BY JEREMY HAAS
As a teenager, I’ve gone through the many phases of musical interest; the generic core-core bands, the punk rock, the metal, the straightened hair, the skinny jeans, the monochrome clothing, and so on. However, with all the music I’ve listened to and identified with, there’s still so much more to discover, so much more from before my time. So, we here at the Lariat thought of a new blog idea, “Classics Revisited.” Here, I’ll be looking at influential, classic albums that inspired much of my favorite music today, noting the similarities, and deciding whether or not they truly deserve the title of “classic.”
This month, I was given the Replacements Let it Be, an album released in 1984 that is considered to be highly influential to the alternative rock of the 90’s and 2000’s. Let it Be takes influence from 70’s punk bands like the Clash and Sex Pistols, but it also keeps a subtle 80’s undertone. Let it Be is angsty and upfront with its lyrics, simple in its musicianship, and yet unique in putting that together, especially in a musical time frame as…how do I put this…confining, as the 80’s.
As teenager who sports his heart on his sleeve, I can really identify with the lyrics in Let it Be. Paul Westerberg, the Replacements vocalist, has a straightforward way of putting things. In “Seen Your Video,” he simply calls out the unoriginal bands of his time, while “Sixteen Blue” brings recognition to the confusion and struggles that come along with adolescence. Westerberg sardonically moans “Your age is the hardest age, everything drags and drags,” as an anti-heroic self-realization of the average, whiny punk. He’s reminiscent of a young Morrissey, who puts just a little less thought into the sad feelings that fill his mind, and has a little more punk rock of an attitude. Still, every time I listen to the Replacements’ “Unsatisfied,” all I can hear is the Smiths’ “Unlovable.”
Another significant part of Let it Be is its sound. The general musicianship of the album takes obvious influence from early 70’s punk bands, namely, the Clash, which is impressive given the album’s timeframe. In a punk era in which hardcore bands like Black Flag reigned supreme, the Replacements found a way back to early punk rock roots. That’s not to say this is a strictly punk rock album. “Answering Machine” there is a vague arena-rock influence where Westerberg, accompanied solely by a reverb-ridden electric guitar, seems to sing his heart out in a manner that makes me think of Guns n’ Roses, Skid Row, and Adam Sandler in The Wedding Singer. Then, in a track like “Androgynous,” the band shows a deeper emotional side in a heart-felt piano ballad about transgenderism. This is a dynamic album with dueling sounds, which still maintains a true punk rock feel.
Now for the influences, I can hear early Green Day and Blink 182 in tracks like “I Will Dare,” and “Favorite Thing,” and I can also see the hardcore punk of the 80’s in “We’re Coming Out.” Overall, Let it Be is one of the earliest dynamic alternapunk records I’ve ever heard. It’s not as whiny as the Smiths, not as amateur as Blink 182, not as animalistic as Black Flag, not as…well…lame as Guns n’ Roses, and still, it sounds like all of them. So yes, this album is a classic, a truly unique and dynamic classic.
