Stereo

You can hardly blame Paul Westerberg for being bummed. After all, he hasn't exactly had the greatest of luck career-wise. Back in the '80s, he practically invented grunge and alt-rock as the leader of hard-drinking punks The Replacements. But did it make him a household name? No; he got to sit and watch as his band dissolved in acrimony while impostors like The Goo Goo Dolls hijacked their sound and rode it to the top of the charts. Things haven't improved much since then. Over the past decade, Westerberg has put out three superb, endlessly acclaimed solo albums full of grimy garage-rock and wry confessional balladry -- each of which has sunk with nary a commercial ripple.
Basically, Stereo and Mono reflect both sides of Westerberg's musical personality. Stereo, ironically, is the darker, more subdued and introspective half. Most of its dozen tracks are downbeat country waltzes, built around Westerberg's lazy strumming and world- weary vocals and backed by bare-bones instrumentation.