The 500 - #137 - Tim - The Replacements

I was inspired by a podcast called The 500 hosted by New York-based comedian Josh Adam Meyers. His goal, and mine, is to explore Rolling Stone Magazine's 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

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Album: #137
Album Title: Tim
Artist: The Replacements
Genre: Alternative Rock, Punk Rock, Power Pop
Recorded: Nicolette Studios, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Released: September, 1985
My age at release: 20
How familiar was I with it before this week: Not at all
Is it on the 2020 list? No
Song I am putting on my Spotify Playlist: Bastards of Young (Ed Stasium Mix)

Long before I dropped the needle...or rather, queued up the stream... for my first listen to Tim, the fourth studio album by The Replacements, I recalled some advice that had been given to me a few years previously. This cautionary guidance had come during a discussion about a previous post concerning the debut record from The Replacements, Let It Be. Those sage words? Skip the original mix for Tim and dive straight into the 2023 remix by producer Ed Stasium. Reissued by Rhino records, the Stasium Remixes were part of a four CD package dubbed Tim: Let It Bleed Edition, containing alternate takes, demos and a 1986 live performance recorded at the Cabaret Metro Concert Hall in Chicago.

Tim: Let It Bleed Edition album cover (2023).

It was sound advice. Stasium isn’t just any studio hand, he’s a former punk guitarist turned sonic architect with an impressive résumé. From shaping the raw energy of the Ramones and the artful edge of Talking Heads to powering Living Colour’s Grammy-winning 1988 debut Vivid, Stasium has spent decades honing studio chaos into high fidelity clarity.

However, I had to wonder: What was wrong with the original record? And, if "I didn't listen to it first, how would I know the latter was better?" So, on Monday of last week, I intentionally arrived an hour early at my school classroom to give the 1985 version of Tim an uninterrupted listen while puttering about preparing for the week. I did the same on Tuesday, and by Wednesday the record was starting to grow on me. Sure, it was rough and unpolished, but that seemed to accentuate the themes on the record -- restlessness, youthful defiance, loneliness and fleeting love. Paul Westerberg, the band's guitarist, vocalist and songwriter, penned lyrics that are raw, plainspoken, self-deprecating and funny, capturing 20-something, working class disillusionment.

Westerberg's handwritten lyrics for
Here Comes A Regular, from Tim.

On Wednesday, I made the switch (from the 1985 original mix of Tim to Ed Stasium’s 2023 Let It Bleed Edition) and the difference hit like a jolt. Suddenly, the fog lifted. The original, produced by Tommy Erdelyi (aka Tommy Ramone of the Ramones), had long been criticized for its murky sound. The vocals felt buried under digital reverb, guitars smeared together, drums seemed to be pushed so far back they barely registered. Stasium’s remix flipped that script. Westerberg’s voice steps into the spotlight, guitars snarl with definition and the drums finally punch through with authority. For me, it wasn’t just an upgrade, it was a full-on sonic revelation.

Ed Stasium surrounded by some of the tools of his trade.

The change in sound immediately reminded me of another remix from my favourite band, Rush. In 2002, the Canadian trio released their 17th studio record, Vapour Trails. It was the first record released after a six-year hiatus for the band -- drummer Neil Peart suffered the loss of his daughter in an automobile accident and his wife to cancer ten months apart. For a time, it seemed the band might be done altogether. News of their return to a Toronto studio in 2001 brought eager anticipation from their loyal fan base, myself included.

When Vapor Trails dropped, it was hailed as Rush’s triumphant return to a guitar-driven, hard rock sound after two decades of synth-heavy experimentation. But sonically? It was a mess. The album fell victim to the so-called “loudness war,” a mastering trend of the 90's and early 00's that cranked everything to peak volume at the expense of clarity. The result was a dense, distorted wall of sound where instruments bled into each other and dynamics were crushed flat. Fans adored the songs, but many admitted the listening experience was exhausting, even unbearable in long doses.

In 2013, Canadian producer David Bottrill gave Vapor Trails the overhaul it desperately needed, and the result was transformative. Gone was the suffocating compression and in its place, space and clarity. Instruments finally had room to breathe. The guitars and bass regained their warmth and Peart’s drums sounded organic and thunderous instead of crushed into the background. The remix didn’t just fix technical flaws, it unlocked the emotional core of the record, turning what was once a sonic headache into a powerful, cathartic experience that matched the intensity of Rush’s songwriting. It added the emotional depth needed to the track Ghost Rider which was inspired by Peart's 14-month motorcycle journey across North America during his healing process after losing the two most important people in his world -- his wife and only child.

Ghost Rider: Travels On The Healing Road.
the 2002 memoir from Neil Peart.

I am glad I spent a couple days with the original recording of Tim. It gave me context for the vastly superior 2023 remix. However, much like the original recording of Vapour Trails, I won't be playing it again. Instead, I will always opt for their vastly improved remixed counterparts.

The 500 - #299 - Debut (Blue Album) - Weezer

I was inspired by a podcast called The 500 hosted by Los Angeles-based comedian Josh Adam Meyers. His goal, and mine, is to explore Rolling Stone Magazine's 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. 

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Album: #299

Album Title: Self-Titled Debut (Blue Album)

Artist: Weezer

Genre: Alternative Rock, Power Pop, Pop Punk

Recorded: Electric Lady Studios, New York, USA

Released: May, 1994

My age at release: 28

How familiar was I with it before this week: Familiar

Is it on the 2020 list? Yes, at 294 (Moving up 5 spots)

Song I am putting on my Spotify Playlist: Say It Ain't So

If you entered Unit 3 of the Ogoki Townhouse Complex on Bearskin Lake Road at Lakehead University during the winter of 1995/96, you would likely have been greeted by two things: Shaft, our adopted residence dog, and the sound of music blasting from the communal stereo system in the living room.

Shaft and two of my other three roomates, Craig (seated) & Brendan

Ogoki Townhouse was located a short distance from the Bora Laskin building where all of my Teacher's College classes were held. Lakehead, in Thunder Bay, Ontario, offered two programs – a five-year combined program for students without a degree – and a one year-program for those who had already obtained a baccalaureate. My roommates and I were all in the one-year program and, for the first few weeks, felt a little out of place as we attended lectures with many fellow students who had known each other for four years. Consequently, we bonded quickly as outsiders, and got along well.

We were all music lovers, so the stereo system (which I had lugged up from London) got plenty of use. Randy, who had adopted Shaft from a local Humane Society, was the first to introduce me to Weezer and their debut record, sometimes called Blue Album.  The record was given the chromatic moniker because of the background behind the picture of the four members. The band went on to release several other "colour" albums, including Green, Red, White, Teal and Black.

The six "colour" records from Weezer

Randy brought the Blue Album to my attention, although I was familiar with two of the single releases from it: Undone -- The Sweater Song and Buddy Holly. The latter really impressed me –  in a cleverly edited video that seemed like the band had appeared on the 1970s television show Happy Days. Directed by Spike Jonze, who later won an Academy Award for his work on the film Adaptation, the video almost seamlessly combined footage from the television program with the band, dressed in 50s teen attire, performing on a stage.

Weezer on stage at Arnold's Restaurant, a set on Happy Days

It even featured a cameo appearance by actor Al Molinaro who reprised his role as Al Delvecchio, the owner and cook of the fictional Arnold's Drive-In Restaurant featured frequently on the television show.

Molinaro as Delvecchio with The Fonz (Henry Winkler) 

Weezer are an American rock band formed in 1992 in Los Angeles, California. The members on the debut release were Rivers Cuomo (lead vocals, keyboards and guitars), Patrick Wilson (drums), Brian Bell (rhythm guitar and vocals) and Matt Sharp (bass and vocals). Sharp left the band in 1998 and was replaced by Scott Shriner in 2002.

Weezer in 1994, Bell, Wilson, Sharp Cuomo (l-r)

The Blue Album became a multi-platinum success and, with the  exception of a brief hiatus in the late 90s, the band has continued to build a loyal following, releasing 15 well-received albums. The debut remains the group's best-selling record, with 15 million copies sold worldwide. The song, Buddy Holly, made the cut, at #499, on Rolling Stone Magazine's 2010 edition of The 500 Greatest Songs Of All Time. The video, which was provided with every CD-ROM copy of the Windows 95 operating system, is also part of the music exhibit in the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City.

Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)

I really enjoyed listening to it again for this blog. The music transported me back to that bone-numbing cold winter in Thunder Bay...with Randy, Craig, Brendan and, of course, Shaft.

Post Script

My favourite Weezer story does not come from the Blue Album. Instead, it happened in 2017 when a 14-year-old fan named Mary Klym from Cleveland, Ohio, created a Twitter profile called @WeezerAfrica. Daily, she sent the following message, tagging Weezer frontman Cuomo:

Klym wanted the band to record a cover of the song Africa, released in 1982 by the soft-rock (Yacht Rock) band Toto. After several months, Weezer announced that they would release a cover version of a song by Toto. The next day, the band dropped a version of Rosanna, a different song by the band Toto, as a playful joke on Klym.

Good sports that they are, the band followed it with their version of Africa a few days later. It, and nine other cover versions, appeared on their 2019 release, the Teal Album. Not to be outdone, the band Toto covered the Weezer song Hash Pipe that August.

The band Toto posing as Weezer

The video for Weezer's version of Africa was a parody of the band's earlier video for Undone -- The Sweater Song from the Blue Album, with "Weird Al" Yankovic standing in for Cuomo and Yankovic's bandmates replacing the other members of Weezer.

"Weird Al" Yankovic with his trademark accordion as River's Cuomo

I've always been a fan of multi-layered jokes and parodies, so this entire exchange delighted me.

 

The 500 - #434 - Big Star - Number 1 Record

I was inspired by a podcast called The 500 hosted by Los Angeles-based comedian Josh Adam Meyers. His goal, and mine, is to explore Rolling Stone's 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. 

Album # 434

Album Title: Number 1 Record
Artist: Big Star
Genre: Power Pop
Recorded: 1972
Released: August, 1972
My age at release: 7
How familiar was I with it before this week: Very
Song I am putting on my Spotify Mix: 
The Ballad of El Goodo 
(Suggested by my friend, musician Steve Crew, who ranks Big Star drummer Jody Stephens in his Top Three Influences.)

For the first time on my journey through The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, a band I've already discussed has another record on the list. When I wrote about Big Star's Third/Sister Lovers, I made the following three observations:

1. Big Star is "the band that your favourite band listens to." Many musicians with albums on The 500 list have cited Big Star as an important influence.
2. Although it was called a Big Star record, many consider Third/Sister Lovers, a side project by Alex Chilton (singer/guitarist of Big Star). It is nothing like the other Big Star records. In many ways, it documents the band's disintegration and Chilton's declining mental health due to addiction.
3. Over time, Third/Sister Lovers grew on me but I remain a bigger fan of their first album. This one. 

Number 1 Record is the debut release from the Memphis-based, power-pop band Big Star. Singer and guitarist Alex Chilton had already experienced success as the 16-year-old frontman for the band The Box Tops, best remembered for their 1967 hit The Letter. 

After leaving the band, Chilton was offered the role of lead vocalist for jazz-rock band Blood, Sweat & Tears, but he turned it down because he felt it was "too commercial". Instead, he reconnected with childhood friend Chris Bell. Bell declined Chilton's offer to form a Simon & Garfunkle-style duo and invited him to join his three-piece band, Icewater. The foursome clicked and began sharing and collaborating their material. The name Big Star was co-opted from Memphis grocery store chain "Big Star Markets". A band member suggested the name after returning from a shopping trip for snacks during a lengthy recording session.

Number 1 Record was recorded in early 1972, all four members contributing to the songwriting and vocals. However, Chilton and Bell worked most collaboratively as a duo, modelling their approach after their childhood influences McCartney and Lennon of The Beatles. The title, Number 1 Record, was inspired by the "playful hope" that any record by a big star would go to Number 1.

It was released in August, 1972, to critical acclaim. However, it was poorly promoted by The Stax Record Company which also failed to distribute it effectively. Consequently, it received little radio airplay despite Billboard magazine's claim that "every cut could be a single". Things went from bad to worse when Stax Records made a deal with Columbia which had no interest in smaller, independent releases. They even removed existing copies of the records from stores.

My relationship with Big Star began in the mid-eighties when I heard them at a house party of a high school acquaintance. However, I encountered them again in 2012 when their documentary, Nothing Can Hurt Me, aired on Netflix. 

It was late on a Saturday night and I was looking to relax after a long night bartending. Netflix was fairly new to Canada and the streaming company's catalogue was far more limited than it is now. Small, independent documentaries, like this one, made up a significant portion of their viewing inventory. I settled down with a bottle of wine and, over the next hour, solidified my appreciation for the band. I also learned many of the facts I shared in the first half of this post.

For the next few weeks, this debut record and their 1974 release, Radio City (which we'll get to at #405), dominated my headphones.  Cashbox Magazine described the recording of Number 1 Record as "one of those red-letter moments when everything falls together as a total sound". However, as if a premonition of the album's eventual commercial fate, it continued: "it is an important record that should go to the top with proper handling". Unfortunately, that "proper handling" never materialized and it was years before the public recognized how marvelous the album is, fully justifying its place on The 500 list.