Paul Westerberg Albums (6)
What The Critics Say
Freed from the pressures of major-label record making and finally linked with a well-connected indie where he's allowed to follow his muse on his own terms, Paul Westerberg has been wildly prolific (at least by his standards) since hooking up with Vagrant Records in early 2002, releasing five albums (two as Grandpaboy) recorded in his home studio in less than three years. However, Folker suggests that the problems that dogged Westerberg's solo work for Reprise and Capitol haven't entirely escaped him -- namely, his songwriting doesn't have the same consistent spark it had in his salad days. In many respects, Folker sounds like a more muscular variation on 2002's Stereo, which found Westerberg examining his more introspective side, and if this set finds him more willing to lay on the sloppy drums and electric guitars, he's still talking adult stuff -- love, marriage, death -- rather than the post-adolescent traumas of the Replacements. It's also a bit surprising that the man who wrote "Bastards of Young" includes two songs apparently inspired by the passing of his father, one explicit ("My Dad"), one metaphorical ("Lookin' Up in Heaven"), but while the feelings behind the songs are sincere, they don't cut especially deep, which unfortunately is a common flaw with the songs on Folker. There isn't a single bad song on this album, but there aren't any great ones either, and Westerberg's messy direct-from-the-basement production doesn't do much to focus their strengths (though it works fine for the better numbers, especially "As Far As I Know"). The irony is that plenty of fans would have been grateful for an album like this after the overblown miscalculation of Eventually, but now that Westerberg is seemingly back at full strength and able to musically do what he wants when he wants it, it's hard not to walk away with the feeling he's capable of better than this -- and with any luck he'll prove that next time he goes into the basement. ~ Mark Deming, All Music Guide
'Come Feel Me Tremble'
Release Date 10/21/2003
Tracks 14
Label Vagrant
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
After the welcome and unexpected one-two punch of Stereo and Mono in spring 2002, Paul Westerberg was back in action and semi-productive again after a three-year recording layoff and an even longer spell away from the concert stage. With three albums and a documentary DVD due within a space of six months between fall 2003 and spring 2004, it is hard not to be impressed and pleasantly surprised with Westerberg's sudden burst of ambition in his home studio, but the first album from his newly industrious phase, Come Feel Me Tremble, doesn't give one enormous confidence in what lies ahead. Sharing a title and some material with the documentary that followed Westerberg on his post-Stereo tour and during his sessions in his basement studio, Come Feel Me Tremble, for the most part, sounds like outtakes from the sessions for Mono -- sloppy, meat and potatoes hard rock with Westerberg's patented goofy swagger ladled over the top. It is fun stuff and sounds just fine, but at the same time it is hard to ignore the fact that Westerberg has done this before plenty of times, and better as well on more than a few occasions. A few of the album's later tracks shoot for something deeper and darker -- the goofy but troubling ode to alcohol "Knockin' 'Em Back," a vengeful rocker about his father's wartime experiences called "Pine Box," the mournful "Meet Me Down the Alley," and a compelling cover of Jackson Browne's "These Days" -- but even these sound like songs that didn't quite hit their mark, as if this album was the musical equivalent of a scratch-and-dent sale. Come Feel Me Tremble isn't bad, and one senses this album was simply meant to be a holding action that would give the unreleased songs from the documentary a non-bootleg home on CD, but that doesn't change the fact that it is a genuine disappointment after the creative comeback of Stereo. At the same time, of course, it is still a better album than either Eventually or Suicaine Gratifaction. ~ Mark Deming, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Paul Westerberg's best work has always been about passion as much as craft, and that's been the biggest sticking point with his post-Replacements solo career. From a strictly technical standpoint, his work on 14 Songs and Eventually was superior to the stuff he wrote for Hootenanny or Sorry, Ma, Forgot to Take out the Trash, but there was a heart, soul, and emotional intensity in his loud, fast, and sloppy rock & roll that was absent from the output of "Paul Westerberg, Professional Songwriter." To many fans, the trouble seemed to be that Westerberg just didn't feel like rocking out, but the lower-key Suicaine Gratifaction made clear that wasn't the only problem; while that album was a step in the right direction, much of it still sounded like Westerberg was writing to order, and the album's calm surface sounded just a bit forced. Dropped by his second major label and left to his own devices, Westerberg recorded Stereo in his basement, mostly in the middle of the night and with Westerberg providing all of the (minimal and mostly acoustic) musical accompaniment through the miracle of overdubbing. And for whatever reason, Stereo is the first Westerberg solo disc that captures the elusive feel and emotional resonance of his best Replacements tunes; no, it doesn't rock, but if you loved the side of Paul Westerberg that came up with stuff like "Within Your Reach," "If Only You Were Lonely," or "Here Comes a Regular," the good news is he's found a way to tap back into that mindset and he's captured it on tape. The Westerberg who wrote Stereo is older, wiser, and wearier than the kid who made Let It Be, but he still hasn't quite figured out the details of love, relationships, and how to make all of that stuff work, and he has plenty to say about the subject that's funny, heartbreaking, and straight from the gut. With more than its share of flubbed notes and technical mistakes (two songs are cut short when the tape runs out and Westerberg's young son makes an unscheduled appearance on "We May Be the Ones") and occasional goofs (most notably the cover of "Mr. Rabbit"), Stereo seems a bit less than polished or professional, but it always sounds like it comes straight from Paul Westerberg's heart and that's what really makes the difference. It's an inspiring return to form from one of rock's best songwriters, and proves his muse still visits on occasion -- good news for all. [The initial pressings of Stereo also include Mono, the lo-fi rock album from Westerberg's nom de basement side project, Grandpaboy, which plays faster, looser, and a lot louder than Stereo, but still maintains many of the same virtues; they're two very different albums, but are well matched in this package.] ~ Mark Deming, All Music Guide
'Suicaine Gratifaction'
Release Date 2/23/1999
Tracks 12
Label Capitol
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Because we all loved THE REPLACEMENTS so, there's been a tendency to go soft on criticizing Westerberg's two solo LPs-as well as the final two, mostly disappointing Replacements LPs, the last of which, All Shook Down, being a thinly disguised head start on his solo career. One thing that was never suggested, since it seemed so inconceivable once, is that the underground icon might have lost his Midas writing touch. This is understandable, since unlike others, Westerberg has never flat-out sucked. He's not guilty of producing appalling works, of fouling the nation's CD bins with more schlock from one-time heroes. But it is also true that Westerberg has been underachieving for over a decade now. His last truly brilliant batch of songs was Pleased to Meet Me, and that was 1987! But now here's Suicaine Gratification, and finally, Westerberg comes close to getting it right. If not on the level of the first six Replacements albums, it is the first that feels comfortable and unforced since, and the first genuinely good one. As if he has finally shucked the shackles of being America's one-time garage-rock god, half of this heads for the little territory that worked on 1993's 14 Songs and 1996's Eventually, the quiet, personal, simply-recorded acoustic or piano tunes. No more half-hearted rockers with half-assed hooks (even without being compared to one of the best American bands of the '80s). He didn't need TOMMY & BOB STINSON and CHRIS MARS to record achingly sad, wise-beyond-his years, by-himself '81-'87 classics such as "If Only You Were Lonely," "Within Your Reach," "Answering Machine," "Here Comes a Regular," and "Skyway," and that approach still seems so affecting 12-18 years later on similarly-conceived songs here. For instance, check out the first two and the final two songs. The opening "It's a Wonderful Lie" restores that combo of well-considered words and evocative guitar chords that made the unplugged Westerberg such a wünderkind. And "Self-Defense" and the closing "Bookmark" are charming piano songs, his playing as loose as it is intensely forlorn. Meanwhile, the few full-band rockers may still lack great choruses or unusual verses-still a little too average for a writer of this repute-but they seem less forced, less trying to prove he can still do it pushing 40. (Having the master of discretion JIM KELTNER on drums helps.) And when the piano is matched with only quiet drums, a violin, and an acoustic together, the result, "Born For Me" and "Actor in the Street" are gems of hushed-'Mats proportions!!!! Overall a rather sweet LP. If he never gets all the way back, he's close enough now, and he's justified his continued presence on the scene. ~ Jack Rabid, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Paul Westerberg's second solo album, Eventually, delivered a full three years after his debut, 14 Songs, illustrates that he has problems telling the difference between maturity and stodginess. Eventually follows the same pattern as 14 Songs, as he balances up-tempo, Stonesy rockers with introspective, folky ballads. Generally, his slower numbers cut the deepest, like the affectionate Bob Stinson tribute, "Good Day" and the heart-tugging "MamaDaddyDid." When Westerberg rocks out, he sounds tired and mannered; neither his riffs nor his performance has the energy of vintage Replacements, or '70s and '80s Stones, for that matter. And the rockers demonstrate the major flaw of Eventually -- its carefully considered production. Though the production is clean and professional, its very slickness emphasizes the uneven quality of Westerberg's songwriting. There are some gems here -- in fact, there are even more this time around than on 14 Songs -- but Westerberg still sounds uncertain of what direction he wants to pursue and how to grow old gracefully. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Paul Westerberg's second solo LP (we all know the Replacements' final All Shook Down was really not a band LP) is a damn sight better than his first, with a batch of really nice tunes and some renewed enthusiasm (it's not as much of a downer); still, it's hard to resist the belief that he's capable of more than this. The fault is two-fold: One, fire co-producer Matt Wallace, who is more and more looming as the villain on Paul's last three LPs. The most convincing recordings here are the two crude demos Westerberg set down alone in the kitchen of his house. His voice and tune devastate or kindle one's inner emotions by themselves. Compare these naked pathos with the somewhat rote "Knockin' on Mine" (a rip-off of Don't Tell a Soul's "Talent Show") or the just-tossed-off "Things," and it appears the lack of warmth in Wallace's familiar sound is pulling Paul's otherwise tremendous fervor down. Secondly, the first six Replacements' LPs all had more convincing material than this, culminating in the terrific Pleased to Meet Me. When inspired, he can still recall some of those heights: "Dice Behind Your Shades" remembers that former intimacy and sharp hooks, as do bits of "First Glimmer," "Runaway Wind," and the attempts at old raucous pounders, "Silver Naked Ladies" and "World Class Fad." But they all still fall short of his former one-in-a-zillion singer/songwriter greatness. In fact, what really saves him on this record is his singing -- since the melodies and riffs are just good, not great, it takes a vocalist of his throaty gifts to deliver the pleasure. At times tender, sometimes who-gives-a-crap, other times amused or mildly sad and pensive, Westerberg makes us shower singers jealous over how much he can convey with just his pipes. All the more reason to record future albums by himself in his kitchen? Or how about Westerberg "unplugged" from his living room? Talent like this is always best raw, whether "Kids Won't Follow" or "Never Mind" or "Kiss Me on the Bus." He'll never get that from Wallace, but he'll still shine through anyway. ~ Jack Rabid, The Big Takeover, All Music Guide
