Welcome Home, Mr. Westerberg
Posted by Lynnster on July 25, 2008
I’ve got to give a big thumbs up for the new 49-cent-at-Amazon Paul Westerberg MP3 release, 49:00. I finally got a chance to listen to it (twice even) yesterday, and I just thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed it.
A musician acquaintance in Knoxville the other day said even if it only had a couple of good songs on it, at 49 cents you couldn’t go wrong, and I agreed. I held my breath though, until I had time to sit down and listen to it, and tried not to be too expectant.
Goodness knows I have worshiped the man’s talent lo these many many years, but it’s been a pretty long time since I have been really thrilled with a Westerberg solo release. If I told you just how long, someone would probably demand my ‘Mats/PW obsession card revoked.
Suffice it to say this is the first time in a long while that I felt like I was hearing Paul Westerberg, rather than someone I used to know or don’t really know much about. That’s really the best way I can put it. This was the first time in a while that there was a “Yep, there we go, that’s him” feeling rather than “Well, that’s nice, okay”, like I was listening to something pleasant enough but kind of foreign to me.
This one feels real, and not just because of its stripped-down and basic, non-professionally-retouched makeup. This one just feels (and sounds) right in a way that most of Westerberg’s discs of this decade haven’t to me. And there’s not a track on it I don’t like, which may well be a PW solo disc record for me.
I really couldn’t put it better than my fellow ‘Mats/PW fan Kathy did in my comments the other day:
“It’s an unholy mess, but in a good way.”
In a good way, indeed. I think it’s just great. How it was made makes it an extra treat, kind of like some of those gems of rarities and demos and outtakes that have popped up over the years, but the bottom line is that this just sounds more like a Paul record to me for the first time since the original Grandpaboy release. (Oops, did I say that out loud? Please don’t revoke my card!)
So welcome home, Mr. Westerberg. Glad you made it back. I missed you a bunch.
For those that haven’t gotten this great little present yet, get your copy of 49:00 here. There’s also absolute loads of commentary and info about the record and the tracks at both paulwesterberg.com and paulwesterberg.net. Have at it!
