• Artist: The Replacements
• Album: Hootenanny (1983)
• Purchased at: Gift from a friend

The Replacements are essential rock and roll. The band started its path of destruction in the 1980s and their influence has been heavily felt since that time. Their no holds barred style influenced many forms of rock, from Green Day to Nirvana to The Strokes and Ryan Adams, The Replacements undoubtedly influenced them all.

Their 7 album career had several legendary albums and songs but 1983’s “Hootenanny” was one of their rawest. The drunken sounding title track is sloppy and loose but still captures a perfect mood. The fearless garage rock of “Color Me Impressed” shows what made the band legendary. The soft touch of “Within Your Reach” shows how great Paul Westerberg’s lyrics were and that the band was masterful at dialing it down as well as turning it up. While this record isn’t their masterpiece, it is an essential piece of the Replacements puzzle.

This record was long out of print and hard to find for many years. This original Twin/Tone pressing is on translucent red vinyl and fetches over $100 online. It was a gift from another music lover who wished to pass it along. It was well taken care of and in impressive condition except where a cat got ahold of the jacket at one point. Sometimes music is at its best when it is shared just because it is so good. This helps the music live on and lets it spread from person to person and even generation to generation. That is the case here, sometimes a book value can be trumped by sentimental value.

Rating: B