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Let It Be (The Replacements album)

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Let It Be is the third studio album from the American rock band The Replacements, released in October 1984 on Twin/Tone Records. By 1983's Hootenanny, the band had grown tired of playing loud and fast exclusively and decided to write songs that were, according to vocalist Paul Westerberg, "a little more sincere."[1] Influenced by genres as diverse as metal, Chicago blues and arena rock, Let It Be featured more complex arrangements and songwriting than the band's previous albums. The album was remastered and reissued in 2008, with six additional tracks.

Background

The Replacements started their career as a punk rock band but had gradually grown beyond the straightforward hardcore of initial albums like Stink.[2] Westerberg recalls that "playing that kind of noisy, fake hardcore rock was getting us nowhere, and it wasn't a lot of fun. This was the first time I had songs that we arranged, rather than just banging out riffs and giving them titles."[3] By 1983, the band would sometimes perform a set of cover songs intended to antagonize whoever was in the audience. Westerberg explained that the punks who made up their audience "thought that's what they were supposed to be standing for, like 'Anybody does what they want' and 'There are no rules' [...] But there were rules and you couldn't do that, and you had to be fast, and you had to wear black, and you couldn't wear a plaid shirt with flares ... So we'd play the DeFranco Family, that kind of shit, just to piss 'em off."[4]

Peter Buck of R.E.M. was originally rumored to produce the album. Buck later confirmed that the band did consider him as a possible producer, but when they met Buck in Athens, Georgia, the band did not have enough material. Buck did manage to contribute to the album in a limited capacity; he said, "I was kind of there for pre-production stuff, did one solo, gave 'em some ideas."[5]

Music

Let It Be placed more of a focus on Westerberg's songwriting than previous albums. While elements of hardcore remain, the band's sound also incorporates arena rock, pop, jazz, heavy metal, honky-tonk country and Chicago blues. Unlike previous efforts, the individual songs have distinct sections and dynamic shifts. Instruments such as piano, lap steel guitar, 12-string guitar, and mandolin appear.

The album is divided by more energetic rock songs like "Tommy Gets His Tonsils Out" and "Gary's Got a Boner" and more dramatic songs like "Sixteen Blue" and "Unsatisfied". R.E.M.'s Peter Buck contributed the guitar solo to Let It Be's first cut, "I Will Dare", which was released as a single in July 1984 prior to the album's release.

Legacy

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic link
Robert ChristgauA+ link
Pitchfork Media10.0/10.0 link
Pop Matters link
Punknews.org link
Rolling Stone link

Although not a commercial success upon its release, Let It Be was critically acclaimed by various American music publications; The Village Voice's Robert Christgau gave the album an A+ rating,[6] and the album ranked fourth in the 1984 Village Voice Pazz & Jop critics' poll.[7] The Rocket critic Bruce Pavitt said Let It Be was "mature, diverse rock that could well shoot these regional boys into the national mainstream."[8]

The album is frequently included on professional lists of the all-time best rock albums. It is listed in Allmusic with a five-star rating and is one of the few albums to receive an 'A+' from esteemed music critic Robert Christgau. In 2003, the album was ranked number 239 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. In 1989, it was rated #15 on the same magazine's list of the "The 100 Greatest Albums of the 80's". [9] In the 1999 miniseries "VH1's 100 Greatest Albums of Rock and Roll," VH1 ranked Let It Be #79.[10] Rateyourmusic.com lists it as the 28th best alternative rock album and 5th best album of 1984.[11] Pitchfork Media rated the album at #29 on their 100 Best Albums of the 1980s. Spin ranked it #12 on their list of the 25 Greatest albums of all time.[12] Robert Christgau ranked it #10 on his list of the best albums of the 80s.[13] The opening track of the album, I Will Dare has been inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. [14]

In 2004, Continuum International Publishing Group published a volume in its 33⅓ series inspired by Let It Be. The book was a memoir written by Colin Meloy of indie pop band The Decemberists. In his book, Meloy wrote, "I listened to Let It Be endlessly. The record seemed to encapsulate perfectly all of the feelings that were churning inside me [...] Paul Westerberg's weary voice sounded from my boombox and I trembled to think that here I was, thirteen and the 'hardest age' was still three years in the making."[15]

Packaging and title

The cover of Let It Be is a photograph of the band sitting on the roof of Bob and Tommy Stinson's mother's house taken by Daniel Corrigan. Michael Azerrad stated that the cover was a "great little piece of mythmaking," showcasing each bandmember's personality via how they appear in the photograph.[8] The album's title is a reference to the 1970 album Let It Be by The Beatles; the reference was intended as a joke on the Replacements' manager, Peter Jesperson, who was a huge Beatles fan.[1] Westerberg has stated the name was "our way of saying that nothing is sacred, that the Beatles were just a fine rock & roll band. We were seriously gonna call the next record Let It Bleed."[3]

Track listing

All songs written by Paul Westerberg except where noted.

Side one
  1. "I Will Dare" – 3:18
  2. "Favorite Thing" (Westerberg, Tommy Stinson, Bob Stinson, Chris Mars) – 2:19
  3. "We're Comin' Out" (Westerberg, Stinson, Stinson, Mars) – 2:21
  4. "Tommy Gets His Tonsils Out" (Westerberg, Stinson, Stinson, Mars) – 1:53
  5. "Androgynous" – 3:11
  6. "Black Diamond" (Paul Stanley) – 2:40
Side two
  2. "Unsatisfied" – 4:01
  3. "Seen Your Video" – 3:08
  4. "Gary's Got a Boner" (Westerberg, Stinson, Stinson, Mars) – 2:28
  5. "Sixteen Blue" – 4:24
  6. "Answering Machine" – 3:40
2008 CD reissue bonus tracks
  2. "20th Century Boy" (Marc Bolan) – 3:56
  3. "Perfectly Lethal" (Outtake) – 3:30
  4. "Temptation Eyes" (Outtake) (Price, Walsh) – 2:30
  5. "Answering Machine" (Solo Home Demo) – 2:43
  6. "Heartbeat — It's a Lovebeat" (Outtake — Rough Mix) (Hudspeth, Kennedy) – 2:55
  7. "Sixteen Blue" (Outtake — Alternate Vocal) – 5:08
  • Track 12 originally released as a B-side of "I Will Dare".
  • Tracks 13–17 previously unreleased.

Personnel

The Replacements
Additional musicians

References

  1. ^ a b Azerrad, 2001. p. 222
  2. ^ Azerrad, p. 208
  3. ^ a b "The 100 Greatest Albums of the 80's". Rolling Stone (#565): 76. November 16, 1989.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  4. ^ Azerrad, p. 215
  5. ^ Gray, Marcus. It Crawled from the South: An R.E.M. Companion. Da Capo, 1997. Second edition. ISBN 0-306-80751-3, p. 356-357
  6. ^ Christgau, Robert. "CG: the replacements". RobertChristgau.com. Retrieved 2007-08-03.
  7. ^ Christgau, Robert. "The 1984 Jazz & Pop Critics Poll". RobertChristgau.com. Retrieved 2007-08-08.
  8. ^ a b Azerrad, 2001. p. 223
  9. ^ "Rocklist.net Rolling Stone Lists - Main Page". Rocklistmusic.co.uk. 2002-10-17. Retrieved 2011-08-21.
  10. ^ "100 greatest albums of rock & roll (80-61)". Vh1.com. Retrieved 2007-09-21.
  11. ^ "Custom Chart Rate Your Music". Rateyourmusic.com. Retrieved 2009-01-13.
  12. ^ "The 25 greates albums of all time". books.google.com. Retrieved 2010-04-29.
  13. ^ "Decade Personal Best: '80s". Robertchristgau.com. Retrieved 2010-05-08.
  14. ^ "Rocklist.net...Steve Parker...Rock and Roll Hall of Fame". Rocklistmusic.co.uk. Retrieved 2011-08-21.
  15. ^ Meloy, Colin. Let It Be 33⅓. Continuum, 2004. ISBN 0-8264-1633-0, p. 70
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