The Minneapolis quasi-Punks returned with their fifth full-length album in 1987. “Pleased to Meet Me” is considered by many to be the final true Replacements album as other albums after this would involve minimal input from the rest of the band and were essentially solo albums by singer Paul Westerberg.
The album opens with “I.O.U”. Although still retaining some Punk elements, the song actually has quite a Rockabilly feel. An interesting little song about what appears to be the legal system and punishment. However, the album is perhaps best remembered for single “Alex Chilton”, a fan boy tribute to songwriter Alex Chilton of Big Star. The song is an absolute classic, and shows a nice musical homage to one of the great songwriters of our time, despite the extreme romanticizing of Chilton’s life and career. The song really shows that the Replacements were in many ways becoming a pop band at this time, as this is about as poppy as it gets in their discography. The song will instantly become lodged in your brain, a great song. “I Don’t Know” shows the increasingly experimental use of different styles by the band. The song incorporates horns into the mix, although it does not really detract from the overall feel of the song. The song features bored band members responding to Westerberg’s questions with little enthusiasm via backing grunts The song really mirrors the famous image found on the cover, a kind of psychotherapy session that shows the band confused about their recent critical and semi-commercial success. “Nightclub Jitters” is an experimental kind of “Cocktail Jazz” song and easily one of the worst songs musically that the band had recorded. The song is a sordid tale of life at night, and all of the creeps and creatures that come out at this time and drunkenly fill up nightclubs and bars. The lyrics are introspective, but the music is not really a fit for the band and sounds very out of step with its soft-Jazz vibe. Skip this one. “The Ledge” is a tale that was supposedly written about suicide and faced controversy upon its initial release. Although quite tame nowadays, the song is quite visceral but catchy at the same time. The song moves quite away from the band’s Punk roots and incorporates fairly lengthy guitar solos and guitar effects such as the dreaded chorus effect; which was quite popular at the time in contemporary music but actually works here musically.
Side Two opens with “Never Mind”, what appears to be a breakup song. The song is about the hopeless disintegration of a relationship that appears to be beyond the point of repair. Acoustic guitars give the song a more folky feel, and the song is definitely mellower than earlier songs by the band. Nice female backing vocals again give the song a sentimental and emotive feeling, making the sometimes abrasive music of the band a much sweeter pill to swallow. A nice short and sweet song by the band. “Valentine” is a kind of love letter to an object of infatuation. A love song, showcasing the bands more gooey and gushy side. Tommy Stinson’s bass is of particular note here, with complex fills that Mike Dirnt of Green Day and other Punk bassists spent the better part of a generation trying to emulate. Again, quite mellow and sappy, but never fake or contrived. “Shooting Dirty Pool” is a classic bar anthem, another tale from the seedy underground; a place that the bands frequented more than a few times. The song has some warped slide guitar and soloing, a rarity for the band. The song again adopts a kind of rockabilly feel, but updates the sound with modern production and effects. The song is a tad short, and feels more like a joke song than a fleshed out idea. “Red Red Wine” bears no relation to the UB40 original, instead it is a love letter to the red stuff; name checking various companies that produce the stuff and detailing other forms of alcohol abuse. The band was no stranger to alcohol abuse at this point, and it makes sense to write a song about one of their favorite past times. The song is again fairly rockabilly, and sounds somewhat like the direction that was adopted by Social Distortion and other Punk/Rockabilly bands making an impact in the late 1980s. Although meant to be somewhat ironic, the band was intend struggling with substance abuse that even culminated in the ejection of guitarist Bob Stinson in 1986, so not really a laughing matter at all. “Skyway” is a sign of things to come, a very poppy and folky acoustic number about vagrancy, passing glances, all wrapped into a soft and gentle song really about love in unlikely places. The track is quite different, but those who enjoy Westerberg’s solo output are sure to find something they like here. The album closes with the very famous “Can’t Hardly Wait”. The song is classic Replacements, cold like a Minneapolis winter in terms of instrumentation, but bursting with emotion lyrically. The song is quite catchy, but the horn and string sounds produce a kind of unnecessary bombast that I feel was totally overdone and somewhat tacky. The song is about love and failure, good intentions gone wrong constantly in terms of love. Our hopeless protagonist wants to express his love for someone, but is constantly meet by roadblocks. “Naked” versions of the songs can be heard by Westerberg solo, as all of the fancy bells and whistles in the production were a tad annoying for me. Otherwise a great song.
“Pleased to Meet Me” is without a doubt the final classic Replacements album. Although having more than a few blemishes, people could do far worse than purchase this album. Despite the lack of Bob Stinson on guitar and the often cheesy horn and string sounds, the album is still a classic piece of 1980s alternative and a fitting entry in the band’s discography.
Rating-8.0/10
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