Former Replacements leader Paul Westerberg found himself in an awkward position throughout the '90s. Blessed with a songwriting gift that could have made him the next Springsteen, but saddled with a crippling fear of embracing the mainstream, since leaving his former band Westerberg had been... [+] Expand

Former Replacements leader Paul Westerberg found himself in an awkward position throughout the '90s. Blessed with a songwriting gift that could have made him the next Springsteen, but saddled with a crippling fear of embracing the mainstream, since leaving his former band Westerberg had been faced with the unenviable task of trying to win a new audience 20 years after his career began. On his album Suicaine Gratifaction the singer seems to be meditating on the very same point. In the brilliant opening track, "It's a Wonderful Lie," in a tone of both honesty and irony he sings, "How am I looking, I don't want the truth/What am I doing, I ain't in my youth/ I'm past my prime or was that just a pose?" In fact, when looking for subject matter the singer has never been one to shy away from the roller-coaster ride of should-have-beens that his career has become. Westerberg is much too smart not to see the irony in the fact that while the struggle with bands like the Goo Goo Dolls, who owe him their sound, sell in the millions and open for the Rolling Stones, and on Suicaine Gratifaction song titles such as "Best Thing That Never Happened," "Self-Defense" and the afore-mentioned "It's a Wonderful Lie" continue the trend of self-critique mixed with bitter record-biz satire. What is interesting is that while his lyrics are just as sharp, Westerberg has mellowed musically and, though it doesn't make for moshing, Suicaine Gratifaction gently rocks the listener just the same. A loose production allows the songs an off-the-cuff quality that translates as intimacy, making the lyrical revalations all that more compelling. While his brutal honesty may make the listener a little uncomfortable at times, in the end a Westerberg record never makes you feel pitty for the singer or disgust at his self-absorbtion because when he sings "I'm the best thing that never happened," you know that it's true: and so does he. ~ Steve Kurutz, All Music Guide [-] Collapse

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