2 Underrated REM songs

[Zoots]

Swan Swan H

Swan, swan, hummingbird
Hurrah, we are all free now
What noisy cats are we
Girl and dog he bore his cross
A long, low time ago, people talk to me



King Of Birds

A thumbnail sketch, a jeweler's stone
A mean idea to call my own
Old man don't lay so still you're not yet young
There's time to teach, point to point,
Point observation, children carry reservations
Standing on the shoulders of giants leaves me cold, leaves me cold.
A mean idea to call my own, a hundred million birds fly



Stipe sings so beautifully in both these songs! Life's Rich Pageant is probably their best 80s album, if not the best ever! And Document isn't far behind IMO.

God, 80s REM is so criminally underrated compared to the monsters (pun intended) of the 90s!!!

 

[indra]

I love 80's REM. No so fond of the rest.

Kinda reminds me of my favourite era of another longtime band....

 

[IWasBored]

i hate swan swan h. but the rest of life's rich pageant is brilliant. well, except for under the bunker, too...but it's a great album.

 

[lazarus]

lifes rich pageant (there's no apostrophe in "lifes" because the one on michael stipe's typewriter didn't work when he wrote the title, hence the intentional error) is my favorite R.E.M. album.

flowers of guatemala totally fucking beautiful. begin the begin and these days kick ass and take names. the banjo on I Believe!

I can't get enough.

 

[angelordevil]

Green is my favourite 80's R.E.M album...I think it's underrated and underappreciated. It's got Orange Crush, which is one of my favourite songs.

It might be sacrilegious to say, but I actually think the 90's stuff is more interesting. New Adventures in Hi-Fi , for example, is brilliant...

 

[Zoots]

flowers of guatemala totally fucking beautiful. begin the begin and these days kick ass and take names. the banjo on I Believe!

I can't get enough.

Oh absolutely! The album's filled with brilliant songs from top to bottom! It's probably their most joyous and rocking album I guess, upto that point! I even like Underneath The Bunker.

It might be sacrilegious to say, but I actually think the 90's stuff is more interesting. New Adventures in Hi-Fi , for example, is brilliant...

Oh of course! Are you kidding? Everything from Out Of Time down to Up...

 

[lazarus]

We've definitely got a lot of common ground here. New Adventures is my 2nd favorite R.E.M. album (so damned ambitious!), and like you, Zoot, I tuned out after Up. The band really showed their age on the last two records, and the difference between Out of Time/Automatic and Reveal/Around the Sun is that the first two have fucking SONGS on them.

And I never thought I would say this, but I like Michael Stipe's lyrics better before he printed them in the album inserts. Because they ain't lookin' too good lately.

The one thing I have to disagree about on the last two posts is about Green. If there's an album that makes a case for NOT signing to a major label...well it just sounds like a bit of a sellout. I understand the irony of Pop Song 89 and Stand, but the band completely lost their organic sound on Green, and it's a very cold record. I think Orange Crush is phenomenal, and You Are The Everything and World Leader Pretend are two of their best. But there's filler of a lesser quality not found on most R.E.M. albums. Hairshirt? The Empty FUCKING Child? Even catchy tunes like Get Up and the aforementioned Pop Song are about as deep as a dixie cup. Plus I've always hated Stand.

Compared to its predecessor Document, which is a masterpiece, Green just doesn't cut the mustard. And the next album was the lush breakthrough Out of Time which sounds like a band with 10 more years of sophisitication, musicianship, and songwriting skill under their belts, when the album only came out 2 years later. Green was the college crossover hit when it came out, and carries a lot of memories for people, but honestly, if I want to hear R.E.M. rock out with less epic material, I'll listen to Monster, which kicks so many kinds of ass, and is the real underrated album in their discography.

 

[Zoots]

Compared to its predecessor Document, which is a masterpiece, Green just doesn't cut the mustard. And the next album was the lush breakthrough Out of Time which sounds like a band with 10 more years of sophisitication, musicianship, and songwriting skill under their belts, when the album only came out 2 years later. Green was the college crossover hit when it came out, and carries a lot of memories for people, but honestly, if I want to hear R.E.M. rock out with less epic material, I'll listen to Monster, which kicks so many kinds of ass, and is the real underrated album in their discography.

I agree completely! I've never been a big fan of Green, it's a mixed bag! Although... World Leader Pretend is awesome! And nice to see another Monster lover! Monster rules.

 

[MrBrau1]

I miss Bill Berry.

They haven't been the same since he left.

Up. Reveal. Around The Sun. All nice records, yet something is missing.

It would appear Bill Berry was the key to REM being great. He did a hell of alot more than play solid 4/4 beats.

The sum is greater than the parts.

 

[IWasBored]

lifes rich pageant (there's no apostrophe in "lifes" because the one on michael stipe's typewriter didn't work when he wrote the title, hence the intentional error) is my favorite R.E.M. album.

flowers of guatemala totally fucking beautiful. begin the begin and these days kick ass and take names. the banjo on I Believe!

I can't get enough.

the banjo on i believe is one of the reasons i like that song so much.

didn't know that about the lack of apostrophe. i seem to have mentally inserted one every time i've read the album title

 

[Sweet Tart]

glad to see some fans of monster on this board...i really love that album.

and i miss bill berry too. i'm really sad that i never got to see them live when he was still in the band.

 

[MumblingBono]

I need to dig out Life's Rich Pageant again...I think it was the highwatermark of the "early" era, it rocked and was well-produced.

 

[U2Man]

I need to dig out Lifes Rich Pageant again...I think it was the highwatermark of the "early" era, it rocked and was well-produced.

Sorry, had to do it

 

[barlowdog]

Hey gang, let's all rank the REM albums. If someone wants to start a poll.....

Life's Rich Pageant
Murmur
Automatic
Document
Green
Reckoning
Out of Time
Fables
New Adventures
Up
Monster
Reveal
Around the Sun

I excluded Dead Letter Office due to it being a comp.

 

[U2Man]

A poll would require 6227020800 options to vote for....

 

[circa1992]

I haven't heard much R.E.M., but of what I've heard, I them

 

[The OOTS]

Love 80s REM!!! Easily their best era.
I can't stand Monster....except for 'What's the frequency,Kenneth'? REM's horrible attempt at being 'grungey'.

I think their best 90s album is New Adventures...that one seemed to fly under a lot of people's radar.

 

[Zoots]

didn't know that about the lack of apostrophe. i seem to have mentally inserted one every time i've read the album title

same here!

 

[IWasBored]

Hey gang, let's all rank the REM albums. If someone wants to start a poll.....

Life's Rich Pageant
Murmur
Automatic
Document
Green
Reckoning
Out of Time
Fables
New Adventures
Up
Monster
Reveal
Around the Sun

I excluded Dead Letter Office due to it being a comp.

but that's like...work.

murmer
life's rich pageant
up
reckoning
fables
monster
green
new adventures
out of time
automatic
around the sun
reveal


actually, it's more like this, in groups. because i like certain albums about the same as others.

murmer - life's rich pageant - up

reckoning - fables

monster - green - new adventures

out of time- automatic - around the sun

reveal [i hate reveal, whereas i like everything else]


and i don't own document, so i don't know where i'd put it.

 

[Zoots]

actually, it's more like this, in groups. because i like certain albums about the same as others.

murmer - life's rich pageant - up

reckoning - fables

monster - green - new adventures

out of time- automatic - around the sun

reveal [i hate reveal, whereas i like everything else]


and i don't own document, so i don't know where i'd put it.

Wow, Murmur, LRP and Up... quite a combination!

I would rate Out Of Time and esp. Automatic much higher!

And you gotta get Document! Have you heard all the songs on it?

 

[IWasBored]

Wow, Murmur, LRP and Up... quite a combination!

I would rate Out Of Time and esp. Automatic much higher!

And you gotta get Document! Have you heard all the songs on it?

i'm really sick of both automatic and out of time. another time, i would have rated them much higher. out of time loses points for shiny happy people (which i actually love, or i love that riff and mills buck stipe singing "happy furry monsters" on sesame street. but then i hate it when it gets stuck in my head for weeks on end), though.

i've heard document, but it was a while ago. i know i need to get it. it's a matter of a copy being at the store when i go with the intention of buying it. my local record store is terribly inconsistent.

 

[Zoots]

it's a matter of a copy being at the store when i go with the intention of buying it.

oh yeah, tell me about it!

I still haven't replaced my cassette copies of REM's Monster, Pearl Jam's Ten, Led Zep IV, Floyd's Wall, Oasis' Morning Glory among other albums. I try to wait for them to go on sale... and when they finally go on sale, I can't afford them cos I'm getting other new and contemporary CDs.

 

[IWasBored]

a lot of my rem stuff was on tapes because i used to think it was a good deal to pick up older albums for 2 or 3 bucks on cassette at the used music store. then i'd take the tapes to work. i was doing landscaping-type stuff so i was outside all day. i'd leave the tapes in the truck and they'd melt or i'd manage to lose them somehow. all bands like REM who have been around for a while and have considerable back catalogues that i needed to re-acquire on CD format. and like you said, add in the albums that are being released by bands currently... it's almost enough to make me not want to get into any band that's been putting out albums for a while. don't want to have to buy all their past albums. the RIAA isn't losing any money with me, i'll tell you that.

 

[Zoots]

it's almost enough to make me not want to get into any band that's been putting out albums for a while. don't want to have to buy all their past albums. the RIAA isn't losing any money with me, i'll tell you that.

yeah really!

I actually haven't even heard Reckoning, Fables and Dead Letter Office properly. I used to have Fables on cassette but I got bored with it and lost it somewhere. I used to easily get bored with REM's first 4 or 5 albums, with that sound... upto Fables. Recently I started loving Murmur and now I'd like to get Reckoning cheap somewhere.

 

[IWasBored]

it's a pain in the ass when you go to the store looking for something like reckoning or fables and they have around the sun, reveal, and 10 copies of automatic for the people, but nothing else. my mom got me murmer on cd for my birthday last year. that really surprised me. the car tape player ate my tape and i had been whining about how much i liked the album and i couldn't listen to it anymore. i was more surprised that she actually found the cd at all. and at barnes and noble of all places.


threads like this always make me want to listen to the band.

driver 8

 

[Zoots]

threads like this always make me want to listen to the band.

driver 8

I love it when that happens!


Driver 8 is so beautiful. I have it on my Eponymous CD.

 

[MrBrau1]

The top 50 or so REM songs in MrBrau1's little noggin:

Toys In The Attic
Strange
Get Up
All The Right Friends
Fall On Me
Little America
Pop Song 89
Maps And Legends
So. Central Rain
The One I Love
Sitting Still
Exhuming McCarthy
Half A World Away
Driver 8
These Days
Talk About The Passion
Begin The Begin
Texarkana
Disturbance At The Heron House
Daysleeper
I Believe
Finest Worksong
Orange Crush
Strange Currencies
Catapult
Imitation Of Life
What's The Frequency, Kenneth?
Me In Honey
Country Feedback
Radio Free Europe
Bad Day
It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)
The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite
Disappear
Departure
Nightswimming
Sweetness Follows
Cuyahoga
World Leader Pretend
Losing My Religion
The Lifting
Shaking Through
Bittersweet Me
(Don't Go Back To) Rockville
Hope
Electrolite
Man On The Moon
She Just Wants To Be
The Wake-Up Bomb
Undertow
Be Mine
New Test Leper
Leaving New York

Brilliant band.

 

[Zoots]

Disappear

I don't think I know that one!

But overall great list, Brau!

Brilliant band indeed.

 

[MrBrau1]

I don't think I know that one!

But overall great list, Brau!

Brilliant band indeed.

It's one of the few gems from Reveal.

 

[Zoots]

It's one of the few gems from Reveal.

Ahh.. I knew it sounded familiar! Actually, apart from Imitation.., Reno, Lifting and Leaving NY, I haven't heard anything else from the last 2 albums.