REM

[A Passing Turk Slipper]

There's not been a thread on REM in a while so I thought I'd start one. I've finally got round to buying Life's Rich Pageant and have been listening to it a lot recently. I'm really enjoying it, not sure if I like it as much as Murmur which probably still remains for me their best album but I'm still not that familiar with all the tracks yet so it could well take over. The cover of Dream is wonderful as are tracks like I Believe. They're touring at the moment aren't they, anyone gone/going to see them? I would have done but the tickets were a little pricey. What are REM like live, do they still play any of the early stuff? Also, what album should I get next? I have Murmur, LRP, Up and that recent best of and love them all. So has anyone got any recommendations? Other than that, talk about REM here, favourite albums, songs, humorous anecdotes/facts etc. If you like I'll make my hilarious joke about how in reality if a Knight were to go swimming he would drown because of the weight of his armour.
Edit no2: Arghh disaster. What happened to the title change. It's all going horribly wrong. Kill me now.
Edit no3: Thank you moderators.

[Ambient Sheep]

"Green" is superb until they get the mandolin out halfway through, after which it goes sharply downhill.

"Pop Song '89", "Stand" and to some extent "Orange Crush" are all brilliant though.

Wrong forum?  EDIT: ah, I see you've just noticed.

[qki]

I'm going to see them on Friday in Belfast and on Saturday in Dublin with Bogey. I belive that this tour they're playing a bunch of old stuff that hasn't had an airing for many years (apparently the other night they played "7 Chinese Bros." and "Swan Swan H"). The last (mini) tour was like that too - I saw them at Brixton Academy and they played the first five tracks from FotR back to back. They're a superb live band, energetic and imaginative, particularly if you get Stipe on a good night and he regales you with a joke or two (and possibly an attempt to play the guitar).

Turk Slipper - It's obvious but you really should get Automatic for the People. It's a tremendous album, varied, lush and faintly menacing. Alternatively try Fables of the Reconstruction, which might take a few listens to get into but is worth the effort.

[Felled Weeble Lawsuit]

Fables of the Reconstruction is their best album, and of course there's Reckoning, which you must file under water, or else. Those first four albums are immense. Anything they've done since is a bonus.

Anecdote or facts, erm this is probably widely known: Bill Berry became the drummer because Stipe liked his eyebrows. Fair enough. They were great eyebrows.

[A Passing Turk Slipper]

I'll check those out and Green too AS, thanks. Let us know how the concert goes, qki. I really do want to see them before they split, maybe next time they're on tour I'll catch them.

[Labian Quest]

If, like me, you prefer the early stuff you should try and get hold of the tracks that are on Chronic Town, which was their first recording. It's a 5 track 12" EP but all of the tracks are avaiable on a compilation called Dead Letter Office:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000001I0I/104-7520660-2428759?v=glance#product-details

(There are soundclips in that link too)

[qki]

If, like me, you prefer the early stuff you should try and get hold of the tracks that are on Chronic Town, which was their first recording. It's a 5 track 12" EP but all of the tracks are avaiable on a compilation called Dead Letter Office:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000001I0I/104-7520660-2428759?v=glance#product-details

(There are soundclips in that link too)

Yes, that's worth having. Dead Letter Office is full of stuff that didn't make the cut for albums, including several covers (3 Velvets tracks, "Crazy" by Pylon and "Toys in the Attic", by, um, Aerosmith?) and is good fun. One for the fans though I think.

My 12" Chronic Town is one of my most prized possessions. I only paid £6 for it.

[Labian Quest]

Yes, that's worth having. Dead Letter Office is full of stuff that didn't make the cut for albums, including several covers (3 Velvets tracks, "Crazy" by Pylon and "Toys in the Attic", by, um, Aerosmith?) and is good fun. One for the fans though I think.

My 12" Chronic Town is one of my most prized possessions. I only paid £6 for it.

Yes, 'Toys' was originally by Aerosmith. "Ages of you" is also very good. The production and the general sound is not that different from Murmur, so if you liked that, chances are you'll like DLO.

I've got a 12" IRS copy of it too, which I paid about the same amount for, I know it won't be worth as much as the very first pressing of it, but I'd be interested to know roughly how much it's worth.

[qki]

I saw one go on ebay about a year ago for £75, but I think they're worth about 30 quid. If you want something valuable it's got to be the Hib-Tone release of "Radio Free Europe", the value of which is in the hundreds.

[Paaaaul]

APTS - more votes for Reckoning and Fables from here.
Dead Letter Office is on the whole miss rather than hit in my opinion.
Out Of Time is a good album if you can hack Smily Happy People.

For anyone who hasn't heard early REM, the IRS Best Of REM is a fantastic compilation covering Chronic Town To Document.

[kaprisky]

I first got into REM around about the time of Losing My Religion and Shiny Happy People (that guitar riff is still pretty catchy despite their general dismissal of the song), and have been getting round to collecting the rest of their back catalogue.

Automatic for the People is my favourite LP of the ones that I've got but try to seek out their MTV Unplugged session from 1991, between Out of Time and AFTP. That's probably them at their peak and it's got a cracking version of Fall on Me as well.

[Ciarán2]

"Life's Rich Pageant" does it for me, excellent stuff. "Murmur", "Green" and "Reveal" (yes, "Reveal" - got a problem with that?) are works of greatness too. Haven't heard the new one - not sure I want to...

[Cardinal Tit Storm]

...

[Morrisfan82]

Hello

I take little interest in REM, but: in 1985 I won a 7" of Don't Go Back To Rockville from a raffle. It's been lying in a cupboard all this time, but out of curiosity: considering that it's in excellent nick, would it be likely to be worth much these days?

[Captain Crunch]

No mention of 'New Adventures in Hi-fi' either then?

The message is clear 'Turk Ripper - get all their albums!  No need to splash out, just tape them from friends / parents of friends or the local library.

[qki]

I very nearly went for NAIHF. It's a brilliant album, very "road", and it has an interesting theme of Christianity running through it - a deconstruction, rather than endorsement, obviously.

To be honest I think they're all pretty damn good. Yes, even the new one.

[Avenging Disco Modfather]

Everything past Green is imho mindnumbingly bad.  But it's not at first...some OK tunes on Out of Time.  Some songs on Document are actually not so great either.

Life's Rich... might be the apex of their murkiness-meets-bigshinysound career.  Flowers of Guatemala is beautiful...What If We Give It Away has some great blasts of melodic wall of sound.  

Fables is my favorite album ("Good Advices"!!!)...followed by Murmur, Dead Letter Office (so it's a compilation, but "Ages Of You" is one of my faves).

[Lumiere]

What do people make of Monster, then?

Funnily enough, I was about to make an REM thread, and sing the praises of Monster.

Monster is a fucking storming LP. Automatic For The People showcased REM's talent for writing beautiful, mellow songs - Monster is a vehicle for echoey, crunchy guitar and incredibly catchy songs. Stuff like Crush With Eyeliner, What's The Frequency, Kenneth? and Star 69 are godly.

Green is nothing to sneeze at either.

[dan dirty ape]

'Murmur' all the way, baby, with 'Reckoning' and 'Life's Rich Pageant' joint close seconds. 'Flowers of Guatemala' on the latter is at a push my favourite track of theirs.

I haven't really dug 'em since 'Automatic' though, and 'Around The Sun' is a big bland nadir. 'Monster' gets the general rap for being their illest conceived record, and fair enough some of it sounds like a karaoke Stooges dickabout, but it at least had 'Strange Currencies'. 'Around The Sun' has n-o-t-h-i-n-g.

They jumped the shark when Stipe shaved his bonce, y'ask me.

[The Man With Brass Eyes]

does anyone here dance like Micheal Stipe when they're out dancing?

[Ciarán2]

My mate does. And he doesn't even do so deliberately. I think it's quite a difficult trick to pull off.

[The Man With Brass Eyes]

It's quite difficult to pull off while consciously doing it.
and not appearing a cock.

Micheal Stipe is one person I can think of that does it well.

[qki]

By the way, the college town of Athens, GA, where they met and formed REM, is one of the most friendly, beautiful, lively and generally wonderful places in the whole world.

I went there for unrelated reasons, honest. You see, it features two amazing attractions - the world's only double-barrelled cannon, and the tree that owns itself.

[The Man With Brass Eyes]

wasn't it Athens where all the photos for New Adventures in HiFi were from?
That is a terribly-written sentence, but I'm keeping it because it is so poor.

I like REM.
The Glastonbury 1999 gig was probably the best live thing I've been to.
I am in the minority who liked Monster.

I heard the new Around the Sun album the other day - as with so many bands "it's not as good as their older stuff" - but it has a couple of decent-enough songs on there.  but they don't seem to have the bite or inventiveness of the past.  I question my use of the word "bite" in that last sentence - I mean they're not a acerbic punk band, but they just seem to be a little better than "middle of the road" with this later album.
Bands seem to mellow when they get older.  I mean, take Radiohead... who must be around REM's age (band members), their last three/four albums arn't cashing in on being lazy.  They're less commercial and in ways, more inventive.  I suppose because they're not going for the easy "listenable" verse/chorus thing.

[Wyn]

Have always loved REM, in fact I saw them the other night in the Hammersmith Apollo. The little building was literally stuffed with obsessive fans like myself, and we were'nt dissappointed. Absolutely cracking night, great setlist, and yes, they did do loads of old stuff. Swan Swan H was particularly enjoyable. They also did a lot of stuff from Monster/New Adventures, clearly in response to the claims the Around the Sun just isn't rocky enough. If you ask me, I reckon they're doing another, heavier album on the road, just like they did with New Adventures. Just you wait...

Album-wise, I love them all to bits, with the exceptions of Recokoning, Fables, and Around the Sun. Although there is a lot of good stuff on the first too, the rambling jangliness of the instruments just distracts me so much I can't really enjoy it. The new one has some good starts, but would have been made SO much better with the odd electric guitar here and there, as they proved without doubt when playing live. Automatic is certainly the best, closely followed by Out of Time, Up, New Adventures and Lifes Rich Pageant, and so on...

With regards to Stipe's stage presence, it is stunning. He really does have a commanding influence on an audience, and certainly made me jump around like a twat in the third row, brandishing my arms and emitting whoops.

[El Unicornio, mang]

By the way, the college town of Athens, GA, where they met and formed REM, is one of the most friendly, beautiful, lively and generally wonderful places in the whole world.

I went there for unrelated reasons, honest. You see, it features two amazing attractions - the world's only double-barrelled cannon, and the tree that owns itself.

I went there a few months back, it is a nice place. It has a very alternative vibe to it, you can kind of understand why bands like REM and The B52's have come out of there.

Anyway, as I may have mentioned before, REM are my favourite band, and the following is stuff I've probably spouted many times before....

Automatic For the People is their masterpiece, and was the first album I ever bought, and remains to this day my favourite album by anyone. Pretty much every song on it is a potential single (bar New Orleans Instrumental, which is a fine track nonetheless) and in fact they did release half of the songs on there. That said, it's unreleased songs like 'Ignoreland', 'Monty Got a Raw Deal' and 'Try Not to Breathe' which really make the album for me.

I'd probably put Out of Time as my second favourite, it's a bit too eclectic for many (switching between rap, country, rock and pop throughout) but, like most REM albums, has a great feeling of place about it (while AFTP sounded like Georgia's white picket fence suburbs, this album conjures up images of it's lush countryside).

Murmur is an amazing LP, one of the best debuts ever, and just has a really  strange, otherworldly quality. (as far as places go, I'd opt for an attic in some house in the middle of nowhere at night). 'Pilgrimage' stands out for me.

Life's Rich Pageant is a lesser known REM album, but also has a great atmosphere to it, and some wonderfully rich tunes like 'Fall On Me' and 'Cuyahoga'.

Their other albums on IRS are all worth getting, although I never got into Document much, and Fables, although it has some great tracks like Driver 8, always sounded a bit too much like a B-sides album to me.

Green I can give or take. 'World Leader Pretend' and 'Orange Crush' are fantastic but it just seems a bit stilted.

I really hated Monster when it first came out, and I'm still not a fan of it, although it does have some pretty good tunes on it, and kudos to them for trying something different (although it had more to do with them wanting to make an album they could play live)

Only listened to New Adventures In Hi-Fi once so I'll reserve judgement, sounded okay though.

I thought Up was a return to form, some really nice tunes on it like 'Daysleeper' and 'At My Most Beautiful' and some interesting sounds throughout.

I actually haven't heard their last two albums. The singles from them, although decent, haven't inspired me to explore further in the same way that a song like 'Find The River' did.

[chumfatty]

I went to see REM last night at the Birmingham NEC, Unfortunately i was way at the back, nevertheless they delivered a fantastic performance even if the crowd were pretty dull. I was watching those fortunate to have got Standing tickets and there just didn't seem to be any  movement , they didn't give of any feel-good vibes,  saving their enthusiasm until the ends of the songs.  I don't know maybe its me, i know REM aren't the sort of band to jump up and down for but they're one of the biggest rock acts in the world and they're playing right in front of you!!!!!  Maybe I was too far back to register any atmostsphere from the front.

Anyhoo, I digress. I'm not  an arden't fan of REM, i do own Automatic for......, Monster, New Adventures...... (my fave), UP and reveal , I Guess I'm one of those annoying part times fans that wastes a good ticket that a *real* fan could have had.

So last night was really enjoyable, I'd never been that far back at a gig before so it kind of lost it's pazazz , but i was very impressed with the visuals on offer, they had a huge letterbox type screen high above the centre of the stage  and instead of just relaying what was happening on stage they interspersed the live action with older stock footage from their videos and even stuff filmed for the purpose of the tour. They were delivered in various filters and special layered effects (but not in a crap '80s TOTP type way) and important lyrics from songs were reproduced on the screen as it was being sung, considering it was all live it  was a very proffessionally done and a higlight of the night for me.

Overall the performance was excellent, Michael Stipe Eyeliner gets larger with every appearance (he looked like the Green Hornet) but that voice! it' s so recogniseable, so clear, so cool. Mike Mills was recovering from an Illness that caused them to cancel the last 2 shows, not that you'd notice. And Peter Buck just strummed along some of the greatest guitar/banjo/mandolin sections of rock history with effortless ease.

There were a couple of  songs written in protest of the war in iraq, not sure if these were on the new album or not,  they again showed the lyrics to the entirety of these two songs and the crowd watched in stunned silence as the words sunk, it was a really connecting moment between the crowd and the band. At the end of the songs the crowd roared in appreciation and recognition it was quite touching.

All the old faves were there,  Everybody Hurts, Man on the Moon, Orange Crush, One I Love, Whats The frequency Kenneth, plus a lot of the newer ones . All in all a great night .

If you got this far thanks for reading, not exactly pulitzer winning review but its all i got (i was a little drunk too)

[The Man With Brass Eyes]

What do we all think of the "rapping" section on the latest album?

Does it fit, or is it just post 40 year olds trying to be hip?

this bit:
"A man walks away when every muscle says to stay
How many yesterdays - they each weigh heavy
Who says what changes may come?
Who says what we call home?
I know you see right through me, my luminescence fades
The dusk provides an antidote, I am not afraid
I've been a million times in my mind
This is really just a technicality, frailty, reality..."

[El Hozzo]

I think they are the most consistently brilliant/important/exciting band in history. Seriously!

They are the Beatles of the eighties/nineties/zero's. If the Beatles hadn't existed everyone would recognize them as Earths greatest ever band.

'Around the Sun' is their thirteenth studio album, if I'm not wrong. Out of those, in my opinion, there has been one 'dud' - 'Reveal' and that has about 5 or 6 excellent songs on it (sadly, its also got 5 or 6 unlistenable ones as well)

Which other bands have managed that over 25 years? For me personally, the answer is no other bands, what about the rest of you, I imagine people might mention the Rolling Stone, The Cure ... ?

[Cardinal Tit Storm]

...