Post by nowwesayitoutloud on Dec 20, 2006 23:23:14 GMT -5
The Replacements, Don't You Know Who I Think I Was? The Best of the Replacements
(four out of five stars)
By Mat Snow
Friday December 15, 2006
The Guardian
The best modern American rock'n'roll strikes a lonesome note, as if struggling desperately to connect across the width of a suburban lawn. "How do you say 'I miss you' to an answering machine?", Paul Westerberg asks in Answering Machine, his band's most agonised song. That was in 1984, five years too early to spearhead the grunge movement, but the band perfectly foreshadowed grunge's rough-hewn alternative rock and adolescent despair in the midst of American plenty. The Minneapolis four-piece were a hit with critics and on the college circuit, but lacked the discipline or even desire for mainstream success; they split in 1991, drink and drugs killing guitarist Bob Stinson in 1995. The three survivors - including Bob's younger brother Tommy, who now plays bass for Guns N'Roses - reconvened to record two new songs for this career-spanning compilation. Although they never scale new peaks, it sounds as though they've never been away. More impressively, the old songs sound as raw, fresh and passionate as ever.
(four out of five stars)
By Mat Snow
Friday December 15, 2006
The Guardian
The best modern American rock'n'roll strikes a lonesome note, as if struggling desperately to connect across the width of a suburban lawn. "How do you say 'I miss you' to an answering machine?", Paul Westerberg asks in Answering Machine, his band's most agonised song. That was in 1984, five years too early to spearhead the grunge movement, but the band perfectly foreshadowed grunge's rough-hewn alternative rock and adolescent despair in the midst of American plenty. The Minneapolis four-piece were a hit with critics and on the college circuit, but lacked the discipline or even desire for mainstream success; they split in 1991, drink and drugs killing guitarist Bob Stinson in 1995. The three survivors - including Bob's younger brother Tommy, who now plays bass for Guns N'Roses - reconvened to record two new songs for this career-spanning compilation. Although they never scale new peaks, it sounds as though they've never been away. More impressively, the old songs sound as raw, fresh and passionate as ever.