- Release Info -------------------------------------------------------------- -
Artist: The Replacements
Album: Don't Tell A Soul
Label: Rhino / Rykodisc
Playtime: 64:36 min
Genre: Alternative
URL: http://www.rhino.com
Rip date: 2008-09-26
Street date: 2008-09-23
Size: 98.90 MB
Type: Remastered
Quality: 203 kbps / 4410kHz / Joint Stereo
- Release Notes ------------------------------------------------------------- -
Remastered with bonus material.
"Two albums into their major-label contract and the Replacements had yet to
have a hit -- they racked up some respectable sales but they were still a
cult college band, never coming close to the Top Ten success R.E.M. had with
Document. This lack of hits certainly weighed heavily on the band's label,
which exerted a slightly heavier pressure than the chorus of fans and critics
lamenting the group's lack of success, but all of this pressure from
supporters and suits led the band to place a big bet on Don't Tell a Soul, a
highly lacquered dilution of the 'Mats that is as misguided a crossover
attempt as can be imagined. Matt Wallace's enormous, bottomless production --
as fathomless and dull as a muddy lake -- is merely a symptom of the illness
that infected the Replacements during the making of Don't Tell a Soul, an
illness that left the bandmembers with little sense of themselves. Blame for
this can't be placed on the shoulders of Slim Dunlap, a Minneapolis rock
fixture belatedly replacing Bob Stinson almost four years after his
departure, as the guitarist is an easy, comfortable fit, lending nice country
grace notes to ballads and goosing rockers with understated leads. So, does
the blame for Don't Tell a Soul lay at the feet of Paul Westerberg? In part,
yes, but not because the lead Replacement comes up with a set of substandard
songs. Yes, a couple of his worse numbers are here -- none more egregious
than the bewildering ham-fisted funk of "Asking Me Lies," and the muddled
anthem "We'll Inherit the Earth" isn't far behind -- but so are a couple of
his finest, including the lovely "Achin' to Be," the haunted "Rock 'n' Roll
Ghost," the sweetly self-mythologizing "Talent Show," and "I'll Be You,"
whose urgency masks its melancholy.
Taken as an overall set of tunes, though, the songs on Don't Tell a Soul
reveal a writer who is becoming self-conscious of his role as a writer,
over-thinking his constructions and rewriting too carefully, dampening the
over-spilling emotion that was always one of his finest characteristics; he's
writing with his reputation in mind. Perhaps such overly considered songs
deserve an overly considered production, but Wallace's inflated renderings of
Westerberg's fussy tunes are absurdly large, pointing out that Westerberg's
ballads always were endearing because they were fragile, an element acutely
missing from Don't Tell a Soul. But what's really missed here is any sense
that this is the work of a band: this is a record that's been assembled track
to track, lacking any spark or spontaneity. This is what the Replacements
would sound like if they weren't a rock & roll band, something that is
painfully evident on the one straight-ahead rocker, the stiff and
embarrassing "I Won't," a tune that the 'Mats could have tossed off with
abandon at any other time. "I Won't" is one of only a handful of songs with a
sprightly tempo, as the rest of the record ranges from anonymous album rock
to mannered writerly ballads. The other fast one is, of course, "I'll Be
You," the song that did manage to crawl into modern rock charts and pop up on
MTV, but it failed to bring the record any further up the charts. Ultimately,
that's the saddest thing about Don't Tell a Soul: it's a transparent sellout
that failed to sell."
- Track List ---------------------------------------------------------------- -
01. Talent Show ( 3:34)
02. Back To Back ( 3:21)
03. We'll Inherit The Earth ( 4:21)
04. Achin' To Be ( 3:42)
05. They're Blind ( 4:41)
06. Anywhere's Better Than Here ( 2:47)
07. Asking Me Lies ( 3:37)
08. I'll Be You ( 3:29)
09. I Won't ( 2:42)
10. Rock 'N' Roll Ghost ( 3:25)
11. Darlin' One ( 3:54)
12. Portland ( 4:28)
13. Wake Up ( 2:13)
14. Talent Show (Studio Demo) ( 2:54)
15. We'll Inherit The Earth (Mix 1) ( 4:02)
16. Date To Church (with Tom Waits) ( 3:49)
17. We Know The Night ( 3:28)
18. Gudbuy T' Jane ( 4:09)
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- -