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Post by dee on Apr 6, 2012 11:14:35 GMT -5
I would say it's the most overlooked Mats album.
I've always loved the vibe of this record.Westerbergs genius shines through on a whole new level and the band is right there with him.It's different from the the first two loud fast albums and seems to get overshadowed by what followed with Let It Be.It really feels like a slice of Americana garage band rock and roll.
I love the drumming and the sound of the guitars and Pauls voice was in it's prime by then.It sounded like you could listen to this and it would make you want to start a band with the kids in your neighborhood.
It was like it was their coming out album.Tommy said it was the first album that sounded like them.Bob said there was too much junk on it.The first two albums were tight,but this album seemed to inject the idea that they could fall apart,and at the same time that charismatic and loveable Replacements thing they had going for them seemed to grow out of that.
It also name checked their stomping grounds,which was cool.
Does anyone else have a soft spot for Hootenanny? I wish more bands today tried to match the spirit this album captured,as well as what bands like The Meat Puppets and The Minutemen were doing at the time,instead of trying to remake Tim...and Tim is my favorite Replacements album...well most of the time.
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Post by GtrPlyr on Apr 6, 2012 11:23:52 GMT -5
I love Hoot too. To me it's their first great record, and the one that created the template stylistically of what was to become the classic Mats sound: ramshackle rockers, funny throwaways, softer introspective stuff, warped plagurizing of others songs, etc.
To make a comparison to another Minnesota artist, I'd say Hootenanny is to the Mats as Dirty Mind is to Prince.
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ih8music
Star Scout
couldn't be happier.
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Post by ih8music on Apr 6, 2012 11:30:15 GMT -5
"Within Your Reach" recently came up on iTunes for me and I had to stop and listen to the whole album again. Yes, it has some spectacular moments and is a ton of fun to listen to.
I'd still probably rank it 4th-6th overall (depending on my mood) -- but that's more a reflection how much I like their other albums, not that I think this one is mediocre or bad.
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Squaw
Star Scout
You're the only one that you are screwin' when you put down what you don't understand~ Kristofferson
Posts: 544
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Post by Squaw on Apr 6, 2012 18:31:02 GMT -5
I hate to commit but most of the time I would say Within Your Reach is my favorite Mats song! So yes, I have a soft spot for Hootenanny!
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Post by TomT on Apr 6, 2012 19:01:40 GMT -5
Take Me Down To The Hospital was really the first Mats song that hooked me. But then I fell in love with Color Me Impressed, Heyday, and the incredible Treatment Bound. Oh yeah, this album is a lot of fun.
Does it get any better than this?
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Post by dee on Apr 6, 2012 19:02:45 GMT -5
To make a comparison to another Minnesota artist, I'd say Hootenanny is to the Mats as Dirty Mind is to Prince. Great comparison GTR! Dirty Mind is the album where Prince really became Prince but it wasn't until 1999(the album)that the rest of the world took notice.After that he was a hit machine and Dirty Mind was lost to all but the critics and the fans who recognized that there was more to his catalog worth hearing besides the mainstream hits. |
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Post by anarkissed on Apr 6, 2012 20:21:04 GMT -5
It's a great album, and has maybe the perfect balance between the substantial ("Color Me Impressed", "Hayday", "Within Your Reach"), the ridiculous ("Take Me Down to the Hospital", "Mr. Whirly", "Lovelines") and the absolutely brutal ("Run It", "You Lose")...
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Post by wecantgetanybetter on Apr 6, 2012 22:55:49 GMT -5
To make a comparison to another Minnesota artist, I'd say Hootenanny is to the Mats as Dirty Mind is to Prince. Great comparison GTR! Dirty Mind is the album where Prince really became Prince but it wasn't until 1999(the album)that the rest of the world took notice.After that he was a hit machine and Dirty Mind was lost to all but the critics and the fans who recognized that there was more to his catalog worth hearing besides the mainstream hits. Two LPs I hold near and dear. In each case, the third release. Also the albums that introduced me to these hometown talents. You guys have spelled out the parallels well. |
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Post by wiser's deluxe on Apr 7, 2012 1:45:33 GMT -5
thanks for the opportunity to enjoy this topic.
to me, Hootenany was the last real chance to show how loose and fun it was to be young and without a care, given the blast of who gives a crap songs on this release. that's not to say that what followed wasn't better, but to me it was the 'Mats shedding their last semblance of innocence and proving how capable they were -- growing into their rebellious anthemic skin, perhaps.
sure, there were echoes of this album that resonated on "Let it Be" and "Tim" and even "Pleased ..." but this was the end of the innocence, and all the good and bad that followed.
it was a leaping point album, that should be celebrated and very much cherished.
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Jer
Beagle Scout
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Post by Jer on Apr 7, 2012 7:16:01 GMT -5
Yeah, Hootenanny is great. It probably doesn't reach the highs of Let it Be, but it sounds like a band on the way up, still having fun and being themselves without working too hard. In other words, the polar opposite of All Shook Down. And although there are a few of them - I think Color Me Impressed might be the definitive Replacements song. I also think the silly stuff on this record is their best. Nothing against Tommy Gets his Tonsils Out or Gary's Got a Boner, but Mr Whirly is better (to me). Finally, it took balls to put that title track first. What a mess. Probably the low mark of the record, but somehow integral to the whole thing. I don't think it's my first or second fav, but I do hold it in very high esteem.
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gah
First Class Scout
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Post by gah on Apr 7, 2012 11:45:56 GMT -5
Hootenanny sounds like a band who don't want to be what they are but not exactly convinced of what they could be.
I don't know if its because it was the last Mats album I got (2002 Restless remaster) but it seems to be the one I'm least likely to pull out when I get a Mats craving. (Tim and DTAS are sitting beside me right now.) So, its definitely the most overlooked in my world.
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Post by TomT on Apr 7, 2012 13:36:14 GMT -5
I can't think of one other album by anyone with a similar mix of craziness and styles. It's wholly original that way. It took some guts by Twin Tone to agree to put it out. Take the song Hootenanny for example. Really?? I'd love to see Peter Jesperson's face when he heard that one for the first time. Even youtube doesn't have a proper version of the song. But it's got this gem!  |
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Post by wecantgetanybetter on Apr 7, 2012 18:36:36 GMT -5
I think you guys have nailed it better but just for the record, I got into the Mats via this LP and it was this mini review by Robert Christgau that got me curious enough to find the record. I know exactly where I was standing (or walking) in MPLS when I read it.
The Replacements: Hootenanny [Twin/Tone, 1983]
Thrashing their guitars or shambling like bumpkins or reading the personals w/musical accompaniment, this young band has a loose, freewheeling craziness that remains miraculously unaffected after three records. They'll try anything--there's even synthesizer percussion on one cut. If the rock and roll spirit is your bottom line, you'll love 'em. But because they play it so loose they do gravitate toward sloppy noise, which means that too often they're more conceptual than a loose, freewheeling rock and roll band ought to be. B+
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Squaw
Star Scout
You're the only one that you are screwin' when you put down what you don't understand~ Kristofferson
Posts: 544
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Post by Squaw on Apr 7, 2012 20:00:41 GMT -5
I can't think of one other album by anyone with a similar mix of craziness and styles. It's wholly original that way. It took some guts by Twin Tone to agree to put it out. Take the song Hootenanny for example. Really?? I'd love to see Peter Jesperson's face when he heard that one for the first time. Even youtube doesn't have a proper version of the song. But it's got this gem! I love this TomT! The first child really gets it. You see it in his face, mood, and body movements. The second child tries, but he just can't get in the groove! That's the way it is with the Mats. You either get them or you don't - no middle ground! |
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Post by dee on Apr 7, 2012 21:41:07 GMT -5
I think Hootenanny sounds like it could have been the bands last hurrah,but instead it really sparked something in Paul to take this shift in the bands aethstetic to greater heights.
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Post by brianlux on Apr 8, 2012 0:39:23 GMT -5
Well said everybody. I still remember finding my vinyl copy of of Hootenanny and flipping out. Totally cool. A great recording!
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