I hate ILoveMusic, it's got too many POLLS - Artist Poll #104 - THE REPLACEMENTS - RESULTS

wow, thought that would make #4!

it's a fantastic punk album, one that really surprised me upon listening for this poll. i had never given it a solid listen to it, and it convinces me that they could have been a really great punk band if they kept going in that direction

I think I've owned Sorry Ma the longest (a result of mainly buying used, etc) but it's the least well imprinted onto my brain. I tend to underrate it horribly when it's not actually playing!

https://images2.imgbox.com/a6/6b/WlRrAAR8_o.jpg

#4
THE REPLACEMENTS - Hootenanny
April 1983
Score: 50
Votes: 23 (1)
Youtube excerpt: You Lose

quite surprised hootenanny placed above sorry ma

me too! i like hootenanny a lot and i look forward to feeling dumb and thinking it's my favorite a few years down the road. but overall, in my listening i found myself a little bit let down by it, especially sandwiched by so much amazing stuff directly around it

some days i think hootenanny is their pinnacle, some days i think it's a bit of a mess, but there is no day in which i don't thank the good lord above for the existence of "lovelines."

it's just a weird transitionary record to me, a few moments of brilliance and a bunch of other directions that don't work too well

solid thread title, btw

I always remember Hootenanny as a bit too jokey. In reality that's only really a couple of brief tracks and the highs are high. Without giving much away, almost all of it was pretty well represented on tracks ballots.

Also, fun fact: There's a typo in the opening post, as it was written in advance and didn't account for a ballot arriving slightly later. There were in fact 31 album ballots, not 30.

https://images2.imgbox.com/e8/fd/XsiowHm0_o.jpg

#3
THE REPLACEMENTS - Pleased to Meet Me
April 1987
Score: 82
Votes: 28 (4)
Youtube excerpt: Red Red Wine

hootenanny is definitely transitional, partly still trying to be a punk band, partly shouting no way, partly laughing at the predicament, fully, um, stuck in the middle. but i think "run it" is as good as they ever punked, "color me impressed" is a clear arrow forward, and "mr. whirly" is pretty much a career declaration that they're not going to take this shit seriously, ever, no matter how badly someone wants them to. a weirdly quintessential mats album for me.

and pttm is where end up deciding to take this shit seriously in spite of their own worst intentions, and is the beginning of their downfall, and is still a fantastic album.

where *they* end up...

shout-out to whoever had Hootenanny #1, I had it at #2. I feel like it's overlooked, the first classic.
No drama left now.

https://images2.imgbox.com/da/79/ZGuv578z_o.jpg

#2
THE REPLACEMENTS - Tim
October 1985
Score: 107
Votes: 31 (4)
Youtube excerpt: I'll Buy

No drama perhaps, but still interesting that this was the only long-player that everyone voted for.

https://images2.imgbox.com/08/c1/I4ScVomA_o.jpg

#1
Let It Be
September 1984
Score: 126
Votes: 29 (18)
Youtube excerpt: Gary's Got a Boner

I enjoyed selecting those Youtube tracks just now. Not even particularly representative perhaps, but you might be able to guess why I chose those...

In summary...
                                                                            points  votes   #1's 
 1   The Replacements - Let It Be (September 1984)                             126     29     18
 2   The Replacements - Tim (October 1985)                                     107     31      4
 3   The Replacements - Pleased to Meet Me (April 1987)                         82     28      4
 4   The Replacements - Hootenanny (April 1983)                                 50     23      1
 5   The Replacements - Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash (August 1981)    37     14      2
 6   The Replacements - Stink (June 1982)                                       23      7      1
 7   The Replacements - Don't Tell a Soul (January 1989)                        14      5      1
 8   The Replacements - Dead Man's Pop (September 2019)                         10      6      0
 9   The Replacements - The Shit Hits the Fans (January 1985)                    5      2      0
10=  The Replacements - All Shook Down (September 1990)                          4      2      0
10=  The Replacements - For Sale: Live at Maxwell’s 1986 (October 2017)          4      2      0
12   Paul Westerberg - Stereo/Mono (April 2002)                                  3      2      0
13=  Paul Westerberg - Suicaine Gratification (February 1999)                    1      1      0
13=  Paul Westerberg - 49:00 (July 2008)                                         1      1      0

I was going to do a top thirty for the solo/other stuff, but I'll expand it slightly and fairly briskly today to 36, partly to get everyone's #1's in, and begin the top 30 proper tomorrow (Thursday morning AEDT, Wednesday for most of you.)

No drama perhaps, but still interesting that this was the only long-player that everyone voted for.

SOLO AND OTHER PROJECTS

85 distinct tracks received votes. Here's a seven-track taster before the Top 30 beginning tomorrow, such that everything with 40 points or greater (not least all tracks receiving first-place votes) are accounted for.

Three way tie for 35...

#35 (TIE)
TOMMY STINSON - Light of Day
from Village Gorilla Head (2004)
Score: 40
Votes: 1 (1)
Youtube: audio track

#35 (TIE)
PAUL WESTERBERG - A Star Is Bored
from Melrose Place soundtrack (1995)
Score: 40
Votes: 1 (1)
Youtube: audio track

#35 (TIE)
PAUL WESTERBERG - Runaway Wind
from 14 Songs (1993)
Score: 40
Votes: 1 (1)
Youtube: original promo video

I have sneaking suspicion "A Star Is Bored" existed before Melrose Place used it, but I can't seem to prove it. Anyone?

Interest levels seem low right now so I'll keep things even more skeletal than planned. LOL. Last batch before tomorrow:

#34
PAUL WESTERBERG - Daydream
from Come Feel Me Tremble (2003)
Score: 42
2 (0)
Youtube: audio track

#33
PAUL WESTERBERG - My Dad
from Folker (2004)
Score: 43
2 (0)
Youtube: audio track

#32
PAUL WESTERBERG - Dirty Diesel
from Come Feel Me Tremble (2003)
Score: 45
2 (0)
Youtube: audio track

#31
GRANDPABOY - 2 Days 'Til Tomorrow
from Mono (2002)
Score: 47
2 (0)
Youtube: audio track

Good to see another vote for My Dad. Folker has a couple of strong tracks.

Yay "Days 'Til Tomorrow", great tune

Nag at what point do you start getting consensus (5 votes?) on solo tracks?

It's mostly 3 votes before the top 10, IIRC. The proportion of voters submitting a solo/other list dropped away after a promising surge about half way through the voting period.

Started populating the Spotify list for this part now. Feel free to add stuff if I fall behind.

Good to see another vote for My Dad. Folker has a couple of strong tracks.

I was the other one. Folker's got plenty of strong tracks, and not just one but two about his dad ("Looking up in Heaven" being the other).

And it's funny, because Folker came out 23 years after Sorry Ma, in which he sang about how he hated his dad but someday he wouldn't ("I Hate Music"), but also in the middle of Folker is an entirely different song about a different kind of regret called "23 Years Ago."

A typo has been pointed out: Suicaine Gratifaction, that should be. Sorry about that.

I have clearly been spelling Suicaine Gratifaction wrong for years! I spelt it wrong on my ballot, so my fault.

hello late to the rollout in true punk fashion alas i am not drunk tho sorry (ma)

A typo has been pointed out: _Suicaine Gratif*ac*tion_, that should be. Sorry about that.

its even worse corrected. wtf paul

The self-sabotage takes a multitude of mysterious forms.

I'll return and endeavor to get through to #16 in about 7 to 8 hours, but I'll drop one now, if only to check the image.

https://images2.imgbox.com/0c/a9/D0EvUlsS_o.jpg

#30
THE I DON'T CARES ‎– Born For Me
from Wild Stab (2016)
Score: 53
Votes: 2 (0)
Youtubet: audio track

I’m interested in how 2 votes equal 53?

33 + 20, it seems.

Anyway, I changed my mind. I'll post this three-way tie before wandering off.

https://images2.imgbox.com/35/9f/K6yq2h6M_o.jpg

#27 (TIE)
BASH & POP ‎– Friday Night Is Killing Me
from Friday Night Is Killing Me (1993)
Score: 54
Votes: 2 (0)
Youtube: audio track

https://images2.imgbox.com/39/ca/8guxkZkz_o.jpg

#27 (TIE)
PAUL WESTERBERG ‎– We May Be the Ones
from Stereo (2002)
Score: 54
Votes: 2 (0)
Youtube: audio track

https://images2.imgbox.com/60/70/TM0K623E_o.jpg

#27 (TIE)
PAUL WESTERBERG ‎– Knockin' on Mine
from 14 Songs (1993)
Score: 54
Votes: 2 (0)
Youtube: audio track

Enjoying the rollout, thanks Nag. Concur that it’s a good thread title.

Is it wrong of me to think the solo stuff titles and covers look like artifacts from a fictional or parallel universe?

Tommy Stinson was a really cute young man.

Easy, Action!

That SNL performance of Knockin on Mine just rips.

So hey, guess who turned up as my number 2 artist in the Annual Algorithmic Lookback the other day.

Yeah this poll boosted them to #4 for me.

#1 for me. (The top 5 were all poll-related, I think: Cramps, Prefab Sprout, etc. I'm not much of a binge listener otherwise.)

#2 for me, only beaten out by cocteau twins fever

came across this interesting internet exchange. possibly writing over the distance of many years? the review sounds like a contemporary one, while wallace's response is from 2017).

Paul Westerburg - 14 Songs
AllMusic Review by Jack Rabid

Paul Westerberg's second solo LP (we all know the Replacements' final All Shook Down was really not a band LP) is a damn sight better than his first, with a batch of really nice tunes and some renewed enthusiasm (it's not as much of a downer); still, it's hard to resist the belief that he's capable of more than this. The fault is two-fold: One, fire co-producer Matt Wallace, who is more and more looming as the villain on Paul's last three LPs. The most convincing recordings here are the two crude demos Westerberg set down alone in the kitchen of his house. His voice and tune devastate or kindle one's inner emotions by themselves. Compare these naked pathos with the somewhat rote "Knockin' on Mine" (a rip-off of Don't Tell a Soul's "Talent Show") or the just-tossed-off "Things," and it appears the lack of warmth in Wallace's familiar sound is pulling Paul's otherwise tremendous fervor down. Secondly, the first six Replacements' LPs all had more convincing material than this, culminating in the terrific Pleased to Meet Me. When inspired, he can still recall some of those heights: "Dice Behind Your Shades" remembers that former intimacy and sharp hooks, as do bits of "First Glimmer," "Runaway Wind," and the attempts at old raucous pounders, "Silver Naked Ladies" and "World Class Fad." But they all still fall short of his former one-in-a-zillion singer/songwriter greatness. In fact, what really saves him on this record is his singing -- since the melodies and riffs are just good, not great, it takes a vocalist of his throaty gifts to deliver the pleasure. At times tender, sometimes who-gives-a-crap, other times amused or mildly sad and pensive, Westerberg makes us shower singers jealous over how much he can convey with just his pipes. All the more reason to record future albums by himself in his kitchen? Or how about Westerberg "unplugged" from his living room? Talent like this is always best raw, whether "Kids Won't Follow" or "Never Mind" or "Kiss Me on the Bus." He'll never get that from Wallace, but he'll still shine through anyway.

Matt Wallace
January 8, 2017

I just found Jack Rabid's review of Paul Westerberg’s 14 Songs here on AllMusic and I’m sorry that the music Paul made during specific points of his artistic development didn't jibe with what Jack's brain demanded it should have been. It’s possible that he believes that his opinion is more ‘right’ or ‘correct’ than what Paul’s personal experience, intention and inspiration dictated and, unfortunately, he comes off as being mired in the past, overly critical and a bit arrogant.

As much as it appears that Jack wants artists to stay within the confines of his own perception (generally lauding their younger days) and not allowing them to grow older gracefully, life does move forward. Artists can start off with bluster, anger, speed, and a yearning for the world to change but, in time, they learn to express themselves in subtler and, one could argue, more mature ways that take into account years of genuine experience that changes their minds, hearts and perspective. Paul Westerberg knows how disingenuous it is for an older artist to attempt to recapture the piss and vinegar and agitated momentum of his former glory. He was acutely aware of his quieter and more introspective approach as he was making records over the years and he attempted to age gracefully while working and living within a noticeably younger man’s field. Yes, even artists grow up, they have children, they buy houses, they become responsible (often reluctantly, just like us producers) as is normal and natural but they can still write and sing with power and ferocity without his music always having to be loud and fast.

Along with Jack Rabid's unfortunately misguided review he is also incorrect in stating that I was “the villain on Paul’s last three LPs” because I only worked on two albums with him (Don’t Tell A Soul and 14 Songs). Jack also erroneously stated that “the first six Replacements’ LPs all had more convincing material than this, culminating in the terrific Pleased to Meet Me” when, in fact, Pleased to Meet Me is the fifth Replacement’s LP after Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash (1981), Hootenanny (1983), Let It Be (1984), and Tim (1985). Album #6 would actually be Don’t Tell A Soul (1989). Stink, released in 1982, was an EP.

I genuinely hope that Jack finds a sense of peace and contentment as well as some empathy and understanding within his own life so that he might be able to see the world in general and, specifically the world of musicians struggling to create, from a different, possibly more humanist, perspective.

Matt Wallace
Record Producer/Mixer/Engineer/Remedial Musician
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i'm just getting to the all shook down years in Trouble Boys (which has been excellent and just gets more bonkers as it goes on)

I just looked up Jack Rabid. It's amusing in light of Wallace's remarks, because Rabid has indeed gotten married, bought a house and settled down in the stroller haven known as Park Slope, Brooklyn. (For example, he specifically mentions Southpaw which would be replaced by a daycare center the same year this interview was published.) https://www.brooklynpaper.com/meet-jack-rabid-the-godfather-of-punk-rock-journalism/

I like The ‘Mats and I like R.E.M. but I still don’t really rate “I Will Dare,” sorry.

IWD is a fine song, but nowhere near the 'Mats best

I like the riff, the rest of the song's fine but the riff is the thing. I like it as a curtain-opener on Let It Be, it's a jaunty way to start. You don't yet know that you're going to hit "Unsatisfied" at the top of side two.

I love it, it's a great little pop tune. No beating "Unsatisfied" (or "Androgynous" and "Sixteen Blue" for that matter), but it's still a great track.

Backstage with Tommy Stinso from The Replacements…
They called us Tom Petty and Excess Baggage… And we called them The Placements. pic.twitter.com/8LXKh6RHNp

— Mike Campbell // The Dirty Knobs (@MikeCampbellHQ) March 16, 2021

https://www.insidehook.com/article/music/the-replacements-got-me-through-pandemic

I believe it

They're one of those magical acts that at the right place and time, whatever and whenever that may be, are the Best Band Ever. Could be with friends, could be while driving, could be while sitting on the can. It's totally plausible that it could have been for the duration of the pandemic, too. Per that author, they're just in some ways so much more comforting in their chaos than something like Husker Du (too much rage) or the Minutemen (too agitated).

Timely--got in my car after morning coffee and "I Will Dare" was playing. I'm sure there are still college stations that play the Replacements, but I think that might be the first time I've ever heard them off the car radio (CBC in Canada).

(I would have pulled over to the side of the road Greil Marcus-style, but I was already in park.)