I'm beyond, well, pleased that Pleased to Meet Me—whose empty-suit-meets-upstart-artist handshake album cover design also boasts a sly nod to the typeface and color scheme of the cover adorning Elvis Presley's October 1960 soundtrack for G.I. I would like to know if the newly remastered sound adds another important element? No user score yet- Awaiting 3 more ratings, All Creatures Great and Small (2021): Season 1, Greenfields: The Gibb Brothers Songbook, Vol. The making of Pleased To Meet Me was a transformative journey for The Replacements, one that began with the combustible Minneapolis combo on the brink of collapse and culminated in one of the definitive albums of the band’s career. The making of Pleased To Meet Me was a transformative journey for The Replacements, one that began with the combustible Minneapolis combo on the brink of collapse and culminated in one of the definitive albums of the band’s career. But now, I get to revisit Pleased anew, as the Rhino family have undertaken a finely detailed refresh of The Replacements catalog, having started in September 2019 by revamping, remixing, and greatly adding to February 1989's Don't Tell a Soul by way of a 3CD/1LP deluxe box set redubbed as Dead Man's Pop. The Replacements: Pleased To Meet Me ‎ (Box, Dlx + CD, Album, RE, RM + 2xCD + LP) Sire, Rhino Records (2) ... Add Review. The Replacements, “Pleased to Meet Me” deluxe Nov 29, 2020 Nov 29, 2020 Updated Dec 2, 2020; Facebook ... Their second box set in as many … [Nov 2020, p.52]. This album was to be more glory and less ragged. Point of fact, Pleased to Meet Me also has the unique distinction of being the last new album I bought on vinyl in the spring of 1987 before switching over almost exclusively to CDs a month later (though, of course, I returned to purchasing vinyl again before the decade was out). The Replacements. ... And covers songs such as Billy Swan's "I Can Help" and B-sides like "Election Day" have merit. All Shook Down Some More, anyone? This album was so great it should have pleased both sides, but as we all know the music business is one cruel "B". It remains a great, perhaps the greatest, example of The Replacements’ studio output. Recording as a trio—erstwhile 'Mats lead guitarist Bob Stinson left the band early on during the album's initial 1986 recording sessions—guitarist/vocalist/lyricist Paul Westerberg, bassist Tommy Stinson, and drummer Chris Mars soldiered on like the ragamuffins they were, building an album for the ages in the process. That transformation is chronicled in-depth on the group’s latest 3-CD / 1-LP boxed set, PLEASED TO MEET ME (DELUXE EDITION). The most interesting stuff here is in the Blackberry Way Demos, some of which came out on a previous expanded edition of the album. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. The remaster of the Minneapolis rock band's 1987 album includes previously unreleased demos (some of which are the last with Bob Stinson), rough mixes, and outtakes. 1. For most bands, these demos would be just-good-enough budding song nuggets to build upon, but The 'Mats were clearly on a different trajectory. Then again, the Replacements don't make sense as a success story, so the failure of the gleaming, glistening Pleased to Meet Me winds up making its polish kind of heart-rending. Whether you need all the extras, most of which are solid and worth hearing, depends on how attached you are to the contents and band. © 2021 METACRITIC, A RED VENTURES COMPANY. Critic Reviews Dead Man's Pop. 'Mats fans have their favorite eras of the band—hardcores lean more toward their initial Twin Tone label lower-fi punk aesthetic (like June 1982's Stink EP), some prefer the mid-transitionary period (a la their September 1985 major-label debut on Sire, Tim), and others, like me, find their sweet spot with April 1987's Pleased to Meet Me. Full-band demos rule the roost on Disc 2, eleven of them previously unreleased. In that, and for confirmed fans, this is important stuff. 6 Hearing these roughs is a good lesson in how you just know certain tracks need something else to get them to the finish line—see especially "Alex Chilton" (not yet raucous enough) and "The Ledge" (needs that last iota of drama) for further evidence of so-closeness. THIS IS THE PRODUCT PAGE BOX TEMPLATE. As it turns out, this was the last time they could still shoot for the stars and seem like their scrappy selves and, in many ways, it was the last true Replacements album. When compared to the rest of the band's output, "Pleased to Meet Me" is somewhat disappointing. - "I never travel far / without a little Big Star," Westerberg determinedly oohs from 1:40 to 1:48 in "Chilton" before taking a brief, careening guitar solo—and it's a couplet that continues to resonate with me to this very day. The 'Mats (as they were colloquially known) had a long-entrenched reputation for falling apart onstage—more often than not, the band chose to wear it as a badge of honor—and they didn't disappoint as both spectacle and specimen that night. Elvis Costello Armed Forces box art The Replacements: "Pleased to Meet Me." That transformation is chronicled in-depth on the group’s latest boxed set, PLEASED TO MEET ME (DELUXE EDITION). Blues—made the box set grade. The making of Pleased To Meet Me was a transformative journey for The Replacements, one that began with the combustible Minneapolis combo on the brink of collapse and culminated in one of the definitive albums of the band’s career. Few bands pulled off the "ragged glory" thing as well as The Replacements. What's this? More than half of the music (29 of the 55 tracks) on this Deluxe Edition set has never been released, including demos, rough mixes, and outtakes as well as Bob Stinson’s last recordings with The Replacements from 1986. The 'Mats subsequently embrace smoky jazz tones on "Nightclub Jitters," tackle the perils of suicidal thoughts on the turgid "The Ledge," accept the semi-deflated resignation of "Never Mind" (perhaps foreshadowing a Nirvana album title/mantra to come four years later, methinks), bask in the sunny acoustic majesty of "Skyway" (buttressed by Mars' foot taps and East Memphis Slim's sleek vibes playing), and then close out the proceedings via the plaintively hopeful wrap-up of "Can't Hardly Wait" (with a fine blend of Memphis Horns accents and strings by Max Huls to carry it all home). The Replacements have announced a new deluxe box set of their acclaimed fifth studio album, Pleased to Meet Me.Due out October 9th from Rhino, … Following "Chilton," Pleased carries on in full breakneck breakdown fashion, with its unabashed M.O. of having "One foot in the door / The other foot in the gutter," as Westerberg outlines early on in the Stonesy call-and-response shrug-off of "I Don't Know" (also be sure to dig those continually tasty baritone sax stabs courtesy Teenage Steve Douglas). All Shook Down. It remains a great, perhaps the greatest, example of The Replacements’ studio output. While all of the tracks are good they aren't all great, as "Let It Be" and "Tim" were. Though it only takes about a millisecond and a half to call up the entire Big Star catalog via just about any streaming service of choice nowadays, it wasn't all that easy to actually travel with Big Star music back in the day. Audio Formats: 16-bit/44.1kHz PCM Stereo (CD); 180-gram vinyl (LP) As of October 9, Pleased to Meet Me gets its own deluxe treatment via a 3CD/1LP box set that includes B-sides, outtakes, and band demos galore—55 different tracks but 68 all told, given that 13 of them are replicated on the lone LP. II (1972-1976) [Box Set], Idiot Prayer: Nick Cave Alone at Alexandra Palace, Joni Mitchell Archives, Vol. The paradox couldn’t be starker. Universal acclaim Even the collection’s rough mixes — usually the most over larded part of a box set — offer new insights. The Replacements’ Pleased To Meet Me gets the box set treatment this fall when Rhino Records releases a 3CD/1LP edition of the band’s fifth album stuffed with 29 previously unreleased demos, rough mixes and outtakes — including Bob Stinson’s final recordings with the ‘Mats. 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