The Replacements - Pleased to Meet Me

Sellouts? Not a chance.

Unfortunately, that's what Paul Westerberg and his gang see themselves as on Pleased to Meet Me, one of their first albums on a major label. Frankly, they have every right to; we've watched the slow demise of many indie darlings who hit a creative rock bottom under the immense pressure of larger record labels (see Liz Phair's self-titled album for a heartbreaking example of this). Luckily, the 'Mats did not fall victim to this pseudo-curse, and produced what is probably the best straightforward collection of songs in their discography.

While Pleased to Meet Me is undoubtedly more polished than its predecessors, the Replacements still manage to retain a bit of their D.I.Y. punk roots, flaunting rigid guitar riffs on tracks like "I.O.U." and "I Don't Know"; Westerberg wants you to know that the band hasn't gone completely soft. On the contrary, the album has no shortage of sentimental gems; "Skyway" is as poignant as it is short (and it's really short), and "Never Mind" is perhaps one of the most oft-ignored songs of the 1980s. But as great as it is, it will be living forever in the shadow of its forerunner, 1983's Let it Be.

Let it Be was a great album by all means, but on a song-by-song basis, it just doesn't hold up to some of the band's later efforts. But it blows their early work out of the water. By the time the band got around to working on a new record, they had tired of writing hard, fast punk, and decided to drop it in favor of something "a little more sincere". So they did, and spawned something very sarcastic, very raucous, and extremely influential. It received acclaim from every critical outlet imaginable, and while it was relatively unknown to the public at the time, it has since garnered much attention from fans of alternative rock everywhere. It's everything you could ask for in a college rock album; honesty, rawness, and even a little inconsistency... these are all the things that made it so perfect.

Why do I like Pleased to Meet Me more if it truly is inferior as an album? Maybe it's the grandiose way that the flawless "Can't Hardly Wait" closes the record. Maybe it's the slow, charming pseudo-jazz of "Nightclub Jitters". Maybe it has something to do with the ominous, sinister atmosphere of "The Ledge". Perhaps I'm crazy for preferring it. But there's something about this record that keeps me coming back for more.

Final Score: 90/100