Post by headlightbeams on Jun 15, 2006 23:40:41 GMT -5
Beloved 'Mats' career-spanning disc boasts lots of breathtaking moments
BY ROSS RAIHALA
St. Paul Pioneer Press
Posted on Thu, Jun. 15, 2006
www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/entertainment/14816974.htm
After 15 years of whispers, hopes and half-truths, the Replacements reunited earlier this year for a secret recording session with Ed Ackerson. And Tuesday, the results arrived in record stores.
Band leader Paul Westerberg, bassist Tommy Stinson and drummer Chris Mars joined forces for two new tracks, "Message to the Boys" and "Pool and Dive," which appear following 18 of the band's best-known tracks on "Don't You Know Who I Think I Was: The Best of the Replacements."
The career-spanning disc is a first for the infamous Minneapolis band that spent most of the '80s barreling around the country, spreading their drunken gospel and never quite achieving the mainstream success everyone hoped was just around the corner. (Up until recently, the rights to the band's catalog were held by two separate companies, making a single-disc best-of somewhat tricky to assemble.)
While the pair of reunion tracks are aimed straight at the hardcore following, the rest of the disc is really meant for the more casual listeners, as well as newcomers, who want to easily sample this legendary band.
As such, "Don't You Know" is about as decent a collection as we're likely to get. Much has been made about the group's climb from noisy rockers to polished poppers, but listening to the chronological disc unfold, that storyline quickly gets muddled. Even the earliest, messiest tracks (like "Kids Don't Follow" from the aptly titled "Stink") reveal a keen, commercial songwriter waiting to emerge from the squalor, while the later singles — one of which, 1989's "I'll Be You," was as close as the band got to a hit — still include subversive winks and nods that poke through the shiny production. The CD's mouthful of a title almost starts to make sense.
Fans will surely grumble about their favorites being left off the running list, but it's hard to fault the midsection of the 65-minute disc, which includes some of the American underground's most breathtaking moments, from "Color Me Impressed" to "Unsatisfied" to "Bastards of Young."
As for the newbies, they're fine, if not spectacular, additions to the 'Mats canon that — unlike a lot of reunion songs — don't sound half-baked or ill-advised. Mars, who has long since established himself as a visual artist, sings backing vocals and leaves the drumming to session pro Josh Freese, who played on Westerberg's solo albums from the '90s as well as Stinson's "Village Gorilla Head."
What's next for the Replacements? Most likely, it's right back to whispers, hopes and half-truths. Stinson, of course, has commitments with both Guns N' Roses and Soul Asylum, although he did contribute to the music Westerberg created for the upcoming animated film "Open Season." Also supposedly in the works are reissues of the band's back catalog along with the long-promised box set, which may include a DVD of live appearances and the like.
BY ROSS RAIHALA
St. Paul Pioneer Press
Posted on Thu, Jun. 15, 2006
www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/entertainment/14816974.htm
After 15 years of whispers, hopes and half-truths, the Replacements reunited earlier this year for a secret recording session with Ed Ackerson. And Tuesday, the results arrived in record stores.
Band leader Paul Westerberg, bassist Tommy Stinson and drummer Chris Mars joined forces for two new tracks, "Message to the Boys" and "Pool and Dive," which appear following 18 of the band's best-known tracks on "Don't You Know Who I Think I Was: The Best of the Replacements."
The career-spanning disc is a first for the infamous Minneapolis band that spent most of the '80s barreling around the country, spreading their drunken gospel and never quite achieving the mainstream success everyone hoped was just around the corner. (Up until recently, the rights to the band's catalog were held by two separate companies, making a single-disc best-of somewhat tricky to assemble.)
While the pair of reunion tracks are aimed straight at the hardcore following, the rest of the disc is really meant for the more casual listeners, as well as newcomers, who want to easily sample this legendary band.
As such, "Don't You Know" is about as decent a collection as we're likely to get. Much has been made about the group's climb from noisy rockers to polished poppers, but listening to the chronological disc unfold, that storyline quickly gets muddled. Even the earliest, messiest tracks (like "Kids Don't Follow" from the aptly titled "Stink") reveal a keen, commercial songwriter waiting to emerge from the squalor, while the later singles — one of which, 1989's "I'll Be You," was as close as the band got to a hit — still include subversive winks and nods that poke through the shiny production. The CD's mouthful of a title almost starts to make sense.
Fans will surely grumble about their favorites being left off the running list, but it's hard to fault the midsection of the 65-minute disc, which includes some of the American underground's most breathtaking moments, from "Color Me Impressed" to "Unsatisfied" to "Bastards of Young."
As for the newbies, they're fine, if not spectacular, additions to the 'Mats canon that — unlike a lot of reunion songs — don't sound half-baked or ill-advised. Mars, who has long since established himself as a visual artist, sings backing vocals and leaves the drumming to session pro Josh Freese, who played on Westerberg's solo albums from the '90s as well as Stinson's "Village Gorilla Head."
What's next for the Replacements? Most likely, it's right back to whispers, hopes and half-truths. Stinson, of course, has commitments with both Guns N' Roses and Soul Asylum, although he did contribute to the music Westerberg created for the upcoming animated film "Open Season." Also supposedly in the works are reissues of the band's back catalog along with the long-promised box set, which may include a DVD of live appearances and the like.