The Fix

Sorry Ma, Forgot To Take Out The Trash (1981)
Playing catch-up with their Twin Cities peers Husker Du, the Replacements figured speed and volume would compensate for ferocity on their debut. It didn’t quite work–they mostly sound like a bar band that has imbibed too much before hitting the stage (which, come to think of it, was probably the case). Sorry Ma is sloppy and scattered, with only a few of the thrashers signaling Paul Westerberg’s future songwriting prowess. Even with adolescent anthems like “I Hate Music” and “Johnny’s Gonna Die” serving as the album’s high points, you could tell the band was onto something big. The bonus material includes the four-song demo that got the band signed and the acoustic “If Only You Were Lonely.”
Rating: 7/10

Stink (1982)
Containing only eight tracks and clocking in at under 15-minutes, The Replacements’ second proper release shows them refining their hardcore punk sound. Westerberg and company even manage to conjure actual coming-of-age anger and defiance in “Fuck School” and “God Damn Job.” The original album features one of the band’s first flat out classics in “Kids Don’t Follow”–the song advertised on the cover–while the scant bonus material offers up the great lost ballad, “You’re Getting Married.”
Rating: 8/10

Hootenanny (1983)
The standout track “Within Your Reach” was unlike anything the band had ever done, driven by a primitive loop and featuring one of those incredibly vulnerable melodies that would ultimately define Westerberg as everyone’s favorite lovable loser. The rest of the album, however, falters. The Replacements take the piss out of genres like country, blues and rockabilly, but don’t offer much in exchange for the heavy irony. You do have to love the bonus track “Lookin’ For You,” which was recorded for a local compilation sponsored by Miller beer and features Westerberg giving a shout-out to Budweiser.
Rating: 6/10

Let It Be (1984)
The Replacements finally get it right, perfecting the balance between beer-stained punk gems (”Gary’s Got a Boner,” “Tommy Gets His Tonsils Out”) and Westerberg’s clutch of heart-on-flannel-sleeve ruminations (”Unsatisfed,” “Answering Machine”). It’s no wonder people look back on this as the album that not only defined the band but also a certain corner of the Eighties. “Everything you dream of is right in front of you,” Westerberg sings at one point. Right when you think he’s letting a ray of sun through the storm clouds, he drops the kicker, “Liberty is a lie.” The bonus material is highlighted by boozy covers of T. Rex’s “20th Century Boy” and The Grass Roots’ “Temptation Eyes.”
Rating: 9/10