But here’s a good piece on the Replacements and why Let It Be, in particular, belongs in your record collection. An excerpt:

“This talent for mindless (or, if you think about it, really quite mindful) audience baiting didn’t come from nowhere. The Replacements were four working-class kids from South Minneapolis. Being Catholic, of Scandinavian descent, and snowbound 10 months of the year produces a streak of modesty lying just this side of suicide. The ‘Mats were always at pains to make their music sound tossed together, a dog’s breakfast, nothing anyone without guitars, some chops, a case of Leinies, Chuck Taylors, maybe a pair of clown pants, and a complexion the color of raw cookie dough, couldn’t re-create in their own (parents’) garage. What total rubbish. Track by track, Let It Be is a perfectly crafted collection of perfectly crafted songs.”