REVIEW: Replacements, All For Nothing (Reprise)
- Bob Gajarsky
As the 1980s grew to a close, there were a few premier bands to whom college students - and the newly monickered 'modern rock' fans - gravitated. The Replacements would soon go the way of Ireland's The Alarm - influencing many (see the Goo Goo Dolls as the most blatant imitation), but never quite breaking into the mainstream. In a long-overdue attempt to expose the band that was to more fans, the second half of their career is collected on All For Nothing .
Originally known as the Impediments, Minnesota's Replacements took the circuitous road to success. Led by Paul Westerberg, their live performances would range from shoddy to brilliant, depending on band members' ability to stand upright. And it was this constant state of change, coupled with an ability to never take themselves too seriously, that propelled the 'Mats to alterna-stardom. Westerberg once said, "One of the standing jokes in the band is that we're not musicians, and we're sort of proud of the fact that we don't wanna be". But when they *did* want to be, the Replacements were able to write songs that transcended the empty rockers which came to reflect much of the eighties.
Viewed as a whole, the 'Mats career can be seen in several stages: the Twin-Tone days, when the band was still feeling out their oats, and recording a couple brilliant indie albums ( Hootenanny and Let It Be ) which bordered on punk rock. The breakup of the band after 1991's All Shook Down (unoficially Westerberg's first solo album) led to a softer Paul Westerberg, as witnessed on his 14 Songs and Eventually . The missing link was their moment in the major-label sun, which Reprise collect on this two disc retrospective.
The songs aren't selected based on alterna-chart success (witness the omission of "Back To Back" from Don't Tell A Soul , a more commercial song than those included) but divided equally, four tracks from each of their four major-label albums. However, these are the songs which tend to be played most on modern rock stations today - "Kiss Me On The Bus" and "Alex Chilton" still sound fresh today, as if made by a band on the verge of making it big. By all rights, of course, they should have. Even the reputed sell-out "I'll Be You" had an authenticity surrounding it which many bands could only aspire for, and the hook - along with the apropos line "Left the rebel without a clue" - are simply priceless.
The second disc (subtitled Nothing For All ) serves only as a supplement to hardcore 'Mats fans. "Cruella Deville" (from the 1987 Disney 'interpretation' album, Stay Awake ) and "Like A Rolling Pin" are the highlights here, while the latter - a slight mockup of Dylan's classic - offers a slight teaser to drunken performances that would include such variations as "Fuck My School" (to the tune of "Let It Be" , with Westerberg's appropriately twisted lyrics).
What All For Nothing demonstrates is that the Replacements could have, if things had proceeded smoothly, been one of the top 'alterna-rock' bands out there. Ironically enough, their success in the then-new format - different from the raw sound which marked their Twin-Tone years - was probably what helped spell the end of one of Minnesota's greatest musical exports.
TRACK LISTING, Disc 1: Left Of The Dial, Kiss Me On The Bus, Bastards of Young, Here Comes A Regular, Skyway, Alex Chilton, The Ledge, Can't Hardly Wait, I'll Be You, Achin' To Be, Talent Show, Anywhere's Better Than Here, Merry Go Round, Sadly Beautiful, Nobody, Somebody Take The Wheel
