Shiftless When Idle is a lost classic.

They lost something when Bob Stinson's role diminished by the time of Tim. Westerberg was the genious, but Stinson was the heart and soul. Tim was a nice album, but everthing before it was when the Mats were great.

there's a line of three musicians that goes....Alex Chilton - Paul Westerberg - Tim Rogers....if your not familiar with Rogers than I suggest you check out his band You am I, or some of his solo records. pure rock'n'roll honesty. fav mats album has to be let it be...answering machine and androynous are classics

"I Will Dare" has an irresistable melody, I love this song.

Think I might even prefer Tim at this point.

My favorite songs are "Hold My Life" and "Can't Hardly Wait." Just so good.

These guys are so amazing. Does anyone have any suggestions for similar bands I might also enjoy?

The Clash are always a direct comparison for me since they're both accessible while trying to make an original punk sound. Maybe something like Pavement's first album?

Try Husker Du. Their early stuff is pretty much hardcore punk but they mellowed out after that and wrote really great songs that bridged the gap between punk and the alternative rock scene of the late 80's. And they were great friends of The Replacements.

awesome! I definitely will have to give Husker Du a listen. I always felt they were a bit harder sounding. And Pavement is great.
I was kind of hoping for something modern so I was going to check out Paul Westerberg's solo stuff and Grandpaboy, and I'm really liking Golden Smog's stuff.

Let it Be is one of the finest albums of the 80s and even Christgau couldn't spot a blemish on it (he rated it A+).

So, anyone have any fav tracks from it? Personally, I think Unsatisfied reeks of greatness. It's so simple and yet so poignant... it's something more than teenage angst, it's a depressing masterpiece which I think everyone can relate to at some point or another. White boy blues at its best.