The recent release of an expanded reissue of the Replacements’ 1985 album Tim has breathed new life into the band’s major-label debut. The Tim (Let It Bleed Edition) features a brand-new mix of the album’s original tracks, and it sounds different. Turns out that a lot of people have opinions about this change. Two such opinionated Replacements fans are The Current’s hosts Jill Riley and Jade. In this conversation, they decide to dig into the who, what, how, and why of a new mix of Tim.

Transcript

Jill Riley: Now much discussion has been going on in the last week regarding the reissue box set of Tim (Let It Bleed Edition), as Replacements fans have been pretty pumped to hear a new mix of the record, Tim. So you heard that original mix right there of the record, Tim, the Replacements' "Little Mascara," being, I think, a great example of something we're going to talk about this morning. And I'm joined by midday host and music director Jade on this Friday morning, as it's now been a week since the Tim (Let It Bleed Edition) came out.

Jade: Yeah, and there's been so many conversations that I've witnessed, maybe that's just because I follow a lot of Gen Xers on social media! But also, there's been a ton of think pieces that have come out about this album, because you know, the Replacements are one of those bands, that's the great, you know, "if only" band: "If only they had done this," "If it had hit at this moment," so many people who love this band, and you know, if you're not a huge Replacements fan, just think of the bands that you love; I can almost guarantee that at one point that they've referenced the Replacements. I mean, Lorde has covered a Replacements song from this album.

Jill Riley: Oh, that's right!

Jade: So there are fans of the Replacements all through pop culture. So there is this great emphasis on, you know, if the band had only made a really good version of this album, you know, which was their major label debut, maybe!

Jill Riley: Maybe, but maybe not.

Jade: Probably not!

Jill Riley: I don't think we were going to create any sort of alternate 1985, like Back to the Future anything. But this one, I think, really special for the Twin Cities, for Minnesota, for Minnesota music history, as Replacements fans, I mean, really digging into this, as you know, like you mentioned, Jade, this was the major label debut. This was kind of the moment, this was part of a big turning point. And the original version was mixed by Tommy Ramone [aka Tommy Erdelyi], and it didn't really seem like everybody was satisfied — you know, even the band — satisfied with the mix of the record.

Jade: They were very unsatisfied. Yes.

Jill Riley: Exactly. Thank you very much. And I've read, like, three words keep popping up when it comes to that original mix: The words "muddy," "tinny," and "thin."

Jade: Yeah. What I kept thinking about, Jill, as I was listening to the new Let It Bleed version, was that the original felt like a black-and-white photo, almost, you know; it was kind of flat. And all of a sudden, it's full color. There's depth to it. It feels like a living, breathing thing. It feels like, you know, the band is playing right in front of you. You can almost feel it in your chest. Whereas the other one, there was always some distance between the songs and the listener because of that muddiness. 

Jill Riley: I love that comparison of a black-and-white photo, and then you know, when you get to hear it in a new light, it's like — it is! — it's like kind of adding color to it. So all right, so Tommy Ramone mixed the original. Now in comes the famed Ramones engineer Ed Stasium, and so I've read that name a bunch leading up to this box set release, but for anyone who doesn't know Ed Stasium, perhaps a name that folks have read and maybe didn't even realize it when they've looked at the credits of you know, various records.

Jade: Yeah — Talking Heads; Ramones, like Jill was talking about; Living Colour; Motörhead. Somebody who, I mean I kind of love that through line, like Tommy Ramone did the original, now, you know, the guy who was actually the one producing and engineering and mixing and mastering Ramones is now the one who's taking over the reins of this Tim album. And really, as I was saying, you know, breathes new life into it.

Jill Riley: OK, you know what I think we should do: Now we just heard "Little Mascara," the original mix. So we do have the the new mix, the Ed Stasium mix of “Little Mascara." Now I just want to play the intro from both of them and I think just getting that comparison. OK, so this is a bit of the original, Jade.

Jill Riley: OK, OK, we've got that. Now this is the Ed Stasium mix, "Little Mascara."

Jill Riley: Whoa!

Jade: Yeah!

Jill Riley: There's a fullness.

Jade: It's like there's a fog that's been lifted.

Jill Riley: Yeah. I love it. It's just like, yes! It's like when I spritz a little cleaner on my glasses. But it really, it does have this color and this fullness that's been added, especially those drums! You know, you listen to the drums, you know, Chris Mars' drums, and that, there is that that just very — "ts! ts! ts!" — that tinny kind of sound that you hear on the drums. It just has such a fullness. Ooh, that's, I like that.

Jade: I know. This is true music geekery and nerdery, geeking out on the mix. But I think if you are somebody who's never really thought about that in regards to music, this is the perfect album to do like a side-by-side, because it's so stark and so obvious in some places to be like, "Oh! That is different!" So if you're not somebody who ever delves into true geekery, I think this is a good place to start.

Jill Riley: Yeah. When the Beatles albums were, you know, mixed, remastered, released, I just remember when that whole box set came out many years ago, that was one of the first times that, you know, you can pick up on differences when you do this side by side. You don't have to have, like, the magic ear to hear it. But I do remember this sort of, like, fullness of you know, Paul McCartney's bass guitar, and I remember feeling that, like, "Ooh, oh, I feel that warmness now," and that's kind of my reaction reacting in the same way to you know, two different mixes of "Little Mascara." So you heard, you know, the original, and then the Ed Stasium mix that folks are talking about with this Tim (Let It Bleed Edition). And it's not just the new mix of the album of Tim, which again, Replacements fans are pretty excited about, I mean, there's a lot more to this, to this box set, that we've been really been talking about.

Jade: Yeah, well, there are different versions of songs, there is, you know, "Can't Hardly Wait," which is a song that should have been on Tim, but you know, perfectionist Westerberg just keeps working on it and working on it and working on it, and you can hear the different versions, the different incarnations that he was just again, unsatisfied with, and then it would end up on the next album, but really kind of seeing, "Oh, what was going on in 1985? Where were their heads at when they were going through these?" There are some live versions of songs, if you want to hear you know, just the disaster of those live shows and how fun that was! You can hear that as well, so there's there's plenty to dig into.

Jill Riley: Yeah, and some music from, like, it's an abandoned session with, they had kind of attempted to work with Alex Chilton. And so that, and you can like, I think the ultimate Replacements writer, though there are a lot of people that have written great things about the Replacements, and again, this box set, but Bob Mehr, he's kind of the, he is the Replacements biographer for sure. And he's the one that wrote that book Trouble Boys, but you get some some insight into what what Bob Mehr has to say about it as well. So Jade, the question is, you know, some people are really like, "No, that was the original, and you know what, I like things that were released in their original form." And then there are those who have that appreciation for, you know, what they would consider a wrong being righted. So the question is, we put out a poll, you can find it at thecurrent.org: Which version do you like? You can have a say in it. Well, Jade, thanks for hanging out and chatting.

Jade: Yeah, I'll be back, 10 a.m.

Jill Riley: Excellent. OK, well, let's listen to that full Ed Stasium a mix of “Little Mascara,” because it's about a minute longer than the original. So you can listen for again, Jade saying, you know, about some color and some life has been breathed into this, and even have some like, extra Bob guitar solos going out to dig a listen to this. It's "Little Mascara" from the Tim (Let It Bleed Edition). It came out last week, so it is out there. And it's out there for you to check out in all its glory. Maybe this is the weekend you're going to dig into it.

External Link

The Replacements: Tim (Let It Bleed Edition) Box Set (Rhino Records)