"THE DEAD MAN'S POP" By The Replacements

The Dead Man’s Pop revisits The Replacements’ 1989 album Don’t Tell a Soul, reframing it as a misunderstood work shaped—and distorted—by label pressure and internal chaos. Through demos, alternate mixes, and detailed liner notes, the box set restores Paul Westerberg’s songwriting to its raw intent while underscoring the band’s enduring legacy as rock’s great “what-if” story.(Rock)

The Replacements story is full of things that could have been. The thing about The Replacements is that they might have been a popular band if things had gone a little differently. They might have had a lot of success in the 1990s like their friends R.E.M. What if The Replacements had done what their record label wanted them to do? What if The Replacements had not made many people mad, at them? What if The Replacements had not had many problems with drinking and drugs?

In 1989 people were talking about the bands album Don't Tell a Soul. The big question was what if the band had not put out an album with many slick radio-friendly pop-rock songs. If the album had been produced better could Don't Tell a Soul have been an album, like some of their other ones? People ask this question because for a time Don't Tell a Soul was The Replacements album that people liked the least even though some people have started to like it a little more now.

The Dead Mans Pop box set tries to answer some questions. It has a lot of notes from Bob Mehr and some of these notes are from his book Trouble Boys, which's all about The Replacements. The box set tells us about everything there is to know about the album Don't Tell a Soul except for the actual album itself. You see Rhino put out a version of the album in 2008. The Dead Mans Pop box set wants to tell a complicated story about the record. It wants to save Paul Westerbergs songs from the changes that were made to them. These changes were made so that more people would like the album. It did not really work out that way. The Dead Mans Pop box set is, about the album Don't Tell a Soul and it tries to set the record straight.

The album Don’t Tell a Soul had a complicated start. Don’t Tell a Soul was made with a band member, guitarist Bob Dunlap. There were two times when the band recorded Don’t Tell a Soul. Each time had a producer. Tony Berg was in charge of the recordings of Don’t Tell a Soul.. The band did not use those recordings of Don’t Tell a Soul. Matt Wallace was the producer for the recordings of Don’t Tell a Soul that the band actually used. Tom Waits visited the band while they were making Don’t Tell a Soul. This was when Tom Waits was very famous. The band and Sire Records were very confused, about what they wanted from each other when it came to Don’t Tell a Soul. Westerberg was coming up with some great songs during this time. These songs were similar to the gentler music, from Westerbergs last couple of albums. Westerbergs songs were very good. They built on the softer music that Westerberg had been making.

The center of Dead Mans Pop is a mix and order of the songs on Don't Tell a Soul. This is based on the mix that Matt Wallace put together right before he left the project. Matt Wallace wanted to mix the record himself. He knew what was going to happen. He saw that the record company wanted someone to do the job someone who knew what kind of music would be popular on the radio. That is why Chris Lord-Alge was brought in to give the record a modern sound that would be played on the radio. Dead Mans Pop is really all, about Don't Tell a Soul. This was something that a lot of bands did. They would work with a producer that they liked. Then a big company would bring in someone to make it sound perfect. Think about Nirvana.. With this record the final mix was a big problem. Westerberg himself did not like it. He even said some things about it. He told Magnet in 2002 that the record sounded good until the label brought in people to mix it. They made it sound like all the music on the radio, which was not what Westerberg wanted. The record sounded good at first. Then the label changed it to make it sound like everything else. Westerberg was not happy, with this. He thought the label ruined the record. The final mix of the record was the problem. It was a big mistake. The quick mix that Wallace made was thought to be gone for good until it was found in Slim Dunlaps basement. This quick mix was a deal because it was used as the main thing for this set. The set got its name from the title that was going to be used for the album. The quick mix by Wallace was really important, for this set. There are a lot of differences in the music. The songs do not sound completely different, like Don't Tell a Soul is now Stink. These are still the songs and the same performances.. They sound simpler and more personal.

The first song "Talent Show" is an improvement. Paul Westerbergs voice is very plain the drums are quiet. It sounds like the band is playing together in a studio. It does not sound like the music was put together from parts. The Don't Tell a Soul songs are the same. They sound different now. The guitars on "I'll Be You" sound really different they are more twangy and less cheesy. I think that is a thing. The song "I Won't" is usually the song, on Don't Tell a Soul but it sounds better now. This is because the bassline is not so corny and the other instruments sound good together. The song "Asking Me Lies" is also different it sounds airy and light now. The backing vocals on "Asking Me Lies" are more noticeable which is nice.

The thing that stands out is that the guitars sound really clean the vocals are easy to hear and some of the music that was hard to hear before is now loud and clear like the banjo part in the song "Talent Show”. The order of the songs on the album is also different now it is like the Wallace tape. The good songs are, at the beginning: you do not have to wait until the second part to hear "I’ll Be You" and "Darlin One" because they are now the fifth songs. And ending the set with “Rock and Roll Ghost” after opening with “Talent Show” gives it a nice thematic frame, an innocent band taking a stab at one end and a fading relic thinking about the past at the other.

The second disc of the box has music from the Berg sessions that did not work out. These Berg sessions were recorded in Bearsville, New York. The music on the disc of the box does not give us a clear idea of what the record might have sounded like. The Berg sessions are mostly band demos of songs that were not finished. It is nice to hear songs like Achin' to Be I'll Be You. We'll Inherit the Earth from the Berg sessions in these versions. However the songs, from the Berg sessions sound like the band was just playing through them. Westerberg sings the words in a casual way using lots of sounds, like "oh" and "ah" when he does not have the real lyrics. Westerberg is very relaxed when he is singing the lyrics. The way Westerberg delivers the lyrics is pretty interesting.

There are two songs that did not make the album but they are really good. These songs are on the version of Don't Tell a Soul. The two songs are "Portland" which's a country kind of song and it is great and "Wake Up" which is a fast rock song. The band also recorded some music with Tom Waits one night when they were drinking. Tom Waits liked the band. Westerberg liked him. These six songs, with Tom Waits are only interesting because of what happened when they were recorded. These two people sound completely exhausted and they can hardly play their music or even talk. It is a reminder that it's not always a bad thing when songs are not released. The songs can just stay in the vault. That is okay.

The live set on the two discs is different. It is from a concert in Milwaukee in June 1989. If you do not like Don't Tell a Soul you should listen to the shows from that time. They are really good. The band played the songs faster. With more energy than on the record. The live songs still had melodies.. This time Westerberg remembered most of the lyrics to the songs. The live shows, from this time show that Don't Tell a Soul is an album. The band was still playing music like Don't Tell a Soul. The setlist is really something. The band had many great songs to play at this point. They played songs from their album Let It Be from 1984 and some songs from their new record. They also played a songs that other people wrote, like their great version of the Only Ones song "Another Girl, Another Planet". The band sounds a little tired towards the end. I think they had much to drink by then. The song "Here Comes a Regular" is a bit of a mess.. Even, with that the setlist is still fun to listen to over and over again. The setlist is really good.

The Replacements went on tour with Tom Petty a months later. This was a time for The Replacements because Paul Westerberg had a big problem with drinking. The Replacements made another record called All Shook Down in 1991. Then the Replacements decided to break up. This was a time for The Replacements to break up because alternative music was about to become really popular. The Replacements did not do much for a time, after that. The Replacements got back together to play some shows this decade. The Replacements album Don’t Tell a Soul was not the success that people were hoping for but it actually became The Replacements best-selling album. This might be why a lot of bands like the Goo Goo Dolls and Ryan Adams, who were later accused of copying the Replacements sounded a lot, like The Replacements during this time period, when The Replacements were using guitars and quiet vocals in their music.

I have been listening to the album Don't Tell a Soul for a time. I actually bought Don't Tell a Soul the day it came out. I loved Don't Tell a Soul for 30 years. The guy who made Don't Tell a Soul is from the Midwest. He was raised to not show his feelings.. In Don't Tell a Soul he is trying to be more open and honest about his feelings. Some people think that the songs, on Don't Tell a Soul are sometimes too sad or sappy.. To me that is just part of what makes Don't Tell a Soul so real and emotional. I like that Don't Tell a Soul is not perfect. That it has some imperfections. It was music you swallowed whole, the good stuff and bad—like a handful of pills. At a certain age, you want nothing more than to feel special, and in Westerberg’s best songs on Don’t Tell a Soul, he offers hope that someone out there just might see the specialness in you.

Morgan Mason