The Replacements were one of the cult post-punk bands of the ’80s that broke upon the verge of becoming big stars. One of the albums that really built up their reputation was Pleased To Meet Me from 1987.
After a big reissue in 2019 of Don’t Tell A Soul, another favorite among their fans, Rhino Records is preparing a big deluxe edition of Pleased to Meet Me for October 9, 2020. It will be a three-CD, one-vinyl-LP set featuring 29 tracks of unreleased material, including demos, rough mixes, and outtakes.
The first CD includes a newly remastered version of the original 11-track album, plus a selection of B-sides and a version of “Can’t Hardly Wait” that was remixed by Jimmy Iovine.
Disc 2 includes 15 demos, 11 of which are unreleased, that were recorded at Blackberry Way Studios in Minneapolis during the summer of 1986. Seven of them represent the last recordings made by the original lineup of The Replacements before the group parted ways with guitarist Bob Stinson.
Disc 3 features 13 previously unreleased rough mixes by studio engineer John Hampton. It includes the majority of the songs from Pleased to Meet Me, plus non-album tracks “Election Day” and “Birthday Gal.” These rough mixes are also on the vinyl album included in the set.
The box set also includes several unreleased tracks — like Westerberg’s “Run For The Country” and “Learn How To Fail,” and Stinson’s “Trouble On The Way” — as well as some outtakes that were previously included on the 1997 compilation All For Nothing/Nothing For All.
