Pleased to Meet Me

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Pleased to Meet Me
Pleased to Meet Me cover
Studio album by The Replacements
Released 1987
Recorded 1986 & 1987
Genre College rock
Length 32:59
Label Sire Records
Producer(s) Jim Dickinson
Professional reviews
The Replacements chronology
Tim
(1985)
Pleased to Meet Me
(1987)
Don't Tell a Soul
(1989)


Pleased to Meet Me is the fifth album by the Replacements. It was released on July 7, 1987 (see 1987 in music).

The album to some degree maintains the style of the previous album, and major label debut, Tim. But while the punk roots of the group were still apparent on Tim, by Pleased to Meet Me they had all but vanished. The album showed experimentation in the use of horns on the tracks "I Don't Know", "Nightclub Jitters" (which even furthers the experiments by being a very jazzy track), and the single "Can't Hardly Wait", in which the horns are used to a very efficient level, creating a fuller soundscape and track, at least compared with the demo version recorded around the time of the previous album, available on the second disc of All For Nothing/Nothing for All. The cover art is a good representation of the band's transition from young punks to more polished musicians, with one arm clad in a suit sleeve and the other in a ripped sleeve.

This album was the first and only album recorded by the band as a trio. After Tim, Bob Stinson was either kicked out of the band (ostensibly for problems with drugs and alcohol, though most of the other Replacements also had serious substance abuse problems at the time) or quit on his own volition due to creative differences. Many have attributed the noticeable shift from the post-punk of Tim towards a more accessible American rock and roll sound on Pleased to Meet Me to Bob Stinson's departure. The band recorded the demos for this album while Bob Stinson was still in the band in August 1986.

The singles from the album were the aforementioned "Can't Hardly Wait" (which was the inspiration for the title of a movie) along with "Alex Chilton" and "The Ledge" (whose video was banned from airplay on MTV due to its lyrical content about suicide).

The album peaked at #131 on the Billboard Music Chart's Top 200.

[edit] Track listing

  1. "I.O.U." (Westerberg) – 2:57
  2. "Alex Chilton" (Mars/Stinson/Westerberg) – 3:12
  3. "I Don't Know" (Mars/Stinson/Westerberg) – 3:19
  4. "Nightclub Jitters" (Westerberg) – 2:44
  5. "The Ledge" (Westerberg) – 4:04
  6. "Never Mind" (Westerberg) – 2:47
  7. "Valentine" (Mars/Stinson/Westerberg) – 3:31
  8. "Shooting Dirty Pool" (Mars/Stinson/Westerberg) – 2:20
  9. "Red Red Wine" (Westerberg) – 2:59
  10. "Skyway" (Westerberg) – 2:04
  11. "Can't Hardly Wait" (Westerberg) – 3:02

[edit] Personnel

  • Ben Jr. - Trumpet
  • Alex Chilton - Guitar, Vocals
  • Daniel Corrigan - Photography
  • Jim Dickinson - Producer
  • Luther Dickinson - Guitar
  • Steve Douglas - Flute (Bass), Sax (Baritone)
  • East Memphis Slim - Organ, Keyboards, Vocals (bckgr)
  • Steven Fjelstad - Engineer
  • Prince Gabe - Saxophone
  • John Hampton - Engineer, Mixing
  • Joe Hardy - Engineer, Mixing
  • Max Huls - Strings
  • Ted Jensen - Mastering
  • Jim Lancaster - Production Assistant, Photography
  • Andrew Love - Sax (Tenor)
  • Chris Mars - Drums, Vocals (bckgr), Artwork
  • The Memphis Horns - Horn
  • Glenn Parsons - Design
  • Bob Stinson - Guitar
  • Tommy Stinson - Bass, Guitar (Bass)
  • Paul Westerberg - Bass, Guitar, Harmonica, Piano, Guitar (Electric), Vocals

[edit] Charts

Album - Billboard (North America)

Year Chart Position
1987 The Billboard 200 131