Shayde on 22/9/2011 at 00:59
R.E.M has officially broken up.
This band created the soundtrack to my life. I fell in love for the first time dancing to 'night swimming'.
I sang 'it's the end of the world' at my high school talent show.
My wedding song was 'at my most beautiful'. I've sung my babies to sleep with 'fall on me' and 'daysleeper'. I have planned for 'everybody hurts' to be my funeral song.
It feels like when a Grandparent dies and you just took for granted that they'd always be around.
Also Michael Stipes' peen is on the Internet.
Aerothorn on 22/9/2011 at 01:15
I'm probably the only other R.E.M. diehard on this forum (soundtrack to my life, etc.) I feel your pain.
Which is not to say I'm upset. They've had a remarkably long run, and there's an argument that they should have done this when Berry left. I actually quite like Up and Accelerate is pretty good, but their other stuff has been inconsistent at best, and I was sad to find Collapse Into Now a throughly mediocre album, partially because of Stipe's shocking backslide into sentimental lyricism. Though I love the last two songs.
Anyway: mostly a bummer for me because I'll probably never get to see them in concert (I don't see R.E.M. doing a big old-folks reunion tour). Had the chance ten years ago, figure "nah, they're too old, wouldn't be any fun," and only later learned how very wrong I was. Really, really dumb.
I also kept praying they had one great album left in them, but apparently they decided that the answer was no, and they'd know better than I.
(
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LewYq40Svw&ob=av3e) They're outta here.
Sidenote: I've always been baffled by how R.E.M. is so much more popular in Britain. Random example: Around the Sun sold 5 times as many copies there, despite Britain having a quarter of the population (so, 20 times more sales per capita).
Renault on 22/9/2011 at 03:34
Big fan here too. They were the soundtrack to my high school and college years (and slightly after), but I have to admit I don't know much material beyond Monster. I'll always love their early albums, before they became an arena touring band (although I still do like most of that stuff too). I remember seeing them at a small local theater here in Milwaukee on the Life's Rich Pageant tour, literally months before they broke it big with Document. R.I.P. guys.
And if I had to pick, I think my favorite R.E.M. song would be Feeling Gravity's Pull. But there's so many to choose from, I'd probably have to go back and listen to everything to be sure.
Vernon on 22/9/2011 at 04:56
(
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DvVYwXqFEE)
There's some bands I'd like to name-check
And one of them is R.E.M.
Classic songs with a long history
Southern boys just like you and me
R.E.M.
Flashback to 1983
Chronic Town was their first EP
Later on came Reckoning
Finster's art...
Titles to match South Central Rain
(Don't Go Back To) Rockville,
Harborcoat,
Pretty Persuasion,
You're born to be a camera
Time After Time's my least favorite song
Time After Time was my least favorite song
The singer, he had long hair
And the drummer, he knew restraint
And the bassman, he had all the right moves
And that guitar player was no saint
So let's go way back to the ancient times
When there were no fifty states
And on a hill, there stands Sherman
Sherman and his mates...
And they're marching through Georgia
(They're marching through Georgia)
They're marching through Georgia
(G-G-G-G-Georgia)
They're marching through Georgia
(They're marching through Georgia)
They're marching through Georgia
(G-G-G-G-Georgia)
And there stands R.E.M..The news makes me sad. They were one of the most important American bands, and underrated in that respect. I remember being pissed off when the music press got onto Wilco, saying "Finally, America has an answer to Radiohead." It's like
fuck off did you forget about R.E.M?
What the fuck is wrong with you?I will miss them for their brilliance, as patchy as it might have been at times.
Their first television appearance, and one of my favourite songs: (
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ykp0Vq77IBw) So. Central Rain
Vernon on 22/9/2011 at 05:09
Quote Posted by Aerothorn
Sidenote: I've always been baffled by how R.E.M. is so much more popular in Britain. Random example: Around the Sun sold 5 times as many copies there, despite Britain having a quarter of the population (so, 20 times more sales per capita).
Growing up in the UK, my friend's favourite band was REM, mine was Pavement. Other names escape me (I'll try to remember a few), but it is not uncommon for bands of this size to blow up in the UK but stay marginal in the US. Immsmc, Pavement's Shady Lane was a top 40 hit in the UK. It is a weird phenomenon.
My heart is broken. I've got this on repeat
Aerothorn on 22/9/2011 at 05:34
I'll be honest: half the reason I wish they had packed it in after New Adventures was that Electrolite is such a perfect song to go out on.
As far as pavement goes, I like that ditty, but have always viewed Stephen Maukmas with a bit of disdain - he's one of these people who maintains that R.E.M. "sold out" as soon as they signed with Warner. Their music did change, and I can respect if you don't like it as much, but the idea that they somehow lost artistic credibility or ever put commercial factors first is bananas.
Breathren: I'd really recommend checking out New Adventures in Hi-Fi (the album after monster). No R.E.M. album has gained as much respect in the years since its release; at the time people didn't really know what to do with it, it's a relatively straightforward rock album that sounds very close to how they perform live (and indeed, a good chunk of the songs on it are from concert recordings). These days there are people penning articles about how it may be their best work. Not sure I'd go that far, but it's still fantastic; and while their are songs that I think are probably more accomplished artistically, nothing hits me as hard as the epic (
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZUmrpzmYCg) Leave.
Which, incidentally, was principally songwritten by Bill Berry. If you look at his credits, they show that not only was he a talent drummer/keyboardist/vocalist but also a fantastic songwriter. From Wikipedia:
"Berry also made notable songwriting contributions, particularly for "Everybody Hurts" and "Man on the Moon", both from Automatic for the People. Other Berry songs included "Perfect Circle", "Driver 8", "Cant Get There from Here" and "I Took Your Name". The song "Leave" from R.E.M.'s 1996 album New Adventures in Hi-Fi was also written by Berry."\
Finally, for those who missed it the first time around, I'd strongly suggest checking out (
http://stereogum.com/drive-xv/) Drive XV, an accomplished, free cover of Automatic for the People. Dappled Cities' take on Try Not To Breathe is probably my favorite.
Syndy/3 on 22/9/2011 at 06:49
Much like Oasis REM had one good album in the early nineties and then kept on strumming that same sound for two decades. It never really got to be annoying, worse bands came and went, but it wasn't really good either, just boring. I once heard Michael Stipe say he tries to sound different in every song. I literally laughed out loud. Goodbye mediocrity.
Vernon on 22/9/2011 at 11:49
Quote Posted by Aerothorn
As far as pavement goes, I like that ditty, but have always viewed Stephen Maukmas with a bit of disdain - he's one of these people who maintains that R.E.M. "sold out" as soon as they signed with Warner.
Malkmus is indie incarnate - a sardonic, smartass primadonna. He's called a lot of people out over the years - Mark E. Smith, Billy Corgan, Kim Deal, Perry Farrell, Scott Weiland, and a whole lot of other folk. It wouldn't surprise me to hear he did the same to R.E.M. Do you have a quote? I'm surprised I haven't heard about it. :o
By the way, (
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5JCOQuT9fY) here's a Pavement cover of one of R.E.M.'s best. Sorry to talk about Pavement itt, but the two are inextricably linked in my head. I got into early R.E.M. after hearing Malkmus bang on about them so much. They gave R.E.M. a lot of cred.
To be honest, I also feel that R.E.M.'s earlier stuff (the eighties stuff) was better, but this isn't an unusual phenomenon, no matter where you look on the musical spectrum. I'm not saying I didn't enjoy their later output - they are (were :() one of those rare bands that managed to pull off really special music, even after so many years had passed. 31 YEARS HOLY SHIT.
Christ. Embarassingly talented band
Quote:
I'll be honest: half the reason I wish they had packed it in after New Adventures was that Electrolite is such a perfect song to go out on.
I hear you - some of the later output was pretty decent, albeit very patchy. I liked Accelerate - the promotional stuff they did with vincent moon was pretty nice: (
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uVcyzvtWtQ) 1 (
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=raW0XwCDQCo) 2
Kuuso on 22/9/2011 at 14:51
Quote Posted by Syndy/3
Much like Oasis REM had one good album in the early nineties and then kept on strumming that same sound for two decades. It never really got to be annoying, worse bands came and went, but it wasn't really good either, just boring. I once heard Michael Stipe say he tries to sound different in every song. I literally laughed out loud. Goodbye mediocrity.
This times a million. For every good REM song there's 10 filler ones. I like the band, but it feels like a good decision to quit. Somehow I feel that the best thing about REM was the bands who came afterwards inspired by them.
Renault on 22/9/2011 at 15:47
I don't quite understand the criticism. If you guys are strictly talking about their last 4 or 5 albums, then I suppose you could be right. But to say that they only had one good album, or that their albums were mostly filler, that's just way off base. There's really no filler during their prime, say their first 8-10 albums.
On a humorous note, I read the lead singer from Mogwai called REM the most overrated band ever. What a whackjob. Even if you don't like them, give them their props, move on, and then hope to strive for 1/10 of the respect and success they had in the industry. Personally, I couldn't name a single song by Mogwai.
Also, never even heard of Pavement until this thread. Can't say I'm very impressed by the links from this thread either, but it sounds like they have some respect from the folks here.
