Uden at sætte det alt for meget
på spidsen, så har Paul Westerberg i de seneste tyve år opereret i et
spændingsfelt, som minder en hel del om dét, der blev beskrevet i denne
anmeldelse af ’Suicaine Gratifaction’ fra AV Music, d. 23. februar 1999:
"Paul Westerberg's solo
career has found him in something of an impossible situation: If he were to
make music that sounds too much like The Replacements, people would accuse him
of repeating himself. On the other hand, everyone pretty much expects
Westerberg to make music that sounds like The Replacements, and if he showed
signs of mellowing into middle age, the wolves would show up at the door
anyway. After two solo records that attempted to find a healthy compromise
between the two extremes, Westerberg has returned with the cryptically titled
Suicaine Gratifaction, an album of heartfelt material that seems to ignore the
expectations of both camps. That's not to say you'll mistake it for anything but
a Paul Westerberg album. "Looking Out Forever" and "Final
Hurrah" both rock, in a mid-tempo kind of way, like Replacements tunes,
and the album-opening "It's A Wonderful Lie" has the sort of title
that only Westerberg could turn into a decent song. It's this song, with its
demo-like qualities and ability to convey smoky back-porch intimacy, that also
best indicates what the album is about. Sparsely co-produced by Westerberg and
Don Was, much of the record finds Westerberg stripped down, sometimes because of
its frequently raw sound and always because of its tone. It's the sound of the
singer-songwriter succeeding on his own terms, and reason for anyone who's
stopped paying attention to start all over again.”
Om pladens besynderlige titel, som anmelderen
også undrer sig over, har Paul Westerberg senere sagt: "I don't want to think
about it too deeply other than the fact that it seems wrong, and therefore it's
attractive to me.”
Her åbningssangen ‘It's A Wonderful Lie’:
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