'Mats get Rhino-size reissues

Article by: Star Tribune
Updated: February 13, 2008 - 6:11 PM

The band's first four albums on the Twin/Tone label will be re-released with bonus tracks April 22.

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The Replacements

Photo: Deborah Feingold, Dml - Deborah Feingold

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After years of hinting at it, Rhino/Warner Bros. Records finally announced plans to reissue the first four albums by Minnesota rock legends the Replacements on April 22, complete with bonus cuts, new liner notes and remastering.

The records -- including the debut "Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash," the "Stink" EP, "Hootenanny" and the acclaimed "Let It Be" -- were originally released on the Minneapolis-based Twin/Tone label from 1981 to 1984. Former 'Mats, as the band is known, manager and Twin/Tone co-founder Peter Jesperson compiled the new editions. He reportedly had input and blessing from frontman Paul Westerberg and the other surviving members.

Rare tracks being dusted off for the reissues include oft-bootlegged B-sides and outtakes such as "If Only You Were Lonely," "Bad Worker" and "Staples in Her Stomach"; the solo demos by Westerberg that got the band signed to Twin/Tone; alternate takes of such classics as "Answering Machine," "Sixteen Blue" and "Customer," plus cover songs including Hank Williams' "Hey Good Lookin'," T. Rex's "20th Century Boy" and even the Grass Roots' "Temptation Eyes."

Rhino is promising a similar reissue treatment next year for the band's other four albums on Sire Records (1985 to 1990).

CHRIS RIEMENSCHNEIDER