Replacements get box set treatment

The Replacements will reissue their full catalogue in an eight-disc collection, The Complete Studio Albums 1981-1990, on April 14 via Rhino Records.

The box set includes seven albums plus 1982 EP Stink, all issued during their original 12-year run after forming in Minneapolis in 1979.

The band split in 1991 but frontman Paul Westerberg and guitarist Tommy Stinson regrouped in 2012 for the EP Songs For Slim, a limited edition 10-inch vinyl release that was auctioned to raise money for former bandmate Slim Dunlap following a stroke.

Westerberg said: “We were talking to Slim when he was in the hospital, and I was like, ‘Should we play?’ And he said, ‘Yeah, play.’”

The Replacements did just that, delivering their first show since 1991 at Riot Fest in Toronto in 2013. They launch their first tour in 25 years – entitled Back By Unpopular Demand – in April.

The run sees the band perform their first UK shows in 24 years when they play two dates at London’s Roundhouse on June 2 and 3.

Westerberg hinted that while the group are considering recording a new album, there’s no timetable attached to the possible project.