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Post by teddinard on Oct 22, 2019 19:41:31 GMT -5
Hate to sound ungrateful but God these hosts are tools.
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Post by teddinard on Oct 14, 2019 17:01:09 GMT -5
I have aready played Redux more times than I ever played the original DTAS. I was a naysayer...I viewed DTAS as a tarnishing to the band's legacy...I clung to the belief that the Mats should have used the Bearville tracks as the basis for the album. Wallace's mix has converted me. This album sounds fantasitc. The new track order ( the band's orginal choice) just makes this ablum move... DTAS always seemed so tried and tedious-- not this version. There Blind-- is now a top tier Mats song.... Answering Me Lies, which I used to despise, is pure genius here. I Won't... is more entertaining... Back to Back has a driving beat now. Talent Show sounds like the band having fun...and the Tommorrow Never Knows-like guitar work adds to Darlin One. Thank you Matt Wallace and Bob Mehr… and thank you Slim for stashing these tapes away. The Replacements great run of albums is no longer a trinity... Redux now makes it four. I like these points, though I'm not quite at your high level of enthusiasm. It was always my least favorite album by my favorite band, and I guess it is still that. I still think Westerberg's writing is a bit off, and no new production can change that---using words like "quell" that just don't come naturally to him (even when he tries to recover by rhyming it with "oh well"). His lyrics usually sound like the way people actually talk--a rare achievement--but often he launches himself too high for me here. Still I think you're right about "Darlin' One," one of the big lyrical offenders. When it's presented as a hippie baroque-pop-type song with the sloppy droning guitars, it nearly justifies stuff like "snow-white breast," "the smell of man that now scents your wings," etc. It makes the lyrical elevation sound more reasonable. Anyway I do think "They're Blind" is much better, "Back to Back" is better, etc. The track order is better, as you all are saying. It just sounds better, and it makes sense as a Replacements record like it never did before. Oh well. There always has to be a least favorite. I'm still listening to this one, though.
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Post by teddinard on Jul 20, 2019 16:20:42 GMT -5
Thanks. I placed it yesterday and I haven't gotten anything from Rhino and they aren't responding. Hmm. I got an email confirmation from "Rhino.com Webstore" almost immediately, and it's already shown up on my credit card.
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Post by teddinard on Jul 20, 2019 13:31:22 GMT -5
The Tony Berg sessions have always fascinated me, and I am super stoked about everything on this box set. Like many of you, I have been a super-fan and a collector for an embarrassing amount of years. If you would have asked me a week ago. my wishlist would have looked like this (in chronological order): Tim Remix Tony Berg/Bearsville original DTAS release DTAS Remix Full release of "Inconcerated" recording Madison 89 In one fell swoop, they have unexpectedly addressed 3 of my 4 wishes. I thought it was really cool when they released "Live at Maxwell's", but I have to be honest, I didn't buy it. I streamed it a bunch on Apple Music, but that recording in high quality has been circulating for people who wanted it for 30+ years. The official version sounded great, but I had heard that a thousand times by the first Clinton administration. This Box set? Totally stoked. So much that has never been heard before. I'm still giddy/in shock that this is actually happening. And Bob Mehr's comments on social media today about it have me even more stoked about the "Redux". Yeah there has been some excitement on this thread, but I'm a little surprised it's been as muted as it has been. This is huge! The mythical Bearsville-Berg record! The pre-Lord-Alge mix of Don't Tell a Soul, cleaned of all the 80s sludge (algae?) and what-instrument-is-that? noises, with real drum playing by Chris Mars! And all of Inconcerated! Good God people! There should be dancing in the streets. I'm not sure how much my opinion of Don't Tell a Soul will change--it's always been my least favorite Replacements record by a long way--but I'm really, genuinely excited to hear it in a way in which it at least stands a chance.
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Post by teddinard on Jul 19, 2019 14:43:07 GMT -5
So what's with the title of the box set? Slim is still with us, and Bob was out of the band by then. A reference to the poker Dead Man's Hand? (two aces, two eights) I hear a connection to "Rock and Roll Ghost." So the "dead man" would be PW himself (who looks in the mirror and sees a rock and roll ghost).
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Post by teddinard on Jul 19, 2019 10:50:15 GMT -5
For me, the decisive sentence from Rhino is this. "In total, the box includes 60 tracks–58 of which have never been heard before." store.rhino.com/dead-man-s-pop-4cd-1lp-deluxe-cassette.htmlThere is also this from Yahoo/Consequence of Sound: "Pre-orders are currently ongoing. The first 500 fans that purchase the box set through Rhino will receive a 14-track cassette featuring highlights from the box along with two additional unreleased tracks: the outtake “Asking Me Lies” and an instrumental of “I Won’t” (Bearsville Version). The cassette also features the original, unused cover art for Don’t Tell A Soul. Very cool." www.yahoo.com/entertainment/replacements-announce-box-set-dead-004755420.htmlDo I have a functioning cassette player? No. Have I preordered despite Rhino's hefty shipping fee ($10.99)? Yes.
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Post by teddinard on Mar 20, 2019 12:23:17 GMT -5
Fairly recently I took the trouble to learn "Unsatisfied" on guitar, and I'd say it's a pretty interesting progression, for a rock song at least. And it's interesting the way the melody keeps going up a fifth (I think) in the verse to build intensity. And as pointed out above, there is a bridge or at least a second part ("so it goes so, slowly on" etc.). I'd say it's a quite an artfully made song.
It's funny that some on this thread have held up "Hands Together" as an example of songcraft. I like it quite a bit, but it's possible to hear it as just a bunch of verses without even a chorus. The "put your hands together" part could be construed as the chorus, I suppose, but its melody, at least the first half, is the same as the verses. And forget about looking for a bridge. Again, I like it, but I do find it somewhat repetitive. It has more words than "Unsatisfied" but it's rather less musically.
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Post by teddinard on Mar 15, 2019 7:59:23 GMT -5
Yeah all good points. I love the Tudor Turtle lyrics - I think it's brilliant and works perfectly, and your tying that and the concept of the show into the theme of the song is a connection I'd never made (having seen that show maybe twice in my life), so that's a great point. My point, which was maybe not made very well and has kinda been trumped now, was that a key part of the song weren't even actually lyrics, and doing that doesn't make for great lyrics, but I have to concede. Stealing bits like that and using them to that effect is a great skill that a lot of songwriters probably wouldn't even try and even fewer would be able to do it as well. I'm sure there are other examples out there.
And as I read the lyrics yesterday in an attempt to see if I was missing anything I thought about the Sun/Shade bit and felt it was a bit cliche for Paul, but again, in the context of the theme, dreams and aspirations vs fear and humiliation, along with your analogy of public (sun) vs private (shade) it makes a lot more sense. Kinda how Paul said he identifies more with the quiet kid in the back who came to hear Skyway but he panders to the loudmouths (loosely paraphrased). So thanks for shedding some new light on that song for me. I love it.
Funny when you talk about Sixteen Blue & Answering Machine and cite those lines about friends/match and losers/vices - which to me are good lines, they paint a picture and set a scene - but the strength of the lyrics and the song is really the other parts where he's detailing the struggle - like I said before - man vs machine, life into a letter, whore vs romance, freedom vs ignorance. I get your point - you seem to be latching on the more literal lines that aren't seeking empathy from the listener - and maybe you see that quest for empathy as a bit....disingenuous or easy maybe? What's interesting is that I (now) see some similarities in those lyrics that I like and you don't as much to the Sun/Shade lyrics in Hold My Life - where it's metaphoric about the greater message of the song and maybe not as obvious and pandering as they seem on the surface.
Super interesting deep dive into these songs! Never too late to learn new things.
Thanks, I'm glad that helped to bring out more in the song. I learn from everybody on this site all the time. In fact, a post I read here months ago helped me understand the lines about his "handful of friends" in "Answering Machine." I had never realized that his "friends" were the unlit cigarette and the warm drink he was holding in his hand. Helped me love the song more. I like what you say about "detailing the struggle." I love that too. But for me, what makes PW a brilliant writer is the back-and-forth, push-pull between full sentiment and witty anti-sentimentalism. So if a song goes too far in one direction, I like it less. I feel like "Sixteen Blue" indulges its forlorn feeling a bit. But I need both, the empathic feeling as well as the jokes on himself (and others). If he went all the way into soppy feeling, I couldn't stand it, but complete cynicism and self-deprecation have led lesser songwriters into even worse nonsense. In playing both off of each other, Westerberg makes something truly great. By the way, I wouldn't be surprised if the Tooter Turtle (I think I spelled it wrong the first time) stuff in "Hold My Life" just came to him in the studio without him thinking much about its relevance to the song. He's a very smart man, but it takes a lot of intuitive accidents to be a great writer. It probably just felt right.
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Post by teddinard on Mar 14, 2019 20:25:09 GMT -5
It's funny, I think the lyrics of "Hold My Life" are great, some of the best he's written. And I think "Sixteen Blue" lays it on way too thick. I have to work pretty hard even to find it OK. And I also think that "Answering Machine" would be not that great if it weren't for a couple of lines that redeem the whole thing for me. Interesting how ardent fans hear things very differently.
Yep, very interesting. There's a lot that goes into those opinions too - your personal history with a song, stuff like that.
Hold My Life is one of my favorite songs, for what it's worth, and I love the "Hold My Life because I just might use it" line but after that I just think there's nothing there. I bet that's all he had when walked into the vocal booth. I mean, the tagline of an old kids show and some random words - like super random with no meaning whatsoever. I just read them again and they don't even make sense. They fit well as far as cadence, it's a cool approach, and it works, but there's no image conjured, no story, barely a theme, no direction lyrically to my ears. They're there because the song needs words, but they serve almost no other purpose.
Sixteen Blue and Answering Machine are both about something. They both conjure up images, tell stories, evoke emotions. Both songs are built around the vocal, as opposed to Hold My life where the vocal is just another element of sound. Sixteen Blue is maybe not his finest moment, but it's a really good shot at what a sixteen year old feels like. When I was sixteen I pretty much thought he knew me with that song. And answering machine is a great study of ying and yang, opposites, and conflict - between a whore and romance, a man and a machine, emotion and distance. The production and strong vocal drive it home, but I don't think there's a wasted line in that one. To me it might just be his all around finest moment ever.
Well, to be exact, it's "Hold my life/ Until I'm ready to use it / Hold my life / Because I just might lose it." But you knew that. And I think the stuff from the old "Tudor Turtle" cartoon is perfect. The cartoon, as you recall, is about a turtle making a wish to live some exciting version of life, only to find he's not ready for it. He gets into trouble and begs Mr Wizard to bring him home. Westerberg changes the Mr Wizard spell a bit to bring in "come alive." (I recall a certain kind of hipster person in the 1980s, usually a young woman, humorously saying "help Mr. Wizard!!!" any time things got too much for her.) Also I love "Time for decision to be made /Crack up in the sun / Or lose it in the shade." At first blush, it seems like a distinction without a difference. To crack up and to lose it are both the same thing: failure. But then, upon reflection, it's a very important distinction. To fail in public ("in the sun") is humiliating. To fail inconspicuously ("in the shade") is safer, but has its own problems. Suffice to say the song is all about the same predicament the band was always in. Here we are on the edge of life. Do we try and possibly blow it, or give up and never know what might have happened? As for "Sixteen Blue" and "Answering Machine," they both for me come close to being sentimental, in a word--without being undercut with much wit or self-critique. Except for "Handful of friends / One needs a match, one needs some ice." Those lines make the whole song work. (Well I like "Big time's got its losers / Small town's got its vices" a lot too.)
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Post by teddinard on Mar 14, 2019 14:30:28 GMT -5
It's funny, I think the lyrics of "Hold My Life" are great, some of the best he's written.
And I think "Sixteen Blue" lays it on way too thick. I have to work pretty hard even to find it OK.
And I also think that "Answering Machine" would be not that great if it weren't for a couple of lines that redeem the whole thing for me.
Interesting how ardent fans hear things very differently.
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Post by teddinard on Mar 12, 2019 21:20:44 GMT -5
To my mind, "Unsatisfied" is a great and fully finished song. It's one of the best minimalist rock songs ever. It says all that needs to be said.
Any more lyrics would ruin it, muck it up, bog it down, blur the basic power of those two phrases.
Look me in the eye and tell me I'm satisfied. Are you satisfied?
There's a whole world in that.
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Post by teddinard on Jan 29, 2019 15:56:10 GMT -5
Heard a cover of Portland while shopping for some groceries this morning. Never heard it before, have no idea who performs it. Some of the lyrics were changed (I think "cigarette" to "credit card"), but the same basic structure all the same. This it? www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8zmPRN26Yc
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Post by teddinard on Oct 31, 2018 7:45:49 GMT -5
I think there are great things from every part of his career.
I guess if I had to, I'd say the peak with the Replacements as far as songwriting goes is Tim. But every single record they did has impressive songs, even Don't Tell a Soul.
And I truly love parts of the solo career. I probably care more than average about lyrics, and I'd say as a lyricist, he's never done better than "Something in My life is Missing" on 49:00, and a couple of the songs about marriage on Stereo ("Boring Enormous" kills me, as does "Nothing to No One"). There are numerous other highlights scattered around.
I agree he would be better with a band, a drummer. But he's accomplished a lot on his own too.
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Post by teddinard on Oct 24, 2018 19:08:29 GMT -5
As a fan of the band, like you guys, I've pondered Bob's departure a fair amount. What I always end with is how distant from and ignorant of all that went into it I am.
I would note that on Tim, maybe the band's best album, Bob's lead playing is no great shakes. And we're told by Tommy Erdelyi that Bob just showed up one afternoon to dub in his parts, and didn't contribute beyond that. Who knows why? Was he disenchanted? Protesting? Or just distracted by something else in his life?
So yes, around that time, he turned in some great live performances. But he also was sometimes AWOL or just not on stage when he was supposed to be. I don't know how exactly to interpret his absence from the Tim sessions. But I'm always struck by how minimal, to be honest, his contribution to the sound of that record is.
By all accounts, Bob was a fucked-up guy. The rest of the band, to varying degrees, were too. I've never been in a band potentially on the brink of stardom. But (as I may have said here before)I have been in difficult situations with small groups of people who know each other too well.
I know what it might be like for three quite fucked-up guys to try to make the right decision about how to handle an extremely fucked-up guy. It's not as though PW was a licensed therapist or even capable of making wise, disinterested judgments about the whole thing. So yeah, while I could blame him for handling it wrong, it's neither surprising nor unforgivable that things turned out the way it did. And I know from personal experience that regrets last forever.
Poor Bob.
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Post by teddinard on Oct 23, 2018 7:26:41 GMT -5
Yeah, for me (not that anyone would care), the short answer is that the songs on Don't Tell a Soul just aren't as good as usual. I think they veer from sentimentality ("Achin' to Be") to the grandiose ("We'll Inherit the Earth").
Not PW at his best (in my opinion!). The production doesn't bother me so much as where he was with his songwriting. (He would return to form in All Shook Down.)
Still, "I'll Be You" could be a top-20 Replacements track for me, and I love "Talent Show."
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Post by teddinard on Jul 21, 2018 20:01:19 GMT -5
Records and cds at home, CDs and radio in the car, MP3s at the gym.
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Post by teddinard on Jul 18, 2018 16:26:26 GMT -5
Jesus, Joe Perry?!
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Post by teddinard on Jul 17, 2018 9:11:50 GMT -5
I just went thru the first three songs again, and I mean, not much happening there is there? to hold up to whatever you consider PWs great songs. I love those three songs, and the rest of it too. I think the lyric of "Something in My Life is Missing" is among the best in Westerberg's whole career. Had a dollar in his pocket Tag inside his new used suit Felt like a - Davy Crocket Never learned to take orders or salute He's as thin as his checkbook But he could pass for a movie star All the while he had that wrecked look Best looking man in the whole wide bar Be my best friend - I ain't seen him in a while Something in my life is missing Something in my life is missing Something in my life is missing him By a mile He writes like a Midwestern Shakespeare In a tiny perfect hand Doesn't so much as move you as breaks you(r) Fall when you decide to land Be my best friend - I ain't seen you in a while Something in my life is missing Something in my life is missing Something in my life is missing him By a mile You sit there in dead silence You've got a friend who's real and true No idle conversation We roll along smokin' to the blues Something in my life is missing Something in my life is missing Something in my life is missing you By a mile He paints houses for money He should get paid just to wake up Weaving magic tricks together Getting sick from drinking from the same cup Love doesn't always wear a stupid smile Something in my life is missing Something in my life is missing Something in my life is missing him By a mile Something in my life is missing him By a mile
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Post by teddinard on Jul 13, 2018 14:44:47 GMT -5
Just saw this--I've always considered this a brilliant conclusion to one of PW's great songs.
I agree with FreeRider.
I would add that to be a button is "between being everything / to everyone / and being nothing to no one." That is , the button isn't everything, and yet it's not quite nothing either.
And "the world" evoked by the button is a world of domesticity, the ordinary, the private, little obligations, not very significant.
So the button's world is not the world of "being everything to everyone," that is, a famous person, a genius, a "star," a part of everyone's life.
Nor is being a button to sew on nothing, though it may seem like next to nothing.
I see the song as a muted acceptance of life as it really is, not some fantasy of being everything to everyone. So it rejects the "all or nothing" view of life, that is, either my life is vastly significant or it's not worth living at all.
Yet the button is a fairly petty detail to identify your life with. It's just small enough to express sadness as well as acceptance.
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Post by teddinard on Jul 7, 2018 16:00:59 GMT -5
hilarious! So this morning, I take my car into my indie shop for tire rotation and oil change and then head across the street to a McDonald's for some coffee. I'm sitting there sipping my coffee and reading a newspaper when I notice that over the PA system is nothing but 80's new wave, alternative, stuff. Joe Jackson, "Is She Really Going Out with Him?" The Church, "Under the Milky Way Tonight", New Order's "Tempation". And then? Anywhere's Better than Here. Of all the Mats tunes, someone programmed that song? I guess that was an attempt at the Mats being commercial and having an "anthem" or something to sell. I live in a really diverse area and even funnier is, the McDonald's is heavily frequented by Latinos, the franchise owner is also Latino and almost all the staff there are Latinos. And they got 80's new wave and alternative pumped over the PA? It could be worse, though--could be horrible pop music. I'd rather hear tejano music or salsa stuff than horrible top 40 pop like Brittany or Bieber. That's funny, although as I am sure you know, the Latino community especially in Southern California has a deep deep love of the Smiths and Morrissey. I doubt it extends random eighties New Wave though. I heard "I Will Dare" at Whole Foods the other day.
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