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Album Details

• Artist: Paul Westerberg
• Album: Stereo/Mono
• Label: Vagrant
• Year of Release: 2002
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: dscanland on 2003-04-01

This is the former Replacements fourth solo effort and second as the psuedonym Grandpaboy. A few years back Paul Westerberg was in the middle of label negotiations and wanted to release an album so he did so under the Grandpaboy. In this last little label negotiation (he ended up on indie Vagrant) he did another album under the same moniker. So Vagrant has decided to release both Westerberg’s Stereo album as well as Grandpaboy’s Mono album as one package. It’s a lot of Westerberg but if you are like me, you can’t get enough of Paul. In all honesty I prefer the rawness and immediacy of the Grandpaboy album. It reminds me of Paul’s heyday back in the Replacements. The Stereo selection sounds a little uninspired and pretty mellow. Stated in the liner notes: songs were “Cut mostly live in the middle of the night. No effort was made to fix what some may deem as mistakes.� And about Grandpaboy: “This is rock n roll recorded poorly, played in a hurry, with sweaty hands and unsure reason.� Maybe that’s the secret to good rock music. Have a listen to “Eyes Like Sparks�. Paul sounds like Keith Richards with a stonesy swagger. When all is said and done, Stereo/Mono will appeal to Westerberg fans of all types. Acoustic and electric tracks for everyone.

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