Pleased to Meet Me

Replacements | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Original Release Date: July 7, 1987
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sire / London/Rhino
• ASIN: B000002LB9
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (66 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #98,866 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential recording

While some continue to champion the Replacements' Don't Tell a Soul and All Shook Down exit albums, Pleased to Meet Me truly represents the last vital effort of a great band beginning its descent. The first album released after founding lead guitarist Bob Stinson's official departure, Pleased nevertheless retains plenty of the Mats' innate punky drive, albeit here more focused and tempered. Group avatar Paul Westerberg feuded with Memphis producer Jim Dickinson (brought in because of his production of Big Star's melancholy classic Third/Sister Lovers) over what he considered Dickinson's civilizing touches. In retrospect, however, the brass-and-string flourishes on the catchy coda "Can't Hardly Wait" and the more disciplined drumming of Chris Mars make Pleased a more comfortable reconciliation of the group's raw roots and musical maturity. --Steven Stolder

Product Description

US LP 180-gram vinyl pressing. Rhino. 2008. --This text refers to the Vinyl edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential 'Mats, February 9, 2009

By 

M. McM "AOTT-TMF" (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pleased to Meet Me (Exp) (Audio CD)

Not a perfect album, but one of their best. Bob Stinson was a big loss to the 'Mats, but his absence freed them to try things he would've vetoed. Some of the experimentation doesn't hold up anymore - Westerberg himself hates the strings on "Can't Hardly Wait" - and the polished, echoey sound feels a bit dated, but this is still a great collection of songs. Less punk and more power pop, it's generally more 'mature' and less shambolic than anything they've done before.

This new reissue from Rhino is pretty solid and nearly fills out the disc with bonus tracks - the LP's original running time was about 33 minutes, and this new CD clocks in at about 70 minutes.

The alternate versions for "Alex Chilton" and "Can't Hardly Wait" (both previously unreleased) aren't that impressive - they're not better than the album versions, but they let you hear these songs with less overdubs, etc.

Four tracks were previously issued as B-sides; one, "Election Day," is still available on "All For Nothing/Nothing For All," but on this reissue there's a brief drumstick count-off at the beginning. The other three tracks ("Route 66," "Tossin' n' Turnin'," "Cool Water") are covers, and this reissue brings them back in-print. I wouldn't call the B-sides great, but they have their charms, particularly "Election Day," which sounds like a swarm of out-of-control slide guitars.

The demos are a mixed bag. "Valentine" isn't bad, but again, it doesn't surpass the album version. It's basically a rawer version of a great, great song. "Bundle Up" is really an early version of "Jungle Rock," an outtake on "All For Nothing/Nothing For All." Never a great song, "Jungle Rock" was still a charming throwaway, and the same can be said of "Bundle Up." "Kick It In" is pretty catchy - again, not a great song, but I find it pretty enjoyable.

Then you have two stunners: "Birthday Gal" and "Photo." Both songs would've been great additions to the album proper, but I'm not even sure the latter made it past the demo stage, and the former was simply left in the can (a stronger version of "Birthday Gal" - a polished outtake - can be found on "All For Nothing/Nothing For All"). "Photo"'s a great love song, with a nice guitar hook following each chorus, and "Birthday Gal" kind of foreshadows their new direction over the next two albums (one that would produce diminishing results). A lost classic, it's startlingly poignant for the chorus ("Birthday gal, do you wish there weren't quite as many candles that you had to blow?"). On this version, Westerberg strums on an electric guitar, but his reading is a bit unsteady - he gets better towards the end, when he sounds pretty raw and unguarded, but this is definitely a demo. (His vocal on the all-acoustic outtake featured on "All For Nothing/Nothing For All" is stronger and much more affecting.)

Now for the mastering: I know some fans would disagree, but to be honest, I never thought the original CD sounded bad - this album was a very dynamic, digital recording, and the original disc was a good representation of that. Rhino's reissue is louder and not quite as dynamic, but it's not a distorted, squashed mess. It still sounds pretty good, and that's especially true for the bonus tracks - some of those songs have only circulated as cruddy-sounding bootlegs (albeit in different takes, but it's hard to tell when the sound quality of the bootlegs is that bad). So finally, we get a gem like "Photo" in sparkling clear sound.

I've heard some people complain about a glitch at the beginning of track 11, "Can't Hardly Wait," as well as a clipped opening on track 6, "Never Mind, on which they (slightly) clipped the first note. I honestly didn't catch these the first time around and barely notice them myself, but just so you know, some people have complained.

Also, like Rhino's other 'Mats reissues, they put in some sound effects right before the bonus tracks - basically, you hear a door slam shut, some jangling keys and footsteps, and then another door opening, like a guy walking over to a locked door and opening it. Cute idea, some people like it, some don't.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Better without Bob, February 10, 2000

By 

"lazarus072" (Southern California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pleased to Meet Me (Audio CD)

The greatest "rock and roll" record of all time? This is as close to making a properly produced Stones album as the boys would dare. Paul wasn't a combination of Mick and Keith, he was more like Keith without the Mick. They (intentionally) lacked the stylistic showmanship that would make them that big. They were more stagger than swagger, and the fact that they could do an album this perfect sounding proved what the fans knew already: they had it in them.

I feel sorry for those who believe this to be the beginning of the end for the band. This album actually shows the boys writing several songs together, and the production may be dated, but by 1980's standards it isn't overdone at all. What I think of first when reflecting on this album is that Bob's "removal" was a blessing in disguise: who knew Paul could play guitar this good? Although I love Slim Dunlap, I simply don't know why they bothered to get a fourth person. This album has the best guitar playing of all their albums. The solo at the end of The Ledge? Skyway's delicacy? I.O.U. demonstrating that the crunch didn't follow Bob out the door

The variety of styles on this album is also surprising. Nightclub Jitters perfectly reproducing that intimate and cheap setting, the studio sing-along trash of Red Red Wine, the pop brilliance of Alex Chilton and Valentine. Skyway is the greatest American standard that no one's ever heard, a classic in every sense of the word. And the lyrics feature some of Paul's greatest lines, Can't Hardly Wait possibly being his finest hour. I Don't Know tells you the band's lack-of-mission statement is the same as it ever was.

I disagree with the previous poster taking Chris Mars drumming to task. I love the snap crackle pop sound of the drums on this album. I can't help air drumming along to Valentine every time I hear it. Let's not forget the album cover's lifting of Elvis' G.I. Blues lettering, and the original dustjacket's photo collage. And how many bands managed to utilize a horn section without overusing it (like the Stones)?

One more thing to add in defense of this time period in the band's history: the All For Nothing/Nothing for All compilation shows all the great B-sides from the 1986 Ardent sessions, more than enough to have made this a double album a la Exile on Main Street. But that would have been too ambitious...

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best from the best rock band ever, November 16, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Pleased to Meet Me (Audio CD)

How could The Replacements not take themselves seriously? Don't get me wrong, I'm glad they never did, but when you're capable of music this wonderful, you would think it would go to your head. I guess that was the magic of the band--greatness wrapped in self-doubt. The songs here are perfect--some rowdy, some touching, all heartfelt. How can you not love an album with lyrics like, "If you were a pill, I'd take a handful at my will/And I'd knock you back with somethin' sweet and strong"? I've never heard "love" described better. And I've never heard better music than this.