Don't You Know Who I Think I Was?: The Best Of The Replacements (CD - 2006)

Personnel: Paul Westerberg (vocals, acoustic guitar, acoustic 12-string guitar, electric guitar, electric 12-string guitar, lap steel guitar, mandolin, harmonica, piano, 6-string bass, percussion); Alex Chilton (guitar, background vocals); Peter Buck, Slim Dunlap, Bob Stinson (guitar); Tommy Stinson (acoustic guitar); Max Huls (strings); Andrew Love (tenor saxophone); Teenage Steve Douglas (baritone saxophone); East Memphis Slim (keyboards, vibraphone); Chris Mars (drums, cowbells, tambourine, background vocals); Charley Drayton (drums).

Additional personnel: Peter Buck, Charley Drayton.

Audio Mixers: Scott Litt; Chris Lord-Alge; Joe Hardy; John Hampton.

Audio Remasterers: Dan Hersch; Bill Inglot.

Liner Note Author: Bill Holdship.

Recording information: Ardent Studios, Studio B, Memphis, TN; Blackberry Way Studios, Minneapolis, MN; Capitol studios, Los Angeles, CA; Cherokee Studios, Los Angeles, CA; Flower Studios, Minneapolis, MN; Nicollet Studios, Minneapolis, MN; Ocean Way Studios, Hollywood, CA; Paisley Park, Chanhassen, MN; Platinum Island Studios, New York, NY; Skyline Studios, New York, NY; Warehouse In Brooklyn Center, MN.

Photographer: Laura Levine.

The first career-spanning Replacements retrospective, this 2006 collection takes listeners on a whirlwind tour of the beloved Minneapolis band's entire catalogue. Led by singer-songwriter/guitarist Paul Westerberg, the proudly shambolic group tore through the 1980s with rowdy rock rave-ups (the punky "Kids Don't Follow," the defiant "Bastards of Young"), but always tempered their finest punk moments with surprisingly tender pop tunes. ("Within Your Reach," possibly the most beautiful lo-fi tune ever penned, and the gorgeously melancholy "Here Comes a Regular," to name just two, are both included here.)

Although the ensemble never achieved commercial success, the Mats crafted a sizable number of pop-perfect classics, including the chiming "I Will Dare," the propulsive "Alex Chilton," and the urgent "Can't Hardly Wait," all of which are featured here. While 1997's two-CD ALL FOR NOTHING/NOTHING FOR ALL provides a more comprehensive look at the Replacements' major-label days, this disc offers up 10 tracks not on that set, including eight formative tunes from the band's Twin/Tone stint and two new songs recorded in '06 by the surviving original lineup. (Guitarist Bob Stinson died in 1995, and drummer Chris Mars appears only on backing vocals.) For those who missed the Mats in their heyday, this 20-track compilation is an ideal primer, and reinforces their status as one of the greatest rock groups of the '80s.

Great as the Replacements were, it's a little difficult to recommend one of their great albums as an introduction to the band. Sure, it's easy to see Let It Be as a masterwork of the '80s underground, capturing the group's ragged humor and heart, but it doesn't quite illustrate the depth of Paul Westerberg's songwriting the way Tim did, even if that record wasn't as ferocious as Let It Be, nor did it have the slick diversity of Pleased to Meet Me -- and none of the three had the raw, raucous kick of the 'Mats' first three albums (they also didn't have the desperate-for-a-hit vibe of Don't Tell a Soul or the sadly beautiful hangover of All Shook Down, but that's another matter entirely). It could be argued that any of those three would be effective intros, but the Replacements truly needed a compilation. Of course, they already got one in 1997, when Reprise issued All for Nothing/Nothing for All, containing one disc of hits and one of rarities, but due to legalities, it had nothing from the band's Twin/Tone work, which meant it had nothing at all from anything before Tim -- a severe handicap for a career overview to overcome. Released nearly a decade later, Don't You Know Who I Think I Was?: The Best of the Replacements trumps its predecessor for the mere fact that it does contain cuts from Twin/Tone -- eight of them, in fact, sampling from Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash, Stink, and Hootenanny in addition to three selections from Let It Be. While it's possible to quibble about the actual selections -- any teenager or college kid of the '80s will likely have a friend that put "Androgynous" on a mixtape, not "Answering Machine" -- these records are well-represented, as are Tim with four songs and Pleased to Meet Me with three cuts, balanced by the two singles from Don't Tell a Soul ("Achin' to Be," "I'll Be You") and a song from All Shook Down, an underrated record that nevertheless feels like the first Westerberg solo album it should have been, so it's rightly downplayed. These 18 songs make for an excellent introduction to one of the major American bands of the '80s, and that alone would have been a nice addition to the Replacements' catalog (not to mention a good appetizer for the forthcoming box set allegedly in the works). But what makes Don't You Know Who I Think I Was? noteworthy for fans is the presence of two new tracks by a reunited Replacements. While this isn't exactly the full-fledged reunion that many fans have longed for -- Chris Mars sat this one out on drums, but he does provide harmonies -- "Message to the Boys" and "Pool & Dive" are perfectly credible, enjoyable throwaways, sounding a bit like if the 'Mats were Westerberg's backing band for 14 Songs. They're not great, but they're loose, silly, and a whole lot more fun than anything Westerberg has been up to since 14 Songs, and a nice coda to an already strong compilation. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine minimize