Life After R.E.M.: Discussion Thread

[bobsaget77]

I've always loved Monster, and have never stopped. While I appreciated the sophistication of its two predecessors, the debut of What's the Frequency Kenneth? was such a relief to hear, a very welcome left turn.

Definitely stands out amongst their 90's work. Drive, How The West Was Won, and Airportman are all solid openers, but they're not exactly firecrackers. Kenneth is a real barn burner with tons of energy and is probably their 2nd most "fun" opener behind Pop Song 89.
Harborcoat is king when it comes to openers (top 5 REM song IMO) and it's very hard to beat any of the other openers from the 80's, but Kenneth is solidly in the middle of the pack.


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[LemonMelon]

Monster has always sounded good to me. It's got plenty of style and a bit of substance as well. Kenneth, I Don't Sleep I Dream and Strange Currencies have always been favorites of mine. But I don't know, by the end I'm usually pretty exhausted by it because there's so little variety. There's only so much midtempo distortion + tremolo guitar rock a guy can take. Peter Buck really liked that guitar tone.

I can understand why people were disappointed by it at the time, but it is a pretty strong album. It's just a good distance behind its predecessor, which was not only musically gorgeous but boasted some of Stipe's most revealing and heartfelt lyricism. Monster tends to bury the vocals, so it's a bit less engaging on that level.

 

[Axver]

What's the Frequency is one of the five best REM tracks. I've loved it since it came out.

The rest of Monster generally passes me by though. If I had to pick a second favourite it would be You.

 

[bobsaget77]

I have mixed, but mostly positive feelings towards Monster.
Agree with LM about Kenneth, Strange Currencies, and I Don't Sleep I Dream.
I've always admired and been amused by "Tongue". It's such a quirky little song. "King of Comedy" is probably my least favorite REM song. "Crush with Eyeliner" is very different and kinda goofy. I like "Bang and Blame" if I'm listening on shuffle, but when I listen to it with the rest of the album, it doesn't stand out much.

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[Kieran McConville]

Let Me In has always been a favourite of mine, even when other parts of the album bored me or seemed a bit samey (as I say, my views on that have evolved). Just this stunning, wall of sound thing but the melody and the sense of it is there just under the surface (also I realised recently he's probably loosely quoting Patti Smith in Birdland with 'those stars drip down like butter'). Probably one of my favourite R.E.M. songs.

 

[Kieran McConville]

I swear that every music store I've been to has Monster marked down for $.99. I even saw it for $.49 the other day. Heck, I bought all of their 90's albums for less than $2 each. New Adventures in Hifi got me hooked on REM after I found it on the shelf for $.97 and bought it just for the heck of it (what a great purchase that was).


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I think I bought it for about $2 on cassette in 1996 or whenever, so that was a find. At about the same time, I grabbed Passengers for $1 in a second hand shop, again on cassette.

 

[cobl04]

I'm just listening to Kenneth now to make sure I still don't like it, and yep. Probably a perfect encapsulation of why I can't fall in love with REM. I hate this song.

 

[Kieran McConville]

Different strokes for different folks!

 

[BVS]

Let Me In has always been a favourite of mine, even when other parts of the album bored me or seemed a bit samey (as I say, my views on that have evolved). Just this stunning, wall of sound thing but the melody and the sense of it is there just under the surface (also I realised recently he's probably loosely quoting Patti Smith in Birdland with 'those stars drip down like butter'). Probably one of my favourite R.E.M. songs.

It's one of Stipe's best sincere moments.

"He gathered up his loved ones and he brought them all around
To say goodbye, nice try"

That line guts me every time.


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[iron yuppie]

Monster has extreme nostalgia value for me - it was one of the first albums I ever owned and I listened to it constantly for a year or so. And even now it holds up as one of the finest pop-alt albums from that era. Really hoping it gets a vinyl reissue in the near future.

 

[iron yuppie]

Strange Currencies

 

[LemonMelon]

These words, "You will be mine."
These words, they haunt me, hunt me down
Catch in my throat
Make me pray
Say love's confined on Earth

Daaaaaaamn

 

[U2inUtah]

New Adventures in Hi Fi is 20 today. I remember buying it the day it came out. Junior year of high school. Damn I'm old.

 

[u2popmofo]

New Adventures in Hi Fi is 20 today. I remember buying it the day it came out. Junior year of high school. Damn I'm old.

If you got it at Media Play in Orem, I may have ran into you! I was a freshman in college.

 

[The_acrobat]

New Adventures in Hi Fi is 20 today. I remember buying it the day it came out. Junior year of high school. Damn I'm old.

That would make you an entire 2 years older than me. I was a freshman at the time. I bought it, and I remember not liking it and just ignoring it for years. I didn't really get into the album until 2003, after I saw REM live for the first time and went on a bit of an REM bender. Great album, maybe I was just a little too young and my musical appreciation was not yet fully developed.

 

[corianderstem]

New Adventures is in my top 5 REM albums.

Monster just hasn't aged well for me, although Let Me In still gives me chills.

 

[u2popmofo]

Man, they're one of those white whales for me. Never saw them live, kills me that I missed out on so many chances. Have loved them for so freaking long.

 

[Lancemc]

Actually saw them twice, amazing both times. And hey even made Around the Sun material sound great.

 

[corianderstem]

Saw them twice on Monster - Milwaukee and Chicago

Saw them in 1999 touring for Up in Chicago (missed Radiohead as the opener because my friend's brother didn't want to get there for the opener. I didn't care at the time, but now I'm retroactively pissed)

Saw them in 2002 (?) at Bumbershoot in Seattle. Wilco opened ... although I missed most of them.

And then again after Around the Sun at a smaller venue. It was great, and I appreciated that album a lot more after seeing them.

I'll be first in line if they ever do a reunion tour.

 

[u2popmofo]

I'll be first in line if they ever do a reunion tour.

 

[U2inUtah]

If you got it at Media Play in Orem, I may have ran into you! I was a freshman in college.

Ha I definitely did buy it there! Me and my U2 buddy Danny drove over after school at OHS to pick it up. That was the only place to go for CD's. Crazy.

 

[u2popmofo]

Ha I definitely did buy it there! Me and my U2 buddy Danny drove over after school at OHS to pick it up. That was the only place to go for CD's. Crazy.

Very cool. I really hope we did randomly run into each other 20 years ago while we were both buying it, you're a good dude. Messaged a handful of friends tonight that I went to buy this album with, crazy to think it was so long ago. I'm glad you mentioned the release date. Weird how certain random memories in your life can stand out, going with friends to buy New Adventures in HiFi was one of them. Been listening to the band all night. Good stuff.

Too much alcohol also can turn me into a sentimental hippy pansy that likely overemphasizes music memories that mean nothing to anyone else, so I apologize if any of this is weird.

 

[U2inUtah]

haha thanks mofo!

New Adventures definitely reminds me of that year in school. We listened to it a lot hanging out, going to high school football games, etc. In fact I even remember listening to it on the way to the Popmart show that year. Good memories.

 

[U2inUtah]

That would make you an entire 2 years older than me. I was a freshman at the time. I bought it, and I remember not liking it and just ignoring it for years. I didn't really get into the album until 2003, after I saw REM live for the first time and went on a bit of an REM bender. Great album, maybe I was just a little too young and my musical appreciation was not yet fully developed.

I remember liking most of it from the beginning, although E-bow the Letter was not what I was expecting for a lead single and it probably was the track that took me the longest to appreciate.

At the time, living in Utah we thought it was cool that Salt Lake and the Salt Flats were mentioned in Departure haha.

 

[u2popmofo]

At the time, living in Utah we thought it was cool that Salt Lake and the Salt Flats were mentioned in Departure haha.

Oh yeah.

I remember all of my friends and I liking it much more than Monster at the time. Guess I still do.

 

[U2inUtah]

I'm listening to it now. What an opener "How The West Was Won..." is. It sounds like nothing they had done up to that point. Love it.

 

[u2popmofo]

 

[lazarus]

Saw them twice on Monster - Milwaukee and Chicago.

ZOMG we were at the same show!!!!1!!!1!!

I saw both nights at the Rosemont Horizon; one night we had crazy good seats (like first 10-15 rows on the main floor), and the other night we wanted to go again bad so we bought some cheapos the day of. I remember writing the setlists down on yellow post-its and being surprised at all the unknown new material (Undertow was definitely one I remembered once I heard it on Hi-Fi, and was bummed Revolution wasn't on it).

 

[U2inUtah]

So me and mofo crossed paths buying New Adventures 20 years ago and Cori and Laz crossed paths at a show on the Monster tour?...and then we all end up on the same island internet forum???

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

And I had sex with all of your mothers...so even crazier.