz types and crit dudes in the 1980s, like the Musician magazine cohort, who had no use for the pre-hootenanny shit and very much were rooting for PW to become the kind of Springsteen/jackson browne singer-songwriter classic rock guy that they desperately wanted to stem the tide of hair-metal, hip-hop and Janet Jackson/madonna. those people were "be professional, stop fucking around with Ted Nugent & Kiss and hardcore and do songwriterly real rock." they never forgot paul and afforded them opportunities and courtesies that, say, would not be extended to Mike Watt. but it would seem the advent of the Goo Goo Dolls showed what the future would be like if they were obedient and followed instructions.

― veronica moser, Thursday, March 10, 2016 9:33 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

this is a great post, and food for thought re Goo Goo Dolls (also the Soul Asylum circa GDU -- was Pirner the Westerberg they could make behave?)

Side note: Having fell into a Mats Youtube k-hole this week thanks to this thread, I find myself wishing there were still pop stars in the states with working class accents

like the Musician magazine cohort, who had no use for the pre-hootenanny shit and very much were rooting for PW to become the kind of Springsteen/jackson browne singer-songwriter classic rock guy that they desperately wanted to stem the tide of hair-metal, hip-hop and Janet Jackson/madonna. those people were "be professional, stop fucking around with Ted Nugent & Kiss and hardcore and do songwriterly real rock." they never forgot paul and afforded them opportunities and courtesies that, say, would not be extended to Mike Watt. but it would seem the advent of the Goo Goo Dolls showed what the future would be like if they were obedient and followed instructions.

I would argue that the last 2 Mats ablums both get torched by Hold Me Up the 2nd (I think) Goo Goo Dolls album on Metal Blade!

It's funny for a band that "wouldn't follow the industry's rules" they sure as fuck made Don't Tell a Soul & All Shook Down, both of which are slick major label albums

I mean even Pleased to Meet Me which still has a lot of great songs has the edges sanded off

I guess they acted pouty and passive aggressive about it after they did it but that ain't the same thing as not doing it in the first place

Also in 88-90 while the Replacments were making Don't Tell a Soul, Soul Asylum was making Hangtime and Horse They Rode In On which are both better IMO

well, is it not elementary that Johnny Rezenik however the fukk you spell his name is a big PW stan?…I had only heard of the Goo Goo Dolls til "Name" and that seemed like a transparent housebroken version of PW. and then he was prepared to be the Jon Bon Jovi of PW… like, Paul with amazing hair, dimples and go for broke production…

I wouldn't put Pirner in the same category, but yeah Soul Asylum were ready to go for the post-'92 gold rush when the mats were finished and there was a support structure built for 'em. Didn't Winona stalk PW? Like, he was the only one who resisted her that she set her sights on? she settled for Pirner.

Many of you know what I think of many slick '80s would-be sellouts – they're rarely as mediocre as received opinion demands – but Don't Tell a Soul strikes me as depressed and depressing.

depressed and depressing

exactly

And yet

a million xposts. i want to hear more on that, james redd.

xpost

Reznik was a total stan, Westerberg even wrote "We Are the Normal" for them (and maybe more) just saying at first they were a good rip, like the Rancid to the Clash or something...

Soul Asylum are more contemporaries, esp considering they did a few years as Loud Fast Rules

but early Goo Goo Dolls have some joints & a good energy (not putting them on the same level in any way)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0qFjTvau5E

I'd love it if they went back to the master tapes of Don't Tell a Soul and could somehow do a total remix/remaster job on that, start with the drums, probably some of the cheesy guitar tone shit was put to tape though :(

start with the drums, probably some of the cheesy guitar tone shit was put to tape though :(

Tacky
I guess that's where they're from

why the winona disdain; have y'all not seen heathers

Remember when Spin sent its staff around the country and searched the nation's back corners for the soul of rock and roll and settled on Westerberg?

Goo Goo Goo radio breakthrough was written by Westerberg. We are the Normal, iirc.

why the winona disdain; have y'all not seen heathers

Winona rules