Great read. Forgot Dickinson was involved with that recording.



/the other Dickinson
//not the more cowbell one
///who puts on his pants one leg at a time and makes hit records
////this one just makes awesome records
//slashies for Stinsons

One foot in the door, the other one in the gutter

/let it be was better

foot farkin'master
Tim was better than Let It Be

One vote for All Shook Down here.

/Pleased To Meet Me is great too of course.

LET IT BE

PTMM is great though, but LET IT BE is classic.

TIM? meh. "Bastards of Young" made it worth it.

Bah. Paul's had at least one solo album (Mono) better than anything the Mats did. Yeah, I said it. And Let It Be is about one half great album, one half juvenile crap- it's not their best album, just their most THEM album.

PTMM, on the other hand- I've got the framed album cover on my wall.

This band is my freaking Beatles. I have probably submitted 5 or so 'mats links, glad to see one finally go green. They are everything I ever wanted in a rawkandroll band.

The proper ranking is:

1) Tim
2) PTMM
3) Let It Be
4) Stink
5) Hootenanny (just for "Color Me Impressed")
6) Everything Else.

All Shook Down is really the first Westerberg solo album. Mono (which I love also Shaddax) is really a Replacements tribute record in a sense.

I think PTMM has an incredible production, even if it is very "we're all digital now and you are gonna hear that" kinda sounding. It's definitely their best mixed record.

"Can't Hardly Wait" is probably PTMM's most famous song -- but if you've ever heard the version they recorded for Tim, well that one kicks so much ass, it may be the best song they ever recorded (tied with "Left Of The Dial"). How "Dose Of Thunder" gets on Tim and "Can't Hardly Wait" gets left off is such a mystery to me...

Stink is the best Replacements album.

The Dynamite Monkey: I have probably submitted 5 or so 'mats links, glad to see one finally go green

By the way I did not mean to imply I was the subby this time, props to him/her.

Thanks for that, nice article.

They're all the best album.

If you're only listening to Hootenanny for "Color Me Impressed" then you are missing out on the greatness that is "Within Your Reach."

Let it Be, Let it Be! Tim a close second for "Here Comes a Regular" Might as well be my Pittsburgh anthem from '98-'02

Crocodile: If you're only listening to Hootenanny for "Color Me Impressed" then you are missing out on the greatness that is "Within Your Reach."

No I love that one too... it's just that CMI is one of those rare songs that really gets to me.

Let It Be, because its' the only one I can find on CD here. I have 'Don't Tell A Soul' and 'PTMM' on vinyl, but haven't heard them in years as I don't have a working record player at the moment.

I gotta go with PTMM for my favorite.

I think Tim had the best songs, but I have a special attachment to PTMM because it was the first time I heard them.

My own personal ranking:

1. PTMM
2. Tim
3. Let It Be
4. Hootenanny
5. All Shook Down

I also thought Stereo/Mono was brilliant. I spent a whole summer just listening to it over and over again.

Maybe I don't rank Let It Be first because I didn't hear it when it came out, but it is kind of inconsistent, just like the Replacements, I suppose.

By the way I just finished the new 'mats biography, and i can't really give it a rave. The band didn't participate except for Slim, (and his insights are by far the best parts of the book -- especially when talking about what it was like to replace Bob). There are some great Bob stories, but they left him even more sad and enigmatic to me after reading them.

It's more about what the 'mats meant to the local scene than what they were about, how they developed, etc. Interesting for fans but not what I would call a great rock biography.

I'm not familiar with this band, though I have heard "Here Comes A Regular". Anyone want to educate me?

I LOVE all their albums...they all have some great ones and few fillers. One of my favorite bands ever. "If Only You Were Lonely" ranks up there as one of the best "non-album" songs of all time. Think I'll go get me a beer and strum the guitar...

RaKellaKAT: I'm not familiar with this band, though I have heard "Here Comes A Regular". Anyone want to educate me?

Yeah, I'll give it a go. The song you've heard is a good example of their more wistful and poetic side; they're equally well-remembered for a strong post-punk/punk/Stones-influenced rocking sound with an overall vibe of what it's like to be young, poor and going nowhere in a small Midwestern town, while being smart enough to realize it. They're also got a semi-legendary reputation as drunks and wildmen who were maybe the best band in the world for a couple of years, but too unreliable to ever parlay that into success (or completely capture what made them special on record). Throw in that their bassist was in his mid-teens during their run and as far gone as any of them, and they probably deserved their rep.

What sets them apart is that they were fronted by Paul Westerberg, who's truly one of the most gifted American songwriters of recent times. He's got a great ear for riffs and melodies which stay with you but don't cross over into witless and artless pop; and he's a genius lyricist when he wants to be. All of the Replacements and Westerberg solo stuff is hit or miss (especially the early stuff), but every album he/they ever did also includes at least one unforgettable song that perfectly captures some element of life, and which no one else could have written. They're one of those "this band changed my life" outfits.

Probably the best way to sum it up is that he/they were/are amazing songwriters who refused- were probably constitutionally unable- to compromise any part of what they were doing for the sake of appeasing record labels, club owners, fans, themselves, etc. The combination of brilliance and authenticity is a rare one.

(This is where I mention that Tommy Stinson, the bassist, has done some excellent solo work as well.)

Shaddax: RaKellaKAT: I'm not familiar with this band, though I have heard "Here Comes A Regular". Anyone want to educate me?

Yeah, I'll give it a go. The song you've heard is a good example of their more wistful and poetic side; they're equally well-remembered for a strong post-punk/punk/Stones-influenced rocking sound with an overall vibe of what it's like to be young, poor and going nowhere in a small Midwestern town, while being smart enough to realize it. They're also got a semi-legendary reputation as drunks and wildmen who were maybe the best band in the world for a couple of years, but too unreliable to ever parlay that into success (or completely capture what made them special on record). Throw in that their bassist was in his mid-teens during their run and as far gone as any of them, and they probably deserved their rep.

What sets them apart is that they were fronted by Paul Westerberg, who's truly one of the most gifted American songwriters of recent times. He's got a great ear for riffs and melodies which stay with you but don't cross over into witless and artless pop; and he's a genius lyricist when he wants to be. All of the Replacements and Westerberg solo stuff is hit or miss (especially the early stuff), but every album he/they ever did also includes at least one unforgettable song that perfectly captures some element of life, and which no one else could have written. They're one of those "this band changed my life" outfits.

Probably the best way to sum it up is that he/they were/are amazing songwriters who refused- were probably constitutionally unable- to compromise any part of what they were doing for the sake of appeasing record labels, club owners, fans, themselves, etc. The combination of brilliance and authenticity is a rare one.

(This is where I mention that Tommy Stinson, the bassist, has done some excellent solo work as well.)

Not bad. I really liked Village Gorilla Head, and Friday Night is Killing Me is awesome as well.

I'm going to go listen to some Replacements now.

Shaddax: Yeah, I'll give it a go.

And you did a very, very good job of capturing what they are about. Nice work. My short version:

70s am radio hooks + 70s classic rock riffs + punk energy and abandon + healthy dose of teen angst + very brilliant rock singersongwriter = the 'mats.

They were one of those bands somehow made it seem like you were one of them. Nearly every 'mats fan has a very personal feeling and relationship with their shows and records.

monty666: I really liked Village Gorilla Head, and Friday Night is Killing Me is awesome as well.

VGH is great, and I had been saying the Bash and Pop record was better than any Westy solo stuff until Mono. Saw B&P twice, they were really good. Songs were catchy as hell.

1) Tim
2) Let It Be
3) Pleased To Meet me



Left of the Dial, Bastards of Young, & Here Comes a Regular make Tim the best album in their catalog.

And, for the noobs, they call themselves the 'mats as a permutation of Placemats, which is an offshoot of Replacements...

Saw em once in Berkeley. They were too drunk to be any good, but it was the Let It Be period. saw em again much later, opening for Tom Petty. Had 4th row seats. They couldn't figure out their setlist, wandering around. Saw them at the Shoreline ampitheater and they took the stage before the sun had even gone down. No one cared that they were there but me.

How can you say 'I love you' to an answering machine?

I'll chip in a Paul story:

I saw him in Chicago a few years back, touring off of "Folker." The set proceeds as it usually does with him- really good, kinda meandering, lots of diversions and changed lyrics, oddball covers, he kisses his (male) guitarist during "AAA", etc. Halfway through a very different, ultra slow version of, I believe, "Vampires & Failures", someone in one of those overhanging individual balcony seats gets up to go to the bathroom.

Paul stops DEAD in the middle of the song, point directly at the poor sap who's caught just as they rise out of their chair, and screams into the mic: "DON'T YOU WALK AWAY FROM ME!" Holds his arm in the air for one beat, two beats, drops it- "what do you want to hear?" and ended up either playing a request or some random thing.

Hey look, reviews of that were posted.

I saw him one other time when he played at a tribute show to his wife. Unforgettable stuff. He's a full time father so rarely tours, but if you can see him....

1. Let it Be (I Will Dare, Androgenous, Favorite Thing)
2.PTMM (Can't Hardly Wait, Valentine, Ledge, Alex Chilton)
3. Tim (Left of the Dial, Hold My Life, Bastards of Young)

I still say one of the most fun nights of my life was the night I was on Paul Westerberg's bus and almost got in a drunken knife fight with him a few years ago. In my defense, it was only because I thought he was going to stab that cop. On a plus side, he tells some cool stories about writing old songs if you can catch him in the right mood.

Let It Be
Tim
PTMM


/Don't Tell a Soul never happened
//Mats one of the two best American bands of the 80's
/// Husker Du was the other (better) band in that mix.

Maybe it's the crusty punk in me but I've always liked "Sorry Ma...".
"Customer" is just pure energy.

The Place Mats and Husker Du were good, but don't forget how goddam great R.E.M. was before they got rich/fat/happy.

Thank subby, great find.

Although... Pleased To Meet Me was where me and the 'Mats parted ways.

My personal list...

1) Let It Be (Shaddax... the "juvenile stuff" combined with the more mature material is what makes this album one of the all time best)
2) Sorry Ma, Forgot To Take Out The Trash (gotta admit, I have a real soft spot for their dumb 'n crazy shiat)
3) Tim (I've come to like this one more as I have gotten older)
4) Pleased To Meet Me
5) Hootenanny
6) Stink
7) that last one

PTTM remains my favorite. It's got several of the best tunes and arguably the best lyrics of any album in the catalog.

Not suggesting it's the best song on PTTM, but have to note special love for Red Red Wine, which always seems treated like an afterthought. It's just beautiful, manic yet controlled, noise. To me, it's the Highway Star of the 80s. You can't listen without your pulse going up a few beats and desperately needing to play air-something. Mars' was the shiat on that track.