'Tim' box set announced from Minneapolis rock legends the Replacements with fully remixed LP

A whole new sonic mix is being offered in the four-CD, one-LP collection, along with a live set and outtakes.

August 2, 2023 at 7:00PM
The Replacements' Tommy Stinson, left, and Paul Westerberg performed at First Avenue in 1986 following the release of "Tim."
(David Brewster/Star Tribune/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

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."

As is the case with the previously released Replacements live collection "For Sale: Live at Maxwell's 1986," the Metro concert was among the band's last string of shows with original guitarist, Bob Stinson, whose wild and erratic ways got him fired later that year. Frontman Paul Westerberg, bassist Tommy Stinson (Bob's younger brother) and drummer Chris Mars would carry on without Bob on their next album, 1987's "Pleased to Meet Me."

The deluxe "Tim" collection will be the fourth box set Rhino has issued from the Replacements' archives, following the 2021 reboot of the band's 1980 debut, "Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take out the Trash," plus prior sets built around the "Pleased to Meet Me" and "Don't Tell a Soul" albums.

Here's the "Tim: Let It Bleed Edition's" full track list, with asterisks (*) next to all the recordings that have never before been issued by the band:

CD 1: Time (Ed Stasium Mix): 1. Hold My Life 2. I'll Buy 3. Kiss Me on the Bus 4. Dose of Thunder 5. Waitress in the Sky 6. Swingin Party 7. Bastard of Young 8. Lay It Down Clown 9. Left of the Dial 10. Little Mascara 11. Here Comes a Regular

CD 2: Tim (2023 Remaster): 1. Hold My Life 2. I'll Buy 3. Kiss Me on the Bus 4. Dose of Thunder 5. Waitress in the Sky 6. Swingin Party 7. Bastard of Young 8. Lay It Down Clown 9. Left of the Dial 10. Little Mascara 11. Here Comes a Regular

CD 3: Sons of No One: Rare & Unreleased: 1. Can't Hardly Wait (Acoustic Demo) 2. Nowhere Is My Home (Alternate Mix)* 3. Can't Hardly Wait (Electric Demo) [Alternate Mix]* 4. Left of the Dial (Alternate Version)* 5. Nowhere Is My Home (Alternate Version)* 6. Can't Hardly Wait (Cello Version)* 7. Kiss Me on the Bus (Studio Demo) 8. Little Mascara (Studio Demo)* 9. Bastards of Young (Alternate Version)* 10. Hold My Life (Alternate Version)* 11. Having Fun* 12. Waitress in the Sky (Alternate Version) 13. Can't Hardly Wait ("Tim" Version) [Alternate Mix]* 14. Swingin Party (Alternate Version)* 15. Here Comes a Regular (Alternate Version)

CD 4: Not Ready For Prime Time Live at the Cabaret Metro, Chicago, IL, January 11, 1986: 1. Gary's Got a Boner* 2. Love You 'Till Friday* 3. Bastards of Young* 4. Can't Hardly Wait* 5. Answering Machine* 6. Little Mascara* 7. Color Me Impressed* 8. Kiss Me on the Bus* 9. Favorite Thing* 10. Mr. Whirly* 11. Tommy Gets His Tonsils Out* 12. I Will Dare* 13. Johnny's Gonna Die* 14. Dose of Thunder* 15. Takin' a Ride* 16. Hitchin' a Ride* 17. Trouble Boys* 18. Unsatisfied* 19. Black Diamond* 20. Jumpin' Jack Flash* 21. Customer* 22. Borstal Breakout* 23. Take Me Down to the Hospital* 24. Kids Don't Follow* 25. Nowhere Man* 26. The Crusher* 27. I'm in Trouble* 28. Go*

LP: Ed Stasium Mix: Side A 1. Hold My Life 2. I'll Buy 3. Kiss Me on the Bus 4. Dose of Thunder 5. Waitress in the Sky 6. Swingin Party Side B 1. Bastards of Young 2. Lay It Down Clown 3. Left of the Dial 4. Little Mascara 5. Here Comes a Regular

“Tim” sold poorly upon its release in September 1985 but has grown in stature over the decades. (The Minnesota Star Tribune)
about the writer

about the writer

Chris Riemenschneider

Critic / Reporter

Chris Riemenschneider has been covering the Twin Cities music scene since 2001, long enough for Prince to shout him out during "Play That Funky Music (White Boy)." The St. Paul native authored the book "First Avenue: Minnesota's Mainroom" and previously worked as a music critic at the Austin American-Statesman in Texas.

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