The landmark 1984 album has been remastered and expanded with unreleased audio
Let It Be by The Replacements, originally released by highly revered indie label Twin/Tone Records, is widely hailed as one of the greatest albums of the 1980s and a cornerstone of indie rock. The landmark 1984 album returns in a newly remastered and expanded edition from Rhino.
Due to a manufacturing issue, all formats will be released on November 21st, instead of the initial October 24th date.
Let It Be (Deluxe Edition) will be available on 4 LPs and 3 CDs and includes the album alongside unreleased studio and live recordings.
The previously unreleased and sought-after track, “Street Girl (Takes 1 and 2),” is available to stream along with a track visualizer. “‘Street Girl’ is a skittering Modern Lovers-style celebration of the kind of woman Westerberg tends to sketch so well: tough, smart, sexy, and just vulnerable enough to imagine you might somehow get to know her,” shares Elizabeth Nelson in the set’s liner notes.
The set gathers a wide range of unreleased material from the Let It Be sessions, including alternate versions of “Gary’s Got A Boner” and “Favorite Thing,” as well as previously unreleased outtakes “Who’s Gonna Take Us Alive” and “Street Girl.” The alternate version of “Androgynous” features a different vocal take and the full piano intro, restored for the first time. All five bonus tracks from 2008’s Let It Be (Expanded Edition) are included, newly remastered for this set.
The collection also includes Goodnight! Go Home!, an unreleased 28-song performance recorded in August 1984 at the Cubby Bear in Chicago. Sourced from an audience tape and beautifully mastered, it finds the Minneapolis quartet charging through material from the not-yet-released album (“I Will Dare” and “Unsatisfied”), early favorites (“Color Me Impressed” and “Takin’ A Ride”), and characteristically offbeat covers “Help Me Rhonda/Little G.T.O.” (originally done by The Beach Boys/Ronny & The Daytonas) and “Can’t Get Enough” (Bad Company).
Rhino’s website will offer an exclusive ten-inch vinyl of Live at City Garden with the purchase of the 4 LP or 3 CD versions. Rhino.com exclusive merch bundles include the 3 CD alongside a t-shirt, and the 4 LP with a ten-inch and a t-shirt. The six-song soundboard recording was made on February 11th at one of the band’s favorite punk clubs in Trenton, NJ. One highlight is a rare performance of the ballad “You’re Getting Married,” a birthday request from the band’s original manager and Twin/Tone co-founder Peter Jesperson, who co-produced the 1984 album, as well as this deluxe edition with Rhino’s Jason Jones. Westerberg altered the lyrics mid-song, delivering them to a punk crowd Jesperson feared “might eat him alive”—but didn’t. “In all of The Replacements’ lore,” he says, “I think this is one of the greatest moments ever.”
By the time Let It Be was recorded, The Replacements had nearly outgrown their rough-edged hardcore beginnings. In their place were songs about longing, identity, and the uneasy shift from youth to adulthood. Tracks like “Unsatisfied” and “Answering Machine” embody that evolution, while “Seen Your Video” preserved their instinct for irreverence. The response was immediate, earning a rare A+ from Robert Christgau in The Village Voice and four stars from Rolling Stone. Its critical reputation only snowballed from there, eventually landing it on countless lists of the greatest albums ever made.
