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

OU" is almost a carbon copy of "Gary's Got a Boner" but less memorable and less funny.

don't get this at all, the latter is a jokey throwaway lyric and the the former is a barnstorming opener. I agree with Mr Que's assessments of the individual tracks fwiw. If this is by the number those are some damn good numbers.

"Never Mind" is like a bad attempt at re-writing "Unsatisfied."

???? The two songs don't sound anything like each other

also this. one is a 12-string acoustic ballad and the other is a mid-tempo rocker

I Don't Know" sounds like it was written in the studio 5 seconds before the record button got pressed.

That's what makes it good!

"Shooting Dirty Pool" is faceless bar-rock, and might as well have been performed by George Thoroughgood and the Destroyers.

hahaha no.

Let's go back to pretending these two records don't exist, okay?

Well, I still feel like "Never Mind" is trying to go for a similar feeling as "Unsatisfied" but can't really pull it off. The riffs for "IOU" and "Gary Has a Boner" are really similar IMO. Anyway, my point is that PTMM is kind of forgettable and empty to me.

I was going to care about your opinion but then I remembered you're that guy that hates Steely Dan

I don't like PTMM, but do like Steely Dan. Where do I fit into Shakey's list of internet respect?

http://tbn2.google.com/images?q=tbn:Quyu5Wox5EtjcM:http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v207/Rankin/respeck_knuckles_s.jpg

This is such a perplexing forum.

Que OTM re. PTTM: great album (was about to say "great fucking album" but actually, no).

I'm probably alone, but I prefer the horns-and-all version of "Alex Chilton" to the demo or whatever. PTMM isn't a great album, but it's a pretty good one that could have been great had "Shootin' Dirty Pool" and "Red Red Wine" been left off.

And, hey, sometimes the high budget production frills help, like the saxophone blurts and Tommy's laugh on "I Don't Know."

man "Red Red Wine" is my favorite moment on there; I have no idea what they're singing about (uh, wine, I guess) but c'mon, the wild singalong at the end is awesome.

uh i don't think it cost a lot of money to mix in Tommy's laughing

that's not my point: they had a guiding hand in the studio who could offer mixing details like the laugh.

I'll bet Tommy Ramone cost more than Jim Dickinson

It's hard to believe that the same Jim Dickinson who made "Kangaroo" is the same guy who ruined "Can't Hardly Wait."

It's hard to believe Jim Dickinson.

i understand and agree with complaints about the production on dtas. i understand and disagree with complaints about the production on tim. i think something is very wrong and strange with complaints about the production on pleased to meet me.

This thread has my blood pressure up. Both of these albums are amazing and this:

If not for the shiny production, Don't Tell a Soul might be their strongest album front to back.

No, I'm not kidding.

― I just wish he hadn't adopted the "ilxor" moniker (ilxor), Wednesday, 10 June 2009 16:56 (Yesterday)

is pretty much OTM.

Complaining about the production on DTAS while singing the praises of Tim (probably the most poorly produced album of all time) is ludicrous. Typical hipster sacred cow shit.

It goes like this:
PTMM > Let It Be > Don't Tell A Soul > the rest

"Hipsters" also think Tim has better songs, hipster.

I generally don't mind the production on any of the albums to the point where I can't listen to them-- with the exception of the horns on PTMM. Horns on a Replacements album is completely unfitting.

Even though it doesn't have any single song that approaches I'll Be You, All Shook Down is a much better record than Don't Tell A Soul.

I just think that rock n' roll should be sung while wearing a vest.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

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

Natalie Merchant types . . .

Natalie and Michael came into the record store I was working at in Boulder, CO in, I guess, about 1986 or 87. I didn't realize who they were until they left; I thought they were a couple of homeless people.

A buddy of mine saw 10,000 Maniacs early on. Natalie was huffing markers all night. By the end of the show, her upper lip was multicolored.

shiver in my bones just thinkin
bout the Sharpies

what's the marker here?

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