The Replacements - The Roxy, Los Angeles, California, December 17, 1985
Since I'm perpetually about six months behind, I only got around to really digging into that big Tim boxed set recently. First things first — it's great. The Rhino overhaul of the Replacements catalog has been done with an incredible amount of love and care, from unreleased material to live shows to deeply detailed liners from Bob Mehr, who knows the whole saga better than anyone (including the band members themselves, I'm thinking).
The semi-controversial aspect of the Let It Bleed edition is the Ed Stasium remix of Tim. One friend likened it to a Rick Springfield album. Others hailed its clarity and immediacy. Hey, if Gen X enjoys one thing, it's arguing about the Replacements. While I certainly don't mind hearing the album from a different angle, I'm going to say that the new remix is not definitive. As I get older, it feels like a key element of a lot of classic records is actually their weird / unusual / perhaps ill-advised mixing choices. From White Light/White Heat to Raw Power to Zen Arcade to Time Out Of Mind, a big part of what makes these albums special is that they sound kind of ... wrong? Maybe not wrong, exactly, but not like anything else. Unrepeatable, ineffable, totally mysterious. In a rich irony, perfect albums should be flawed to some extent. You know what I mean.
Anyway, the new Tim box comes with a smoking live set from early 1986. Here's something equally smoking from about a month earlier — the Replacements on the Sunset Strip. You would think that a show taking place on Bob Stinson's birthday would be a recipe for a legendary 'Mats disaster. But you'd be wrong! The shit hits the fan a few times, but the band keeps its together for the most part, even dispatching most of the covers in relatively tight fashion. And Bob himself is on fire pretty much throughout, sending insane spiraling riffs out over the crowd. On the breakneck closing "Customer" the guitarist sounds like he's ready to start the whole thing all over again. Thanks to Tapegeek for the tape!
Tapegeek: When I saw the Replacements at the Roxy in Los Angeles (12-17-85), I had seen (and taped) them twice in New York — once was so drunkenly bad it was great (CBGB), and one was really pretty great (Irving Plaza), so I must admit that I was a bit scared when we saw Paul walking over to Dan Turner's liquor store near the Roxy and then walking past all of us standing in line with what looked like a bottle of Jack Daniels in a paper bag — well, thankfully the 'Mats must have all balanced their "inebriants" appropriately, because they came out blasting on all cylinders — once again I was kind of far over on the right side with the mic taped to the wall…
