Record Review- The Replacements

The Replacements
All Shook Down

Released in 1990, this is the final album by one of the most critically loved, least-listened to bands of the 80s. Voted “the drunkest band of all-time” by Rolling Stone writers, the Mats (as their fans sometimes referred to them) made this recording mostly broken-up with only two members left playing along side singer and soon to be solo artist, Paul Westerberg who wrote most of the band’s songs. The Replacements are a perfect example of wild punkish louts who slowly learned to play their instruments, lost some of their original fans because of it then became really good at the end. Hard-drinkin’ Westerburg was on the wagon during production and moving into the ‘grown-up’ years of his life. Luckily for us he aged with style. Listening to this album now the songs are so crisp, well-crafted and smooth it almost feels like adult contemporary at first.
For me this a nearly perfect set of tunes with a deep bag of sharp, clever lyrics and sparse, to-the-point songwriting creating a nice place to relax and be 42 years old. In 2008, living in this world of adolescent, whining, girly emo boys, stupid, bland pop sluts and brainless corporate hip/hop pulling this disc out of an old shoebox was one of the best acts of the year so far. I don’t know how generation FACEBOOK will see The Replacements but a band who are known for being so out of control they were kicked-off Saturday Night Live and told never to return. And for making a video shot in grainy black and white showing a nothing but a close up of a speaker through the entire song (which is smashed at the end of the song to protest the stupidity of music videos) should at least appeal the supposed love of Punk they seem to share. The song in the video was called Bastards of Young which they (like many of the band’s fans at the time) certainly were. Standouts on All Shook Down include the catchy, When It Began with the lyrics....The Queen sat quiet, the Jester plays, she plays “Off with their heads and on with my pants.” Also, the darkly, somber, All Shook Down which begins...”Hollywood cops... shoot each other in bed... The bouncy, Someone Take the Wheel is a funny and realistic song about driving endless hours packed in a van with bandmates that are sick of each other. “...I see the fighting begin...so fuckin’ lame...throw in another tape man...someone take the wheel.” The album closes with the tender, but downer piano ballad, The Last, which is a song that sounds like it was written by a grizzled veteran of romantic war but sung with a comforting distance of one who has learned valuable lessons along the way.
The Replacements broke apart just before Nirvana sang about Teen Spirit and blew the lid off the deep and rich underground music scene (which would soon be trampled silly by the dimwitted MTV idiot masses) but listening to them now with fresh, ears well into the next millennium I doubt they would have gotten their due even if they stayed together. Download it, buy the disc or whatever but give this one many listenings. We all have to grow up sometime. Hopefully we can do it with the same style Westerburg shows with All Shook Down, The Replacements 41 minute swan song.
-Richard Mullins