Are the Replacements reuniting?

What happened

Original members of the alternative rock group the Replacements—Paul Westerberg and Tommy Stinson—hinted recently that the band might be considering a reunion after 17 years apart. “We actually talked about it again this year, and I think there was a consensus that, you know, maybe it wasn’t the right time (to reunite), or maybe it is the right time,” Stinson told Billboard.

What the commentators said

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If this reunion really happens, said Michael Roffman in the blog Consequence of Sound, it would confirm God truly exits.” And if they play at Coachella next year, as Stinson hinted at in the Billboard interview, you can be sure that I’ll be “trucking across country.” “I’ve held my fingers crossed for several reunions” but have only “been answered once” so far (when The police got back together), “so let’s hope for seconds in the miracle department.”

Well, now might be a good time for them to do it, said NME.com. The Replacement’s “legacy has had a raised profile of late, with The Cribs covering their song, ‘Bastards Of Young’ during recent live sets, and a Best Of’ compilation Don’t You Know Who I Think I Was?, which was released in 2006 and featured “two new tracks.”

“Billboard may be phrasing it differently, said Anthony Miccio in the blog Idolator, “but it doesn’t sound like” the Replacements “are likely to reunite any time soon.” In the interview, Paul Westerberg even used the word “hesitant.” And who knows if they even have anything to offer at this point? “The Minnesota boys’ solo careers are a lot more All Shook Down than Hootenanny.”

Even if the Replacements do reunite, said David Marek in Paste, “it’s impossible to get the original lineup back together. Drummer Chris Mars is almost exclusively devoted to his art, and guitarist Bob Stinson sadly passed away in 1995.” But if the Replacements do decide to hit the stage again, “they’ll join the likes of other Our Band Could Be Your Life subjects, Mission of Burma and Dinosaur Jr., that have recently reunited and released” great new records.