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The Replacements’ Newest Album is a Blast from the Past

The Replacements
For Sale: Live at Maxwell’s 1986 — The Replacements’ first official live album aside from the 1985 cassette-only The Shit Hits the Fans — captures an amazing performance from the band at its peak. Occurring at the storied Hoboken, New Jersey venue on February 4, 1986, the show would be among the last with original guitarist Bob Stinson, who would leave the band later that year. It sees the quartet tear through a 29-song set that spans its discography and features covers and B-sides. In true Replacements fashion, the concert veers toward the shambolic on occasion, but the band always pulls it out.

Recorded months after the release of Tim, the band’s first major label record, the set prominently features many of the album’s songs. “Dose of Thunder” and “Hold My Life” appear early on, while “Bastards of Young” and “Kiss Me on the Bus” round out the first disc. “Waitress in the Sky” arrives roughly two-thirds of the way through, and its freewheeling silliness provides a palate cleanser following the disconsolate “Answering Machine” (from Let It Be). The latter track, an album highlight, begins in comparatively quiet fashion with Paul Westerberg performing alone with his guitar before the rest of the band comes crashing in after half a minute.

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The Replacements

Even with a large number of songs from Tim on the record, the ‘Mats’ back catalog is well represented with multiple songs from Let It Be, Hootenanny, Stink, and Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash. Covers of Sweet’s “Fox on the Run,” KISS’ “Black Diamond,” T. Rex’s “Baby Strange,” Vanity Fare’s “Hitchin’ a Ride,” and The Beatles’ “Nowhere Man” also pop up.

Though a bootleg of the show has been available for years, For Sale is the first time a high-quality audio version of the concert has been available. As Bob Mehr, author of The Replacements biography Trouble Boys, puts it in album’s liner notes, “For Sale finally offers high-fidelity proof of the peculiar alchemy and unadulterated majesty of one of rock and roll’s greatest bands.”

The Replacements’ For Sale: Live From Maxwell’s 1986 is out now on Rhino and is available for purchase through Amazon, iTunes, and Rhino’s online store.

Featured image courtesy of Jim Steinfeldt/Getty Images.

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The 30 Best Albums of 2021 and 2022 (So Far)
Tyler the Creator performs during 2021 Lollapalooza at Grant Park on July 30, 2021 in Chicago, Illinois.

Tyler the Creator performs during the 2021 Lollapalooza at Grant Park. (Photo by Erika Goldring/WireImage)

It's September, the end of summer, and while there is still more than a quarter of the year to go before the new year, we here at The Manual feel it's time to count our audio blessings. In fact, we're counting 30 -- 30 of the best albums released so far in 2021 and 2022. Granted, with as fast as time has seemed to move, it's hard to remember when some of these dropped in the gaussian past. But any record, of any genre, was eligible, provided it was released on January 1 or later. This is a subjective list. Lists, by their nature, are subjective. But from what we've seen (and what we've heard), these are the top albums of the year, and we're certain most will remain by New Year's Eve.
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