The Bargain Nexus - All Shook Down

List Price: $18.98
Our Price: $10.46
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Manufacturer: Rhino / Rykodisc

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Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 0081227990251
Format: Extra tracks
Label: Rhino / Rykodisc
Manufacturer: Rhino / Rykodisc
Number Of Discs: 1
Publisher: Rhino / Rykodisc
Release Date: 2008-09-23
Studio: Rhino / Rykodisc

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Spotlight customer reviews:

Customer Rating:

Summary: One of the better reissues in this poorly handled series
Comment: All Shook Down is some people's least favorite album by The Replacements - I'm guessing they never heard the counterfeit-rock album known as Don't Tell A Soul. However listening to this reissue it's easily the better and more convincing of the two albums song-for-song. Regardless of the state of the band itself, Westerberg's writing was very consistent and at a peak here that I'm not certain he's reached again since.

Now about the reissue itself. I guess we're going to have to believe that the band (Paul Westerberg and company) only recorded sixteen songs for the ASD sessions because that's all that's ever seen the light of day - the thirteen album tracks, "Kissin' In Action", "Who Knows" and the spontaneous goof of "Like A Rollin' Pin" (the latter two not on this release but on their 1997 compilation 'All For Nothing...'). "Satellite" (which sounds great here by the way) was recorded at Paisley Park Studios (Prince's studio) after the ASD sessions. The one impostor here - it was recorded at the Don't Tell A Soul sessions and thus should be on the appropriate disc - is "Ought To Get Love" (with click track and all). The home demos are surprisingly well-recorded and performed (for home demos) and even show Westerberg in fine, confident form (in fact better form as a performer here than he is in the studio/his basement these days). The alternate version of "My Little Problem" (without the Johnette Napolitano vocals) is very frustrating as the bass line is a note off-key throughout the entire song. Either it's a scratch bass-line (the purpose of which is unclear - perhaps a very sloppy guide from Paul for Tommy or whoever was to play on this). Either way it causes one cringe as it's in the same place in the song for the entire song and it's just awful.

These reissues have been fraught with various issues (edited tracks, audio drop-outs, poor choice of bonus tracks, ill-advised and uninformed/uninformative liner notes, etc.). So much so that one can't help but wonder if any one QC'd (Quality Checked) these before they went anywhere. It looks like that didn't happen.

This one is bit better - all things considered. The audio levels are a bit much sometimes leaving tender ballads like "Sadly Beautiful", "Nobody" and the title track begging for some dynamic range - which means there's little difference between the acoustic ballads and upbeat rockers as far as the audio levels are concerned. As for singles like "Merry Go Round", "Happy Town' and "When It Began" these never sounded better. Everything sounds nice and clear while not entirely tampering with the original downbeat mood of the album.

All in all: Very much recommended!

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Editorial Reviews:

2008 remastered and expanded edition of the Replacements' album All Shook Down which includes bonus tracks. All Shook Down is the final album by the band released in 1990. For many The Replacements were simply one of the greatest rock bands ever as their music made them legends and inspired entire generation to think of them as cultural and musical heroes. The basis of most of the tunes lie in the acoustic guitar, with electric guitar fills here and there to add coloring. As always, Westerberg's signature word-play figures heavily into the lyrics.