Let It Be (Replacements album)

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Let It Be is the title of a 1984 album released by The Replacements. Critics often list this as their defining piece of work.

The fourth Replacements LP was released in 1984 on Twin/Tone Records. Previously The 'Mats' work had been an energetic, if slightly puerile take on the blues and punk; Let It Be proved to be a more mature and much fuller sounding record than those that came before it.

Contents

1 Critical response
2 Track listing

2.1 Side one
2.2 Side two

3 Samples

Critical response

Although Let It Be was far from a commercial success, it is widely regarded by critics as one of the best albums of the 1980s. It is listed in All Music Guide 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. They also rated it as the fifteenth best album of the 1980s in 1990. In the 1999 miniseries "VH1's 100 Greatest Albums of Rock and Roll," VH1 ranked Let It Be in the 79th position.

Track listing

Side one

"I Will Dare" – 3:18
*Brisk opener with hooky guitar riffs. As with most of Paul Westerberg's lyrics this song is occupied with young love and alienation. R.E.M.'s Peter Buck makes an appearance on guitar. This was the album's single (released as a 12" by Twin/Tone).
"Favorite Thing" – 2:19
*Self-explanatory and sweet tune that breaks out into guitar histrionics around the 1:30 mark, the best demonstration of The Mats' distaste for conventional song structure.
"We're Comin' Out" – 2:21
*Some sort of valiant charge from Westerberg, probably playing the part of the alpha male in some sleazy Minneapolis dive. Hüsker Dü guitars scrape like angry metallic dogs, nice outro of snapping and remedial piano playing.
"Tommy Gets His Tonsils Out" – 1:53
*A song reminiscent of the humorous and chaotic songs that peppered their earlier albums. Westerberg addresses bassist Tommy Stinson in his best leery dentist vocal.
"Androgynous" – 3:11
*Mournful and tuneful piano tune led by Westerberg about parental hatred and blurring sexual boundaries.
"Black Diamond" – 2:40
*Cover of a 1974 song by the iconic American rock band Kiss. The group attempt to make this track sound earnest and like a 'Mats standard but the tongue of Gene Simmons casts a long shadow.

Side two

"Unsatisfied" – 4:01
*Perhaps the most anthemic song on the entire album, "Unsatisfied" has numerous lyrical meanings, reflecting Westerberg's frustration with the band's musical and professional focuses, the strains of interpersonal relationships, and widespread disaffection experienced by youth during the Reagan years. Westerberg's ranting vocals are checked by the song's rather contained, yet lush and melodic, tune.
"Seen Your Video" – 3:08
*Mostly instrumental, a jittery and catchy tune in contempt for MTV. The best demonstration of Bob Stinson's fluid guitar style.
"Gary's Got a Boner" – 2:28
*Similar in style to "Tommy Got His Tonsils Out", the tune is a loose adaptation of Ted Nugent's 1977 song "Cat Scratch Fever."
"Sixteen Blue" – 4:24
*An aching love song reflecting the sexual confusion that characterizes adolescence. It is simultaneously tender and sandpaper rough. Chan Poling of The Suburbs, a group from the area, plays piano.
"Answering Machine" – 3:40
*The only song to feature tape effects and loops. The final song on the album, "Answering Machine" effectively revisits the album's common theme of the frustration accompanying interpersonal relationships.

Samples

["Unsatisfied"] ([file info])
Problems playing the files? See .

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