A "casual listener" becomes a fanatic
I was mildly interested, but not wildly enthusiastic. I owned 1 Replacements CD when I bought Besterberg. Now, after listening to such classics as Dyslexic Heart and Things, I'm a fanatical follower of anything Paul Westerberg has said or written. He writes for the loner , the loser in love, and the social outcast, and since I am all of those things, he speaks to me like an old friend. Other reviews have mentioned that this collection leaves out a lot of good stuff, but for anyone not familiar with Westerberg's earlier material, this collectiion is a very good starting point. 'Nuff said.
Could have been better, but there's little room to complain
He was freed from his big label contract and delivered a one-two punch with his "Stereo" and "Mono" double album, under the names 'Paul Westerberg' and 'Mono' respectively. In 2002, Paul Westerberg hit an independent stride with his recording. From that point on, the ex-Replacement was off and running
But you wouldn't know that by glancing at the track listing of "Besterberg," a title that I love because it looks so dumb.
The folks at Rhino records who compiled this obviously have something against Paul Westerberg's independent-era career, which I would argue, was more creative and prolific. But hey, if you slept through Paul's major label run ("14 Songs," "Eventually," and "Suicane Gratifaction" were probably strikes one, two, and three in the minds of the executives), this is good way to get caught up as ever. In addition to the first three albums high-points you also get "Seein' Her," "Man Without Ties," "Stain Yer Blood," "A Star is Bored," "All That I Had," "C'mon, C'mon, C'mon," and a different mix of "Once Around the Weekend," which doesn't sound too different from the original. So even if you have all of Paul Westerberg's proper solo albums, half of this stuff will be new to you. That's what sold me.
But notice I used the word "proper. " For all of the rare stuff included on "Besterberg," there is an equal amount of rare stuff not included, and their omissions puzzle me slightly. Many will rejoice at having "Dyslexic Heart" without having to dig for a copy of the "Singles" soundtrack, but his other contribution is missing. And oddly enough, when I caught Paul live he opened with "Waiting for Somebody" and never played "Dyslexic Heart. " There is nothing here from the Grandpaboy standalone single "I Want My Money Back," the eponymous EP from 1997, "Dead Man Shake" from 2003, or anything from 2004's "Folker. " A good three-year's work that produced five albums is represented with a measly three tracks. By way of my opinion, Paul is better now than he was when the Replacements just broke up, yet the chronology of "Besterberg" doesn't show that.
At the end of the day, I give it four stars because I just like it. Sure, it is a chronologically sequenced compilation that forsakes some really nice nuggets, but it also plays nicely as an album from start to finish. I even enjoy listening to it more than, say, "Suicane Gratifaction. " It's certainly not the be-all-end-all of his career but it does resemble some form of an arc. For the time being, while Paul's hand is healing, I can just strongly recommend "Stereo" and "Mono. ".
Great Westerberg collection, great compliment to best of replacements
His sound was a very strong driving force of the replacements, and it carried into his own music. Paul Westerberg emmerged on the music schene in the early 80's with the Minneapolis based "Replacements" and went on to a good career with them until he struck out solo in the early 90's with his 14 songs album. Don't forget his two albums as Grandpaboy, an alter ego he liked to use, often more experimental with his sound and more acoustic as well on those albums. This is a great starter album for a person who likes paul westerberg, and will likely lead to buying the rest of his albums. I like the fact that they included some good b-sides, but hard to include everything, like choosing between "dyslexic heart" and "waiting for somebody" off of the singles soundtrack. So many good songs, just one disc. Lets see a two disc set at some point. This is a must buy for westerberg fans.
THE GREAT WESTERBERG BUT WE ONLY NEED '99 ONWARDS
Then simply play '99 to present ALL THE TIME and '91 to '98 barely at all. What is needed for Paul Westerberg is a two CD set of Best of, the first being '91 to '98, the second, '99 to present. '91 to '98, was when like many major artists - such as Bob Dylan through the '80's - he seemed to lose his way, to find it again in desperation of the sort played out in many of those Replacements classics, on '99's 'Suicaine Gratification'. The great tracks here are: It's A Wonderful Lie and
Lookin' Out Forever from Suicaine Gratification
High Time from Mono
Let The Bad Times Roll from Stereo
What A Day (For A Night) from Come Feel Me Tremble.
OK SURE, BUT WHERE ARE:
Sunrise Always Listens
Bookmark
Self Defence ALSO FROM SUICAINE
Baby Learns To Crawl
Got You Down
Nothing To No One
We May Be The Ones FROM STEREO
Anything But That
Silent Film Star
Knock It Right Out
Eyes Like Sparks FROM MONO
Vampires & Failures
No Matter What You Say
O. D. Blues
What Kind Of Fool Am I? FROM DEAD MAN SHAKE
Knockin' Em Back
Pine Box
My Daydream
Crackle And Drag (Original take)FROM COME FEEL ME TREMBLE
My Dad
Gun Shy
Folk Star
23 Years Ago FROM FOLKER
IN THIS CASE 5 STARS WOULD BE JUST NOT ENOUGH.
For those who own the albums already...
. . although I don't see it available here, I have seen listings online for an EP called "The Resterberg", which features most of the hard-to-find stuff: Dyslexic Heart, Seein' Her (Single Version), Man Without Ties (Single Version), A Star Is Bored, Stain Yer Blood (Single Version), Once Around The Weekend (Alternate Mix), All That I Had (Previously Unissued Outtake), C'mon, C'mon, C'mon (Previously Unissued Outtake). Don't know if it was a limited release, but (among other places) the Rhapsody online service still has it available for download.
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You can see a complete list of all Paul Westerberg discography, or go back to the Paul Westerberg tabs
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