Zack: This album came out a decade before it sounds
like it did. Seriously, I thought it was a really solid alternative album from
right after the grunge era. It sort of sounded like an edgier Oasis. Turns out,
I was way off. The Replacements started as a punk band (which I honestly could
have guessed from the name alone) then decided they had gotten tired of trying
to break guitar speed records and slowed it down a tad. Wikipedia claims that
this made them a post-punk band, and in a strictly literal sense I suppose
that’s true. It did come out after the band had personally gone post punk. But
the sound is pure alternative rock. If you’ve read any of my other posts over
the past 6 years, you know that that is about the nicest compliment I can give.
Let It Be features some great melodies and never gets boring. More importantly,
it created a sound years before others invented it. That along makes it worth a
listen.
Favorite Tracks: I Will Dare; Seen Your Video; Androgynous
Emily: It takes a lot of balls to call a rock album Let It Be. Even if it sounds nothing like the Beatles, there will be inevitable comparisons to one of the best albums by one of the best bands of all time. That was my first thought when I saw the title of this album by The Replacements, but that thought didn't last long at all. As Zack noted, rather than reaching back in time to its predecessor-in-title, it seemingly leaps into the future. Its nod to the past is to the fast, angry punk of the '70s and early '80s, Then it skips over the dreary elements of the post-punk of its time to the alt-rock sounds that rose to prominence ten to fifteen years later. You can hear the influence of this sound in countless songs and albums from the '90s through today, many of which I love and have loved since my teenage years. Needless to say, I thoroughly enjoyed Let It Be (with nary a thought of the Beatles in my head) and I will certainly be returning to it.
Favorite Tracks: We're Comin' Out; Favorite Thing; Unsatisfied
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