 |
| Tim 1985 |
544 Miles To Go
The Replacements rank as rock's greatest mess on the ladder of success.
Known as much for their drunken stage antics as their infectious songs, Tim is their 1985 major label debut for Sire Records and unquestionably one of the era's best records.
Produced by the Ramones' Tommy Erdelyi, Tim is a perfect blend of the sonic thunderstorms of the Sorry Ma, Forgot To Take Out The Trash/The Replacements Stink/Hootenanny era with the promise of 1984's more polished Let It Be, which flies just as highly in rock's all-time rankings.
It's also the final offering from The Replacements original line-up of Paul Westerberg (vocals, guitars, piano), Tommy Stinson (bass), the late Bob Stinson (guitar) and Chris Mars (drums, backing vocals).
Fittingly, the band goes 11 for 11 on Tim in what would be considered a greatest hits collection for most bands.
Hold My Life, I'll Buy, Dose Of Thunder, Bastards Of Young, Lay It Down Clown, Left Of The Dial and Little Mascara rage with the ragged rock fury of the band's earliest work, while the other four songs showcase Westerberg's clever writing in more acoustic settings.
Early era purists hate Kiss Me On The Bus and Waitress In The Sky for their party invitations to the less hardcore, but it's impossible to not appreciate the overwhelming crush of the first and the smart aleck observations of the second.
The closing Here Comes A Regular is the boozy classic loved by nearly all the band's fans for its literal and metaphorical meanings for The Replacements' battles with the bottle.
Tim fits in the middle of the Let It Be/Tim/Pleased To Meet Me period, before Westerberg turns the speakers down considerably for the final pair of original releases - Don't Tell A Soul and All Shook Down.
It's easy to hear how Sorry Ma became Tim and how Tim transformed into All Shook Down, but virtually impossible to predict how the band that created its 1981 debut became the one on the 1990 finale, even with knowing all the line-up changes that would come after Tim.
Some of the funniest parts of the 2011 documentary about The Replacements - Color Me Obsessed - come from fans, famous and otherwise, arguing about the artistic merits of the various eras and when The Replacements quit being Their Replacements.
Three decades later Tim stands as a testament to music's most notorious "sons of no one."
Tim Song For The Soundtrack: Bastards Of Young
Running Data For Friday, June 21:
3.38 Miles
35:34
Mileage In The Change Jar: 0.33 Miles
No comments:
Post a Comment