Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn has penned a personal and lengthy essay about his love of The Replacements calling them “up there with Elvis Costello and Prince”.
In a Facebook post from the writer and director, Gunn described his long-running relationship with the band as well as his favourite tracks and lamented the band’s relative lack of recognition.
Gunn began: “I just finished Bob Mehr’s fantastic biography of the Replacements, “Trouble Boys”. It is one of the most thoroughly researched and well-written books about ANY band, and it just so happens to be about one of my favorites of all time.”
He continued: “As far as I’m concerned, “Let It Be” and the three albums after it – “Tim,” “Pleased to Meet Me”, and “Don’t Tell a Soul” are four of the greatest rock and roll albums ever produced. I know we always become resentful when our secret, special bands become enormous and we suddenly have to share them with the world – I’ve experienced it numerous times over the years from Jane’s Addiction to Portugal the Man – but the Replacements were so great it would have been, for me, worth it to share them.”
“None of this stopped Paul Westerberg from being up there with Elvis Costello and Prince as the best songwriters of the 1980’s, and the Replacements being an all-time classic rock band, no matter how many people acknowledge it.
Read the full note from Gunn below.
I just finished Bob Mehr’s fantastic biography of the Replacements, “TROUBLE BOYS”. It is one of the most thoroughly…
Posted by James Gunn on Monday, March 5, 2018
Gunn also shared a 17-track long Spotify playlist containing all his top tracks from the Minnesota alt-rock group. As of 2015, the band had played what Paul Westerberg called their last gig together.
Meanwhile, much to the internet’s horror, James Gunn has confirmed that Groot did actually die at the end of the first Guardians Of The Galaxy while clarifying the true origin story of Baby Groot.