Customer Reviews

Eventually

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It's tempting to compare unfavorably this album (along with other Westerberg's less than raunchy solo work) to the Replacements at their prime. It's also a little bit unfair. Any artist should be allowed to grow up and move beyond their initial influences and early chemical dependencies.

One of the marks of the better Replacements' albums was a commitment to a particular type of sound that ran througout the album and served as a skeleton for the work, like "Let it Be"'s distant guitar or "Pleased to Meet Me"'s crunchy, stilted guitar sound. Unlike "14 Songs", which I liked, but was somewhat schizophrenic in its sound, this album commits to a sound and sticks to it. Perhaps Westerberg learned to split up these musical urges later on when he put out his rockers on the "Grandpaboy" EP and then his balladry on "Suicane Gratification". While I haven't yet purchased the former, the latter is served well by the consistent theme.

Most of the songs are well-crafted, and avoid the cheap and obvious hooks of a lot of what gets put on the radio. "Love Untold", the one single from this album, has a subtlety that's not on radio very often. But maybe the most rewarding aspect of this album is for long-time Replacements fans. The song "Good Day" might, without the context, just otherwise be an ordinary quarter-note ballad, with lyrics that on the surface might seem trite --

"A good day/doesn't have to be a Friday/doesn't need to be a birthday/the next one maybe you won't survive/sing along, "Hold my life".../A good day/is any day that you're alive"

-- references both a line from a song from the Replacements album "Tim" and addresses the untimely death of Bob Stinson (whose last work with the band was done on that album).

Maybe the introspection of the album is most meaningful to those who have followed Westerberg through the years, and appreciate that there is an older, wiser singer-songwriter around to perform, rather than a rock casualty in the grave. And in the end, I think the rock world will end up better off for it.

Having acquired a taste for the Replacements only in their later days (Don't Tell A Soul and All Shook Down)in which their songs were better written and better played and better produced, I like tremendously Eventually (and 14 Songs). Eventually follows the more mellow/musical leanings of the two previously mentioned Rep.'s cd's. Still guitar driven, but better sounding guitar driven. This is the music of a maturing songwriter/musician that puts together catchy,yet rough edged, songs. There are some rough songs here (like You've had it with you) but the trend is towards more mellow songcraft, and it works.....Eventually you will return to this cd time and again.

I'm a big Paul fan and I have to say that this is probably his most underrated album. Sure, it's got some crap on it (Hide N' Seekin', Trumpet Clip) but it also has two of his best solo tunes, MamaDaddy Did and Angels Walk. These two songs are sad, beautiful, forgotten classics. The rest of the album isn't quite up to par with those two songs but it's solid at best and agreeable at worst. This one's relatively cheap and worth checking out if you're a Paul fan.

I bought this album for $5 because Paul was a character in a really good book that I read, and I wanted to see if he was any good as a singer. I listened to the CD once and absolutely loved it. In the few days I have owned it, it has become one of my favorites in my collection. I think he has a wonderful voice and great lyrics.

Eventually is a mature piece of work which bears comparison with the Replacements' front man's best writing - the songs are tight, perhaps a bit mellow on the whole but no less affecting or enjoyable for that. Check out 'These Are The Days' and 'Once Around The Weekend', two impressive cuts from the album, and my two standouts. This really is an excellent albums that improves the more you play it; it's rarely far from my CD player. Westerberg has created something special to join his already impressive catalogue of quality.

While fans haven't been good to this album, it has become a favorite of mine and this may be one of Paul's best works, along with Suicaine Gratifaction (1999) and Stereo/Mono (2002). This was Westerberg's 2nd solo album released in 1996, after his break up with the legendary band The Replacements and first solo album in 1993 called 14 Songs, which is a great album as well and showed Paul making a big leap forward into more folk driven areas on tracks such as "Runaway Wind" and Dice Behind Your Shades". On this album though, he keeps the same style but manages to make an album that's more consistant then 14 Songs. This record may feel weak on first listen but I find myself loving it more and more. Paul balances the fun and often silly tracks with the sensitive ones very well. This may be Paul's most pop record, maybe his most produced as well.

Not a single bad track here but the best are "Love Untold, "Ain't Got Me", "Once Around The Weekend", "Angels Walk", "Good Day" and "Time Flies Tomorrow". While the album has sort of faded into obscurity, it's a really good record that hasn't recieved the best reviews but I find Paul to be a unique artist who makes different kind of pop music. Either you will love it or hate it but I still think it desereves a chance. A great record from start to finish in my ears.

I was first motivated to write this review because I couldn't believe *none* of the previous reviewers mentioned the excellent stand-out track "Ain't Got Me." I love both the hooks and his message to the recording industry. "Love Untold" is a beautiful song too. I'm lukewarm to most of the rest of the album; hence the 3 stars.

To those who say "It's not the Mats, but it's better than anything on the charts today," my answer is: True, but there's so much out there in the 90s that *doesn't* make the charts that's better than this album. Do yourself a favor and listen to some Elliott Smith or Wilco or Belle & Sebastian or the Dutch group Johan, to name a few. This scene may not match up to the Mats/REM/Huskers peak of the 80s, but it's more interesting than just listening to those guys' 90s efforts.

Paul Westerberg has more talent in his little finger than all the third eye blinds and eve 6's and Antheneum's have in their whole entourages. He can say more in one turn of a phrase than all these cheesy bands can say in their five album deals (trust me, they will be dropped before that is ever proven). I met Paul a couple of years ago, and I was amazed at how unbelievably grounded in face of all the adulation he receives on a daily basis. The songs on this album are so mature without sounding like Gordon Lightfoot. Good Day is about the most beautiful song he has written since Here Comes A Regular. You cannot ever go wrong with a Westerberg album.

A good album from Westerburg,I prefer the later,rawer,off the cuff sound of Stereo/Mono. But this first solo album is a nice set of songs done more professinally."Love Untold"is still a favorite track.
But I was still waiting for Paul to go to the basement,and bring forth Grandpaboy.

Unfortunately, half of this record consists of shameless and grossly inferior re-treadings of Paul's past work (You've Had It With You = Down Love, Ain't Got Me = Mannequin Shop), along with some folkier yet uninteresting songs (Once Around the Weekend, These Are the Days) and embarrassing forays into piano-based material (Time Flies Tomorrow, Good Day...yeah, that's right, Good Day. I don't care who the song was written for or about--...[it's outright horrible]. Even more unfortunate is the fact that Paul felt compelled to continue this terrible formula on the majority of Eventually's follow-up, Suicaine Gratifaction.

Still, the remaining six songs include some of Westerberg's best despite what you may have heard. For instance, the album's rockers (Century, Trumpet Clip) are excellent even by Mats standards--hooky, raucous, sarcastic & fun. Love Untold and Angels Walk are the quality heart-string-tuggers that you expect from Paul. The former, a sympathetic call to those whom love has eluded, breaks your heart with sadness. The latter, an ode to childhood innocence, breaks your heart with happiness. They truly are Westerberg at his finest.

That leaves us with two of Paul's few coming-of-age type songs that actually live up to their critical praise, Hide N Seekin and Mamadaddydid. With the first, it's quite obvious that Paul's singing about himself and his alcoholism, which is haunting enough, but I can't help but think that he's singing it to the ghost of Bob as well, letting him know he's battling the same demons. Mamadaddydid smacks of irony in its repetitive distinction between having and raising children. Yet the irony and the song's Buddy Holly-esque feel keep it cleverly aloof of the actual issue--whether or not he's ready to be a father.

So, if you're a Paul fan, buy the disc, burn these 6 tracks
onto your best of mix, and pray to God that Paul's new record is a return to form. If you're not a Paul fan yet, I suggest you pick up some Mats records first and get this somewhere down the road. Eventually, if you will.