- Spotifriday #119: Lykke Li, Drake, Factory Floor, Tim Hecker, R.E.M...
- R.E.M. - Part Lies, Part Heart, Part Truth, Part Garbage 1982-2011
- Spotifriday #109 - This week on DiS as a playlist ft. REM, The Antlers, Nicola Roberts
- REM's Glorious Decline - DiS pays tribute
- R.E.M. - Lifes Rich Pageant: Deluxe Edition
- Death Cab for Bass: Mixtape of Songs That Inspired Nick to Play Bass
- Spotifriday #81 - This Week on DiS as a playlist
- R.E.M. - Collapse Into Now
R.E.M.
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http://remhq.com/news_story.php?id=1446
Hack?
I mean... you don't think of REM ever splitting up.
It does sort of come across as a hack.
I'm not entirely sure what it is that makes it give off that impression though.
It's just been updated with band members' comments
finally
everyone hates you
wtf
they're the sort of band you figure will be around forever, or at least until one of them dies and they retire
maybe stipe will launch some kind of worthwhile solo career?
it's not like anything good was happening with the band
There goes any hope of ever seeing live :(
They've not been "right" since Michael's hair fell out and he CAME out. R.E.M. was so much better when their frontman was painfully introverted, aloof and the lyrics were completely unintelligiblel
I used to love rhem so much and loved everything they did. Saw them touring behind "Reckoning" and then "Losing My Religion". God, I hated that song and they haven't interested me much (but a song or two) since that time.
I hope Michael gets his edge back someday.
Not liking Losing My Religion?
There really has to be a law against that somewhere...
yeah, so guilty of that
(shudder) really hate that song and that and shiny happy people or man in the moon or whatever the fuck- that Andy Kaufman tribute song are all they ever play on the radio so I've really learned to be turned off by that song.
When they were living in the church and struggling, they were the best band in the world and at one time- murmur/reckoning/fables/life's rich pageant/document...they were the best band in America and then they got old or happy and comfortable or some shit. It's Michael- he was the catalyst for good or ill. Yeah, Bill had a major health issue and Peter Buck was always restless but when Michael was a young bohemian- the band was cool. When Michael changed- the band's energy changed, the song writing changed, the lyrics, everything changed in a bad way.
Wow, I guess this give you some really ancient indie cred.
I, for one, was really into the Beatles before that piece of crud song "Please Please Me" came out and they went all mainstream.
my ancient indie cred predates R.E.M. by decades
Stipe's lyrics were never remotely consistent
I mean, even the lyrics on Reckoning and Murmur are hugely different... and post shaved head the lyrics to Monster (knowing songs about sex and death), New Adventures (blasted, hallucinatory songs informed by travel and the travelogue) and Up (character studies of failures) couldn't be more different.
I dunno, you're a middle aged American guy, I think a lot of their middle aged American fans broadly feel as you do, whereas NAIF and Up are much better regarded in Europe (and rightly so)
Don't try to put me in a tidy demographic contextual substance surrounder...
If anything, it is R.E.M. who became a middle aged American band with politically correct, pandering pop star snake oil artist sensibilities with wives and kids and cars and houses and teenage daughters with see-thru blouses- eons ago. Now, even they are too jaded with their "art" and CAREER, that they now, finally find it impossible to continue- utter fucking bollocks. .
I may be pushing 60 years old and have never set foot off American soil but I have more worldly presence and a bigger art spirit than R.E.M. ever had, even at the zenith of their provincial, college town pseudo bohemian best era.
Nah.
haha, no...Yah...
the idea of me not being able to appreciate R.E.M. since Document because I'm too old and American is uhm...pretty funny.
..."much better regarded in Europe (and rightly so)" ???? especially the rightly so part- lol
let me guess:
R.E.M. don't create for American audiences so naturally, Americans don't get it?
Well this is a surprise
I wonder if they are actually going to do one final tour for their final album? Doesn't look like it does it.
My favourite band of all time, and I think also the best. RIP REM.
Gutted.
One of the most important bands ever to me, a huge part of my growth and journey as a music fan. A massive chunk of their discography are personal classics and favourites; especially Up, which for me is one of the most personally closest albums I've heard and easily one of the top candidates for my all-time favourite album. I know a lot of people dismiss their works after the 80s/Berry leaving, but IMO they've been amazing throughout their long career with only one slight miss of an album.
So, gutted. Wish them the best and hope they won't abandon music entirely.
Time for an album binge.
probably want in on the big reunion market
:(
ultimately i'll remember them this way
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyGW6jUGtrM
anyone else?
since this there was no stopping them;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KA57Pafq_NU
Probably the most underrated "big" band around
It's easy to forget about them, and I frequently do, but their actual output matches up to nearly anyone
Probably the right time
but I'll still miss them a lot. Brilliant band.
2014 @ Brixton Academy
R.E.M. have agreed to Monster in its entirety.
Still, sad news. Great band.
If this had happened a few years ago, I would have been really sad.
But seeing as I've not really enjoyed anything since after Reveal, I'm not too bothered.
That said, they were quite a big part of my life, though, my first couple of big gigs, the only fan club I've ever bothered to join, the only band I got totally obsessed with to the extent of knowing all their middle names, dates of birth, stupid trivia about where the inspiration for various songs came from.
There's also a hell of a lot of music I got into because of them; Patti Smith, the Velvet Underground, Television, in fact, indirectly, virtually everything I listen to now, because before I got in to REM when I was 16 I was just listening to chart pop.
I'll always remember how excited I was the first time I saw them live, and how grateful I was the second time, when I was in the middle of the front row sobbing to Nightswimming, and Michael Stipe looked at me and gave me a little smile that seemed to say 'cheer up'. I caught his harmonica case afterwards, and one of Mike's picks. I hope I still have them somewhere.
...Ok, I'm rambling now. I guess I was wrong when I said not too bothered.
My favourite band.
Thanks for the memories, and the gift of a back catalogue of which i'll never tire.
Thanks also for:
Glastonbury 1999
Brixton 2003
Hammersmith 2005
TITP 2008
shit, and IOW 2005
:(
Don't think I have listened to them since like 1996.
Green through Monster were all pretty heavy in my rotation through junior high school. Havent listened to any of their music before or after those records. Their first 5-6 are the highest regarded though right?
yeah mostly
though Up and New Adventures are really good and under-appreciated albums too.
Sad not to get chance to see them live but not too bothered. It's been a long long time since I enjoyed an album of theirs.
New Adventures is hardly underappreciated
It seems to be everyone's favourite these days and has risen into a sort of "alternative classic album" status.
Up is criminally underappreciated though, even though it seems to get more positive press as time goes by. A phenomenal album.
hmm
I think New Adventures is appreciated in some circles but most people stopped after Monster and sort of forgot they existed until they released The Great Below...
-most people stopped after Monster and sort of forgot they existed-
HI
Oh man
It is probably the right time, but I would have quite liked to have seen them live sometime. Oh well.
about time
They've been dragging out poor man's mainstream rock disguised as alt/indie for year's now,last/only good thing they did was their 80's output like radio free europe etc
Losing My Religion
and oh...most of their 90s records (actually, all of their 90s records) says you are incorrect.
http://drownedinsound.com/community/boards/music/4304542#r6297333
I fucking TOLD AlphaDeluxe to go easy and ration this week's indie points. You'll have to come back next week son.
That post wouldn't garner any indie points in ANY week
I mean, how do you expect to get points from REM without saying their best album is Up?
I wonder if the split
has anything to do with this:
http://stereogum.com/818001/michael-stipes-dick-nsfw-obvs/top-stories/
whaaaaaaatt eh f...
That happened yesterday, then the split today. So I wouldn't be surprised about a connection b/w the two.
...
a pizza?
Stuart Braithwaite pays tribute.
http://twitter.com/#!/plasmatron/status/116583807603326976
Mogwai keeping their high placing
on my 'acts I like despite being complete twats at times' list
He's only being honest.
It's not like anyone has died and he needs to be respectful.
if he thinks REM are crap
he's a pillock. And not sure a member of Mogwai can call out anyone on being rude without chucking very large stones in a glass house.
He didn't say they were crap.
He said they were overrated, which they are.
if anything, they're underrated
easily the most underrated megaselling arena rock band.
not a dig.
REM changed my life
and they're probably the only band I'd say that about, they were the first band I became obsessed with and were the beginning of my music obsession
...but, I'm not too bothered about the split, I got to see them live (and they were great, walk unafraid live, one of the best things I've ever seen) and, as has already been said several times above, they haven't really released anything worthwhile for the last 10 years.
Sad news
a band who over the years have released some utterly fantastic songs, you forgot until looking back. I love the line in Peter's words about the split
"Mike, Michael, Bill, Bertis, and I walk away as great friends. I know I will be seeing them in the future, just as I know I will be seeing everyone who has followed us and supported us through the years. Even if it's only in the vinyl aisle of your local record store, or standing at the back of the club: watching a group of 19 year olds trying to change the world."
I've just been singing along (mumbling) to What's The Frequency...
and thought, WTF does he sing in this? So I looked it up.
I always sang this line 'You said that irony was the shackles of youth' as 'You said that Arnie was the shackles of you' and imagined Arnold Schwarzenegger holding someone back from realising their dreams. Bit disappointed now.
I was listening to 'So Central Rain' last night
It doesn't matter how variable their post-AFTP output was, I would be a different person if I'd never been heard their stuff. A great band.
I would be a different person I'f I'd never heard their stuff
So much this.
The timeline on the BBC article about this is shocking.
1980: REM formed in Athens, Georgia, by Michael Stipe, Peter Buck, Mike Mills, Bill Berry
1988: Breakthrough album Green released
Oh, so nothing of note happened in the years 1980-88? Anyhow, very sad news, I was only just getting fully into them for the first time as well. Probably the reason they split. Sorry everyone, my bad.
Bad week for my dad
The Jason Molina situation and now this. He sent me an email with the title 'REM and Jason Molina'. It just said ':('
Don't believe my dad has ever used an emoticon before
guess it makes sense at this stage
but man, that's really sad. Genuinely had a big impact on my life, and I could never make a list of favourite bands without including them in it.
Saw them at Birmingham NEC and Hyde Park in 2005, and Twickenham in 2008. All great gigs, but the Twickenham one will probably be in my top 5 when I die.
Roughly 15 years too late
By my watch.
LEONARDBERNSTEIN
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3yLtnNF6yM
What next?
Buck will obviously stick around music you'd have thought; he seems to have his fingers in a few other projects. Mills probably likewise but to a lesser extent; and Stipe? He's talked more recently of folloiwn ghis passion for art/photography etc, so maybe he'll disappear from music altogether, at least for a while. Regardless i hope and pray that one of them release an autobiography - shedding a bit of light on 81-96ish would be an awesome read.
I'm somewhat hoping Mills pulls out a surprise solo album
R.I.P.R.E.M.
You were the everything.
mogwai: rem is shit
https://twitter.com/#!/plasmatron/status/116583807603326976
Anybody who says "It's about time"
Or "they've not done anything relevant in years" or whatever bullshit you're spouting:
Your opinions are not welcome here.
I'm serious. Whilst you have every right to think whatever you want (and I will defend to the death your right to say it), in this instance you are wrong. You're just wrong, and I don't give a flying fuck what you think.
See the look on the faces of my friends and I at the start of EVERY SINGLE SONG THEY PLAYED when we FINALLY got to see them and tell me again that they're worthless.
Piss off and start your own "why does anybody ever care about anything, ever" thread.
I want nothing but hagiography here. It's what they deserve.
lol
I heard Michael Stipe quit to pursue a career in touching children
I also heard literally 1/3 of their post-96 output had been stolen from bands Mike Mills saw playing in his local
and they paid the bands to cover it up.
Also also, a sound engineer I know told me Stipe's been autotuning his mumble since 1982
almost the truth but not quite
he actually lost his voice in 1988 because he stubbed his toe on the sofa 4 times in an afternoon, he screamed his voice out for good. luckily and coincidentally he'd already written and recorded hundreds of other songs and that's why they're splitting up now because there's no more songs left.
true story.
I heard that after Berry left they didn't bother recording any more drums
and all the drum-like sounds on all subsequent albums were actually the sound of the other two slapping Michael's shiny shiny head.
please can you two continue this
cos it's hilarious
Apparently Stipe wanted to quit & go solo
and insisted that the band carry on, replacing him with wrestler Randy "Macho Man" Savage. Sadly Savage died earlier this year and Stipe refused to accept anyone else stepping in as singer, so the band had no option but to call it a day.
Whatever happened to the Michael Stipe Has AIDS rumour?
It turned out to be a rumour.
Yawn
You must be one of those "tedious bores" I've heard so much about.
Doublol
What's So Funny
About peace, love and understanding?
By which I mean - how come anytime anyone ever displays love or passion on these boards they become a figure of ridicule?
they don't, you're just acting like a massive gaylord right now
If loving R.E.M makes me a massive gaylord
Then I accept the label with pride.
Trolls, though. Trolls. They can all go fuck themselves.
And, incidentally, they really, really do. Become figures of ridicule, I mean. It seems to me that you're ostracised from this community if you're anything less than a jaded cynic with nothing good to say about anything. Heaven help anyone who comes here to share their love of music.
Duuuuude, we liked your post.
Impassioned posts are the best.
I honestly really liked your post and hope you keep making angry posts
It was kind of funny though because as you say, sarcastic indie fringeheads and such.
you mad as hayell, bro
admirable.
POTW imo.
Was never into REM really
Liked some of their tunes but never in a big way. Thought they were a bit wet. They were on one time at Sziget festival so my future wife and I toddled along to have a look more because we felt we should rather than actually wanting to see them.
Wow was I a wrong un, they were excellent, bass booming, pogo-inducing, thrashy, punky, completely different to what I thought or expected.
Shiiiiiiiit...
I go away for a few hours and this happens? Christ. I've got to say, I'm a little bit gutted - must be hard for them to walk away from what essentially has been their main music focus for 30 years or thereabouts. It's a bit of a surprise to me, because as someone said above, I always got the feeling that R.E.M. would carry on forever until another one of them left or died. Maybe the split IS for the best, but it doesn't make it any less sad news. This is a band that touched a lot of people.
You've still got U2 guys, don't worry about it
Oh, come on. REM were a million times the band U2 are.
In fact, I wish it had been U2 splitting up today... we probably wouldn't have got away from documentaries and archive footage for the next year, but y'know... small price to pay and all that...
That's right
Pick on another band when the band you love calls it quits.
^
:(
ZAPSTA DOESN'T LIKE SOMETHING GUYS
GUNTRIP IS BEING SARDONIC IN UPPERCASE GUYS
In fact, I quite like the sound of Sardonic In Uppercase.
If anyone here wants to use that as a name for something, be my guest.
It's the 'this' from Rob that really hurts
http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/arts-%26-entertainment/u2-still-refusing-to-take-the-hint-201109224336/
RIP
I can't believe everyone is spelling Michael Stripe incorrectly, show the poor man some respect.
Michael stRIPe
it's the end of the world as we know it :'7(
I find REM mathematically pleasing
The first 5 albums were released roughly every year.
The next 5 albums were released roughly every 2 years.
The last 5 albums were released roughly every 3 years.
I don't know what to say to this
I know what REM would say
Come on Luke Chadwick-uh-huh (Come on Luke Chadwick-uh-huh)
Also, they've had big milestones every five albums
After the first five albums, they switch from indie label to major. After the next five, Berry retires. And after the next five, the band quit.
sad... but...
Glad the deed was done now, they bowed out on a semi-decent record with the majority of their legacy intact. They are the first band i was properly into, bought every record and book and magazine and could quite happily listen to wolves, lower every day until I expire but I won't miss them in the same way that I'd miss a band like Trail of Dead or another band I know have their best work ahead of them.
Also, they have enough in their archives to release and keep us happy for years I bet!
Never got to see them Live
gutted.
it's a shame they didn't go out with a tour or farewell concert or some sort of grand gesture
but good for them, really. I think the problem with REM's later years was simply that they'd stopped being a 'band' and had simply become a group of individuals who made REM records.
Stipe is obviously more into his film/photography/being Michael Stipe; Buck wants to make a record a month and probably doesn't mind who it's for; I think Mills just wants to play golf.
Until the end they were an astonishing live band (they didn't tour Collapse Into Now but this live studio version of Discoverer is amazing: http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/blogs/rolling-stone-video-blog/exclusive-r-e-m-strips-down-in-powerful-new-video-for-discoverer-20110203) and there were still great tracks on all their post-Up albums.
I think there's a difficulty when you're a band - you can't really have those lengthy fallow years in the same way solo artists (Dylan, Young, Kate Bush or Scott Walker's huge hiatuses) can, or at least they're very psychologically different. You could tell from interviews etc that their diminishing popularity got to them , and they all just had too many other options.
Anyway, REM made 11 perfect albums, one perfect EP, and were astounding live.
REM in not the worst band ever shocker
So Stuart Braithwaite from Mogwai thinks REM were shit? Oh thanks, like society and more specifically the internet needs more obnoxious people!
To be honest theough I can relate. I thought much the same of the Mogwai gig I went to last year. Huge disappointment.
PS Have Mogwai broken up yet? They haven't released a good album in ages! etc etc
stuart braithwaite doesn't like anything
he's your typical angry scottish man, if he wasn't in a landmark post rock outfit he'd probably be a brick layer.
he likes loads of stuff
they are generally very positive these days, doing their own series of podcasts etc... and in interviews he says he would rather praise bands these days
Great great fucking band
sure their later stuff wasn't as good, but seriously, how many fucking bands have matched the stuff they did between Chronic Town and New Adventures in Hi-fi?
New Adventures In Hi-Fi > Automatic For The People > Green >
Reckoning > Accelerate > Lifes Rich Pageant > Out Of Time > Fables Of The Reconstruction > Murmur > Up > Collapse Into Now > Document >
Reveal > Monster > Around The Sun.
Document >> Reveal/Up > Fables/Murmur >> AFTP + rest of 80s stuff
Don't care about the rest.
Up > Automatic > Reveal > Monster > New Adventures > Murmur > Out of Time > Green > Lifes Rich Pageant > Fables of the Reconstruction > Accelerate > Document > Collapse Into Now > Around the Sun > Reckoning
Reckoning's the only one I'd call slightly weak (yes I know very much this is an unpopular opinion), otherwise it's all ranging from fantastic to good.
Maybe they'll reunite in 2013 to do a 30th anniversary Murmur tour.
*wishful thinking*
*2012 to do a 20th anniversary Automatic For The People tour.
Sorry
but I'm with Stuart Braithwaite on this one.
Hope you're having a good time in Wrongland
Hilarious putdown, good work.
Fuck You
Ah, I get it
REM are one of those bands we're not allowed to have a negative opinion about, right?
Anyone is allowed to have a negative opinion of REM
and your comment isn't the worst i've seen on the internet by a long stretch. The issue is more that the band have just broken up, and there's a fair amount of people a bit gutted about it. Thus, deliberately coming into a conversation about the band ane being negative either looks like a troll tactic or a deliberate cry for attention at the moment. Wait until the fog clears and the whole hoo-ha of the split calms down.
Fucking crybaby
They weren't all that. I don't really see the point of them splitting up, why not just retire? They all seem to still get on.
Yes, we all realise you're trolling.
And we all realise that many people in this thread already disagree with you. But hey, if you want to make yourself look like a complete arsehole, then be my guest. Not that you need the encouragement, clearly.
Who's trolling?
They were OK but I don't get all the fawning over them. Like I say, they still seem to get on from what it says in their press release so why bother making a point of splitting up instead of just retiring?
Peter Buck speaking in 1998
My picture that I of us breaking up is that we'd do a couple of really bad records...and then we'd go to a Chinese restaurant and get drinks with umbrellas in them and say 'you know guys it's been a really haul but we just don't have it anymore', you know, and have a good toast and go home
My god, who next? U2? Dire Straits?
I mean if all these fresh, exciting, compelling bands keep breaking up there's going to be NO MUSIC LEFT AT ALL
Life without Stipe's nasal whine and pretentious lyrics will hardly seem worth living
Dire Straits broke up in 1995, mate.
O really
I just assumed they were still boring for England on the heritage rock circuit like so many of their peers.
They'll surely be back at some point. As will REM, look for them playing Out Of Time, track by track, at a winery some time around 2017
That's meee in the spotlight... gahhhh fuck, so terrible
I found your comment to be fresh, exciting and compelling.
BLISTERS DOESN'T LIKE SOMETHING GUYS
it's the end ...
... and I feel fine
never really got into them
never really tried.
though it's weird that they are no longer around. strange.
I really like playing Orange Crush on Rock Band
thanks
People who say R.E.M. are shit
You are wrong. That is all.
They just haven't listened to the right albums.
I once stoof in a lift with Michael Stipe after watching them film Jools Holland.
U mad bros?
A 'best-of' band if ever there was one.
Oh man, that's gutting...
Weirdly I thought they briefly already had split up at the turn of the century, but anyway...
Been binging on REM for a few weeks now after almost taking them for granted for a decade now. I suspect that if I was doing that as a long term fan then the casual music goer had long forgotten about them. Yet now they're gone, I'm hearing constant tales of how they'll never be replaced. Everyone from the young guys at work to my Mum are upset by it.
I wish I'd seen them more than once, but am just grateful I did.
They were my gateway band. From swapped tapes on the school bus with the unpopular class nerd via staying up until 1am to listen to their shows on Radio 1 and buying every issue of Face or Ikon when Stipe painted his face like Braveheart, they opened up a huge indie world to me. And my tastes developed as their did, with New adventures showing me post punk, Monster getting me into rock...
People forget how mighty they were at their peak too. Those stadium shows with The Cranberries and Radiohead (who changed forever on that tour, turning from whiny blonde haired wannabe rock stars to musically challenging entrepreneurs), THAT massive record deal, the hype every time a new record was due...
And what a back catalogue. You could take 3 or 4 of my favourite ever acts, put all their best songs together and probably not cover even 50% of the listening time it'd take to compile a vague REM best of. Like all the best bands, no one knows what their pinnacle was and nobody cares. We're just so grateful they had so bloody many of them.
Their force had faded in recent years but that's because the industry has changed. I'm still glad that they left us on a decent record and if they ever reform for one last Glasto, I will move earth to be there.
Probably the best band 'everyman' band ever. Nah, fuck it. Probably the best band ever (except for Arab Strap obvs).
Thanks guys. I'm going to have a little cry to 'Strange currencies' now...
Ikon!!! I had Ikon issue 1 with Stipe on the front cover.
If I remember on the inside, it had Stewart Lee saying he thought Monster was shit.
I bought every issue of that mag
It was great.
I think Stipe's quote on the cover was something like 'I'm not heterosexual. I'm not homosexual. I'm just... sexual'
Yeah, yeah, that was the one!
Black and white photo of newly-bald Stipe in sunglasses... ah yeah, memories. I also remember one of the Monster-era shows being broadcast on the radio at the time... may have been Milton Keynes. The Cranberries set was broadcasted too. Memories!
I taped it all on 3 tapes
Sat my the hi-fi for the whole day, swapping them when they ran out.
My Dad lost them when we moved. I didn't talk to him for about a month...
I really hope one day people come to realise how hugely important that month was in the development of Radiohead. I've said it before, but they're only the band they are now because of that day. It would make an interesting documentary. Possibly.
Oh yeah, I completely understand it.
Radiohead learned a hell of a lot from REM. Even 'Kid A' was inspired by 'Up'. A lot has been written about first reactions to 'Kid A' back in 2000, but even I've got to admit that listening to 'Everything In Its Right Place' for the first time made a hell of a lot more sense than listening to 'Airportman' for the first time. In hindsight, 'Up' prepared a hell of a lot of people for 'Kid A', they just didn't realise it at the time. Hell, Nigel Godrich was part of the recording process of both records!
And, to offer another perspective on the times... it remarkable as it sounds, at that point in time it seemed like The Cranberries were going to get bigger. I mean, 'No Need To Argue' sold a shitload, didn't it? Quite funny then - Radiohead go from small-time to godlike, The Cranberries go from possibly-about-to-get-bigger to a joke.
Yeah it's nuts in hindsight
But pretty much everybody loved the Cranberries, from your uncle to the top buying kids at school.
I think they might have been loads bigger if it wasn't for Dolores' decision to start snarling all her vocals. SAL-VAY-SHUN. Oh, and writing decent songs...
* pop buying
Hehehehehehe...
The Cranberries were always shite lyrically, but those first two albums made with Stephen Street are still quite listenable and at least Dolores makes an attempt to sing properly. I think the attention they got in America went to Dolores' head somewhat, which resulted in that godawful 'To The Faithful Departed' album... adopting a vocal style (as you say) that didn't suit her, socio-political lyrics without having the skill to actually say anything, and a grungier sound that was definitely not going to go down well at the height of Britpop.
Why don't you talk about Radiohead some more?
You don't do that very much
Why don't you act like a total prick?
You don't do that very much
Get over yourself.
http://drownedinsound.com/community/boards/music/4304583#r6299620
http://drownedinsound.com/community/boards/music/4304583#r6299661
http://drownedinsound.com/community/boards/music/4304542#r6296897
YAWN
http://drownedinsound.com/community/boards/music/4304542#r6298721
Goddamn, looks at this setlist I saw
http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/rem/2008/balado-kinross-scotland-3d6a933.html
Things I did wrong that day:
1) Get too drunk to remember most of this
2) Leave for about 4 songs to go meet a mate, who I never found
I kinda recall Electrolite and Rockville being great though. And Let me in, stood around the piano. And the reaction the moment that mandolin played it's first note.
I think they are undoubtedly the best live band I've ever seen.
And that's what is making me really sad about all of this, that I won't be in a crowd again to get that feeling when they start playing Losing My Religion, or the mass sing-a-long of Man On The Moon or the sheer thrill of hearing them play a 25-30 year old song and sound like they still a bunch of kids.
:(
I missed them on the Accelerate tour which I really regret now as it would've been the last time I'd ever see them, had I gone. Still, I saw them six times which I'm pretty happy about. Brixton Academy (the first night) in 2003 was probably my favourite live music experience ever. First time I saw them, Stipe handed me the microphone during It's The End of the World etc etc.
I was at this one!
http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/rem/2003/balado-kinross-scotland-3d6a9af.html
Hats off to REM and a great career.
While i would never claim to be a diehard fan, i was still a fan and over the years they have released some truly beautiful and haunting records.
I was lucky enough to catch them live at stirling castle about 13/14 years ago and they were incredible, michael stipe was mesmerising.
Think today calls for a wee trawl through their back catalogue :)
someone make me an exhaustive best of playlist on spotify that i can sync this afternoon and listen to
ima need educmacating
Here you go
http://open.spotify.com/album/4W2roFvm940WlgYJLy2ZhT
^ A thousand times this
*Automatic For The People
:-( much missed
Michael Stipe has one of the most naturally good voices in rock. I was too young for all the great stuff the first time, but I shall miss them a great deal. This has been coming for a while though.
Sad times,
but I will never forget seeing them at Brixton in 2005 - the best gig I've ever been to. Seeing a band that good starting with Get Up in a relatively small venue, simply awesome. Had goose bumps all the way through the set. Saw them again at Hyde Park, was good but nowhere near as good.
The last two albums hit the spot again as far as I'm concerned after Around The Sun, they'll be sadly missed. By far and away my favourite ever band.
Many many happy memories though, they've pretty well soundtracked my life.
And this morning, without prompting my ipod began with 'It's The End Of The World As We Know It...' Felt kinda apt.
Oh man, Brixton was amazing
Were you there the first night? They started with Get Up and The Wake Up Bomb and then played the first four tracks off Fables later in the set. Stipe told that ace story about watching The Smiths there and how he stole his moves from Morrissey.
That was probably my favourite gig ever. Saw them a couple of days later at Glastonbury as well, and then Radiohead too. What a week!
Yup - that was it...
Watchinig the Fables tracks live gave me a whole new love for that album that I'd never previously had. I think because everything I'd read about the band kept citing Fables as the record they disliked most for one reason or another, it took me ages to appreciate. I think it was when they recorded Fables that The Smiths story happened :)
I heard they turned down Glastonbury this year, which makes sense now
Personally, I always thought they were guff
*long post eaten by DiS gremlins it seems
In summary: I bloody love REM, the last 18 years or so of my musical listening & gig going was infinitely better for having them around
long post probably eaten
due to a stupid bug we've been unable to fix to do with speechmarks truncating posts. really sorry for the inconvenience.
it adds a much needed element of uncertainty and excitement to posting!
To be honest...
They're one of my favourite bands of all time but only the odd single after New Adventures has been any good. I just wish they'd gone out on a greatest hits tour as I've been really wanting to see them again over the last year or so...
here's our tribute piece by DiS reviews editor Andrzej Lukowski
http://drownedinsound.com/news/4143625-rems-glorious-decline-dis-pays-tribute
Okay, let's think about it this way...
What did The Rolling Stones put out 31 years into their career? Voodoo Lounge.
Exactly.
If you compare them like that, they beat pretty much anybody. Were The Beach Boys still relevant thirty years in? Can anyone think of another American band who were so good for so long?
Not really, and definitely the same could be said of British bands too
I seriously don't think even The Beatles could have kept it up for 31 years without falling off at some point along the way. I just think it's a testament to the high quality of REM's output that they managed to squeeze out 11, maybe 12 really good-to-great records, the merits of which people could endlessly debate all day long - whereas with a band like The Rolling Stones, even with years of hindsight people still look to that run of records they did from 1968-1972!
Aerosmith
Aerosmith - 1973
Honkin' On Bobo 2004
I couldn't agree with that!
I dove into Aerosmith's back catalogue in a big way recently after being impressed by 'Toys In The Attic', and while I loved everything from the beginning up until 'Draw The Line' - I just can't make a case for 'Rock In A Hard Place', 'Done With Mirrors' or 'Just Push Play' being better than REM's worst albums!
I'll give you Done With Mirrors and Rock In A Hard Place
Joe Perry left for a couple of albums and they lost their way big time, but I think Permanentt Vacation, Pump & Get A Grip are excellent. Just Push Play is decent. Nine Lives isn't a bad album either.
Yeah, I quite liked Nine Lives too.
Sonic Youth
29 years and still going relatively strong.
My favourite band of all time ever
ever ever ever x infinity +1
Not really an REM fan, though I have nothing bad to say about them either.
Have enjoyed this thread because some guy seems to have had a bit of a comedy breakdown.
http://new.music.yahoo.com/blogs/listoftheday/141512/remthe-final-grades-are-in
Putting two of their best albums at 13 & 14.
Opinion INVALID.
What the...
I'm with you. Putting Collapse Into Now above anything else is criminal.
Putting New Adventures in Hi-Fi at No. 12
Even more invalid
Yeah, that in particular made me wonder exactly where he was coming from.
I completely understand that it's just his opinion and everything, but I couldn't agree with him in a million years!
In fact
that list is bloody awful
Yes but
... although they've got the more recent stuff arse-about-face Fables of the Reconstruction is an interesting and brave choice as No 1. I mean, they're wrong but I'd almost rather that than stick Automatic For The People or Murmur up there.
I thought it was quite good.
Nope, just different.
Though obviously I don't agree with him!
Come on in Cheryl Baker-uh
They've been about my 10th favourite band for a long while (which is a deliberately back-handed compliment). Their post-Automatic output is underrated (particularly Up but also Reveal) until we get to Around The Sun, after which it's been disappointingly shite. I played their most recent album on wonderful Spotify and found it almost unlistenable.
This is probably killing a sacred suede-jacket wearing cow but I still don't get Murmur - give me Life's Rich Pageant any day.
Murmur is mostly good
I don't quite get Reckoning though. Pageant wins.
I missed REM at T in The Park 2008 for The PRODIGY.
I was 17. I just didn't fucking know :(
I saw 3/4s of it
But ducked out to see some of Prodigy as I'd never seen either before. Everyone I knew had gone to catch them so it was hard enjoying REM when all my mates were elsewhere and the set was a right old mix. When they were good they were really good mind.
I think the trouble was I'd been looking forward to it for 20 years and had no one to enjoy it with.
tbf
The Prodigy are fucking nuts live, don't want to miss that for anything.
Here is an 18 track 'Best Of' the 1981 - 1987 period
That I made a couple of years ago. Just because people above were asking for one.
Obviously it is virtually impossible to cut down this period to 18 tracks, and there's a couple of changes to the content and order I'd make now, but as an introduction to early REM, I think it works very well ...
http://open.spotify.com/user/dan4or5/playlist/5EmbHd15CcLOUt6zjJNrLB
I mean I posted it just because people above were asking for one
Not made it two years ago because people above were asking for one. I'm not psychic. Not that psychic anyway...
on christmas day
"i'm sorry mum but i've got to go home. something tells me i need to compile a definitive collection of R.E.M. between 1981 and 1987....it's just a feeling mum ok FUCK YOUR STUFFING"
flip table
exit
Needs more Driver 8
but otherwise not a bad selection.
I could have chosen any 18 songs and it wouldn't have been a bad selection!
I once had a photograph with REM before they split. That's me in the corner.
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOP
that's him in the spotlight
and then here's me being dragged off stage by security
Mike Mills
I went to see The Duke Spirit support Black Rebel Motorcycle Club iat the 40 Watt Club in Athens, Georgia a couple of years ago. Mike Mills was there, to see The Duke Spirit and we all ended up in a bar until 6am in the morning and he paid for all the drinks all night. Top Man.
Great band, but call me cynical...
they're releasing another greatest hits album, out 15th November, with new tracks.
http://www.prefixmag.com/news/rem-greatest-hits-album-coming-in-november-with-ne/56677/
Nice, just in time for the deluge of greatest hits albums for the Xmas market.
Well, they deserve a last sales push really.
A victory lap really. What they could really do with is a short tour and a massive farewell gig. Plus, it would be nice to have a full career spanning set too, so those who aren't anoraks could here some of the IRS stuff alongside Losing My Religion & Everybody Hurts.
It's not like this was a surprise
The band statements on the day of the split already mentioned they were working on a retrospective compilation.
Seems like a good thing anyway, it focuses on their whole career so should make a great introductionary package to the whole of R.E.M., rather than just the individual label eras presented in previous comps.
I imagine it was probably part of their contract no?
Can't really picture Michael, Mike and Peter sat around rubbing their hands with glee at the prospect of a few more sales but I dunno.
Also, like said above, their previous Greatest Hits have been split between IRS and Warner Bros stuff. I know too many people who would only know maybe two songs from the IRS years, so maybe this will introduce that material to a wider audience.
Dunno
I think their Warners contract was for five albums, starting from Up; this'll be their seventh including In Time, ninth(!) if you include the two live albums... I guess maybe compilations didn't count towards the five...
It seems like a logical enough thing to do at the end of their career, though I do think there's something a bit fishy about the timing; Mills suggested they were working on the compilation before they decided to quit. I wonder if after Collapse Into Now didn't really sell, Warners said they'd do one more best of with them and that would be it, and the band just couldn't be faffed setting up their own label or whatever.
A little bit apprehensive about it, though I suppose if you just combined the first discs of the last two best ofs into a double CD and replaced some of the more oblique inclusions with post 2003 stuff then that sort of works. There's the worry that Warners'll just want the hit singles, but hey ho.
Or maybe since Berry left the plan has been to fulfill the contract all along?
I sincerely doubt they had a 14 year plan
that took in about five world tours, just to fulfil a contract! Especially when they've been quite honest about almost quitting a couple of times previously.
I actually just read the comments made by the guy who founded the murmurs website - he attributes it kind of what I thought, the team changing at Warners and the band not wanting to start up with a new/their own label.
Well yeah, of course
I don't think any band sits down and goes 'for the next 14 years we do this', regardless of what their future plans are, and while I believe they made all of the post-NAIHF albums with the best of intentions, there have been moments since 1998 when you could have been forgiven for thinking that they WERE just fulfilling a contact.
*contract, even.
yeah, I kind of know what you mean
tbh I think it's not so much been making records on autopilot as being too worried about writing popular records; after putting out Monster-NAIHF-Up I think they lost their nerve a bit.
Yeah, they did get self-conscious I suppose.
The thing that I love the most about all of their records up until and including NAIHF, is that they just seemed to write the songs and record them as best as they could and whatever came out, came out naturally and as a product of the band. There's really nothing forced on those records. Everything since (and I include Up in this, as great as it is) seems to have been an exercise in 'this is the type of record we're going to make'. Whether it's Up's 'now we're going to make a more electro-style record' agenda, or Accelerate's deliberate 'let's make an album like we used to' agenda.
Tbh I don't think the attitude of 'holy shit, what are we going to do!?'
that was set in place when Bill Berry left the band ever left them from that point until the end of the band's life... y'know, and I say this as a fan of both Up and Accelerate!
They were undoubtedly a great band...
I just think they were very inconsistent throughout their career. They put out some shite even at the peak of their powers. Shiny Happy People is awful. Some of their lyrics just sound a bit glib and immature, for example on The Great Beyond. Yet they also wrote some beautiful stuff like Nightswimming. Maybe I'm focusing too much on inconsistency between singles rather than between albums.
yes!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwnvTLpFjW4
the shiney happy people hate confuses me
lighten up! SHIIINNEEEEY HAAAAPPY PEEEEOPLE HAAAVING FUUUUN
:-/
It confuses me too
especially since it really isn't any more or less poppy than something like 'Get Up', or 'Stand', or even 'Imitation Of Life'.
Great song. Great fun.
I love it
I think as much as anything else
it was the fact that it was probably the least grunge song ever, and was released just as grunge was blowing up.
I honestly don't think that had anything to do with it
'coz 'Losing My Religion' is hardly full of biting guitars.
yeah, but it's emotionally heavy
has a brooding video, etc: SHP is ridiculously chipper and has a video of the band prannying around at great length.
I suppose so...
but you've got to also remember that grunge wasn't the only thing that went on in 1991, and it also depends if you take a UK viewpoint or a US viewpoint. Back in 1991, people were still raving, Metallica were to release their biggest album, The Stone Roses had yet to fuck it up, certain electro-pop acts from the '80s (Erasure with 'Chorus', OMD with 'Sugar Tax', Pet Shop Boys with 'Behaviour') were still selling. Depeche Mode and The Cure were bigger than ever at their peak. Then there's the early Creation Records stuff too...The Prodigy emerging... and in the mainstream while all of this were going on, people were buying Right Said Fred records. Not to mention Freddie Mercury died that year and Queen had a bit of a resurgence. There was so much going on that it's very difficult to me to put people disliking 'Shiny Happy People' down to simply grunge. Christ, the B-52's had had a successful record with 'Cosmic Thing' only the year before, which no doubt helped 'Shiny Happy People' to sell, with Kate Pierson being on it and everything.
I dunno
it's just a theory, like.
Oh yeah, the Use Your Illusion's came out that year too.
Don't quite know what was going on in hip-hop, but no doubt theShipment'd probably be able to tell you that there was plenty of stuff going on there as well in 1991.
Shiny Happy People's about prozack
The "shiny happy people having fun" are all so dosed up that they never stop smiling. Their happiness is artificial - as is that of the song.
It's one of the archetypal misunderstood songs. It actually has a lot of depth.
I've read it's supposed to be about communist propaganda or something like that
Masquerading terrible things with "we're all doing GREAT here" and such.
Although to be honest, all the serious interpretations of the song's lyrics always felt rather forcibly stretched to me as an attempt to make it more credible. I prefer to think it's just a cheesily, unashamedly happy thing.
It says here
The title and chorus are based on a Chinese propaganda poster. The slogan "Shiny happy people holding hands" is used ironically - the song was released in 1991, 2 years after the Tiananmen Square uprising when the Chinese government clamped down on student demonstrators, killing hundreds of them.
LOL @ "2 years after the Tiananmen Square uprising"
I mean they certainly took their time didn't they
I was in a curry house when I heard REM had split up and I fainted
That's me in the korma
I was on Death Row at Kansas State Penitentiary as made famous by the book 'In Cold Blood' by Truman Capote when I heard REM had split
That's me in The Corner.
I'm one of a litter of kittens
Let's wee in the corner
I have a Japanese import copy of 'Monster' with a lyric sheet
and obviously the lyrics have been transcribed by someone else and haven't been submitted by Michael Stipe for inclusion, because some of the lyrics printed here are frankly hilarious. According to this, the chorus of Circus Envy is:
'I got my car stolen, there in the haystack/I get tired of your dark, warm circus eyes/put pepper in my coffee, I forgot to bath/Encore man'.
you know, the biggest unmistakeably true compliment you can give REM is...
That a huge range of people of all shapes and sizes loved/love them and that there are about 10 records of their's which significant numbers of people hold as their best record. That really is quite an amazing achievement. Even the Beatles - arguably, don't have such a range of records that people hold up as the best.
Their final single :''(
Streaming here:
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/exclusive-stream-r-e-m-s-final-single-we-all-go-back-to-where-we-belong-20111018
appear
appear appaear appaear appaer appaer