Bleeding Hearts - Riches To Rags (RSD2022)

Regular price $ 18.40

A Minneapolis juggernaut hatched from the Stones-obsessed mind of then-twenty-something guitarist, singer and songwriter Mike Leonard in 1990, Bleeding Hearts cranked out a bar-band-energized slop ‘n’ roll racket that naturally shared much common ground with their peers, the legendarily shit-faced and ingenious hometown heroes, the Replacements. A lot of the Bleeding Hearts’ melodic crunch had to do with a familiar face slinging the guitar and unleashing a glorious maelstrom of catchy hooks and solo shredding pyrotechnics: former Replacement Bob Stinson.

Bleeding Hearts recorded its lone album back in 1993 and this recently unearthed gem—never-before released in any format—has finally seen the light of day, albeit three long decades overdue but so worth the wait.

Riches To Rags is an epic showcase of Leonard’s knack for beer-soaked melody, Stinson’s effortless six-string heroics and the rock-solid rhythm section of bassist Rob Robello and drummer Pat McKenna. It’s a monumental document of Minneapolis alt-rock that fits neatly next to the post-Replacements output of that vibrant period: Paul Westerberg’s 14 Songs (1993), Friday Night Is Killing Me by Tommy Stinson’s Bash & Pop (’92), Chris Mars’ Horseshoes and Hand Grenades (’92) and The Old New Me (’93) by Slim Dunlap. There isn’t a single clunker in the very Mats’ian titled Riches To Rags set; a masterpiece through and through that is testament to the genius of the late great Bob Stinson beyond his work in the Replacements.

A1 Riches To Rags 3:04
A2 Gotta Find A Way 2:59
A3 Imagination 3:04
A4 Guilty 3:09
A5 100 Ways 4:19
A6 Gone 2:18
B1 Tonight 3:13
B2 Happy Yet 2:25
B3 Poker Face 4:22
B4 What Do You Want 3:04
B5 Know It All 2:34
B6 Right As Rain 2:57
B7 Something Never Comes 3:00