Life After R.E.M.: Discussion Thread

[Musikwala]

Airportman is about 2 minutes too long. But otherwise I like most of Up.

 

[Kieran McConville]

She's a sad professor
she's three miles up that road

 

[Kieran McConville]

Jokes aside, the track they loosely based on 'Susannah' by Leonard Cohen (very, very loosely), is a favourite from that record. 'Hope'.

 

[prbiker15]

What's The Frequency, Kenneth?
Bang and Blame
Strange Currencies

Love these songs.

 

[bobsaget77]

You could make a valid argument that REM has made a bigger impact on music than U2.


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[Aygo]

I still have Monster on cassette, and nothing to play it with.

It's like everyone sent them to the remainder bins because of some bad mojo, because it isn't a bad record at all. It was their POP moment.

Monster... It's my favourite R.E.M. album.
But I'm an attypical fan. I do enjoy, but I'm not a fan of their early years, the I.R.S. era (besides must Murmur and lots of tracks from the following albums). And yes, I think they succeded very well with Up with the post-Berry transition. In fact, I prefer by miles Up to Hi-Fi.

 

[LemonMelon]

Up and Hi-Fi could both both lose 3-4 songs and it would improve them. It's a 90s thing.

 

[bobsaget77]

Accelerate is pretty good, too. Can't touch their pre-2000s material, but it's a good album. Out Of Time is still my favorite and its not cause of Losing My Religion. Radio Song, Endgame, Near Wild Heaven, Country Feedback, etc. Such a great album.


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[Kieran McConville]

Monster... It's my favourite R.E.M. album.
But I'm an attypical fan. I do enjoy, but I'm not a fan of their early years, the I.R.S. era (besides must Murmur and lots of tracks from the following albums). And yes, I think they succeded very well with Up with the post-Berry transition. In fact, I prefer by miles Up to Hi-Fi.

UP gave me new hope for them at the time, but in hindsight I guess it might have been a false dawn. Reveal was so slick and just kind of dull (not unlike ATYCLB).

I'm by no means beholden to the 'IRS years' although, I guess, Lifes Rich Pageant is a high point of all time... Fall On Me, Cuyahoga, Begin the Begin etc. Just personally, I could happily never listen to Automatic For The People again.

 

[Kieran McConville]

Accelerate is pretty good, too. Can't touch their pre-2000s material, but it's a good album. Out Of Time is still my favorite and its not cause of Losing My Religion. Radio Song, Endgame, Near Wild Heaven, Country Feedback, etc. Such a great album.


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Texarkana.

 

[Musikwala]

Texarkana is fantastic! God I love this band so much... maybe more than U2. At least this band has a front man that I'm not embarrassed with. Stipe doesn't do any cringe-worthy back-pedaling like Bono has done in the past, undermining their own experimental creative phase. But... I shouldn't compare I guess.

Was listening to Monster in the car after talking about it in this thread yesterday. I love it as much as I loved it on the last listen several months ago. It took me back to that moment in 1994 when the Kenneth video was about to premier on MTV. First scene and we see a singer who's head is not in the frame. As the song progresses, the fans quickly realize that Stipe is now completely bald! That was an exciting time as a new R.E.M. fan for me. I had only known all the singles and videos from Out Of Time and Automatic up to that point. Monster was my first album purchase of theirs.

 

[IWasBored]

Reveal is all sunny, light, and unsubstantial.

But I like shiny happy people AND stand, so whatever. I like the cheese factor.

 

[Musikwala]

Oh.. also,

It was their POP moment.

Tongue is totally their Lemon.

 

[Kieran McConville]

I don't know that they have a Lemon. Oh maybe they do, but it's something leftfield like Ebow the Letter.

 

[Musikwala]

I was half joking anyway. I was mainly pointing out that both songs have falsetto vocals almost all the way through. Other than that they are quite different.

 

[Kieran McConville]

Of course, the falsetto, I geddit. Actually, REM wouldn't have the audacity to make a record like Lemon. Nor would U2 after 1995 or so, so hey ho, let's go!

 

[prbiker15]

Texarkana.

I'm glad Stipe gave lyric/singing duties to Mike Mills for that song. Out of Time is my favorite R.E.M. album as well.

 

[BigMacPhisto]

God, that MTV DVD box set. I'll cum more owning that than I would with a box of tranny porn.

 

[Diemen]

Classy.

 

[corianderstem]

 

[Hollow Island]

Was spinning Murmur and Reckoning yesterday and those are some timeless albums. They sound less dated than anything else they've done. It doesn't hurt that every note is perfect. I can't think of a band that was better out of the gate than REM, except maybe the Velvet Underground. But they didn't write So. Central Rain.

Life was better with REM than without. Even though they corrected their sad decline and would never touch the 80s - 90s material, an REM with two or three great songs is still a beautiful thing.

 

[bobsaget77]

Was spinning Murmur and Reckoning yesterday and those are some timeless albums. They sound less dated than anything else they've done. It doesn't hurt that every note is perfect. I can't think of a band that was better out of the gate than REM, except maybe the Velvet Underground. But they didn't write So. Central Rain.

Life was better with REM than without. Even though they corrected their sad decline and would never touch the 80s - 90s material, an REM with two or three great songs is still a beautiful thing.

I constantly flip flop on which era is better, Chronic Town-Up or Boy-Pop. It's very tough, I could go either way. REM released so much material, specially early on that there's no way U2 could or would ever compete with that. But U2's albums were a lot more layered and detailed.


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[stray dog]

Forever changed what an Orange Crush means to me.

 

[Musikwala]

I don't know if anybody has noticed or mentioned this before over here...

"I feel like a cartoon brick wall" - Up
"Where is the cartoon escape hatch for me?" - Accelerate
"Pull me up and out of cartoon quicksand" - Collapse Into Now

Intentional or just plain lazy songwriting?

 

[bobsaget77]

I don't know if anybody has noticed or mentioned this before over here...

"I feel like a cartoon brick wall" - Up
"Where is the cartoon escape hatch for me?" - Accelerate
"Pull me up and out of cartoon quicksand" - Collapse Into Now

Intentional or just plain lazy songwriting?

I think it's very much intentional and that's what makes Stipe such an amazing, off-the-wall songwriter. They use very similar phrasing and themes in a lot of their songs.


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[Hewson]

Plus he like cartoons.

 

[Kieran McConville]

I think that Stipe planned that all in advance. He knew in 1998 what the lyric on the 2011 album would be. He just had it all planned.


Or not so much.

 

[U2inUtah]

Looks like they are showing the R.E.M. by MTV documentary tonight on Palladia.

 

[Hewson]

Yeah tonight 9-11:30 on both Palladia and Vh1 classic.

 

[corianderstem]

Totally watching that. Yay.