Let It Be

Let It Be is the third album by the Replacements.

Antagonized by the constraints of the more traditional punk rock they’d been playing on their first two records, the band had been acting out against the punk establishment. They dressed in skirts and flannel and played covers by decidedly non-punk artists like Kiss, T. Rex and Hank Williams. So, with Let It Be, the band decided to rebel against punk and try to form a new sound for themselves.

Thus, the album is often described as “post-punk”, despite being more in tune with the alternative rock scene of the 1980s (with bands like R.E.M., Hüsker Dü and the Pixies). The songs deal mainly with themes of adolescence, coming to terms with yourself and who you are – fitting for the new beginning they were planning for themselves after abandoning the punk scene.

Let It Be is now widely percieved as a classic album, regularly featured in lists of “great albums” compiled by rock critics.

The Deluxe edition released by Rhino in 2008 has six extra tracks: a B-side from the single I Will Dare (the T. Rex cover “20th Century Boy”); a home demo of “Answering Machine”; and four outtakes from the Let It Be sessions, two of which are tongue-in-cheek covers (“Temptation Eyes” and “Heartbeat…”), one is a “Sixteen Blue” with alternate vocals, and one is a song previously unreleased in any form (“Perfectly Lethal”).