ALBUMS: Let it Be (1984); Pleased to Meet Me (1987); Don’t Tell a Soul (1989); All Shook Down (1990)
MVC RATING: Let 4.5/$$$$$; Pleased 4.0/$$$$$; Don’t 4.0/$$$$$; All 4.0/$$$$$
The Replacements were nicknamed the ‘Mats’ short for the Placemats as they were called by some.
They were a mess. They were boozy and druggy. Their live performances were wildly different depending on who was mad at who or how much the guitarist had been imbibing or they just felt like doing KISS cover songs that night.
Their third album, ‘Let it Be,’ captured this reckless energy and is considered by many critics to be one of the best punk/alternative records of them all. (I’d like to put it up song-by-song against ‘And Out Came the Wolves ..’ by Rancid for best punk rock albums.)
The Replacements had something. Much of it to my older years I now find it to be a touch noisy and less connective to where I am in my life right now. I do still like some of their mid to slow tempo pieces. Like ‘Skyway,’ ‘Can’t Hardly Wait, ‘Sadly Beautiful and ‘Achin to Be.’
Paul Westerberg’s vocals, even the screamed ones, sound like he’s under control while systematically pushing out the angst.