A really great band. One of my earliest faves as a snotty teenage in the early 90's. I think the above summation is pretty good. I also got hooked on their later stuff before really getting into their early stuff. Westerberg is a great songwriter and towards the end he really started to dominate the band's musical direction. "Let It Be" remains my favorite album. It has pretty much everything: obnoxious punk-pop, incredible melodies, wonderful lyrics that really dig at what it's like growing up, and even a KISS cover!matedog wrote: ↑18 Apr 2018, 10:54amMore serious Mats fans could probably elaborate better, but basically they started as a punk band and become a more traditional alt rock band as their career progressed. Their comp https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don%27t_Y ... k_I_Was%3F covers the bigger songs well. Personally, I think Westerberg has a great, weathered voice and a natural talent for melody. There's a great chaotic energy in their early material, the later stuff is where his voice/melodic skills really shine. The latter stuff got me into them, but eventually I got into the early stuff more.Kory wrote: ↑17 Apr 2018, 4:45pmWhere would you recommend somebody with my tastes to start checking them out (if you know my tastes well enough)?muppet hi fi wrote: ↑17 Apr 2018, 4:38pmFor me, it's tremendous songwriting - pop-tastic melodies and hooks; Westerberg, as a singer, was always reaching for notes (often out of his natural range) for the sake of melody and atmosphere, and seems to have almost no emotional filter to his writing, singing and his phrasing as well; the band were walking encyclopedias of rock n' roll, blues, country, folk and early pop, as well as being hip to various jazz traditions.
Plus they could (and the surviving members still do) play like motherfuckers.
A few personal favs,
Punk era:
Non-punk era:
(fuck all y'all, I dig the horns)
If you listen to their discography from start to finish you can hear their rapid development. "Sorry, Ma..." is pretty much pure chaotic energy...but it hints at the melody that starts to come out on "Hootenanny". "Let It Be" is a further development - chaos still abounds - but the corners are getting smoothed - bringing out the details. "Tim" is the ultimate refinement of their early material: loud guitars, great lyrics, humor, chaos, and so much more. "Pleased to Meet Me" is a transitional record - moving beyond (but not completely) their out of control "punk" years. Final two albums "Don't Tell a Soul" and "All Shook Down" are where Westerberg really moves them into a polished, singer-songwriter sound - still able to rock - still full of attitude - but definitely more pop than punk (still great records).
Westerberg's solo career has been hit and miss. I'd say he's better when he doesn't sound like he's trying to impress. I've always liked Tommy's solo work: kind of all over the place and somewhat obscure - but usually enjoyable.
I think they always carried that "shiftless" Midwestern working class drunk label - usually with pride - but in the end I also think it became a burden. The recent bio "Trouble Boys" was an incredible read. I don't know if I've ever come across a band that tried so hard NOT to be successful. Just self sabotage at every stop - but I also think a lot of that came from never being able to think of themselves as ever being better than a bunch of idiots from Minnesota.