Replacements - All for NothingNothing for All (34 tracks) +Album Reviews

Before You Buy Anything By the Goo Goo Dolls....

Joseph A. Polak | Perth Amboy, NJ | 12/15/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This collection is an absolute must have. If you went to high school in the late 1980s, Paul Westerberg (rivaled by only Gordon Gano of the Violent Femmes) was the voice of teen angst. What makes Paul & the Mats stand out is that they never patronized or even catered to the young adults. They didn't care who listened---or who didn't. They gave the finger to everybody, while playing like the final moments of a house party. This collection, although stunted by the lack of anything from the Twin Tone years, is a handbook for anyone who wants to start a band. Flush all pretentions down the toilet and just write and play great songs. Enough of this sociological banter. Three words--ADD TO CART! Don't be surprised if you find yourself playing Alex Chilton over and over again until your ears bleed!"

Is this the place to start with one of the best bands ever?

Patrick Wilkins | Oxford United Kingdom | 05/13/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"There are those that claim the Replacements, at the very least, as best band of the 1980s, I think they are much much better than that. Their impact has been felt far and wide, check any MP3 site and the numbers of bands that quote the `Mats as an influence will be too numerous to list. Great songwriters such as Jeff Tweedy of Wilco and Ryan Adams of Whiskeytown have acknowledged them as a major inspiration. The Replacements style was part punk, part melodic, they could both rock and deliver crushingly sad heartfelt ballads. As to who do they sound like, there are some British influences in a kind of Mott-the-Rolling-Clash way, and New York punks such as Johnny Thunders/New York Dolls and occasionally the Ramones are also in there, but really they just sound like the Replacements. The question is then, is this collection the best place to start? There are 2 discs here one of "hits" and one of outtakes and rarities (to attract the fans who already have the hits). The trouble with the "hits" disc is that part of the appeal and charm of the band was their unpredictability and inconsistency. Over an album of songs, or even during a single song, they could veer from brilliance to trash, leaving a trail of half developed ideas in amongst moments of pure genius. So a disc of "hits" is like all chocolate filling and no cake, the second disc mish-mash of outtakes, alternate versions, and live tracks then is almost more representative of the band's true personality. Also no two fans would agree with any track selection of "hits" (no "IOU" or "Little Mascara"), particularly with nothing from the Twin/Tone period, thus missing the mighty "Let it Be" album. Don't get me wrong there are lots of great tracks here, like "Can't Hardly Wait" in two versions, both stunning, and the wonderful loser ballad "Here Comes A Regular", for that alone it deserves it's four stars. So if you have a casual interest or liked a track you heard one time, then by all means go for "All for Nothing". However, if you want to discover one of the great rock'n'roll bands then track down the full length CDs "Let it Be", "Tim" and "Pleased To meet Me" in that order, and you will not be disappointed."

Not enough, but what's here is incredible

Christopher Bushman | Portland, OR USA | 04/26/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Yes, this is a very incomplete Best Of but the tracks collected here are superb. Amazingly, some of the rarities stand up very well with "The Hits". "Portland" may be THE great Replacements rarity."

Beautiful losers

Patrick Wilkins | 04/25/1999

(3 out of 5 stars)

"In a way, this is the perfect Replacements 'Greatest Hits' collection. Too expensive to attract any new fans and sure to piss off longtime fans as they shell out $23 for that one B-side they don't have already. Plus, as an added bonus, it doesn't even have any of the Twin Tone catalogue. Thus, even half a decade after they've disbanded, the Mats manage to flirt with greatness and then fail spectacularly."

"Dirty clothes and filthy jokes."

Graeme Wallis | Newcastle, England | 01/23/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Although maligned in some quarters for documenting only the Mats' career following their leap to major label status with Sire/Reprise Records (and thereby neglecting what many consider to be their `Hayday' [pun blatantly intended]) there are virtues that All For Nothing/Nothing For All possesses that - given the comparatively limited availability of material (both audio [live recordings, outtakes, etc.] and literature) from a band who in commercial terms are little more than a footnote in the barren echelons of the 80s mainstream - the more recent and, to an extent, more comprehensive Don't You Know Who I Think I Was? sorely lacks.

Thus, the first available Replacements greatest "hits" (released in 1997) omits the raucous, youthful, ramshackle Twin/Tone delights of Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash (1981); Stink (1982); Hootenanny (1983) and Let it Be (1984). Naturally, any band's supposed "best of" would be impaired by the absence of the likes of `Kick Your Door Down', `Go', `Within Your Reach' and `Sixteen Blue' (and the rest), but that said, All For Nothing stands up remarkably well without them - unremarkable when considering the calibre of songs represented.

Taking four tracks apiece sequentially from each of the band's four Sire releases: Tim (1985); Pleased to Meet Me (1987); Don't Tell a Soul (1989) and All Shook Down (1991), All For Nothing holds together cohesively for a compilation album, showcasing the band's formidable rock n' roll prowess and almost unparalleled versatility. Songs such as `Left of the Dial'; `Bastards of Young'; `Here Comes a Regular'; `Can't Hardly Wait' and `I'll Be You' have since become canonical tracks of the era - for those who have even HEARD of the `Mats that is - bearing testament to the band's now-legendary "beautiful loser" underdog reputation of hard luck, self-sabotage, refusal to compromise and sheer pigheadedness.

One minor complaint is that - although they are all highly sophisticated tracks, and in some instances, classics - the disc's final sequence includes `I'll Be You'; `Achin' to Be'; `Merry Go Round'; `Nobody' and `Someone Take the Wheel', punctuated only by 3 markedly different tracks, which renders all of these songs rather similar - whereas they could be judged far better on their own merits were they segregated accordingly. The record's chronological order however, dictates and enforces this homogeneity.

For many people though, All For Nothing will be merely a companion piece to the real attraction here, the second disc: Nothing For All. Comprised of embryonic versions and alternate takes of future favourites, outtakes, a solo offering each from Chris Mars (drums) and Tommy Stinson (bass), an irreverent cover of Bob Dylan's `Like a Rolling Stone' (entitled `Like a Rolling Pin'), a blistering live performance of The Only One's `Another Girl, Another Planet', and some intriguing forays into blues and jazz territory.

The outtakes for the most part are identifiable as the kind of tracks that would never quite seriously threaten a place on a `Mats LP, and whilst some are of negligible value to The Replacements' mystique, the majority steer clear of the usual tossed-off drivel that would make up this kind of set. The brilliant barroom triumvirate of the infectiously up-tempo `Till We're Nude', the sardonic drawl of `Election Day' and the bizarre cover of `Jungle Rock' all showcase influences ranging far beyond the predictable.

Paul Westerberg's famed cock-eyed take on existence is apparent in most tracks here and the more self-consciously humanist tracks - the gorgeous, soaring ballad `Who Knows' and the near-nocturne `We Know the Night' shimmer in amongst the other beer-soaked originals, with `Birthday Gal' a classic laughing/crying Westerberg signature ("Her hair falls down around her eyes that close/She might wear them earrings but she won't wear the clothes/She'll hang `em up with all the ones that don't fit no more.")

The handsomely presented package is further enhanced by the CD's inlay booklet comprising some twenty four interesting anecdotes from journalists, writers, contemporaries, onlookers, celebrity fans and people that got closer than many dared, that bear out the band's myth, as well as some lovingly candid photos.

The Enhanced CD features promotional videos for `The Ledge' and `I'll Be You', as well as the infamously derisive `Bastards of Young' MV - all of which is comparatively redundant now with the rise of Youtube.

The crowning glory of the whole set for me however, is the alternate (original) version of `Can't Hardly Wait' from the Tim sessions, in that anyone who thought that there was no forethought in the band's work should listen to how good this version sounds and imagine how difficult it must have been for them to stay true to the vision they had for the song and NOT include it on Tim - preferring instead to commit it to their following album (Pleased to Meet Me) in a style that truly befits it. Conversely, it is the All For Nothing version that stands as The Replacements' true masterwork."

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