The Replacements’ ‘Dead Man’s Pop’ Box Set
GET ITHow many times have you wished for a “do-over”? American indie rock legends The Replacements, a band infamous for self-sabotage, recently got the unlikely chance to remake one of its classic albums in its own image. The result is a perfect snapshot of one of the best, most maddening bands of the 1980s firing on all cylinders, reminding us all why they were given so many chances in the first place.
It’s also one of the best box sets of the year. Dead Man’s Pop is the band’s re-do of its best-selling and highest-charting—and most polarizing—album, 1987’s Don’t Tell A Soul. It’s re-mixed and re-ordered, with a more timeless and intimate sound that’s closer to what the band originally envisioned rather than the polished ’80s pop sheen the record company foisted upon the original release.
Hits like “I’ll Be You” and “We’ll Inherit the Earth” are a revelation (it’s the songs, stupid). Other gems like “They’re Blind” and “Rock n’ Roll Ghost” are stripped of veneer and strike a more somber, personal tone. It’s a complete do-over. And for fans, it’s a must-have.
Dead Man’s Pop includes the entire remixed album on 180g vinyl, as well as CD. It also includes three other CDs: a host of demos and outtakes (including a hilarious, drunken Woodstock session with Tom Waits) and a complete, blistering live set recorded in 1988.
If any band deserves just one more shot at the Big Time, it’s The Mats. —Jon Langston, Commerce Editor
[$80; rhino.com]
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