Replacements – Let It Be

Replacements – Let It Be
(Twin/Tone; 1984)

First off, there’s the sheer ballsiness of giving your album the same name as an established classic, but it certainly doesn’t feel like a reference.
While many of their more ambitious post-punk contemporaries were becoming new wave or hardcore bands, The Replacements took a different direction, sticking with their guitars and becoming innovators of what’s been called “college rock,” “alternative,” and now “indie.”
Let It Be essentially completes the transition from punk to indie for The Replacements. It’s also the band’s most experimental album, as they play with metal, honky-tonk and pop influences.
Paul Westerberg’s voice always sounds strained and on the verge of breaking, especially on the slower songs, in the best way possible.
The album hits its high point four songs in as the straight-ahead punk rocker “Tommy Gets His Tonsils Out” breaks down into the heart-breaking piano ballad “Androgynous” before taking off on the speed-metal inflected “Black Diamond,” only to follow up with the straight ahead, acoustic-tinged “Unsatisfied.”
Trial track: “Unsatisfied”

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