One of THE Classic debuts in rock 'n' roll history; their BE
Shlomo Sinatra | Alaska | 05/03/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Oh man, I don't know what your take on The Replacements is, but despite all the ravings by syncophantic rock critics from Rolling Stone etc., after they had gone totally downhill (see "Tim") (which is far from their worst), but once upon a time The Replacements were NOT this fairly dull "alternative", "college" band, a lame band who got on stage drunk and played sloppy covers of mostly awful songs (see the tape "The S--- Hits The Fans"), they were one of the most exciting rock and roll bands in the world.
I was lucky enough to have been blown away seeing them on the Hootenanny tour, and man I can only imagine if I saw them when this masterpiece came out!
This LP, full-on rock and roll, fast paced almost everywhere (except for the incredibly sad "Johnny's Gonna Die"), this album is wild as f---in' hell, is a MUST for all rock and roll fans!
The sound on this is superb; you can actually hear how great Chris Mars and Tommy Stinson were as drummer and bassist, respectively.
Before, it was just obvious that, well, it's hard not to focus on Bob Stinson's brilliant guitar playing (they were NEVER the same when they hypocritically kicked him out), and also Westerberg's incredible lyrics.
Best song: Careless!
Dig this:
"Irresponsibilty, my closet friend!
Forget my duty, obligation...
I never pay attention, watch my step
never pay my bills, WAY in debt
tell me 'bout your city ordinance
tell me that we're insubordinant
prayer tomorrow, money tomorrow
I care less, couldn't care less care less,
careless, that's the way I'll stay!"
THESE ARE WORDS TO LIVE BY!
I'm NOT joking. Live this way and you'll be free.
I wish I had remembered (see what happens when you go too long without listening to this album?)
Customer is brilliant, you know the story, you go to the store with the totally cute chick and just love her but can't get up the nerve to say anything showing how you feel, you do nothing but buy something there. (why am I thinking of Fast Times At Ridgemont High now? heh heh)
Takin' a Ride is incredible, as well as Kick Your Door Down, Otto, Shiftless When Idle, More Cigarettes [and I don't smoke anymore], Don't Ask Why--ah!...
Don't Ask Why is one of the most incredible kiss-off songs!
"The way I used to love you is the way I hate you now!"
BEAUTIFUL!!!!!
I can RELATE! (who can't? sickeningly happy people?) (yeah...)
I'm In Trouble is one incredible rocker as well, where our protagonist rules out suicide, despite that she loves him; and that his mom wants him to TAKE OUT THE TRASH! Oh NO! Brilliant guitar lead too. Bob Stinson was one wild man on guitar!
You might not know that from their later records, stuff after Stink...
Johnny's Gonna Die is a melancholy song about the late great Johnny Thunders, and his heroin addiction, and the 'cool' people who applauded him for being on the verge of self-destruction, the bastards. It's against the romanticization of heroin addiction as being "rock and roll" (and thus, Cool -- in the eyes of MORONS).
The bonus tracks include the four sing demo that got them their deal accidentally (Great liners by Peter Jesperson about the bonus tracks; Dave Ayers writes the main piece). The demo is great but not as great as the album, no way.
There's also an alternate take of Customer (wish there was others--like Careless!), the rarity, If Only You Were Lonely {the b-side to I'm In Trouble} --fine song!; and some outtakes from the album.
Now strangely, this indistinguished jam ("Basement Jam"), a rehearsal, was going to be on the record, but they were told the album would be too long.
But, the Little Richard-style Oh baby (kinda Long Tall sally meets Rip It Up) wasn't considered;
even more, MUCH more perplexing is how a song as GREAT, as Like You got left off!
It's only 1:43! It coulda fit!
It's as great as most any song as on the original album;
it's worth the price of the CD alone.
It's incredible.
The music (WHAT a guitar riff!), and the lyrics (what a WHACKED-OUT love song!); you know it's great when the opening line goes:
"Now you,
you need some fun and SEX!"
also worthy as poetry of the ages:
"Now you, crave a real friend,
and I, crave a pizza too!"
That says it all about this album;
too wild to be believed unless you hear it.
Surely their greatest album, their most rocking by far.
Don't think twice, buy this CD immediately, and get this expanded version, it's totally worth it. the only thing missing is the photos I recall from the vinyl version, one of which where you see the marijuana leaf on..was it the back of Bob's guitar, or Tommy's bass?
Who can remember!
Man, "Like You" is one song I CANNOT STOP listening to!
At the time of this album The Replacements were surely one of the greatest bands of all time.
Careless, carefree, and WILD AS HELL!
JUST BUY IT ALREADY!
It's a MONSTER!!!!!
"
This is great, where it started
Josh L. Patrick-Riley | Seattle, WA USA | 05/09/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I was having a very hard time getting into the band before, as before I thought "Let It Be" was supposed to be "one of the best albums ever" and before I didn't get it, now I do. But anyway I had almost written the band off completely but decided to give them another chance and bought their biography "It's All Over But The Shouting" along with the album "Tim". When I heard "Tim" the band started to make a little more sense, as the rockers were much better and "Here Comes A Regular" might be the best being alone while drinking song ever (Take that Ryan Adams). So I started reading the biography.
The more I knew the more I became interested in the band instead of feeling they were just another hipster "These guys are really good so you should like them" kind of band. So then one day I saw Sorry Ma on the shelf and had to have it. The impulsive record buyer I am I got the album and listened to the whole thing (Bonus tracks included) that day, and wow wow wow this makes you forget how much you're supposed to like the Replacements and pins you down to the floor. I think the exact moment where I saw the light of how amazing The Replacements were is on "Don't Ask Why", like a great Pistols song (and I'm a huge Pistols fan). Okay that's a lie. It was "Taking A Ride", the first song on the cd, with razor sharp guitar riffs at ninety miles an hour that hooked me.
So would I recommend this? Are you kidding me? The amazing amount of bonus songs here is incredible, especially the demo of "Raised In The City" (About fifteen times better than the version on the actual album). So as far as scale, before I would have said Let It Be is 3/10 (Even though it's supposed to be one of the best ever, which after listening to it again I've...changed my mind and I've just written a new review for Let It Be), Tim is an 8/10, and in a reference to Spinal Tap I would say "this one goes up to 11".
Changes everything you think about eighties music, with more fire and passion than you can shake a stick at. If you like the Circle Jerks, Sex Pistols, Dead Boys, early Clash, or just good high octane music in general, then you should get this album now.
Edit: Since I've listened to Let It Be again, I've realized how incredibly stupid I was to say that Let It Be was bad. I have no doubt that it is their best album now and I take back the Let It Be bashing I made before. I definitely recommend getting Sorry Ma, but Let It Be is absolutely a must own."
Sheer perfection in a reissue series of misguided ideas and
Bill Wikstrom | Long Island, NY | 02/02/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Wow! This album is still as exciting as it was the first time I heard it. For the first time in digital format both Bob's and Paul's guitars are largely evident. The first CD issue of the album had Bob's guitar virtually inaudible whereas both guitars are screaming from either speaker on the vinyl issue and again...finally here on this reissue.
The songs. Well, "Raised in the City", "Hangin' Downtown", "Somethin' to Dü", "Customer" and the debut single "I'm In Trouble" may be some the most exciting songs the band ever released. This is the 'Savage Young Replacements' (for want of a better comparison) and they were seemingly fully-formed and basically perfect from their outset.
The reissue. This reissue series is unfortunately pretty awful. Poor, uninformative liner notes, audio drop-outs, edited tracks, poor selection of bonus tracks, and no information from any band members on the sessions. Of the first four releases this is far and away the best.
There's a healthy amount of great bonus material (virtually the mirror opposite of Stink) and the sound quality of these recordings are great.
The only gripe is that there are other recordings from this era that could have been included here or on Stink, but were not.
However the same head-scratchingly corny/awful idea of having footsteps
and a slamming door preface the bonus tracks (seriously) is here as well as the other releases. And the choice to add an interview snippet on the end of "I'm In Trouble" makes no sense and is simply just asinine. It spoils the long-awaited appearance of such a good song on it's own individual track. I suppose we'll have to wait for someone else to license this material to do this correctly. The complete interview should have gone on it's own individual track. You have to wonder just who was responsible for all these consecutive bad ideas.
Thankfully this release bares little resemblance to the rest in the series.
Oh yeah and "A Toe Needs a Shoe" is awesome."
Track Listings (31) - Disc #1