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Post by headlightbeams on Oct 1, 2006 21:18:46 GMT -5
The Oklahoman newspaper: Paul Westerberg "Open Season" sound track (Lost Highway) At the height of the Replacements' booze-fueled, pandemoniacal post-punk powers, who could have dreamed the band's wild-eyed front man would one day be writing sound tracks for animated kiddie movies? Has age and fatherhood turned Paul Westerberg into Phil Collins? From the lean and clean, violin-sheened guitar pop of the breezy "Meet Me in the Meadow," the upbeat, well-ordered twang of "Love You in the Fall," the mournful cello and piano balladry and sugar-sweet lyrical sentimentality of "I Belong," and the trilling organ and sunshine-and-lollipops bounce of "Any Better Than This," some fans from the hard-core days may decide Westerberg's gone over the hill, skipping blithely all the way, surrounded by all the cute animal characters of "Open Season." Granted, the production is spiffier, and the playing and singing are tighter than those sloppy, feedback-polluted days of yore, but his hooks are as sharp and his melodies as engaging as ever, especially on the hilarious "Right to Arm Bears" and the self-empowering anthem "All About Me." As a bonus, two of Westerberg's 10 original songs, "I Belong (Reprise)" and "Wild As I Wanna Be" are covered by Pete Yorn and Deathray, respectively. Talking Heads' "Wild Wild Life" also fits nicely. — Gene Triplett
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