Stereo (Paul Westerberg album)

Stereo is the fourth solo album by Paul Westerberg. At this point in his career, the former Replacements leader was entering a new phase. He said goodbye to professional studios and big-name producers like Brendan O'Brien and Don Was, recording the album in his basement by himself. As detailed in the liner notes, Westerberg made no effort to fix imperfections, and even included a song for which the tape ran out before it was over. Stereo was packaged with Mono, which he credited to his Grandpaboy alter ego. Vagrant Records also had a limited release of Mono as a separate album.

Stereo
Studio album by
ReleasedApril 23, 2002
GenreFolk rock
Length44:52
LabelVagrant
ProducerPaul Westerberg
Paul Westerberg chronology
Suicaine Gratifaction
(1999)
Stereo
(2002)
Come Feel Me Tremble
(2003)
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic76/100[1]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Alternative Press6/10[3]
Blender[4]
Entertainment WeeklyA−[5]
The Guardian[6]
Pitchfork7.7/10[7]
Q[8]
Rolling Stone[9]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[10]
Uncut[11]

The hidden track that closes Stereo, "Postcards from Paradise", is a cover of a Flesh for Lulu song.

On November 29, 2019, Stereo/Mono was released as a double LP as part of Record Store Day's Black Friday.

Track listing

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All songs written by Paul Westerberg, except where noted.

Disc 1: Grandpa Boy Mono

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  1. "High Time"
  2. "I'll Do Anything"
  3. "Let's Not Belong Together”
  4. "Silent Film Star"
  5. "Knock It Right Out"
  6. "2 Days 'Til Tomorrow"
  7. "Eyes Like Sparks"
  8. "Footsteps"
  9. "Kickin' the Stall"
  10. "Between Love & Like"
  11. "AAA"

Disc 2: Paul Westerberg Stereo

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  1. "Baby Learns to Crawl"
  2. "Dirt to Mud"
  3. "Only Lie Worth Telling"
  4. "Got You Down"
  5. "No Place for You"
  6. "Boring Enormous"
  7. "Nothing to No One"
  8. "We May Be the Ones"
  9. "Don't Want Never"
  10. Untitled ("Strike Down the Band")
  11. "Mr. Rabbit" (Traditional)
  12. "Let the Bad Times Roll"
  13. "Call That Gone?"
  14. "Postcards from Paradise" (Hidden track) (Rocco Barker, Nick Marsh, Kevin Mills, James Mitchell)

Note: Track listing on Stereo is numbered differently as it omits "Strike Down the Band" and the hidden track, "Postcards from Paradise". It lists only 12 songs. "Postcards from Paradise" is located on the same track as "Call That Gone?", following a short period of silence.

Personnel

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  • Grandpaboy – guitar & vocals
  • Elrod Puce – backing vocals, maracas, handclaps
  • Zeke Pine – bass
  • Henry Twiddle – drums

with:

  • Luther Covington – superfluous lead guitar

References

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  1. ^ "Reviews for Stereo by Paul Westerberg". Metacritic. Retrieved June 10, 2019.
  2. ^ Deming, Mark. "Stereo – Paul Westerberg". AllMusic. Retrieved June 10, 2019.
  3. ^ "Paul Westerberg: Stereo". Alternative Press (167): 90. June 2002.
  4. ^ Young, Charles M. (June–July 2002). "Paul Westerberg: Stereo". Blender (7): 116. Archived from the original on August 8, 2004. Retrieved June 10, 2019.
  5. ^ Sinclair, Tom (April 26, 2002). "Stereo". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on February 27, 2020. Retrieved June 10, 2019.
  6. ^ Aizlewood, John (May 31, 2002). "Paul Westerberg: Stereo (Vagrant)". The Guardian. Retrieved June 10, 2019.
  7. ^ Schreiber, Ryan; Fields, Alison (May 23, 2002). "Paul Westerberg: Stereo / Grandpaboy: Mono". Pitchfork. Retrieved June 10, 2019.
  8. ^ "Paul Westerberg: Stereo". Q (191): 124. June 2002.
  9. ^ Kot, Greg (May 9, 2002). "Paul Westerberg: Stereo / Mono". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on June 22, 2002. Retrieved June 10, 2019.
  10. ^ Sheffield, Rob (2004). "Paul Westerberg". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. p. 868. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  11. ^ "Paul Westerberg: Stereo". Uncut (60): 104. May 2002.