Stereo

Strong stones-rocks. Grandpa Boy side is far better, like old Rolling Stones songs.

Westerberg's album has that flavorful, bitter-sweet taste that leaves you with the somber reality of life. The songs on the album as a whole possess a common thematic element of the insightful and poignant perspective of someone who sees life in its entire spectrum. At times a person may feel kicked-downed and around or brought down to size. Yet being "Boring enormous" at a given moment is okay and natural from Westerberg's point of view. Granted he takes what is commonly referred to as being "dark" and carries it to some great length. You might even conclude that he feeds off that raw vibe like a vulture. Clearly, Westerberg has a soft, humanistic side that is ever pervasive in his lyrics that leads you out of that somewhat dank and bottomless pit of low self-esteem and leaves you in a "better" place. Stereo is an artistic catharsis both for the listener and I dare say Westerberg himself?

Always been a fan of The Replacements, and this 2 CD set is one of those that I can play over and over and over until I suddenly realize I'm tired of it (after a few days of this), and the songs are all stuck in my head. I generally get it out and listen to it repeatedly, then put it away for a few months I guess, it's so catchy and doesn't let up with the good songs, you really never have to skip over anything that I can think of.I do admit to liking the Grandpaboy disc a little better with the more raw rocking sound.It depends on the mood I'm in perhaps, if you are winding down perhaps it's the first disc (Stereo), and if you wanna crank it up go with Mono/Grandpaboy. Really you can't go wrong either way.He was once deemed perhaps the voice of a generation, and it does strike me as odd to think even today you may have to go left of the dial as it were to even hear the new stuff from him. As far as if the kids today dig him I don't know, college kids well I'm out of the loop, all I know is that you can give me Westerberg and Butch Walker over anything on the radio, and I'm happy.I also highly recommend his next disc after this release "Come Feel Me Tremble" which is another keeper for sure.Oh, and get yourself The Replacements (any, and/or all) too while you are at it.

...and everything I could see reinforced the other-worldliness and melancholy of the place - the saw dust on the floors, the dusty liquor bottles, the Christmas lights strung many holidays ago, and perhaps most of all that old 8-track tape player with the karaoke equipment stacked high on top. The girl behind the bar was still talking, but I'd giving up listening hours ago. "Ever think of becoming a silent film star?" I mumbled to her finally. "You know why no one ever talks to you? You're weird, that's why!" she shouted back, and went off to refill a few empty whisky glasses.I keep asking myself why I come back. A little sunshine and exercise would do me some good, I think. A little normalcy for the boy. But somehow, in a strange kind of way, this is the place that makes me feel the most real and normal of all. Everyone is who they really are here, not who they're pretending to be the rest of the time.This is the place that she likes to go, on some days for a little while. She's just visiting, you can tell, because it's like someone turned on a spotlight when she walks down those steps. She's got a real job, because she's dressed pretty well. A business suit sort of thing - very proper and all, but in another way not that proper at all. Her step is full of purpose, and her eyes, shining like sparks. And here's my old heart, just filled with gasoline. Maybe one day I'll tell her that."Have you heard this one yet?" some guy by the jukebox shouts out. "Who the hell is Paul Westerberg?"I'd heard it. I spent fifty bucks playing it all day. It's two records, really. One's called "Mono" and the other "Stereo". Pretty funny. And the "Mono" one doesn't even cost anything at the store - you get it for free. Can you imagine? The best album anyone on the planet has made in the last 10 years and he just gives it away. If that guy ever walked in here, I'd make sure that he never bought a drink the rest of his life. Fact is, there's a regular here who looks exactly like him, and I told him if he could sing a few bars of "Can't Hardly Wait" I'd buy HIM a free round. He just smiled and said no thanks, though. Weird guy.I bet I'll end up blowing another fifty tomorrow. I should just get a walkman and buy the damn thing, but somehow I don't think it would sound the same...

I know that most are going to say that I've gone too far by calling this a masterpiece but it truly is in my mind. I can't speak for everyone else because we all have our own personal opinions.Like most people, I discovered Paul through his work with The Replacements, they became my favorite band and Tim became my favorite album so I decided to check out his solo work and I have to say that all of his albums are equally very good I think, 14 Songs, Suicaine Gratifaction and Stereo being my favorites. This album contains some of the most moving songs that Paul has ever written. Say what you will about the production quality on these two discs but to me it is one of the charms of the album. This is what music needs to be and what most popular music artists these days are missing. This is passionate music as far as I'm concerned.Of course I didn't come to this opinion very easily, I will admit that I didn't like this album when I first listened to it but I'm glad that I gave it another chance and kept listening to it more and more. I will end this review by naming my top 5 favorite tracks on each disc. All of the tracks are amazing don't get me wrong but if I had to pick 5 then this is my list. Disc 1: Got You Down, No Place For You, Mr. Rabbit, Let The Bad Times Roll, Call That Gone? Disc 2: I'll Do Anything, Let's Not Belong, Silent Film Star, Between Love and Like, AAA.