Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
The material demands a better reissue. Period., June 2, 2008
I've been a fan of this band for a long time, so I was understandably looking forward to proper reissues/remasters for at least ten years. Let It Be may be their best sounding disk and most representative of the band's sound. However, aside from unearthed photos - which are poorly placed inside (with text on the photos?!?) - and better sound than earlier issues on compact disc this reissue simply isn't up to snuff.
And Rhino/Ryko are not to blame either. The band has acquired a certain legacy over time and simply deserves much better. First off the bonus track selection is very half-baked. Fans of the band are familiar with their outtakes by now. Let It Be's include "Who's Gonna Take Us Alive" (the best outtake of the bunch stupidly absent), the lyrically alternate version of "Gary's Got A Boner", "Street Girl" (a fine little ditty), the rocking "You Look Like An Adult" (the original version of "Seen Your Video") and a big whoops was the (new) mix of the alternate version of "Sixteen Blue". The same version (did) include Chan Polling of The Suburbs' grand piano through the entire song. A truly beautiful version, and they botched it! Why they included the same version WITHOUT the best part - or at very least a new interesting feature - of the song is simply poor on all counts.
Gina Arnold (author of the pretty decent 'Route 666: On the Road to Nirvana') wrote the liner notes. While sure, it may be sweet and cute for her to recount what it was like to be a Replacements fan twenty years ago (if that's the case for a filling up liner notes why don't a segment of us Replacements fans start sending in our of sweet stories for Tim now?) it doesn't make for definitive liner-notes writing. We still know as much about the album and there's nothing legitimate about why is it's included here in the first place. It has it's place - but not in the liner notes to one of the best albums the 1980's.
Why there was no input from any band member is certainly unfortunate and perhaps even telling. No first hand stories, memories, information of any kind from the band (aside from their ex-manager informing us that the bonus tracks...were outtakes...from the Let It Be sessions). Considering that these reissues have been in the works - or more accurately been touted as "to be released next year" for the past ten years or so - by the time they actually arrive and they don't have the bonus tracks that the fans would hope they'd include or simply expect, it's hard not to wonder what DID in fact take so long? Surely it wasn't the attention to detail. Having said ALL this, it should please a percentage of fans. I'm going to assume that casual fans (do the 'Mats even have casual fans?) of the band should be fine with this reissue.
It's issues (or reissues as it were) like this that prompt illegal trade of this great bands' music and that's not fair to the band or it's fans.
Oh yeah, and the classic iconic cover is now a few shades darker and cropped to boot!
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Agree with Bill Wikstrom's review and..., June 2, 2008
"I Will Dare", "Unsatisfied" and "Answering Machine" have ALL BEEN EDITED!!!
Small, but significant edits have been made to the tracks. Which changes the identity of the track(s) and the album. "Answering Machine" the beginning has been chopped off. No more Paul count off over buzzing guitar. No more back round fumbling before the start of "I Will Dare", in turn the track sounds more confident (for a lack of a better word). The backround after "Androgynous" are not only edited but also now bleed over onto the front (beginning) of "Black Diamond". Which sounds like a careless post-production boo-boo. But being intimately familiar with this album, it now sounds like it's someone else's album.
For something so well-established, it just seems pretty foolish for a revisionist history lesson as far as ANY editing of the original album tracks.
Glaring omissions aside ("Who's Gonna Take Us Alive", "Street Girl", "Sixteen Blue" - without Chan Polling's piano on the entire track (!!) which also had a very nice guitar feedback ending courtesy of Bob - now gone (as if it was never even there). And simply uninteresting, very uninforming and self-indulgent liner notes. The purchase is fine for the photos (with staples in the middle of frames) and beefier sound. Otherwise, it's just a bad re-issue which is unfortunate as it's been in the works (the idea of a reissue at very least) for a while now.
Will there be a box set forthcoming for all of the ommisions?
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14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Like the 'Mats themselves, a mixed bag, April 30, 2008
For those of us hoping that the Ryko/Rhino would give the Replacements the same treatment they gave Elvis Costello, LET IT BE and their other reissues are something of a disappointment.
The sound is great, no question. But there are two main shortcomings. One of which has rightly been noted already: there is too much wasted room on these discs. With all the boots extant from throughout the 'Mats career, there is a literal goldmine of material out there that could have been included to get these timings closer to 80 minutes -- and, more importantly, give a more complete picture of what the Replacements were all about. Without some chunk of concurrent live material, there is something important missing. For those of us lucky to have seen the band live over the years, that void is all the more glaring.
Second, the liner notes are mediocre to downright bad. There are some great bits from Peter Jesperson. The LIB essay is a navel-staring disaster. How anyone could have let that stand as a "tribute" to one of the greatest albums in rock history is beyond me. Again, unlike the gold standard that both Ryko and certainly Rhino had set with their reissues of Costello's work, there is absolutely no input from the artists themselves. No words/thoughts/remembrances from Paul, Tommy, or Chris. And maybe this was their choice. But it certainly makes for a less-than-definitive reissue of this work.
The music does sound great. Bottom line. And I don't mind paying a little more for a great repackaging of important music -- and both Ryko and Rhino have done this very well in the past. Unfortunately, this effort doesn't live up to that same standard.
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