R.E.M. have broken up

[MissVelvetDress_75]

R.E.M. Break Up After Three Decades | Music News | Rolling Stone

 

[Lancemc]

 

[iron yuppie]

Damn. Surprising news, but they have certainly earned their retirement.

 

[Edge_Orchestra]

R.E.M. Break Up After Three Decades | Music News | Rolling Stone

In a way, not too surprised. Their last album was the last in their contract. WB probably didn't want to re-new or at a lower price as R.E.M. albums have not sold as well since... Monster. That isn't to say that they haven't made fine albums... they have... but with little radio airplay and pushing by the record company... it's hard to compete in this day and age of the industry.

Sad loss. One of my favorite bands.

 

[bono_212]

Wow...explains the no tour, I guess.

 

[TheEdge25]

Very sad day today.

But, gives me a reason to listen to nothing but REM, something I haven't done in a long while.

 

[mtnfox]

 

[powerhour24]

I'm not surprised, Collapse Into Now really did sound like a career retrospective to me, that was one of the first things I said about it. But it doesn't make it any less sad. Thanks for all your years of sharing your creativity with the rest of us.

This is made even more utterly depressing by the lack of a true farewell tour.

 

[elevated_u2_fan]

Damn, thats depressing

 

[Joey788]

Really, really sad news. I had just recently rediscovered the band through some of their less-loved albums like Up.

I thought Collapse Into Now was absolutely brilliant and had me looking forward to what they were going to do next.

Thanks for all the music R.E.M.

 

[lemonfly]

Very sad news. I thought they still had two albums left in them. Still, I simply cannot believe that the three of them will cease to make music together again. I'm 100% certain we'll get plenty more from the trio, just under different guises.

 

[joyfulgirl]

I look forward to the reunion tour.

 

[LemonMelon]

My mighty heart is breaking.

I'm not sure if I should listen to some of the early stuff to remind me of the good times, or listen to Around The Sun to remind myself why their breakup is likely for the best.

 

[BVS]

Green was the second CD I ever bought, right after Rattle and Hum, and coincidentally became my second love.

We all know the day will come but I'm still suprisingly sad about it...

Thank you REM. Thank you for the music, for taking over my town and making me skip school to film the Everybody Hurts video, thank you for one of my favorite concerts, thank you for some of the best videos, thank you for 'Find the River', thank you for introducing me to Patti Smith, and thank you for being so REM.

 

[Joey788]

All three members have released statements about the break-up:

R.E.M. breaks up ? Consequence of Sound

 

[MissVelvetDress_75]

I am still disappointed in myself for being a drunk, out of control student and missing out on a surprise performance at the 40 Watt in Athens in the early 90s.

 

[patske]

Very sad..
U2 was and is my first love.. but REM was the other band that shaped me musically..

 

[MrPryck2U]

My friend just gave me the news. That sucks. I've seen them 3 times live and they always put on a great show. Last saw them in 2008 and they kicked ass. All good things must come to an end though.

 

[Casamares]

Sad news

 

[lazarus]

Is Boner ok??

Spoiler

I can't believe over a page of comments and no one's gone there yet.

 

[MissVelvetDress_75]

I went there on my fb page.

 

[deep]

I am sure they are happier now.

I wish them the best in their new relationships.

 

[lazarus]

Combined with Boner's statements at the Toronto Film Festival, this is definitely CRISIS time for Shuttlecock. Their closest contemporaries have thrown in the towel, and one has to believe irrevancy is one of the reasons.

I imagine that Boner will be talking to Stipe directly in the near future to offer his condolences and voice his own fears. Let's hope that Stipe pushes him in the right direction creatively.

 

[powerhour24]

Let's be fair, U2 just finished the largest tour ever, they're not at all on the same page. Granted they still want to be in people's minds, but this has been coming for a decade from R.E.M..

 

[financeguy]

They should have broken up five years ago.

 

[lazarus]

And have Around The Sun as their swan song?

Hell to the no.

 

[lazarus]

Let's be fair, U2 just finished the largest tour ever, they're not at all on the same page. Granted they still want to be in people's minds, but this has been coming for a decade from R.E.M..

Wasn't the point that they had financial success but felt irrelevancy was an imminent threat? R.E.M. was further down that path but I'm sure the news will still dishearten Shuttlecock.

 

[powerhour24]

NLOTH was also received to stronger reviews than anything R.E.M. has done since Hi-Fi and debuted #1 in dozens of countries. And the band members are friends, I doubt U2 didn't know this was coming.

 

[LemonMelon]

Well, there were a handful of reviews more positive than anything they've seen since Hi-Fi. Accelerate was overall more warmly received.

 

[MrPryck2U]

They should have broken up five years ago.

Accelerate from 2008 was an awesome album. The tour that followed was also awesome. Saw them in the rain for that tour and it was well worth it.