It's not the album announcement Replacements fans were hoping for, but it's overdue news: The Twin Cities rock legends will issue a CD boxed set April 14 featuring all seven of their original studio LPs and one EP. The collection, which lists for $59.98, won't feature any music that hasn't been issued before.
Rhino Records announced the boxed set this morning with an old-school print press release that was purportedly "edited" by the band members. Among the doctored tidbits marked in red marker on the release were a change of the line, "Rhino will release an eight-disc boxed set" to, "Rhino will profit from ... ," and a subbing in of Midway Stadium for a brag about them headlining Coachella. There's also a nice nod to latter-era guitarist Slim Dunlap written in the margins next to a mention of the band's original four members. See the press release posted below.
Aside from the fun P.R., though, the boxed set seems to be rather basic and bare-bones. The albums – from 1981's Twin/Tone debut "Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash" to the 1990 Sire Records swan song "All Shook Down" – will be issued in their original format, not the expanded reissue editions with outtakes and other bonus tracks. There's no mention of a vinyl version of the collection coming out.
"The Replacements: Studio Albums 1981-1990" will arrive just in time for Record Store Day (April 18). It's also nicely timed to the new Replacements' first full-fledged tour since they first performed in August 2013. They begin their 14-gig U.S. run April 9 in Seattle and come closest to Minneapolis on May 2 at the Eagle's Ballroom in Milwaukee.
