"Throw The 'Mats A Dime": The Replacements News & Discussion Thread

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by DeeThomaz, Jul 18, 2019.

  1. redeyedandblue

    redeyedandblue Forum Resident

    Location:
    London
    According to Yahoo!, the cassette will only be available with the first 500 orders via Rhino.com: https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/replacements-announce-box-set-dead-004755420.html

    Guessing (given there are no other configurations mentioned anywhere that I can find) that the 4CD+1LP+book will be the only format available everywhere else.
     
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  2. Krivers

    Krivers Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dixie
    Rock n Roll Ghost is underrated.
     
    quicksrt, Crispy Rob, ExHead and 5 others like this.
  3. Ted Dinard

    Ted Dinard Forum Resident

    Location:
    Boston suburb
    Hrumph. I'm such a dopey fan, I guess I'll forego the free shipping I get from Amazon to get the cassette from Rhino (shipping $10.99!), even though I don't have a functioning cassette player.

    A must-buy either way. For me, the decisive sentence in the Rhino ad is this: "In total, the box includes 60 tracks–58 of which have never been heard before."
     
    quicksrt, dee, TheLoveDrags and 2 others like this.
  4. twicks

    twicks Forum Resident

    Location:
    Detroit
    "Darlin' One" isn't a great song but I've always loved Paul's vocal performance.
     
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  5. redeyedandblue

    redeyedandblue Forum Resident

    Location:
    London
    They only quoted me $12.99 to ship the box to the UK!

    (But I reckon import taxes would bring the total to around $120, so I’ll reluctantly have to pass unless it pops up in the Rhino UK store)
     
    Ted Dinard likes this.
  6. overdrivethree

    overdrivethree Forum Resident

    Ugh. I was really stoked for this news yesterday. Today I’m listening to DTAS in sequence while I’m working, and I’m falling back on my old opinion - the best tracks are the singles, and the album was suitably condensed/represented on the All For Nothing comp.

    I’m eager to hear the un-reverbed, un-gooped (as Paul would put it) mix, but I am just not feeling like the songs are there.

    Something happened after PTMM that just sent Paul’s writing down a spiral. Whether it was chasing a hit, too much booze/blow or just losing the muse - something is missing. (And I don’t think it’s Bob either.)
     
    funhouse, CBS CLASH 3 and twicks like this.
  7. DME1061

    DME1061 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Trenton, NJ
    Expensive, but as they're my favorite band I'm psyched for this. Love getting a live set from this incarnation of the band.....my only disappointment is that there is not a live version of "IOU" on it.
     
    DeeThomaz likes this.
  8. Spencer R

    Spencer R Forum Resident

    Location:
    Oxford, MS
    I feel the exact opposite: Pleased To Meet Me has four great songs - Can’t Hardly Wait (which was left over from the previous album), The Ledge, Alex Chilton, and Skyway - padded out with the weakest filler of the band’s career.

    Quibble with the production of Don’t Tell A Soul all you want, but the songwriting is a big step up from its predecessor.
     
    rydersdad likes this.
  9. twicks

    twicks Forum Resident

    Location:
    Detroit
    I mostly agree. The first two discs will probably be an interesting one-time listen. More excited about the expanded "Inconcerated" than anything.

    That said, who wouldn't kill to have "I'll Be You" or "Nobody" as their *inferior* songs?
     
    overdrivethree likes this.
  10. twicks

    twicks Forum Resident

    Location:
    Detroit
    No way. "Nevermind" and "Valentine" are absolute killers in Paul's catalog.
     
  11. vamborules

    vamborules Forum Resident

    Location:
    CT
    For me, Back To Back is the real sleeper on DTAS. I love that song. I like every song on side one. Gets a little shakier on side two but it ends strong.
     
    dee likes this.
  12. c-eling

    c-eling They're made of light,We never would have guessed

    My only concern for this as well.
     
  13. vamborules

    vamborules Forum Resident

    Location:
    CT
    Great drums on that one too. And that's one that really seems to works with the production as it is. Lots of cool sounds and stuff going on there. But that's just me. I think I like DTAS more than most anyway.
     
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  14. Pawnmower

    Pawnmower Senior Member

    Location:
    Dearborn, MI
  15. will_b_free

    will_b_free Forum Resident

    Location:
    Boulder, CO
    Box and book looks great but I’ll probably just buy the download version from HDTracks or wherever Rhino makes it available. Maybe it will include a PDF of the book (but probably not).

    Strange they’re saying 58 of the 60 tracks are unreleased, by not counting Inconcerated or Date to Church.
     
    Last edited: Jul 19, 2019
    Wildgift likes this.
  16. czeskleba

    czeskleba Senior Member

    Location:
    Seattle
    I don't either. I hate to bitch or seem ungrateful about anything related to this release, but it's an annoying (and totally unnecessary) gimmick on Rhino's part to put two exclusive tracks on a goddamn cassette. I hope they are at least available as mp3s too... that's a substandard format I can at least play without having to buy new equipment.
     
  17. czeskleba

    czeskleba Senior Member

    Location:
    Seattle
    It's not strange... Those tracks are remixed, so that makes them unreleased in the same sense as the remixed original album tracks.
     
  18. overdrivethree

    overdrivethree Forum Resident

    Yeah, can’t agree. On PTMM there’s sort of an upbeat driving-with-the-windows-down spirit, as booze/drug-fueled as it is. And that’s even with a song like “The Ledge.”

    I think it’s increasingly diminishing returns from then on out, with DTAS being more downbeat and tired, and a downright pall cast over ASD.

    Before I read the Bob Mehr book, I would have put it down to the band settling down, trying something different. But that we know that the DTAS sessions were about as unhinged as they ever were professionally, it really makes the album a more depressing listen for me than it already was.
     
  19. overdrivethree

    overdrivethree Forum Resident

    “I’ll Be You” for me is their last truly great song.
     
  20. twicks

    twicks Forum Resident

    Location:
    Detroit
    That book was like a hit of acid. It certainly expanded my Mats consciousness...but at what price? :)
     
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  21. czeskleba

    czeskleba Senior Member

    Location:
    Seattle
    I can't argue with your opinion, but it seems strange to me to pick as their best album a record that lacks many of the defining traits that made them appealing. It's sorta like saying Sweetheart of the Rodeo is the very best Byrds album.
     
  22. Spencer R

    Spencer R Forum Resident

    Location:
    Oxford, MS
    I love the Mehr book, but relying on it to ascertain the band’s state of mind while they were recording is a fallacy. Were they in a stable place when they made the acknowledged classic Let It Be? I highly doubt it. Are the songs good or bad is the question, not was Westerberg depressed or was the band doing drugs.
     
  23. Spencer R

    Spencer R Forum Resident

    Location:
    Oxford, MS
    Even though I don’t share it, I wouldn’t call that a crazy opinion. There are certainly fans who think that and see Sweetheart as a foundational album in the birth of Americana or alt.country, even if I personally think the Gene Clark lineup was better (and that the Notorious Byrds Brothers, an album, that like Don’t Tell A Soul, was recorded during what was, by all accounts, a time of lineup changes, turmoil, and all-around bad vibes, is their best album).
     
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  24. czeskleba

    czeskleba Senior Member

    Location:
    Seattle
    I agree. But my own opinion is that the songs on DTAS are lacking. Lacking humor, lacking idiosyncrasy, with lyrics that are among the vaguest and blandest he ever wrote. It feels to some degree like he's trying to simplify his style to appeal to a larger audience.
     
    team2 likes this.
  25. team2

    team2 Forum Resident

    Location:
    TN (By Way of NY)
    I'm a relatively new fan, having gotten into them about four years ago (and forever kicking myself that I wasn't listening to them in high school in the 80's), but yeah, I find it hard to get into the last two albums. PTMM is their peak and passing, IMO.
     
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