1984's Let It Be was punk at heart, but featured a wider range of influences, including heavy metal, arena rock and Chicago blues. The album garnered acclaim and the attention of big names. They eventually signed to the major label Sire Records and released Tim in 1985. But it was their next album, 1987's Pleased to Meet Me, which made them household names across America. The single "Alex Chilton" was an alt-rock hit and the musician Alex Chilton actually provided guitar for the album's closing song, "Can't Hardly Wait." (Fun Fact: the first Replacements song I ever heard was "Alex Chilton" on Rock Band 2).
The band released two more albums, Don't Tell a Soul in 1989 and All Shook Down in 1990, with both failing to match the success of Pleased to Meet Me. This, coupled with disorderly live performances and artistic differences between band members, spelled the break-up of The Replacements. The band's vocalist, Paul Westerberg, went on to launch a successful solo carrer (even sponsoring his own First Act signature guitar) and can frequently be seen covering songs from yesteryear.
The Replacements have influence status, meaning that a lot of today's bands wouldn't be around if it wasn't for them. To name a few: Green Day, Goo Goo Dolls and Hawthorne Heights (who take the name of their second album, If Only You Were Lonely, from a Replacements b-side). It seems that their fame caused their demise, as they were content with being an underground band with underground mannerisms. As a whole, their sound can be described as college rock (a la R.E.M.), and their lyrics were seeped in "heart-on-your-sleeve" themes that punk at the time shyed away from and punk today wears proudly.
If you want to get into their catalog, start with their studio albums (preferably in backwards chronological order) and then go into their rarities and compilations. I made the mistake of doing it the other way around, and now I can hardly touch their albums! Their demos and bootlegs just sound so raw, so true, that their mastered studio songs fail to hit the mark. It took a long time for me to listen to all of Pleased to Meet Me and some of Tim, but in the end of the day I find myself returning to Boink!!! and their other b-sides.
Even in today's age with the Internet and Ebay, you have to have real skill to (*ahem*) "find" the good stuff. I mean, their cover of "Heartbeat (It's a Love Beat)" by The DeFranco Family (which tears the original a new one) isn't even on YouTube (until now!). On one of my "discoveries," I stumbled upon the song below, which I later covered on someone's actual birthday in my first live performance (a story for another day...).
"Birthday Gal (Studio Demo)" by The Replacements
I'm in love with that song,
Kelvin
Me too :]
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