yeah kid it's a-really hip: replacements LET IT BE poll

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yeah yeah canonical boring-ass whatever. wish i had a jpg of my signed copy where tommy circled bob's photo on the back and wrote "50 lb. slime" next to it

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drf500/f530/f53056ig9ta.jpg

Poll Results

OptionVotes
unsatisfied 17
favorite thing 16
i will dare 14
answering machine14
androgynous 7
sixteen blue 6
tommy gets his tonsils out 5
we're coming out 5
black diamond 5
gary's got a boner 3
seen your video 1


tipsy mothra, Wednesday, 9 January 2008 23:58 (eighteen years ago)

"favorite thing" for me.

tipsy mothra, Thursday, 10 January 2008 00:00 (eighteen years ago)

FASCINATING TRUE DETAIL

they are sitting on the roof of stinsons' mom's house

tipsy mothra, Thursday, 10 January 2008 00:08 (eighteen years ago)

man this album is great.

Unsatisfied

Shakey Mo Collier, Thursday, 10 January 2008 00:11 (eighteen years ago)

Androgynous is one of the best fey lyrics ever. Up there with Cole Porter. A four syllable word for a hook, yet never sounds strained or pretentious.

bendy, Thursday, 10 January 2008 00:17 (eighteen years ago)

i love that song so much. it sorta blew my teenage mind, because there wasn't a lot of gender-identity-drama in most of what i listened to at that point. well aside from "lola." and "i'm a boy." and "my uncle used to love me but she died." ok actually there was a fair amount of gender-identity-drama in what i listened to. but "androgynous" is in the pantheon.

tipsy mothra, Thursday, 10 January 2008 00:26 (eighteen years ago)

now i wish i had called the poll KEWPIE DOLLS AND URINE STALLS. oh well.

tipsy mothra, Thursday, 10 January 2008 00:28 (eighteen years ago)

aw I'm glad people like "Androgynous". in the right mood "kewpie dolls and urinal stalls will be laughed at the way you're laughed at now" makes me tear up a little.

i voted "Unsatisfied"

horseshoe, Thursday, 10 January 2008 00:29 (eighteen years ago)

ha xpost!

horseshoe, Thursday, 10 January 2008 00:29 (eighteen years ago)

Favorite Thing

kornrulez6969, Thursday, 10 January 2008 01:03 (eighteen years ago)

damn i always think i'm sick of the mats, but this album is great.

"we're coming out"

M@tt He1ges0n, Thursday, 10 January 2008 01:10 (eighteen years ago)

"Across The Universe"

(That Replacements album is OK, but I haven't really listened to it enough to be able to pick a fave there)

Geir Hongro, Thursday, 10 January 2008 01:23 (eighteen years ago)

i always think i'm sick of the mats

i know i almost never listen to them these days but i finally got around to putting this on my ipod the other week and it made me happy.

tipsy mothra, Thursday, 10 January 2008 01:25 (eighteen years ago)

Great album. Unsatisfied by a mile.

Daniel, Esq., Thursday, 10 January 2008 01:42 (eighteen years ago)

My favorite album of all time. Going with "Answering Machine" just because its the last, and therefore the only one that wouldn't leave me disappointed if another song from the album didn't follow.

da croupier, Thursday, 10 January 2008 02:15 (eighteen years ago)

"i Will Dare" (even if it is a complete ripoff to "I'm Only Sleeping")

Mr. Snrub, Thursday, 10 January 2008 02:29 (eighteen years ago)

Didn't Paul Westerberg recently say that politics has no place in music? That's odd to me, since Unsatisfied seems like it could easily be a political song (could be about a failing relationship, too).

Daniel, Esq., Thursday, 10 January 2008 02:33 (eighteen years ago)

hip replacements

John Justen, Thursday, 10 January 2008 02:42 (eighteen years ago)

ha. i'll pretend that was on purpose.

tipsy mothra, Thursday, 10 January 2008 02:46 (eighteen years ago)

Very difficult. I voted "I Will Dare" because it means the rest of the album is coming after it.

Mark Rich@rdson, Thursday, 10 January 2008 03:15 (eighteen years ago)

Honestly it makes me feel good just to look at this tracklist. So many memories w/ this record.

Mark Rich@rdson, Thursday, 10 January 2008 03:17 (eighteen years ago)

really really tough to choose between "Favorite Thing" and "Answering Machine". I may have to sleep on this decision.

bernard snowy, Thursday, 10 January 2008 05:26 (eighteen years ago)

i sort of think this record (and the mats more generally, but this record especially) invented the slacker era. westerberg saw what was going on, or articulated it, 5-6 years before cobain, linklater, whoever. all the self-awareness, self-doubt, the appropriation of fm rawk (nothing ironic about "black diamond"), the refusal to aspire right in the midst of reagan america. that all got more anthemic later with "bastards of young," "i don't know," "we'll inherit the earth," but none of those top "unsatisfied." it took a recession to put this stuff in tune with the mainstream but they were there a lot earlier.

tipsy mothra, Thursday, 10 January 2008 05:27 (eighteen years ago)

(also when you consider that the week this album came out purple rain was #1 on the album charts, and that zen arcade came out 3 months earlier, it seems like a pretty good year for minneapolis.)

tipsy mothra, Thursday, 10 January 2008 05:33 (eighteen years ago)

unsatisfied, but i will dare is pretty close

akm, Thursday, 10 January 2008 05:53 (eighteen years ago)

(also when you consider that the week this album came out purple rain was #1 on the album charts, and that zen arcade came out 3 months earlier, it seems like a pretty good year for minneapolis.)

if only walter mondale could have won the presidency, that would have completed a perfect year for minneapolis.

fact checking cuz, Thursday, 10 January 2008 06:21 (eighteen years ago)

1984 was also the year when Jam/Lewis really started to establish themselves as an ace producer team, with that SOS Band album and all.

Geir Hongro, Thursday, 10 January 2008 13:18 (eighteen years ago)

"Favorite Thing" — one of the greatest rock and roll songs ever.
Funny, when I first heard the song it sounded like an indecipherable mess — I couldn't make out the melody, chord structure or anything. Now when I listen, I always marvel at the incredible guitar interplay between Stinson and Westerberg.
I used this song in an air band competition in college. We stumbled around drunk and kicked beer cans into the audience. We were booed, but we kicked ass.

Jazzbo, Thursday, 10 January 2008 13:37 (eighteen years ago)

"We're Comin' Out" has always been my fave of this disc.

Alex in NYC, Thursday, 10 January 2008 14:41 (eighteen years ago)

"i Will Dare" (even if it is a complete ripoff to "I'm Only Sleeping")

I don't hear it.

Alex in NYC, Thursday, 10 January 2008 14:41 (eighteen years ago)

they are sitting on the roof of stinsons' mom's house

Hey, the Beatles recorded their own Let It Be on the roof of Apple Records! (Parts of it, anyway.)

Myonga Vön Bontee, Thursday, 10 January 2008 14:52 (eighteen years ago)

I don't like this album.

"Black Diamond"

abanana, Thursday, 10 January 2008 14:54 (eighteen years ago)

xpost - "Meet me anyplace or anywhere or anytime, now I don't care" has a melody that's IDENTICAL to "Please don't wake me, no don't shake me, leave me where I am". It's just (I think) III-II-I-II-III etc., over and over.

Myonga Vön Bontee, Thursday, 10 January 2008 15:05 (eighteen years ago)

"Answering Machine" for me, btw.

Myonga Vön Bontee, Thursday, 10 January 2008 15:21 (eighteen years ago)

My friends just recorded an album in the same studio this was recorded, incidentally (y'know, kinda neat...I guess).

For me it's favorite thing, and also, all of it.

RabiesAngentleman, Thursday, 10 January 2008 15:30 (eighteen years ago)

Gah! I hate choosing but picked Androgynous.

nathalie, Thursday, 10 January 2008 15:35 (eighteen years ago)

No votes for Tommy or Gary?

For a classic album, the filler on this one seems especially weak. Maybe that's a result of the rest of the album being so strong. I picked "Favorite Thing" but I could have gone with five or six other songs.

Brad C., Thursday, 10 January 2008 15:50 (eighteen years ago)

i don't think of any of the songs as filler, exactly. gary comes closest, but i'd miss it if it weren't there. the album's less than a half-hour long, they didn't need filler.

tipsy mothra, Thursday, 10 January 2008 15:55 (eighteen years ago)

I like whatever the Nugent rip-off is

Bill Magill, Thursday, 10 January 2008 15:56 (eighteen years ago)

I voted for the cover.

James Redd and the Blecchs, Thursday, 10 January 2008 16:00 (eighteen years ago)

Am I the only one who doesn't care for Answering Machine? This is one of those instances where I'm convinced I'm actually wrong, because I can't think of a single reason why it hits my off switch.

RabiesAngentleman, Thursday, 10 January 2008 16:05 (eighteen years ago)

Because you can't dance to it, maybe?

Jazzbo, Thursday, 10 January 2008 16:29 (eighteen years ago)

I like plenty of things you can't dance to...

RabiesAngentleman, Thursday, 10 January 2008 16:32 (eighteen years ago)

"Favorite Thing", just ahead of "Black Diamond".

response to tipsy mothra on "Black Diamond": c'mon, you don't think covering Kiss wasn't just a bit ironic? American indie acts frequently sorta-semi-ironically co-opt trad rock, like, we're punk and ha ha we're playing Kiss but actually, damn, this is a great song, and hell, even though our version isn't better than Kiss', it still rocks and it's fun to play and listen to...and after all that hedging your see that the initial irony was necessary to get you to reflect on the differences between American indie and trad rock, and this reflection is part of the aesthetic. Lots of later American indie bands got this: think of Weezer and their co-opting of the Van Halen and Aerosmith logos circa the Blue Album.

Euler, Thursday, 10 January 2008 16:42 (eighteen years ago)

Answering Machine is lame

Mr. Que, Thursday, 10 January 2008 16:46 (eighteen years ago)

Killer

i will dare
favorite thing
we're coming out
tommy gets his tonsils out
gary's got a boner

Loved when I was 18-25, totally sick of them now
androgynous
unsatisfied

Filler
black diamond
seen your video
sixteen blue
answering machine

Mr. Que, Thursday, 10 January 2008 16:47 (eighteen years ago)

Answering Machine is lame

Y'know, that's probably it.

RabiesAngentleman, Thursday, 10 January 2008 16:53 (eighteen years ago)

Loved when I was 18-25, totally sick of them now

The quintessential ILX meme.

M.V., Thursday, 10 January 2008 16:53 (eighteen years ago)

people change

Mr. Que, Thursday, 10 January 2008 16:53 (eighteen years ago)

I voted for "Favorite Thing" just for the Bob solo.

I love 'em all though. I used "Seen Your Video" as bumper music behind my halftime basketball reports back when I was on the sports radio.

I still think that their recorded cover of "Temptation Eyes" would have been a better choice to end Side One than "Black Diamond".

"Unsatisfied" used to be a pretty personal song for me, but now that I am satisfied, I'm all like okay whatever.

"Answering Machine" is a great song even though it contains the worst effort at rhyming ever.

Pleasant Plains, Thursday, 10 January 2008 16:58 (eighteen years ago)

I voted for "Answering Machine."

I don't know...there is such a great depth of feeling in Westerberg's vocals. And an ass-kicking guitar sound as well.

It's sad to me that I find this song was the band's swan song...at least on record. I tried to listen to "Tim" a few days ago, after reading Walsh's book. I just can't get past the horrible production on that record. I have a feeling that there are some great songs hiding under all that sheen. Curse you Tommy Ramone.

kwhitehead, Friday, 11 January 2008 02:48 (eighteen years ago)

Yeah, I wouldn't describe it as a sheen, but agreed that Tim sounds awful, tough the songs are good. You take the awful record cover and the awful sound and it's amazing how far the best songs get on their own.

Mark Rich@rdson, Friday, 11 January 2008 02:53 (eighteen years ago)

Seems like Bob is already halfway out the door on Tim.

James Redd and the Blecchs, Friday, 11 January 2008 02:58 (eighteen years ago)

i like tim, but it was the first one i bought (followed by this a few weeks later). the production's annoying, but there are so many great songs on it that it doesn't really hinder my enthusiasm. "little mascara," "hold my life," "left of the dial," etc. and "here comes a regular" which i didn't totally understand until i spent some of my own bar-fly days.

tipsy mothra, Friday, 11 January 2008 03:02 (eighteen years ago)

The fact that Tim is lackluster isn't Bob's fault. I saw a few shows when they toured for that record. It's true that Bob seemed pretty much in the bag but his playing was spot on.

The last time I saw him on stage he was wearing a green glitter jump suit.

kwhitehead, Friday, 11 January 2008 03:04 (eighteen years ago)

i like tim, but it was the first one i bought (followed by this a few weeks later). the production's annoying, but there are so many great songs on it that it doesn't really hinder my enthusiasm.

OTM. I didn't buy it until my junior year in college and was amazed by "Hold My Life," "Kiss Me On Bus," and "Here Comes a Regular." "Lay It Down Clown" augurs rote thrashers like "Red Red Wine" but for the most part this is the first and only time that they balanced a little more production dough with songs to match.

Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Friday, 11 January 2008 03:12 (eighteen years ago)

Maybe they mixed him out, the way Lou Reed mixed out that other Bob on some of his records?
(xpost)

James Redd and the Blecchs, Friday, 11 January 2008 03:14 (eighteen years ago)

"Kiss Me On The Bus," of course

xpost

Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Friday, 11 January 2008 03:15 (eighteen years ago)

xpost - "Meet me anyplace or anywhere or anytime, now I don't care" has a melody that's IDENTICAL to "Please don't wake me, no don't shake me, leave me where I am". It's just (I think) III-II-I-II-III etc., over and over.

Mmmmmmmmmaybe, but "I'm Only Sleeping" is a bit more rife with minor chords than "I Will Dare," giving the two songs entirely different feels (to these ears, anyway).

Alex in NYC, Friday, 11 January 2008 03:54 (eighteen years ago)

I voted for "Gary's Got A Boner" because I knew it wasn't going to get any love.

Drew Daniel, Friday, 11 January 2008 04:23 (eighteen years ago)

Tim was the last album I bought by the Replacements. I held off just because it almost has a dull Bad Company tone to it, thanks to the production and not the songwriting.

I listened to it again a few months ago, and the songs have really held up. It's like Westerberg was trying to get serious about writing songs, but wasn't trying to sell out like he was on the later records.

Pleasant Plains, Friday, 11 January 2008 04:24 (eighteen years ago)

Thread leakage is now making me imagine this entire album being performed by William Shatner.

James Redd and the Blecchs, Friday, 11 January 2008 04:44 (eighteen years ago)

one more chance ... to get it all wrong

tipsy mothra, Friday, 11 January 2008 04:49 (eighteen years ago)

If you will ... dare
I will dare

James Redd and the Blecchs, Friday, 11 January 2008 04:54 (eighteen years ago)

This thread made me think how I've never even heard the last two Replacements records - the friend who got me into them oh so long ago was so hateful towards them that I never bothered to listen.

Is it worth it from some used bin somewhere? Or will it just make me mad?

joygoat, Friday, 11 January 2008 07:52 (eighteen years ago)

Mmmmmmmmmaybe, but "I'm Only Sleeping" is a bit more rife with minor chords than "I Will Dare," giving the two songs entirely different feels (to these ears, anyway).

-- Alex in NYC,

Definitely. But you can hear the resemblance.

Myonga Vön Bontee, Friday, 11 January 2008 10:54 (eighteen years ago)

I don't know if the last two records will make you mad, but I'll stand up for Don't Tell A Soul until the end.

Euler, Friday, 11 January 2008 14:19 (eighteen years ago)

If I could alter my screenname like in the old days, I would change it to "Gauss" and rep for Pleased To Meet Me.

James Redd and the Blecchs, Friday, 11 January 2008 14:36 (eighteen years ago)

man I love that one too

instead of Gauss why not go for a true nutt like Galois? if only...

Euler, Friday, 11 January 2008 14:55 (eighteen years ago)

In due time Gary's Got A Boner will be used to sell Viagra to our generation.

dad a, Friday, 11 January 2008 15:01 (eighteen years ago)

Resemblance maybe, but I certainly wouldn't call it a "complete ripoff"

Alex in NYC, Friday, 11 January 2008 16:47 (eighteen years ago)

That'd be "Mister Whirley."

James Redd and the Blecchs, Friday, 11 January 2008 16:48 (eighteen years ago)

If Tommy had played the bass hook from "I'm Only Sleeping" THEN it would have been a ripoff.

James Redd and the Blecchs, Friday, 11 January 2008 16:49 (eighteen years ago)

Resemblance maybe, but I certainly wouldn't call it a "complete ripoff"

No, that's fine, "complete ripoff" wasn't MY terminology. I'm neutral about the whole thing, didn't even notice the resemblance until Snrub pointed it out.

Myonga Vön Bontee, Friday, 11 January 2008 22:33 (eighteen years ago)

I listened to the first four songs off this at the gym this week because of this thread, and let me tell you it made me run like hell on that treadmill! I can't figure out if I should choose "Answering Machine" for purely sentimental reasons or if I should try to be more objective. Thank goodness I've still got time before the poll ends.

Bimble, Saturday, 12 January 2008 02:21 (eighteen years ago)

Also another thing I'll always remember is the splotch of white paint that was on the sleeve of my vinyl copy somewhere around Tommy Stinson's legs in that photo. One of those charming imperfections of pressing you would never see now. (and no, no jokes about him cumming please) Anyone else have a botched pressing of the sleeve of this?

Bimble, Saturday, 12 January 2008 02:26 (eighteen years ago)

and "here comes a regular" which i didn't totally understand until i spent some of my own bar-fly days.

man i should just not write about the replacements. it makes me stupid.

anyway on the last two albums, it just depends on your level of enthusiasm. don't tell a soul has some great songs. all shook down has a nice vibe, some nice songs, but never really stuck with me. everybody sounds halfway out the door.

tipsy mothra, Saturday, 12 January 2008 07:55 (eighteen years ago)

I confess I've not ever bothered to hear either of them, a fact I also admitted to my friend on the phone this evening.

Bimble, Saturday, 12 January 2008 08:45 (eighteen years ago)

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

ILX System, Monday, 14 January 2008 00:01 (eighteen years ago)

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

ILX System, Tuesday, 15 January 2008 00:01 (eighteen years ago)

re: Don't Tell a Soul - its mostly crap but there are a couple of GREAT songs on it ("Ill Be You" in particular). "All Shook Down" has some decent stuff on it too but sounds way different (acoustic guitars abound) and is more like a Paul Westerberg solo record.

Shakey Mo Collier, Tuesday, 15 January 2008 00:05 (eighteen years ago)

aw i'm glad everything got at least one vote.

tipsy mothra, Tuesday, 15 January 2008 03:01 (eighteen years ago)

re: Don't Tell a Soul - its mostly crap but there are a couple of GREAT songs on it ("Ill Be You" in particular).

they made the band play to a click-track on this, and it's painfully obvious. the music doesn't bob and weave like it used to.

all shook down was in fact supposed to be a westerberg solo album until the label demanded otherwise, in terms of billing. the only songs all four replacements play on are "attitude" and "when it began." the rest are paul with session people, with the occasional slim dunlap appearance.

Lawrence the Looter, Tuesday, 15 January 2008 03:16 (eighteen years ago)

Don't Tell a Soul is their most underrated album by far.

Mark Rich@rdson, Tuesday, 15 January 2008 03:26 (eighteen years ago)

Three good songs does not an underrated album make.

Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Tuesday, 15 January 2008 03:27 (eighteen years ago)

same songs + different producers would = something close to pleased to meet me.

it's funny, the production on dtas didn't strike me as particularly bombastic in 1989, but now it sounds fucking ridiculously dated. more gated reverb on the snare! more, i say!

Lawrence the Looter, Tuesday, 15 January 2008 03:32 (eighteen years ago)

Which three?

Mark Rich@rdson, Tuesday, 15 January 2008 03:37 (eighteen years ago)

"I'll Be You," "I Won't," and, um, "Anywhere's Better Than Here," maybe. God, so many moments of self-pity on this album.

Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Tuesday, 15 January 2008 03:48 (eighteen years ago)

"darling one" was a nice idea for a song, not quite realized though.

fact checking cuz, Tuesday, 15 January 2008 04:21 (eighteen years ago)

kinda interesting that five of the top six voters are mid-tempos or ballads, and the bottom five are all pretty much rock songs.

fact checking cuz, Tuesday, 15 January 2008 04:23 (eighteen years ago)

voters = vote getters

fact checking cuz, Tuesday, 15 January 2008 04:23 (eighteen years ago)

I'm delighted to see Answering Machine did as well as it did.

Bimble, Tuesday, 15 January 2008 05:14 (eighteen years ago)

surprised, actually, that Black Diamond didn't place higher and I Will Dare didn't place lower.

but then again, i kinda like 'Tim' just slightly better, if only for "Bastards of Young"

the table is the table, Tuesday, 15 January 2008 05:18 (eighteen years ago)

ten months pass...

"seen your video" was fucking robbed.

Kevin Keller, Monday, 24 November 2008 03:31 (seventeen years ago)

...hip replacement...

billstevejim, Monday, 24 November 2008 04:39 (seventeen years ago)

ROBBED i say!

k3vin k., Monday, 24 November 2008 04:49 (seventeen years ago)

I was only saying that in the thread title, I saw the words "hip replacement."

billstevejim, Monday, 24 November 2008 05:10 (seventeen years ago)

I just discovered this band a month or so ago! I enjoy this album.

Trik Turner Fan Club President (Tape Store), Monday, 24 November 2008 05:16 (seventeen years ago)

five years pass...

Released on this date 30 years ago.

Jazzbo, Thursday, 2 October 2014 16:57 (eleven years ago)

Not bad, only 12 months between this and Tim, then. Didnt realise it was that close...

Master of Treacle, Thursday, 2 October 2014 18:22 (eleven years ago)


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