Let It Be

by

The Replacements

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Damn, man. Albums don't get any closer to perfect than this one.

"Let it Be" is so dead-on, it makes me want to cry. It's deeply satisfying, even as it throws curves at you from all sides. What kind of punk band opens their album with a pop song? What kind offers blistering hardcore, then slows the tempo and throws in a piano? What kind captures teendom better than John Hughes ever did (and Hughes is the MAN) with "Sixteen Blue?" Who else could make a punk mantra from the lines "Seen your video/You don't wanna know?" And who would end an album with a solo acoustic song - except that's no acoustic, it's a beautifully distorted Fender?

"Let it Be" is a truly transcendent album. The individual songs are all magnificent - not a sour track, or even a sour moment, among them - but there's something more. It creates its own energy, its own aura. These kids were making music in their early 20s that not only sounds brand-new and timeless, but it still speaks to this balding 33-year-old.

So much post-punk, including some work by the 'Mats, was and is monstrously overhyped. "Let it Be" cannot be hyped enough. It can't be labeled, either. It's music, rock and roll. In a legacy of outstanding and important albums by the Replacements and Westerberg, "Let it Be" is the best - which makes it one of the best of all time.