Every other year, it seems, Elvis Costello releases another "deluxe" edition of his early LPs "My Aim Is True" and "This Year's Model." They're always overpriced, and contain little or nothing that a committed Elvis fan hasn't heard many times before.
If ever a band deserved to shamelessly cash in on their oldies the way Costello has, it's the Replacements, the Minneapolis band whose phenomenal first four records feature some of the smartest and fiercest garage rock you'll ever hear. Fronted by Paul Westerberg, the 'Mats were famous to a few, and, unfortunately, broke up in 1991 without ever making it big.
Today Rhino is at last reissuing "Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash," "Stink," "Hootenanny," and the band's masterpiece, "Let it Be." The records, released between 1981-1984, have been digitally remastered and augmented with well-chosen outtakes, demos, and alternate versions. (Check out the heartbreaking home demo of "Answering Machine" on "Let it Be" or the early version of "Shutup" on "Sorry Ma.")
The band's endearing backstory - they drank too much and cared too little - is well-told in the liner notes, which are illustrated with some amusing pictures. (Yes, that's guitarist Bob Stinson wearing a skirt on stage.) What's left to say about the records themselves? Unlike so much of the music from the early '80s, the sound is still vital: The guitars roar ("Go"), the vocal rasps ("I'm in Trouble"), and, more often than not, the lyrics approach poetry ("Androgynous").
Westerberg may have been telling the truth on "Sorry Ma" when he sneered, "I hate music/ It's got too many notes," but, as these discs prove, the Replacements sure knew what they were doing. [Mark Shanahan]
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