Paul Westerberg - 14 Songs

Paul Westerberg's first official solo album, 14 Songs, is a curious disappointment. Expectations were perhaps unreasonably high after 1990's brilliant All Shook Down (credited to the Replacements but a Westerberg solo album in all but name) and the soundtrack for Singles (supposedly a showcase for the Seattle sound but stolen by two songs from Minneapolis's Westerberg). 14 Songs is not so much a bad album as an underwhelming one from the best singer/songwriter to emerge from the post-punk underground. There are enough flashes of the old talent to indicate that Westerberg is simply confused rather than burnt-out. Pianist Ian McLagen helps a sax-blowing Westerberg through an inspired Stones imitation, "Silver Naked Ladies," and guest singer Joan Jett helps him through a smart Clash imitation, "Someone I Once Knew." The first single, "World Class Fad," boasts a great rock & roll hook to go with its sneering putdown of sell-out musicians, but the best song is "Something Is Me," which manages to be both a full-tilt punk charge and a telling confessional: "Something going wrong; my name is Paul. Something always happens eventually; the something is me." --Geoffrey Himes