The Replacements|Let It Be (Deluxe Edition)

Let It Be (Deluxe Edition) by The Replacements

Released on 21/11/2025 by Ryko - Rhino
Main artists: The Replacements
Genre: Rock
Distinctions: Pitchfork: Best New Reissue

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If you think there's nothing new to know about The Replacements at this point, here comes the deluxe 40th anniversary (-ish, original release was 1984) reissue of Let It Be to prove you wrong. Even casual fans know that Let It Be was basically The Replacements' London Calling, in which they showed just how much they were capable of for the first time. But this 53-track love letter to the band's third album—which adds copious outtakes, alternate versions, live recordings, and more—brings some crucial points to light. The band's previous album, Hootenanny, had already offered proof that the Mats were much more than shambolic masters of drunk-punk mayhem. But Let It Be proved to the world that the jangly yearning of "Unsatisfied," the wry piano balladry of "Androgynous," and the Big Star-worthy power-pop poignancy of "Sixteen Blue" were as much a part of the package as the barn-burners, with Bob Stinson maintaining just enough control over his six-string abandon to forge rough-hewn beauty.

Digging into the bountiful bonus material, some revelations arise. For one thing, outtakes like the feral rockers "Perfectly Lethal" and "Who's Gonna Take Us Alive" and the cowpunk stomp "Street Girl" make it clear that the band had more top-tier material in their quiver than they could squeeze onto a single slab of vinyl at the time. We quickly learn that when the mood struck them, The Replacements could be the coolest cover band around, as they tear into studio versions of The Grass Roots' desperate, lusty "Temptation Eyes," The DeFranco Family's bubblegummy '70s pop hit "Heartbeat, It's a Lovebeat," and T. Rex's glam blowout "20th Century Boy." As the concert recordings here bear out, they played plenty of anomalous covers live, but the fact that they trotted them out during recording sessions suggests that the band regarded those tunes as more than just attention-getters.

The 1984 live show included in the package took place in between Let It Be's recording and release. And whether the boys are blazing through their notorious cover of Kiss's "Black Diamond," baring their punk fangs on early rampagers like "Gimmie Noise," or tearing hungrily into fresh meat like then-new anthem "I Will Dare," their rep as an erratic live band recedes into the mist. On a good night (which this one undeniably was), The Replacements were a mighty rock machine. The deluxe edition of Let It Be celebrates The Replacement's great, long-ago leap forward by expanding the experience and capturing all the danger, passion, soul, and swagger that made them true believers in the rock 'n' roll dream. © Jim Allen/Qobuz

Let It Be (Deluxe Edition)

The Replacements

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I Will Dare (2025 Remaster)