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All for Nothing/Nothing for All

The Replacements - All for Nothing/Nothing for All Audio CD

A fair review of the The Replacements "All for Nothing/Nothing for All" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all The Replacements reviews here, or go back to the The Replacements tabs.

Band: The Replacements
Title: All for Nothing/Nothing for All
Rating:

Release Date: 1997-10-28
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Left of the Dial 2: Kiss Me on the Bus 3: Bastards of Young 4: Here Comes a Regular 5: Skyway 6: Alex Chilton 7: Ledge 8: Can't Hardly Wait 9: I'll Be You 10: Achin' to Be 11: Talent Show 12: Anywhere's Better Than Here 13: Merry-Go-Round 14: Sadly Beautiful 15: Nobody 16: Someone Take the Wheel 17: Can't Hardly Wait [The Tim Version] 18: Birthday Gal 19: Beer for Breakfast 20: Till We're Nude 21: Election Day 22: Jungle Rock 23: All He Wants to Do Is Fish 24: Date to Church 25: Cruella de Ville 26: We Know the Night 27: Portland 28: Wake Up 29: Satellite 30: Like a Rolling Pin 31: Another Girl, Another Planet 32: Who Knows 33: All Shook Down 34: I Don't Know [Demo Version]

good selection
to bad they are not together anymore
. this is a good collection of music from one of minneapolis's finest punk bands their is something for everyone in this collection.

"Dirty clothes and filthy jokes."
] and literature) from a band who in commercial terms are little more than a footnote in the barren echelons of the 80s mainstream - the more recent and, to an extent, more comprehensive Don't You Know Who I Think I Was? sorely lacks. Although maligned in some quarters for documenting only the Mats' career following their leap to major label status with Sire/Reprise Records (and thereby neglecting what many consider to be their `Hayday' [pun blatantly intended]) there are virtues that All For Nothing/Nothing For All possesses that - given the comparatively limited availability of material (both audio [live recordings, outtakes, etc.

Thus, the first available Replacements greatest "hits" (released in 1997) omits the raucous, youthful, ramshackle Twin/Tone delights of Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash (1981); Stink (1982); Hootenanny (1983) and Let it Be (1984). Naturally, any band's supposed "best of" would be impaired by the absence of the likes of `Kick Your Door Down', `Go', `Within Your Reach' and `Sixteen Blue' (and the rest), but that said, All For Nothing stands up remarkably well without them - unremarkable when considering the calibre of songs represented.

Taking four tracks apiece sequentially from each of the band's four Sire releases: Tim (1985); Pleased to Meet Me (1987); Don't Tell a Soul (1989) and All Shook Down (1991), All For Nothing holds together cohesively for a compilation album, showcasing the band's formidable rock n' roll prowess and almost unparalleled versatility. Songs such as `Left of the Dial'; `Bastards of Young'; `Here Comes a Regular'; `Can't Hardly Wait' and `I'll Be You' have since become canonical tracks of the era - for those who have even HEARD of the `Mats that is - bearing testament to the band's now-legendary "beautiful loser" underdog reputation of hard luck, self-sabotage, refusal to compromise and sheer pigheadedness.

One minor complaint is that - although they are all highly sophisticated tracks, and in some instances, classics - the disc's final sequence includes `I'll Be You'; `Achin' to Be'; `Merry Go Round'; `Nobody' and `Someone Take the Wheel', punctuated only by 3 markedly different tracks, which renders all of these songs rather similar - whereas they could be judged far better on their own merits were they segregated accordingly. The record's chronological order however, dictates and enforces this homogeneity.

For many people though, All For Nothing will be merely a companion piece to the real attraction here, the second disc: Nothing For All. Comprised of embryonic versions and alternate takes of future favourites, outtakes, a solo offering each from Chris Mars (drums) and Tommy Stinson (bass), an irreverent cover of Bob Dylan's `Like a Rolling Stone' (entitled `Like a Rolling Pin'), a blistering live performance of The Only One's `Another Girl, Another Planet', and some intriguing forays into blues and jazz territory.

The outtakes for the most part are identifiable as the kind of tracks that would never quite seriously threaten a place on a `Mats LP, and whilst some are of negligible value to The Replacements' mystique, the majority steer clear of the usual tossed-off drivel that would make up this kind of set. The brilliant barroom triumvirate of the infectiously up-tempo `Till We're Nude', the sardonic drawl of `Election Day' and the bizarre cover of `Jungle Rock' all showcase influences ranging far beyond the predictable.

Paul Westerberg's famed cock-eyed take on existence is apparent in most tracks here and the more self-consciously humanist tracks - the gorgeous, soaring ballad `Who Knows' and the near-nocturne `We Know the Night' shimmer in amongst the other beer-soaked originals, with `Birthday Gal' a classic laughing/crying Westerberg signature ("Her hair falls down around her eyes that close/She might wear them earrings but she won't wear the clothes/She'll hang `em up with all the ones that don't fit no more. ")

The handsomely presented package is further enhanced by the CD's inlay booklet comprising some twenty four interesting anecdotes from journalists, writers, contemporaries, onlookers, celebrity fans and people that got closer than many dared, that bear out the band's myth, as well as some lovingly candid photos.

The Enhanced CD features promotional videos for `The Ledge' and `I'll Be You', as well as the infamously derisive `Bastards of Young' MV - all of which is comparatively redundant now with the rise of Youtube.

The crowning glory of the whole set for me however, is the alternate (original) version of `Can't Hardly Wait' from the Tim sessions, in that anyone who thought that there was no forethought in the band's work should listen to how good this version sounds and imagine how difficult it must have been for them to stay true to the vision they had for the song and NOT include it on Tim - preferring instead to commit it to their following album (Pleased to Meet Me) in a style that truly befits it. Conversely, it is the All For Nothing version that stands as The Replacements' true masterwork.

Great
The Replacements are one of the most underrated, overlooked bands of all time, and this cd collection proves why they deserve acclaim.

A Trip from Greatness to Not so Greatness
One problem of course is that the Mats switched labels, so none of their early stuff is on this album, which really renders it inferior when it comes to the status of compilation. This is a "best of" and "unreleased" CD, you know, the kind the record company releases after a band has broken up, but that band still has a decent size fanbase. Yeah, the best of songs on disc 1 are for the most part, pretty good. But the main and only real reason to buy this CD is the unreleased stuff on disc 2. When you listen to this album you cannot help but shake your head. This was an incredibly talented band that was on the way to legendary status (they might have it just the same). However, this CD does illustrate how this band started to go on the decline after the release of Tim. Yes, Pleased to Meet Me was a strong album, but the Paul Pop Star sound was starting to seep into what was once one rockin' hardcore band. Personally, no "best of" Mats album I was in charge of would have acknowledged any song that came after Pleased to Meet Me. However, the rarities are kind of nice. If this site allowed me to, I would have given it a ***1/2 rating, instead of a ****. By the way, this CD does contain the Tim Version of "Can't Hardly Wait," which is vastly superior to the horn version of the song from Pleased to Meet Me. I wish it had been included on Tim.

keef i am not going to buy this for you
. and thats what makes this disc set so good.

You can see a complete list of all The Replacements discography, or go back to the The Replacements tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.