Moving to a major label was inevitable for the Replacements: they garnered too much acclaim and attention after Let It Be to stay on Twin/Tone, especially as the label faced the same distribution problems that plagued many indies in the mid-'80s -- plus, the 'Mats' crosstown rivals, Hüsker Dü, made the leap to the big leagues, paving the way for their own hop over to Sire.
The Replacements may have left Twin/Tone behind but they weren't quite ready to leave Minneapolis in the dust, choosing to record in their hometown with Tommy Erdelyi -- aka Tommy Ramone -- who gives the 'Mats a big, roomy sound without quite giving them gloss; compared to Let It Be, Tim is polished, but compared to many American underground rock records of the mid-'80s (including those by the Ramones), it's loose and kinetic.
The production -- guitars that gained muscle, drums and vocals that gained reverb -- is the biggest surface difference, but there aren't just changes in how the Replacements sound; what they're playing is different too, as Paul Westerberg begins to turn into a self-aware songwriter.
A large part of the charm of Let It Be was how it split almost evenly between ragged vulgarity and open-hearted rockers, with Westerberg's best songs betraying a startling, beguiling lack of affect.
That's not quite the case with Tim, as Westerberg consciously writes alienation anthems: the rallying cry of "Bastards of Young" and the college radio love letter "Left of the Dial," songs written with a larger audience in mind -- not a popular audience, but a collection of misfits across the nation, who huddled around Westerberg's raw, twitchy loneliness on "Swingin Party" and "Here Comes a Regular," or the urgent and directionless "Hold My Life."
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hold My LifePaul Westerberg | The Replacements | Play | 04:21 | 10 MB | 0 MB |
| 2 | I'll BuyPaul Westerberg | The Replacements | Play | 03:25 | 7 MB | 0 MB |
| 3 | Kiss Me on the BusPaul Westerberg | The Replacements | Play | 02:54 | 6 MB | 0 MB |
| 4 | Dose of ThunderChris Mars, Tommy Stinson, Paul Westerberg | The Replacements | Play | 02:19 | 5 MB | 0 MB |
| 5 | Waitress in the SkyPaul Westerberg | The Replacements | Play | 02:02 | 4 MB | 0 MB |
| 6 | Swingin PartyPaul Westerberg | The Replacements | Play | 03:51 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 7 | Bastards of YoungPaul Westerberg | The Replacements | Play | 03:37 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 8 | Lay It Down ClownPaul Westerberg | The Replacements | Play | 02:24 | 5 MB | 0 MB |
| 9 | Left of the DialPaul Westerberg | The Replacements | Play | 03:44 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 10 | Little MascaraPaul Westerberg | The Replacements | Play | 03:36 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 11 | Here Comes a RegularPaul Westerberg | The Replacements | Play | 04:45 | 10 MB | 0 MB |
| 37 mins | 84 MB | |||||
| 0 mins | 0 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alex Chilton | Guest Artist, Vocals (Background) |
| 2 | Debbie DeStaffan | Art Direction |
| 3 | Thomas Erdelyi | Producer |
| 4 | Steven Fjelstad | Engineer, Producer |
| 5 | Robert Longo | Artwork |
| 6 | Chris Mars | Composer, Drums, Member of Attributed Artist, Vocals (Background) |
| 7 | The Replacements | Primary Artist |
| 8 | Jack Skinner | Mastering |
| 9 | Bob Stinson | Guitar, Member of Attributed Artist |
| 10 | Tommy Stinson | Composer, Guitar (Bass), Member of Attributed Artist |
| 11 | Paul Westerberg | Composer, Guitar, Member of Attributed Artist, 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. |