this is my first time reviewing a book for this blog, so bear with me.
for a book that was supposed to be about the replacements, this had an awful lot of colin meloy in it.
in a short period of time, the replacements’ let it be has found itself in steady rotation on my computer, and the replacements themselves have quickly become one of my favourite bands. so, i bought this book expecting to learn a little more about this album and perhaps the work and struggles that led to the finished product. i’ve only read a handful of the titles from the 33 1/3 series, and none of the texts i had read really followed a strict guideline or template, so i didn’t really know what to expect. what i got was a sort of autobiographical account of meloy’s life and how the album fit into it, how it was “always there for him.” i admit, this is a neat idea in theory, because what else does colin meloy know about this album than his own experience of it? if he wants to write something about what makes this album great, should he feign knowledge (or even interest) in the banal minutia of what occurred in the studio, or should he write what he knows?
the problem for me is a very pragmatic one: these suckers cost $12 or more, and i thought i could count on this series as a quick and dirty source for information on the album, which this book is not. if i wanted to hear meloy rag on about something other than the replacements, i’d just buy one of his albums. i’m deeply conflicted about all of this though, since once i got through the first half of the book, i genuinely enjoyed the narrative. using his own life and experience in rural america to approximate the effect let it be had on him is smart, and easy to identify with. if you happen to read this book, be sure to slog your way through to the end though, it’s well worth it (and he mentions the band!). in all seriousness, meloy’s memoir could easily be expanded into a much longer novel format, and work on its own. the story has the potential to be interesting, especially to music-snobs like myself who have probably shared similar experiences with music while growing up.
still, it takes meloy almost 20 pages of throat-clearing before he mentions the album for a second time, and in a pocket-size book that’s only 100 pages in length, 20 pages is too long. the record really doesn’t become an integral part of meloy’s life until much later in the narrative, once he’s able to expound on other events like how he wrote a song with his uncle once. as well written (not counting pacing) as this book might be, i can’t help but feel that it’s just a way for meloy to project how cultured he is in “college rock,” especially after all name-dropping he does of bands who aren’t the replacements. if you actually want to learn about the replacements, read this instead.
Filed under: Book Review , 1984, 2007, 33 1/3, colin meloy, let it be, the replacements
