Replacements Albums, Best of the Worst: Don't Tell a Soul vs. All Shook Down

Tim (probably the most poorly produced album of all time)
Hey, have you ever heard of a band called Hüsker Dü? Because...

... or maybe that was engineering.

DATS wins over challops, yay. I heard a few tracks from DATS today and was all "yes, this is GREAT! despite sounding like they got Phil Collins' retarded cousin to produce."

Whereas every time a song from ASD comes up I'm "Geez, what shitty band trying to sound like the Replacements is this?"

Pretty close-- seemed like it would be.

The thing is, in 1989, it didn't necessarily sound like horrible production. Compared to any random handful of hair bands at that time (or, say, Pearl Jam's Ten), it could even come out sounding underproduced.

(Of course, compared to, say, Let It Be, yeah, it's bombastic as shit)

(Don't Tell A Soul is what I'm talkin' about)

I'm finally listening to the expanded edition of Don't Tell A Soul. "We Know The Night" is a killer. It's a solo acoustic take, but dig this line:

"In the afternoon, my mind ain't sleepy, it's preoccupied"

look I don't need to explain to any of you what he means but it's naked rock and roll.

all shook down is jam after jam - best ever

they should have gone the whole hog and got Mutt Lange to produce DTAS

ASD's list of guest musicians is a joke, not a proper Mats album.

Total Uncut magazine 'lost classic' bullshit

The Replacements have nothing to do with 'alt-country' either

DTAS is brilliant though

One dog looked up. The other looked away. They stood in opposing directions, soaking from the freezing rain, seeking, yet refusing. Should any of these small details have been slightly altered, how so, might the future have also changed?

Michael took a photograph.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Rc_pMFq9J9M/TvaBXeH78sI/AAAAAAAABXM/R2l94qhwJjg/s1600/newportdogs001.jpg

The new mix on "Dead Man's Pop" really DOES reclaim "Don't Tell A Soul" as a worthy follow-up to "Pleased To Meet Me". I'm really quite shocked at just how much better it sounds, focusing on the guitars and clearing off the polish of the 1989 version.

"Asking Me Lies" still sucks, though.

I didn't know this had a alternate track order, that makes a pretty big difference as well. Drums clearly sound much better here, too.

i love "asking me lies"

Looking forward to my copy coming from Amazon. The Rhino-direct orders have been delayed a week, due to warehouse issues.

Listening to a lot of Replacements and Westerberg the last few weeks, and pretty uncritical about the entire run. A few tracks from Folker and Come Feel Me Tremble have jumped out as underappreciated. Some great Bash & Pop and Perfect tunes, too.

This has always been the Replacements album I've listened to the most, for whatever reason, and without a doubt on first listen I think this new version is the one I will go back to from now on.

Yep, this is now the definitive version for me, too. But like many of you, I always loved the original album despite the 80s gloop.

Looking forward to hearing the Bearsville demos / sessions, haven't quite made it to those yet

I've heard the Tom Waits stuff is awful

The scream at the start of "Anywhere Is Better Than Here" is all-time.

yeah this sounds great, really feels fresh

Bearsville stuff is ok, but seems kind of off

Dunno if I've heard the Milwaukee show before, but it's a great example of how the Replacements can be the best band in the world even when the band was not at its best, which can shift from second to second.

I hated this when it came out and never warmed up to it, but these new mixes are finally turning the tide.

one quandary: Portland should have been on the album and would have been one of the best songs, but then Westerberg would have had to drop one of the best songs Talent Show because he recycled the chorus of Portland

just put this on. i love the woolen reverb on the original but yeah i've been wanting to hear "talent show" like this for a while

finally i can call this my favorite replacements record and no one will look at me like i have two heads

the remixed "we'll inherit the earth" sounds fucking amazing

I read Trouble Boys a few weeks ago, revisited the catalog (altho I haven't heard this reissue). It's hard for me to evaluate this band, they meant so much to me as a kid, were one of the very first shows I saw, I bought into the whole mythology etc.

But with age and hindsight and being fully cognizant of how being a drunken asshole is not actually that cool - it makes me reflect a bit more harshly on Paul as a songwriter. Like, if you *don't* buy into that "lovable loser" mythos, are the songs still good? Generally the answer is "sometimes" imo. "Talent Show", "Can't Hardly Wait", "Kiss Me On the Bus", a handful of others. Some of it is just too voyeuristic and wrist-slashingly depressing for me to listen to anymore ("Here Comes a Regular" for ex.)

you haven't cited the pre-1984 stuff, which most people omit like they do the Beatles before Rubber Soul.

yeah well, I don't like much of it

I'm aware of the vocal ILX contingent that thinks Sorry Ma is the peak

well, if you think the beautiful-loser ethos is a problem, the speed and smarts of the early material will mitigate it

I was just thinking today what an awesome songwriter he is.

American film, lit, and cinema are replete with beautiful losers whose creators regard them with a cold eye without the eye itself getting moist. The Replacements' good stuff avoids the problem.

the speed and smarts of the early material will mitigate it

that's true to an extent, otoh I'd be hard-pressed to consider "Fuck School" a great song. I mean, it's fun and funny and all but it isn't great, really.

p sure "anywhere's better than here" is my favorite replacements song and the new version confirms that several times over

the vocal ILX contingent that thinks Sorry Ma is the peak

Hi dere!

"Achin' to Be" is still a moronic song about a dude who can't write about a woman whose virtues have nothing to do with malehood.

pfft i'm achin' to be too

fair critique as well bc i do hate the final verse

you are NOT kinda like an artist

it's that scene in high fidelity where john cusack dreams of dating a musician so he can be an in-joke in the liner notes, but a song

a dream too tire to come true

Some of y'all think too much attention is paid to lyrics ... until you don't. I think his melodies, riffs and hooks are super-sharp; Westerberg is an underrated (lead) guitar player.

Fuck School IS a great song!

Yes it is. What’s the matter, buddy?

New production makes even “Achin’ To Be” easier to sit through.

Especially when it is not followed by “They’re blind.”

"Achin' to Be" is still a moronic song about a dude who can't write about a woman whose virtues have nothing to do with malehood.

― TikTok to the (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, September 27, 2019 4:16 PM (four hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

sigh

Debate me.

I like "They're Blind" and "Asking Me Lies."

Oh, here's a downgrade on the new version, imo: I think "I'll Be You" is slower.