All things considered, Tim was an easy transition to the majors for the Replacements, at least as far as the making of the album goes: things went wrong after the release, as the band botched big showcases like its Saturday Night Live spot, leading up to the dismissal of Bob Stinson at the conclusion of the Tim tour.
The dust hadn't settled when the 'Mats headed down to Memphis to record Pleased to Meet Me with producer Jim Dickinson at Ardent Studios -- or to phrase it in Alex Chilton-speak, to record with Big Star's 3rd producer at the studio where all three Big Star albums were made.
All this fanboy worship perhaps naturally led to a full-blown mash note to Paul Westerberg's idol, who also turned up to play a couple of licks on a finally finished "Can't Hardly Wait," which initially was attempted with Chilton as a producer before Tim, but Pleased to Meet Me didn't resemble either the crystalline pop of #1 Record or the narcissistic black hole of 3rd.
Dickinson gave the Replacements a full-blooded, muscular production, cranking up guitars, hauling out an upright bass for Tommy Stinson, and bringing in horns -- even strings -- to flesh out Westerberg's songs.
This was the Replacements as professionals and, ever the contrarians, they strained against it -- albeit only sporadically and underneath the surface -- with Westerberg's outsider stance calcifying into the invigorating bitterness of "I.O.U." and "I Don't Know." These two proto-slacker anti-anthems -- quite the inverse of the call to arms of "Bastards of Young" and "Left of the Dial" -- are the only times the group's self-sabotage surfaces here, as the bandmembers pretty much give themselves over to Dickinson's studio savvy, leading to the ominous pulse of "The Ledge" and the brilliant, shining power pop of "Never Mind," "Alex Chilton," and "Valentine," along with such left-field twists as the mock jazz of "Nightclub Jitters."
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | I.O.U.Paul Westerberg | The Replacements | Play | 02:59 | 6 MB | 0 MB |
| 2 | Alex ChiltonChris Mars, Tommy Stinson, Paul Westerberg | The Replacements | Play | 03:15 | 7 MB | 0 MB |
| 3 | I Don't KnowChris Mars, Tommy Stinson, Paul Westerberg | The Replacements | Play | 03:22 | 7 MB | 0 MB |
| 4 | Nightclub JittersPaul Westerberg | The Replacements | Play | 02:45 | 6 MB | 0 MB |
| 5 | The LedgePaul Westerberg | The Replacements | Play | 04:07 | 9 MB | 0 MB |
| 6 | Never MindPaul Westerberg | The Replacements | Play | 02:50 | 6 MB | 0 MB |
| 7 | ValentineChris Mars, Tommy Stinson, Paul Westerberg | The Replacements | Play | 03:36 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 8 | Shooting Dirty PoolChris Mars, Tommy Stinson, Paul Westerberg | The Replacements | Play | 02:23 | 5 MB | 0 MB |
| 9 | Red Red WinePaul Westerberg | The Replacements | Play | 03:01 | 6 MB | 0 MB |
| 10 | SkywayPaul Westerberg | The Replacements | Play | 02:06 | 4 MB | 0 MB |
| 11 | Can't Hardly WaitPaul Westerberg | The Replacements | Play | 03:03 | 7 MB | 0 MB |
| 33 mins | 76 MB | |||||
| 0 mins | 0 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ben Jr. | Trumpet |
| 2 | Alex Chilton | Guitar, Vocals |
| 3 | Daniel Corrigan | Photography |
| 4 | Jim Dickinson | Producer |
| 5 | Luther Dickinson | Guitar |
| 6 | Steve Douglas | Guest Artist |
| 7 | Steve Douglas | Flute (Bass), Sax (Baritone) |
| 8 | Teenage Steve Douglas | Flute (Bass), Sax (Baritone) |
| 9 | East Memphis Slim | Guest Artist, Keyboards, Organ, Vocals (Background) |
| 10 | Thomas Erdelyi | Producer |
| 11 | Steven Fjelstad | Engineer |
| 12 | Prince Gabe | Saxophone |
| 13 | John Hampton | Engineer, Mixing |
| 14 | Joe Hardy | Engineer, Mixing |
| 15 | Max Huls | Strings |
| 16 | Ted Jensen | Mastering |
| 17 | Jim Lancaster | Photography, Production Assistant |
| 18 | Andrew Love | Sax (Tenor) |
| 19 | Chris Mars | Artwork, Composer, Drums, Vocals (Background) |
| 20 | Jeri McManus-Heiden | Art Direction |
| 21 | The Memphis Horns | Guest Artist, Horn |
| 22 | Glenn Parsons | Design |
| 23 | The Replacements | Primary Artist |
| 24 | Bob Stinson | Guitar |
| 25 | Tommy Stinson | Bass, Composer, Guitar (Bass) |
| 26 | Paul Westerberg | Bass, Composer, Guitar, Guitar (Electric), Harmonica, Piano, Vocals |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |