Review:

on 2011-07-10 CharlesMartel Said:

If I were to pick an album from the mid-eighties which typified teenage angst and combined it with the potential gamut of feelings run by teenagers, this would be it. This is a far superior offering to, say, the Violent Femmes' debut which usually comes out top of that particular heap. What the Replacements did with "Let It Be" was to bring together a number of songs which, individually don't seem to fit together, but which in my mind almost form a concept album of what it meant to be a teenager in the mid eighties - not that I was one by then - my teenage years had passed a few years before "Let It Be" was released.

This idea may be a little hard to take in at first reading, but when you look at the songs on the album the reasoning behind it becomes clearer. The basis for it comes from the view - probably not that far off reality - that the major concerns of many in their late teens are sex and relationships. OK, I will agree that things like school and parents also play a part, but these may be described as involuntary concerns. There was little we could do about either and so when it comes to what I will term voluntary concerns, when each of us looks back on our own teenage years, it is surely a truism that for the majority of us, sex and relationships were the primary concerns.

How is this reflected in "Let It Be"? Well, for a start there are the silly songs, essential for kids sitting round a few beers being daft. "Gary's Got a Boner" is the obvious examples, but even "Tommy's Got His Tonsils Out" can be said to fit the same bill, although this is more of a song with serious theme dressed up as puerile and superficial. Yet the reality is that, once you get a bunch of confused kids around in a social situation and mix with alcohol, it is not too far removed from this kind of childish jokery which often masks more deep-seated concerns about love and life.

Then there are the songs about latent sexual tension, "Sixteen Blue" and "Answering Machine" are the best examples of this. How you manage those early feelings of attraction and lust are among the most awkward and difficult of teenage years  getting across your feelings while minimising the possibility of rejection and the subsequent humiliation is a minefield and one which each of has had to negotiate, often with distressing and unintended results.

Then, just in case you weren't sure about your sexuality, the album contains tracks for this a swell. "We're Coming Out" and "Androgynous" follow in the path of other album tracks in exploring how you may cope (or not as the case may be) when faced with these scenarios. In case you had gone further than thinking about sex, well there was always "Seen Your Video". Finally, all teenage concept albums have to have an anthem, and "Unsatisfied" is it. These last two tracks are also the best tracks on the album and probably the only ones which stand on their own merit apart from the album as a whole.

Yes, this album contains a number of occasionally masterful tracks which while individually may not seem to amount to much, taken together add up to something quite special. That is this album's greatest strength and its greatest flaw. The Replacements were not known that much in the UK at the time this album came out, which probably accounts for the fact that I came to this band quite late. So there it is, yet none of you ever knew this was a concept album, did you?
Rating: 7/10

on 2009-04-01 tosnob Said:

This may be the best album from the best band that ever existed.
Rating: 10/10

Review:

on 2007-08-12 SunglassesAtNight Said:

The replacements make me happy
Rating: 10/10