Fans of the Replacements are going to get a second dosage of the 1985 album that delivered one good dose of thunder.
The Minnesota rock 'n' roll antiheroes will see their transitional mid-career record "Tim" reissued as a four-CD, one-LP box set on Sept. 22, per an announcement Wednesday from the band's archives handler Rhino Records. A remixed version of one of the record's key cuts, "Left of the Dial," was posted with Wednesday's announcement along with presale links for the $90 set.
Not only will the new collection feature unearthed outtakes and an unreleased live recording from the "Tim" era — like Rhino's other Replacements sets of recent years — it will also feature a whole new mix of the original record, whose other classic tracks include "Bastards of Young," "Kiss Me on the Bus," "Here Comes a Regular," "Waitress in the Sky" and "Dose of Thunder."
Band members and critics have increasingly derided "Tim's" sonic mix over the years, which was overseen by the album's late producer Tommy Erdelyi. Better known as Ramones drummer Tommy Ramone, Erdelyi was tasked with maintaining a raw, punky sound as the band graduated from an indie label to a major label (Reprise Records). Detractors say he unnecessarily kept the mix thin and distant, though.
One of Erdelyi's longtime studio partners Ed Stasium — who also produced for the Talking Heads and Ramones — has delivered a purportedly "fuller, deeply detailed" remix of the record. The new version will be featured in the box set on both vinyl and CD alongside a newly remastered CD version of Erdelyi's original mix, all bundled together under the coy title "Tim: Let It Bleed Edition." (The band was originally going to co-opt the Rolling Stones' 1969 album title for "Tim" after calling its previous LP "Let It Be.")
Replacements biographer Bob Mehr, who served as co-producer of the "Tim" box set and wrote new liner notes for the booklet inside it, told the Star Tribune last week: "This is not the usual reissue project, but something far more radical and valuable in terms of understanding the Replacements' creative legacy.
"And most importantly," Mehr added, "it's a chance to really hear the record the band made for the first time."
The other two CDs in the box set are loaded with unreleased material. One is titled "Sons of No One" and features 15 studio outtakes, including recordings from shelved January 1985 sessions with Big Star frontman Alex Chilton serving as producer. The fourth CD in the new set is "Not Ready for Prime Time," a live recording from the Metro nightclub in Chicago on Jan. 11, 1986, just a week before the band's infamous performance on "Saturday Night Live."
