AMG Review of Don't Tell a Soul [Expanded Edition]

Stephen Thomas Erlewine
All Music Guide

All of the slick production of Pleased to Meet Me couldn't prepare listeners for the glossy sound of Don't Tell a Soul, the Replacements' last-ditch attempt at mainstream success. Bathed with washes of synthesizers, shining guitars, backing vocals and a shimmering, AOR production, Don't Tell a Soul puts an end to the Replacements and begins Paul Westerberg's solo career. The bulk of the songs are self-consciously mature, as Westerberg looks back on his career (the autobiographical "Talent Show") and is haunted by the past ("Rock N Roll Ghost," "Darlin' One"), as he attempts to refashion himself as a craftsman. A few of these attempts work, particularly the country-rock ballad "Achin' to Be" and the arena rock stab "I'll Be You," but the lite-funk workout "Asking Me Lies" and the stuttering "I Won't" are flat-out embarrassing. And the rest of the album suffers from Westerberg's determination to be adult. The songs are too self-consciously mature, and the band functions as a supporting act for the lyrics, which lack the unpretentious poetry of his best work. Ironically, Westerberg's desire to be an "adult" is the reason why radio ignored Don't Tell a Soul, because it meant that the record lacked both rockers or power ballads which would have given them air-time. And most old fans found the production too heavy to make sorting through the album worthwhile. [Rhino's 2008 reissue of Don't Tell a Soul serves up eight bonus tracks, every one a lot livelier than the album proper. Nowhere is that truer than the silly, careening gospel piss-take "Date to Church," recorded with Tom Waits. In the days of Hootenanny, this would have been a cornerstone of an LP, but in 1989, it was consigned to the B-side of "I'll Be You." Also here are two songs originally released on the second disc of the 1997 All for Nothing/Nothing for All compilation: the mellow country-rocker "Portland," whose chorus popped up on "Talent Show," and "Wake Up," a really good, really fast rocker that would certainly have given the album a needed dose of thunder. Then there's the group's fun, sloppy take on #101 Dalmatians' "Cruella de Ville," taken from Hal Willner's 1988 album Stay Awake: Various Interpretations of Music from Vintage Disney Films, yet another performance that has more soul than the album itself. A sprightly, energetic demo of "Talent Show" hints at what Don't Tell a Soul could have sounded like without the gloss, and it's pretty appealing; an early mix of "We'll Inherit the Earth" also strips away some of the sheen, but the song is still confused. Finally, there is the outtake "We Know the Night" -- a solo Westerberg number, something the album sorely needed -- and a fun romp through Slade's "Gudbuy t' Jane."]