Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash

Replacements

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 1, 1991)
• Original Release Date: August 25, 1981
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Twintone
• ASIN: B0000018UX
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #194,619 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential recording
The Replacements' 1981 debut, like the Stink EP that came on its heels, is laden with hardcore punk that was the flavor in underground rock of the time, albeit of a customized strain. Oddly enough, that sense of compromise is the source of the charm to both early Mats titles. The Minneapolis quartet play fast and loose here but aren't inclined to display the discipline the leading lights of the movement boasted. Raggedness and humor are their fortes. One can almost picture Paul Westerberg smirking a bit at the sanctioned snotty sentiments he's voicing. "I hate music!" he bellows in the song of the same name, only to add cheekily, "Got too many notes." "Customer," too, undermines pure-punk ethos with wisecracks. Though he more often writes screeds than actual songs, Westerberg's burgeoning skills nevertheless surface in "Johnny's Gonna Die," "Shiftless When Idle," and "I'm in Trouble." Sorry Ma isn't necessarily a superior punk album, but it's an exceedingly likable one. --Steven Stolder

Product Description
Full Title - Sorry Ma, Forgot To Take Out The Trash. Remastered reissue of their angry 1981 debut album. Restless Records. 2002.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The soundtrack of my high-school life., July 24, 1999

By A Customer

Now that I'm 30, have a wife, son, mortgage, and sad excuse for a career, I never thought that I'd pull this one out of the collection. I pictured being old and gray when my grandchildren would bring it to me in my wheelchair and I'd fondly recall the days when "alternative" meant alternative and you had to seek this music out, not turn on the radio. I've been listening to this CD (I've still got the LP, too!) all summer (mostly in the garage, at my wife's insistence). From the first Stinson-powered attack on "Takin' A Ride" to the last chord of "Raised In the City", it continues to be, at least for me, almost a time capsule. This was one of the most listened-to albums of my high school days. For those of you who have only been exposed to the 'Mats through their later efforts (post-Stinson), you're really missing the essence of one of the bands who inadvertently shaped the rock sound of today's "alternative" bands. Bass player Tommy Stinson was 14 years old when he and his brother Bob (guitar), Chris Mars (drums), and Paul Westerberg (vocals, guitar) made "Sorry Ma...". I saw them in a seedy little club in Indianapolis performing on a stage barely big enough for Mars' drum set to fit on and it remains one the most vivid shows in memory. The album itself is fast, in-your-face, 3-chord noise, nothing else. But as they say in the industry, it's got a "hook". Paul's lyrics make him one of the best songwriters noone knows about, even on this first album. My grandkids will have to get their own copy of "Sorry Ma.." because I'll have worn mine out, and that's a lot of plays for a CD.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Classic Post-Punk Text, April 11, 2004

By	I.M. "Mom in the South Bay" (Manhattan Beach, California United States) - See all my reviews

When this came out, Rolling Stone took a moment to turn away fromarticles about Jann Weiner's 60's party pals to give this amazing disc three of five stars, asking "Who knows if they'll make any more albums? And who cares?" The Replacements went on to become a booze soaked sonic legend. And now people only read Rolling Stone to ogle the cover phots of Britney Spears.
It's all there in "Sorry Ma" -- the hooks, the clever lyrics, the Westbergian angst, long before it turned into post-Replacements self-pity and general crappiness. With the rest of the band (fueled by the late flamethower lead guitarmaster Bob Stinson) compelling him to rock, Paul did. And how.
They took punk and made it relevant to suburban kids who didn't feel like dressing all in black -- "Customer" has more truth in its 68 seconds than a crateful of "real" punk. "Kick Your Door" down is a straight ahead rocker that hits you in the gut; "Shiftless When Idle" is a powerpop marvel. "I Hate Music" is a sonic declaration of war on pretense. The only weakness is "Johnny's Gonna Die," lauded by most, but actually embodying Paul's worst musical instincts. The rest of the band propbably let it in in exchange for Paul kicking butt on the rest of the album.
You cannot understand or experience American post-punk pop without "Sorry Ma..." Rolling Stone be damned.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Anyway I Ain't Got Noplace Else To Go, February 8, 2004

By	Hap "Flint And Roses" (Austin,TX United States) - See all my reviews

I'm (ironically, I guess) replacing this with a new copy for the third time. It's crude, it's rough, it's loud, it's obnoxious, it's funny and it's great. This release and "Hootenanny" are wonderfully Midwestern surly snot-faced kid-like and I could not live without them. They have defined what this sound is/was and possibly always will be. It's as close as you'll ever get to what an early live Replacement's gig was like. I suppose if you weren't around when they were fresh and new it may sound a little....no...wait a minute....that's not true....I cannot stoop to any kind of mealy-mouthed defensiveness. This album is great. Not charming. Not friendly. Not just a display of Westerberg's burgeoning songwriting talents. It's great all by itself. I proudly know the lyrics (such as they are) to all the songs and I will spit them out with vigor until the day I die. It's unbridled, undisciplined and unruly. You know....PUNK.