Pleased To Meet Me, the sixth album by The Replacements, captured the band at a pivotal time. Their first major-label album Tim, released a year earlier, flopped in the charts, despite unanimous praise from fans and critics, and they’d since parted ways with guitarist Bob Stinson, the unbridled spirit and adrenaline of the band. They landed in Memphis with something to prove, and even though they wouldn’t admit it at the time, they wanted to succeed. They came out of the famous Ardent Studios with what has since become a fan-favorite due as much to the scorching guitars and their most-anthemic-sing-along songs as the maturing songwriting mastery of Paul Westerberg and the lingering unpredictability of their live shows.
Unlike Don’t Tell a Soul, PTMM’s follow-up; re-imagined, remixed, and ultimately redeemed on the Dead Man’s Pop box set last year (review here), Pleased to Meet Me wasn’t crying out for a remix. The record came out of Ardent hot, without the flaws of its predecessor or it’s follow-up. Sure the gated-reverb on the snare is a bit annoying, and this writer has never been a fan of the pedestrian horns-n-strings version of “Can’t Hardly Wait,” but the record is pretty much great as it is. Still, there were some gems in the vault, and Replacements fans are always eager to drop our cash in the till for anything that gets some new (old) `mats pumping through the speakers.
Rhino issued the new Pleased to Meet Me box set earlier this month, offering packages ranging from just the music to pricier deluxe editions that included rebuilt promo items that accompanied the original release, like a hand-buzzer and place mat, and new items like tote bags, patches, and tee shirts. The package is in a nice hardcover folder that sits perfectly next to Dead Man’s Pop on the shelf and includes a booklet that documents the entire time-frame of the set beautifully - it’s a riveting read.
The vinyl is a “rough mixes” version of the album, offering an interesting glimpse into where things were before they crossed the finish line. There’s a rawness and plenty of ragged edges to the tracks, but they’re not so far from the finished versions that it’s an entirely different experience. Unlike Dead Man’s Pop, it’s not an improvement on the official release as much as an interesting look at the creation process. The song order is different, perhaps an early attempt at sequencing, and a couple tracks are swapped out for what would later be relegated as outtakes or b-sides. Gone are “Shooting Dirty Pool” and “I Don’t Know” and present are “Birthday Gal,” “Election Day,” and “Cool Water.” Nothing groundbreakingly exciting about the exclusions or inclusions, although “Birthday Gal” is one of the stronger outtakes and arguably better than either of the two excluded songs and a couple others that ultimately made the official release.
CD One is a remaster of the original release - interesting maybe - but not a huge improvement over the 2008 remaster, and also includes tracks released in `87 as b-sides to singles. Things get interesting on CD Two where we have the “Blackberry Way Demos,” many unheard even on the bootleg circuit. Here we find the band breaking in the material that would eventually become Pleased to Meet Me in a familiar setting before proper recording would commence in Memphis. Again, the material isn’t necessarily an improvement over anything that was ultimately included on the record, but a fascinating look back in time at sessions only intended for the band and their label. There are a couple of gems - “Photo” is one of my all time favorite non-LP Replacements tracks. CD Three wraps things up with the tracks included on the LP and a few outtakes/alt-takes. Of particular interest here are some Tommy Stinson tracks recorded without Westerberg or Chris Mars, revealing a budding songwriter in his own right, with piles of potential and some interesting hooks, but lyrics and overall arrangement skills that still needed time to germinate before they would be ready for prime-time.
I can’t let this leave the Pencil Storm editing desk without throwing some gratitude and praise Rhino’s way, and a little disdain too. You see, back in the `80s a collection like this wasn’t even a pipe dream. We are so grateful to have this music and this beautiful package. The production is truly top-notch, and there are zero reservations or regrets about the price-tag.
On the other hand, Rhino failed to learn any lessons with the disastrous distribution of Dead Man’s Pop and once again left their most important customers - the hardcore, pre-ordering, superfans - empty-handed on release date, with UPS labels printed, but sitting on some desk in California for over a week while the monumentous day came and passed. Every independent record store and Amazon customer on the planet had the record a week or more before the pre-orders did. “The ones who love them best” were certainly laid to rest and left empty handed while the others celebrated their new purchases. It didn’t help matters that once the box finally landed, the paper placements were found thrown in with the same care as packing fodder and arrived to customers bent up and creased.
Promotional Place Mat
I know, in the grand scheme of things, especially this year, it may seem a petty thing to rant about, but it was a known, fixable problem that wasn’t fixed. There’s hard earned money by long-time fans being spent in good faith, and there are more releases to come. It’s not unreasonable to demand and expect better. A little effort would have gone a long way to make the release more enjoyable.
Delivery issues aside, the Pleased to Meet Me box set is a wonderful package. It’s not going to make anyone who isn’t already a fan, but it’s a must have for hardcore followers of The Replacements. It’s a deep dive into a great time for the band, a fascinating look at how an album goes from ideas to final-product, and an interesting new presentation of the songs we’ve been loving since it’s original release.
Let’s hope they revisit Tim next, probably the most-deserving of a remix now that Don’t Tell a Soul is out of the way. And for F*@s sake, get it to the pre-ordering fans first. I’ve got my wallet out.
Jeremy Porter lives near Detroit and fronts the rock and roll band Jeremy Porter And The Tucos. Follow them on Facebook to read his road blog about their adventures on the dive-bar circuit.
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Twitter: @jeremyportermi | Instagram: @onetogive & @jeremyportermusic
