Search - Replacements :: Pleased to Meet Me (Exp)

Essential 'Mats

M. McM | Los Angeles, CA | 02/10/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Not a perfect album, but one of their best. Bob Stinson was a big loss to the 'Mats, but his absence freed them to try things he would've vetoed. Some of the experimentation doesn't hold up anymore - Westerberg himself hates the strings on "Can't Hardly Wait" - and the polished, echoey sound feels a bit dated, but this is still a great collection of songs. Less punk and more power pop, it's generally more 'mature' and less shambolic than anything they've done before.



This new reissue from Rhino is pretty solid and nearly fills out the disc with bonus tracks - the LP's original running time was about 33 minutes, and this new CD clocks in at about 70 minutes.



The alternate versions for "Alex Chilton" and "Can't Hardly Wait" (both previously unreleased) aren't that impressive - they're not better than the album versions, but they let you hear these songs with less overdubs, etc.



Four tracks were previously issued as B-sides; one, "Election Day," is still available on "All For Nothing/Nothing For All," but on this reissue there's a brief drumstick count-off at the beginning. The other three tracks ("Route 66," "Tossin' n' Turnin'," "Cool Water") are covers, and this reissue brings them back in-print. I wouldn't call the B-sides great, but they have their charms, particularly "Election Day," which sounds like a swarm of out-of-control slide guitars.



The demos are a mixed bag. "Valentine" isn't bad, but again, it doesn't surpass the album version. It's basically a rawer version of a great, great song. "Bundle Up" is really an early version of "Jungle Rock," an outtake on "All For Nothing/Nothing For All." Never a great song, "Jungle Rock" was still a charming throwaway, and the same can be said of "Bundle Up." "Kick It In" is pretty catchy - again, not a great song, but I find it pretty enjoyable.



Then you have two stunners: "Birthday Gal" and "Photo." Both songs would've been great additions to the album proper, but I'm not even sure the latter made it past the demo stage, and the former was simply left in the can (a stronger version of "Birthday Gal" - a polished outtake - can be found on "All For Nothing/Nothing For All"). "Photo"'s a great love song, with a nice guitar hook following each chorus, and "Birthday Gal" kind of foreshadows their new direction over the next two albums (one that would produce diminishing results). A lost classic, it's startlingly poignant for the chorus ("Birthday gal, do you wish there weren't quite as many candles that you had to blow?"). On this version, Westerberg strums on an electric guitar, but his reading is a bit unsteady - he gets better towards the end, when he sounds pretty raw and unguarded, but this is definitely a demo. (His vocal on the all-acoustic outtake featured on "All For Nothing/Nothing For All" is stronger and much more affecting.)



Now for the mastering: I know some fans would disagree, but to be honest, I never thought the original CD sounded bad - this album was a very dynamic, digital recording, and the original disc was a good representation of that. Rhino's reissue is louder and not quite as dynamic, but it's not a distorted, squashed mess. It still sounds pretty good, and that's especially true for the bonus tracks - some of those songs have only circulated as cruddy-sounding bootlegs (albeit in different takes, but it's hard to tell when the sound quality of the bootlegs is that bad). So finally, we get a gem like "Photo" in sparkling clear sound.



I've heard some people complain about a glitch at the beginning of track 11, "Can't Hardly Wait," as well as a clipped opening on track 6, "Never Mind, on which they (slightly) clipped the first note. I honestly didn't catch these the first time around and barely notice them myself, but just so you know, some people have complained.



Also, like Rhino's other 'Mats reissues, they put in some sound effects right before the bonus tracks - basically, you hear a door slam shut, some jangling keys and footsteps, and then another door opening, like a guy walking over to a locked door and opening it. Cute idea, some people like it, some don't."

Most worthwhile of the reissues

Gregory W. Locke | Seattle, WA | 03/09/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Three questions, three big opinions: 1) Best band of the 80s: Not The Smiths, R.E.M., U2 or The Cure, but The Replacements. No-brainer; 2) Best Replacements album: Tim, also the best album of the 80s and the very moment that it's penman, Paul Westerberg, became one of the best songwriters of his generation; 3) Most buy-worthy disc from the Replacements recently reissued catalog: Pleased to Meet Me; see below for sound reasoning and drunken sales pitch.



Yes, this reviewer is a fan of Westerberg, Chris Mars, Tommy Stinson and his brother, Bob; hopefully you are too (or will be at some point). These Gopher State rabble-rousers made the then-rare kind of rock n' roll songs you could/can howl with friends at the bar after a long day at work or a hard year in the gutter. The question here, however, is why buy the reissue of 1987's Pleased to Meet Me and not Tim or one of the band's other more superior records, like, say, Hootenanny, Let It Be or maybe even All Shook Down? For starters, the original Jim Dickinson (Big Star) production sounds notably better on this Rhino-issued remaster, making for a less-dated-sounding listen (if you know anything about the initial Replacements LP-to-CD transfers, you know that this is good news).



Also, the new liner notes feature a stellar essay (always important to Rhino reissues) by former Warner Bros. exec Michael Hill, who in summary offered the following: "The album's initial sales didn't match the buzz. Yet for the decade more that I remained at Warner Bros., the album sold in steady increments every week, slowly but surely accruing significant numbers. With its punk bravado and plainspoken eloquence, it had succeeded on its own terms, and Pleased To Meet Me continues to attract new listeners, new believers, new fans." The most important factor when picking what reissue(s) to splurge on, however, is usually the bonus tracks. While some of the Rhino reissues feature one or true two bits of gold (and way too many superfluous demos or alternative takes), Pleased is stock-piled, offering almost an entire album's worth of non-album studio material that's worth getting to know.



But first, the core album - recorded in Memphis amongst Alex Chilton and his cronies. Adding horns to many of the songs (Memphis requires horns), The Replacements sounded like a wandering outfit in 1987, dabbling slightly in a number of sub-genres, refusing to rest on their punk/pop/rock laurels. There are two key pop songs ("Alex Chilton" and the classic "Can't Hardly Wait"), an amazing cover tune ("Skyway"), a should-be hit single ("The Ledge"), some harder rock tunes and, in general, no major wholes in the album's short runtime. The aforementioned "Can't Hardly Wait" sounds as good as ever in remastered form, though "The Ledge," despite some worthwhile remixing, still sounds a little too dated for comfort. "I Don't Know," featuring Teenage Steve Douglas' prominent baritone sax riffs, brings back the swagger of Hootenanny while "Nightclub Jitters" sounds exactly how you'd imagine a song named "Nightclub Jitters" to sound - slow, smoky and standup-bass-driven. "Valentine" sounds like it could've been on Tim and "Red Red Wine," despite its unfortunate name, is a classic chant-along, kick-down-the-door bar band tune. As for the Replacements' take on Big Star's "Skyway," well, it's your girlfriend's favorite song, whether she knows it or not.



Playing as a trio here (wildman Bob Stinson left the band after the release of 1986's Tim), Mars, Westerberg and Tommy demoed four songs long before the recording of Please, all of which are included here - and three of which never made it onto Pleased. Despite being labeled as demos, all of the bonus material on the reissue sounds similar in quality to the initial tracklist, the immediate highlight being "Birthday Gal," a tune that could've easily been a pre-college radio hit in 1987. "Election Day" is another standout among the 11 bonus tracks, which includes three cover tunes and three alternative versions of album tracks. Closer "Cool Water," a b-side cover of an old Sons of the Pioneers single, sees Mars doing a fine job handling lead vocals ... then it happens, the closing kiss-off. After a few second of silence we here what appears a drunken Westerberg come in with some memorable closing words: "Brains are getting in the way, boys." Clearly, if you count yourself a fan and don't already own the band's killer - but rare - b-sides collection, Nothing For All, then you need this reissue. One foot in the door, the other one in the gutter. (Greg Locke)"