Replacements' "Tim" album gets way overdue sonic overhaul from Ed Stasium

Ed Stasium went back to the original multi-tracks for a truer representation of what The Mats' put down in the studio back in 1985.

Here's the scoop from Rhino HQ... 

Released in the fall of 1985, The Replacements’ major label debut, Tim, peaked at #192 on the Billboard charts, selling just 75,000 copies. Over time, however, the record would find a mass audience among successive generations thanks to the enduring appeal of anthems like “Bastards of Young” and “Left of the Dial” and ballads like “Swingin Party” and “Here Comes a Regular.”  

Even with Tim’s evolving status as an all-time classic, The Replacements remained unsatisfied with the sound of the record, largely centered on the mix done by the album’s producer, Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Famer Tommy Erdelyi, aka Tommy Ramone. Now, after four decades, the LP has finally been given a long overdue sonic overhaul as part of TIM: LET IT BLEED EDITION.

The 4CD/1LP deluxe boxed set is built around a stunning new mix of Tim by legendary producer/engineer Ed Stasium (Ramones, Talking Heads) and features a collection of previously unheard tracks (Sons of No One: Rare & Unreleased) and a classic concert from 1986 (Not Ready For Prime Time). TIM: LET IT BLEED EDITION will be available from Rhino on September 22. Pre-order HERE.

Stasium, who was a close friend and longtime production partner of the late Erdelyi (who died in 2014), has fashioned the definitive mix of the 11-track Tim. Also included is a new and improved mastering of Erdelyi’s original 1985 mix of the album. This deluxe edition also includes a disc of unreleased recordings (among them, unearthed material from the band’s January 1985 session produced by Big Star legend Alex Chilton); as well as The Replacements’ entire January 11, 1986, show at the Cabaret Metro in Chicago. In total, the box includes 65 tracks–50 of which have never been heard before.

The fans that purchase TIM: LET IT BLEED EDITION at Rhino.com will also receive a limited edition 7” vinyl single featuring two songs from the Chilton sessions: the rollicking road song “Nowhere is My Home” b/w the previously unreleased “Cello Version” of “Can’t Hardly Wait.” Those who purchase directly from Rhino will also have access to exclusive merch bundles.

Presented in a 12 x 12 hardcover book – loaded with dozens of previously unseen photos - the set features a detailed history of the Tim era written by Bob Mehr, who produced the box with Rhino’s Jason Jones. Mehr, author of The New York Times bestseller Trouble Boys: The True Story of The Replacements, won a Grammy® award for his album notes to the band’s 2019 release, Dead Man’s Pop.

Mehr writes: “After nearly 40 years, Tim remains a charmed collision of intention and accident, a balance of deliberate anthems and tossed-off gems, of raucous release and refined beauty—and a record that perfectly captures the band’s fraught but always compelling ascent on the ladder of success.”

In addition to the revelatory new mix, the TIM: LET IT BLEED EDITION also boasts a fresh cover, featuring an instantly iconic 1985 image of the band in its Minneapolis rehearsal space, taken by noted photographer Moshe Brakha. Coincidentally, Brakha shot the cover of The Ramones' 1977 album Leave Home, a record which marked the first collaboration between Tommy Erdelyi and Ed Stasium.

Stasium – who was originally considered to co-produce Tim with Erdelyi back in 1985 – was entrusted with the remix in 2022 and went back to the original multi-tracks, spending several months creating a fuller, deeply detailed and ultimately more satisfying version of the record, which finally captures the band’s raw power. Stasium also completed work on several previously unreleased Tim songs and alternates and did mixes of the Alex Chilton session material.

“I really loved working on this project,” noted Stasium. “It’s a great record, and now you can hear even better what’s great about it. But the best thing for me was that, in a funny and really beautiful way, I got to work with my dear friend Tommy Erdelyi once again.”

Even before signing with Sire/Warner Bros. in early 1985, The Replacements – singer/guitarist Paul Westerberg, bassist Tommy Stinson, drummer Chris Mars and lead guitarist Bob Stinson – began recording new material with their musical/spiritual godfather Alex Chilton that January in their hometown of Minneapolis. They followed up by cutting initial demos with Erdelyi in April, then starting the Tim sessions in earnest that summer. Sons of No One: Rare & Unreleased collects all that material, including illuminating alternate versions of songs like “Can’t Hardly Wait,” “Bastards of Young,” and “Hold My Life” – plus a unique and previously unheard original, “Havin Fun,” written by Tommy Stinson, and sung by Westerberg.

The final disc, Not Ready For Prime Time, captures the band performing live at Chicago’s Cabaret Metro in January 1986. A soundboard recording made by the band’s live mixer, the late Monty Lee Wilkes, the show was a one-off date that came just a week before the group’s infamous appearance on NBC’s Saturday Night Live, which ultimately saw them banned from the network. The 28-song Metro performance finds the original lineup of the band at its final peak, with incendiary versions of Replacements classics (“Color Me Impressed,” “Answering Machine”), rarely played deep cuts (“Mr. Whirly,” “Go”), as well covers of the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Sham 69,  plus a rare lead vocal turn from Bob Stinson on The Novas’ Minnesota garage rock classic “The Crusher.”

Additionally, TIM: LET IT BLEED EDITON will include Stasium’s new mix of the record on 180-gram vinyl, cut by Chris Bellman of Bernie Grundman mastering. 

Check the complete tracklisting below followed by two quite different sounding versions of "Left Of The Dial"... see if you notice any difference between the original Tommy Erdelyi mix and Ed Stasium's updated version which follows. 

TIM: LET IT BLEED EDITION

CD 1: Tim (Ed Stasium Mix)

Hold My Life

I’ll Buy

Kiss Me On The Bus

Dose Of Thunder

Waitress In The Sky

Swingin Party

Bastard Of Young

Lay It Down Clown

Left Of The Dial

Little Mascara

Here Comes A Regular

CD 2: Tim (2023 Remaster)

Hold My Life

I’ll Buy

Kiss Me On The Bus

Dose Of Thunder

Waitress In The Sky

Swingin Party

Bastard Of Young

Lay It Down Clown

Left Of The Dial

Little Mascara

Here Comes A Stranger

CD 3: Sons of No One: Rare & Unreleased

Can’t Hardly Wait (Acoustic Demo)

Nowhere Is My Home (Alternate Mix)*

Can’t Hardly Wait (Electric Demo) [Alternate Mix]*

Left Of The Dial (Alternate Version)*

Nowhere Is My Home (Alternate Version)*

Can’t Hardly Wait (Cello Version)*

Kiss Me On The Bus (Studio Demo)

Little Mascara (Studio Demo)*

Bastards Of Young (Alternate Version)*

Hold My Life (Alternate Version)*

Having Fun*

Waitress In The Sky (Alternate Version)

Can’t Hardly Wait (The “Tim” Version) [Alternate Mix]*

Swingin Party (Alternate Version)*

Here Comes A Regular (Alternate Version)

CD 4: Not Ready For Prime Time

Live at the Cabaret Metro, Chicago, IL, January 11, 1986

Gary’s Got A Boner*

Love You ‘Till Friday*

Bastards Of Young*

Can’t Hardly Wait*

Answering Machine*

Little Mascara*

Color Me Impressed*

Kiss Me On The Bus*

Favorite Thing*

Mr. Whirly*

Tommy Gets His Tonsils Out*

I Will Dare*

Johnny’s Gonna Die*

Dose Of Thunder*

Takin’ A Ride*

Hitchin’ A Ride*

Trouble Boys*

Unsatisfied*

Black Diamond*

Jumpin’ Jack Flash*

Customer*

Borstal Breakout*

Take Me Down To The Hospital*

Kids Don’t Follow*

Nowhere Man*

The Crusher*

I’m In Trouble*

Go*

LP: Ed Stasium Mix

Side A

Hold My Life

I’ll Buy

Kiss Me On The Bus

Dose Of Thunder

Waitress In The Sky

Swingin Party

Side B

Bastards Of Young

Lay It Down Clown

Left Of The Dial

Little Mascara

Here Comes A Regular

*Previously Unreleased