All Shook Down

[GoddamnJob290]

I've been listening to this one a lot lately and I've been pondering this question. Here's what I got:

Why it is a Replacements record:
-It's called one, so technically it is one
-At least half the songs are about the band
-The Replacements story feels incomplete without it, if that makes any sense

Why it isn't a Replacements record:
-It was supposed to be, until the last minute, Paul's solo debut
-In most places, it definitely sounds like it.
-The Replacements only all play together on one track
-It doesn't particularly sound like any of their earlier records, even DTAS, which largely gets lumped in with ASD and perhaps unjustly.


I've always considered this one a Replacements record in the same sense that Third/Sister Lovers is a Big Star record. Both essentially solo records, band collaborations in name only, documenting the groups demise.

[hudson99]

I've always had a theory that Paul's solo career would have been much more successful if they had allowed him to release this as a solo album...with the promise of at least one more band album. This is a very underrated album, and probably would have been more noticed if it had come out under his name. 14 Songs would have then been more accepted as it carried on the quieter, more polished sound.

[nazareth]

I like the album, but i think it sounds tired. Paul whispers almost the whole album. I find it strange that the band toured on this album even though they didn't even really play on it. I would like to see a list of who played what on each song. I'm surprised the band wasn't more pissed off about it. I'm surprised they toured for it.

I don't think it would've made Paul any bigger to have it a solo album. 14 Songs is a better album IMO.

[Guitardude23]

What even is the official ruling on ASD in terms of the Paul Solo, not solo thing?

Seems to me it was always a legit Replacmenets record even though things were ending. Paul was even asked the question with Tommy on some MTV program (check the Replacements TV comp) and he denies the fact that it was supposed to be a solo record. Although interesting enough- Tommy looks very closely at Paul when he answers the question if I remember.

I've thought about this one a lot and Paul's new incite into the Mats break makes me think even more since he said that it was Tommy and Chris's desire to make solo stuff that essentially broke the band- I am reading that right correct?

I think its a record that started out Mats (merry Go Round) and then just ended up with Paul in the studio (The Last)...

[scoOter]

guitardude23 said:

I think its a record that started out Mats (merry Go Round) and then just ended up with Paul in the studio (The Last)...

i think this is a good way of putting it. even if it isn't entirely factually correct, i think i like this way of looking at it.

[barry]

I've always thought of it as a Replacements record for a few reasons.

It was the first Replacements record I ever got, and I started working backward from there.

More importantly for me is that so many of the songs have a band mentality. "Someone take the wheel" with its overall lines and specifically "we're standing in the shadows/forever on the brink..." I also think "When it Began" is a song someone writes before they close a book before opening a new one (solo career). Also, Tommy's singing on "Happy Town" - and several other tracks - is not phoned in. There is a playfulness and affection on "Attitude" that comes from an intimate performance. Finally, a friend of mine once argued that "Problem" could be read as a Paul/Tommy song, and actually I would love to hear a version with Tommy singing the second part, if one even exists. Finally, he closes it with "The Last."

That said, there are plenty of solo moments, with the song "All shook down" being the most obvious - "shake my hand as I drown." God, what a great, great song.

Ultimately it points to how arbitrary the record making process is in the hands of artists and labels. It's like that old Saturday Night Live joke - ASD is a "dessert topping AND a furniture cleaner."

For me it was a great introduction, and perhaps a big reason why I like Paul's solo stuff as much as the Replacements while a lot of my friends reject his solo career outright.

[cford]

nazareth said:

I like the album, but i think it sounds tired. Paul whispers almost the whole album. I find it strange that the band toured on this album even though they didn't even really play on it. I would like to see a list of who played what on each song. I'm surprised the band wasn't more pissed off about it. I'm surprised they toured for it.

Well, they were none too happy about it.. Chris ended up leaving the band..I think the 91 tour was just sort of a desparation attempt to get some mileage out of All Shook Down... Paul has talked about who played what in some detail. Session man Michael Blair was the primary drummer for the sessions, Tommy and Slim were underused. I remember reading that Attitude was the only full band effort.. The CD jacket lists numerous musicians including John Cale, Benmont Tench, and the infamous Johnette Napolitano..

CF

[jfb151]

Whatever, not to be snide. It's one of my top five albums of all time, for any band, and it doesn't really feel like anything anyone else did solo. Though, by a strict standard, both Open Season and Don't You Know Who I Think I Was have more Replacements songs, and Friday Night is Killing Me has an equal amount.

I think that Nothing For All is now in my head as much of a Replacements album as any.

[MikeR]

Close call, but I think the fact that the band hadn't broken up yet when it was released and did play post-release live shows tips the scale in favor of calling it a Replacements record, for me. When it came out I remember being disappointed that there weren't many rockers, but still thrilled that it's full of great songs.

Actually, that last statement is a pretty good summation of my perspective on Paul's entire solo career...

[nowwesayitoutloud]

miker said:

When it came out I remember being disappointed that there weren't many rockers, but still thrilled that it's full of great songs.

Actually, that last statement is a pretty good summation of my perspective on Paul's entire solo career...

... which suggests that it's a solo record

[A Regular]

wecantget said:

miker said:

When it came out I remember being disappointed that there weren't many rockers, but still thrilled that it's full of great songs.

Actually, that last statement is a pretty good summation of my perspective on Paul's entire solo career...

... which suggests that it's a solo record

Not really, as bands also shift in styles, especially if all the songs are written by one guy. The band goes as the songwriter goes. And I think that is why PW still plays Replacement songs live, as he views them as HIS songs (right or wrong) since he wrote them.

[bigbak]

A rose is a rose. All Shook Down would be one of my favorite albums if it had been recorded by N-Sync.