Besterberg: The Best Of Paul Westerberg

Product Description After the Replacements disbanded, singer-songwriter and alt-rock icon Paul Westerberg went on to an acclaimed solo career, first with two songs on the Singles: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack in 1992, and then with his revered 1993 solo debut, 14 Songs. Over the course of his subsequent albums, the legend of Westerberg's stellar songcraft and ragged and brilliant peformances grew exponentially. For the first time, highlights of his post-Replacements work-including his Grandpa Boy incarnation-are collected on a single, inspired disc, with the added bonus of three previously unissued rarities in the mix! Amazon.com The title of this nearly-hits set is so awful it couldn't be better suited to the ex-Replacements front man who earned it. Since striking out solo with a pair of prophetically glossed-up songs on the Singles: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (2002), Paul Westerberg has alternately struggled to shake-off and reclaim the punk urgency of his former band. He has failed at every turn. Whether by destiny or design is an entirely different matter. This collection focuses primarily on his major label output - before he headed for the basement and started making scratchy blues records - meaning it primarily focuses on Paul Westerberg: The Rod Stewart Years. It's not a good sign that among the rarities here, one song appeared on bargain-bin filler Melrose Place: The Music ("A Star Is Bored") and another on Friends: Music From The TV Series ("Stain Yer Blood"). Fortunately, there are just enough traces of that whiskey-soaked heartbreak in tracks like "World Class Fad" and "It's A Wonderful Lie" to remind us why Paul mattered in the first place. --Aidin Vaziri