The Replacements’ Pleased To Meet Me gets the box set treatment this fall when Rhino Records releases a 3CD/1LP edition of the band’s fifth album stuffed with 29 previously unreleased demos, rough mixes and outtakes — including Bob Stinson’s final recordings with the ‘Mats.
The 55-track Pleased To Meet Me: Deluxe Edition is due out Oct. 9 — and six of the never-before-released rough mixes are available digitally now, and can be streamed below via Spotify.
The box set, which includes a 12×12 hardcover book with liner notes by Replacements biographer Bob Mehr, can be pre-ordered now from Rhino in a variety of configurations.
The deluxe reissue’s first disc includes a newly remastered version of the 11-song album plus a selection of the record’s B-sides and a version of “Can’t Hardly Wait” remixed by Jimmy Iovine.
Disc 2 includes 15 demos — 11 of which are unreleased — recorded at Blackberry Way Studios in Minneapolis in the summer of 1986. The first seven of the demos on this disc are the final recordings made by the original lineup of the ‘Mats before Stinson was fired.
Disc 3 includes 13 previously unreleased rough mixes by engineer John Hampton that include most of the album and some non-album tracks. These mixes are what’s featured on the 180-gram vinyl LP that’s included in the box set. The third disc also induces several unreleased songs and outtakes.
The Replacements, Pleased To Meet Me: Deluxe Edition
Disc 1: Pleased to Meet Me (2020 Remaster) + Rare, Single-Only Tracks
1. “I.O.U.”
2. “Alex Chilton”
3. “I Don’t Know”
4. “Nightclub Jitters”
5. “The Ledge”
6. “Never Mind”
7. “Valentine”
8. “Shooting Dirty Pool”
9. “Red Red Wine”
10. “Skyway”
11. “Can’t Hardly Wait”
12. “Election Day”
13. “Jungle Rock”
14. “Route 66”
15. “Tossin’ n’ Turnin’”
16. “Cool Water”
17. “Can’t Hardly Wait” – Jimmy Iovine Remix
Disc 2: Blackberry Way Demos
1. “Bundle Up” – Demo
2. “Birthday Gal” – Demo
3. “I.O.U.” – Demo *
4. “Red Red Wine” – Demo *
5. “Photo” – Demo
6. “Time Is Killing Us” – Demo *
7. “Valentine” – Demo
8. “Awake Tonight” – Demo *
9. “Hey Shadow” – Demo *
10. “I Don’t Know” – Demo *
11. “Kick It In” – Demo 1 *
12. “Shooting Dirty Pool” – Demo *
13. “Kick It In” – Demo 2 *
14. “All He Wants To Do Is Fish” – Demo *
15. “Even If It’s Cheap” – Demo *
Disc 3: Rough Mixes, Outtakes, & Alternates
1. “Valentine” – Rough Mix *
2. “Never Mind” – Rough Mix *
3. “Birthday Gal” – Rough Mix *
4. “Alex Chilton” – Rough Mix *
5. “Election Day” – Rough Mix *
6. “Kick It In” – Rough Mix *
7. “Red Red Wine” – Rough Mix *
8. “The Ledge” – Rough Mix *
9. “I.O.U.” – Rough Mix *
10. “Can’t Hardly Wait” – Rough Mix *
11. “Nightclub Jitters” – Rough Mix *
12. “Skyway” – Rough Mix *
13. “Cool Water” – Rough Mix *
14. “Birthday Gal”
15. “Learn How To Fail” *
16. “Run For The Country” *
17. “All He Wants To Do Is Fish”
18. “I Can Help” – Outtake *
19. “Lift Your Skirt” *
20. “‘Til We’re Nude”
21. “Beer For Breakfast”
22. “Trouble On The Way” *
23. “I Don’t Know” – Outtake
LP tracklisting
Side A
1. “Valentine” – Rough Mix *
2. “Never Mind” – Rough Mix *
3. “Birthday Gal” – Rough Mix *
4. “Alex Chilton” – Rough Mix *
5. “Election Day” – Rough Mix *
6. “Kick It In” – Rough Mix *
Side B
1. “Red Red Wine” – Rough Mix *
2. “The Ledge” – Rough Mix *
3. “I.O.U.” – Rough Mix *
4. “Can’t Hardly Wait” – Rough Mix *
5. “Nightclub Jitters” – Rough Mix *
6. “Skyway” – Rough Mix *
7. “Cool Water” – Rough Mix *
* Previously unreleased
PREVIOUSLY ON SLICING UP EYEBALLS
- The Replacements’ ‘Complete Inconcerated Live’ gets 3LP Record Store Day release
- Listen: The Replacements, ‘Achin’ to Be’ (Bearsville Version) — off ‘Dead Man’s Pop’ box set
- Listen: The Replacements, ‘Talent Show’ (Matt Wallace Mix) — off ‘Dead Man’s Pop’ box set
- The Replacements promise ‘radically reimagined’ ‘Don’t Tell a Soul’ with new box set
- The Replacements dig up classic-era gig for ‘For Sale: Live at Maxwell’s 1986’ album
Did not see this coming! AWESOME!!! The “Dead Man’s Pop” box set was stellar, and this one is already looking mighty tasty, too. Wish there was a fourth disc of a live show from the time, but can’t get too greedy–especially with all the extras in the Rhino bundles, including the place mat! Nice.
Here’s to “Tim” getting this kind of love next year and, ultimately, the mighty “Let It Be.” Thanks for posting, Matt!
Totally agree on all your points!
I can’t (hardly) wait to hear the rest of this set.
The placemat is a nice touch.
I’m with you on hoping that “Tim” gets the full treatment too. If they got Matt Wallace in to do a full remix of the album, my head would explode like an incendiary device.
I hear ya, Abby. Either an archived or new Matt Wallace mix of “Tim” would be most enticing. But at the same time, I can’t imagine messing with something like “Left of the Dial.” (Still…look what “Dead Man’s Pop” revealed in “Back to Back,” “We’ll Inherit the Earth,” and more. WOW!!!)
In 1987 I think I had three or four CDs as I headed off to my first year in college…”Pleased To Meet Me” was one those titles. Only bolstered by The Mats previous recordings on cassette – this was and still is required listening. Definitively and personally: College Rock!
In a twist of irony, especially if you consider the back story, Prince is also “super-deluxing” ’87’s “Sign O The Times” (in September). If I remember the story correctly, The Replacements thieved their own master tapes from Twin/Tone Records in reaction to the label’s desire to put The Mats on CD- the band stated they tossed the masters in the Mississippi and hoped Prince (who lived downstream) “would see the tapes floating by like baby Moses, retrieve them, play them and reconsider his musical approach.”
Required listening, indeed, 120seconds. And that was a great read–thank you! Both of these ’87 releases getting mega box-set love wasn’t lost on me, either. Beyond cool and so meant to be. This also reminds me of when my wife and I visited Paisley Park last year and swapped stories with our guide about Prince and Paul Westerberg. Lots of mutual respect between those two, be it Prince going to ‘Mats shows, the Replacements covering “I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man,” Prince lining the PP studio with balloons after a close friend of Paul’s passed away, and more.
And if you haven’t already read this, it’s definitely worth checking out. https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/paul-westerberg-remembers-prince-i-cant-think-of-anyone-better-191244/
Well, the vinyl will be some sort of swirled colors, or designed to looked like a pizza or some other sort of gimmick, right?
One look at the photo above confirms it’s regulation black.
Welp. Someone’s gotta type it. “I can’t hardly wait!”
Someone did, a mere couple of days before you did
So they did. Didn’t see it. Oh well.