The Replacements have released 7 full length albums from 1981-1990. What follows will be an overview of each album and some of my favorite tracks from them, with the most favorite track at the top.

The Replacements' debut album, it features some very fast rock, loud and fun. Though it wasn't that original for its time, the songs showed some depth which hinted at what a great songwriter Westerberg would become.

The way they put so much energy into songs that deal with otherwise mundane topics like "Takin' a Ride" or "Customer" is simply amazing.

Humor abounds in lines such as:

• "I hate music, it's got too many notes"


• "OkayI'minlovewiththegirlwhoworksatthestorewhereI'mnothinbutacustomer" (yep, it's said that fast)


• "Tommy's too young / Bobby's too drunk / I can only sing one note / Chris needs a watch to keep time"

Favorite tracks:

Shiftless When Idle
Takin' a Ride
Customer
Johnny's Gonna Die
Raised in the City

The Replacements' second full length album, there is more variety here than on Sorry Ma. The standout track here is definitely "Color Me Impressed", where Westerberg expresses discomfort in social circles using lines like "Everybody's dressing funny / Color me impressed".

Overall, Hootenanny is silly like the name implies, and it goes off in all directions. For instance, on the title track, all the band members switch instruments!

This album also features:

• a serious plea for love, complete with a synth-drum beat ("Within Your Reach")


• a surf-instrumental ("Buck Hill")


• reading directly from a personals ad ("Lovelines")

Trivia: The Hootennany album cover is based on this: Elektra Folk Collection

Favorite tracks:

Color Me Impressed
Within Your Reach
Take Me Down to the Hospital
Willpower

Let It Be showcases the different sides of the band the most effectively. It isn't as messy as Hootenanny or Sorry Ma is, though there are some silly songs("Tommy Gets His Tonsils Out") reminiscent of their earlier albums. They switch from hard rock to punk to ballads, and the songwriting is superb here.

"We're Comin' Out" starts off real fast but then throws you an unexpected piano-and-snapping interlude in the middle. "Unsatisfied" makes use of rising and falling guitar lines, along with Westerberg's changing emphasis on each of the verses to get a fairly simple message across.

The country-rocker "I Will Dare" is quite possibly the Replacements' best song.

Jodi of iwilldare.com writes "...my all-time favorite song in the history of songs is "I Will Dare" by The Replacements. I love this song with a passion that borders on creeping me the hell out. I hear that opening jangly guitar bit and my heart immediately starts to smile. Seriously. I can feel the change right in the middle of my chest. It's exhilarating and wonderful, and it makes me happy that a single song can make me feel physically different. It seems to prove to me that I am alive in a way that I often forget about. Art can do that to you, that's why it's so magical."

Favorite tracks:

I Will Dare
Favorite Thing
We're Comin' Out
Sixteen Blue
Unsatisfied
Androgynous

On the Replacements' major label debut Tim, their sound has been cleaned up and they pretty much do away with the sloppy songs. Tim is often considered to be more consistent than Let It Be. Although the sound quality on Tim suffers somewhat, Westerberg's songwriting continues to make vast improvements.
The pop numbers "Waitress in the Sky" and "Kiss Me on the Bus" shows that they still are having fun. The memorable and anthemic songs "Hold My Life" and "Bastards of Young" will forever be stuck in your head.

"Left of the Dial" embodies the spirit of the Replacements, dealing with finding non-mainstream stations on the lower end of the FM spectrum. They close out with a sad tale of one spending his life at the bar ("Here Comes A Regular").

Favorite tracks:

Bastards of Young
Kiss Me on the Bus
Left of the Dial
Here Comes a Regular
Hold My Life

Compared to their previous releases, this is more of a straight-forward rock album, but that's not necessarily a bad thing at all.

Favorite tracks:

Alex Chilton
IOU
Can't Hardly Wait
The Ledge
Shooting Dirty Pool

Considered to be their most "professional" album, they were really trying to score a mainstream hit with this one and didn't make it. They don't rock as hard and unfortunately there aren't too many memorable tracks.

Favorite tracks:

I'll Be You
Talent Show

[coming soon]