Consumer Guide Album

Paul Westerberg: 14 Songs [Sire/Reprise, 1993]
Like most know-nothings--"Knowledge is power/Got your books, go read 'em"--he equates freedom with individualism and wisdom with unbridled sentiment. But the Replacements were a monument to bad faith by the end, and being as it's time for him to shit or get off the pot, he shits. "Things," to a woman who deserves better than the guy who wrote this song, will tempt you to forgive the songpoems about junkyard flowers and runaway winds. "Down Love" and "A Few Minutes of Silence" are new ways to say shut up. You'll want to hear that riff again--that one too. Because his official solo debut is considerably more raucous than Don't Tell a Soul or All Shook Down. B+