R.E.M.

FenwayFaithful

Does anyone here love REM as much as I do? They are far and away my #3 band ever. They had so much success in both the 80's and 90's, becoming a driving force in the genre that became known as "college radio". They have evolved as the years have passed so well and have gained new fans with their recent albums.

What say you? Anybody care to opine on what REM means to them? By the way, I think Automatic for the People is equal to anything Pearl Jam has ever put out. Pearl Jam's obviously better, but that record is pure genius.

Brisk.

Yup up there with my favourites, can't wait for this new DVD.

Michael Stipe is just the fucking bees knees.

FenwayFaithful

Snap, crack, bush-whacked
Tie another one to your back
Baby

Yeah, you guys love REM on the other side of the pond. Keep that love alive, Brisky my boy.

Brisk.

FenwayFaithful wrote:

Snap, crack, bush-whacked
Tie another one to your back
Baby

Yeah, you guys love REM on the other side of the pond. Keep that love alive, Brisky my boy.

No everyone on this forum must learn I am NOT like anyone in this nation!

But yeah I have solid rinsed them recently, a lot of their albums have great songsthen a few naff ones but when tis good its fucking good.

Murmur, Green and Automatic for the People are the most listening for me.

The Unplugged show is just so nice, the rendition of "One I Love" and "Country Feedback" are just outstanding amongst others.

samjam

Up there as one of my other favorite bands as well!

Fell in love with them 3 or 4 years ago when I was looking through some old CD's my mom had lying around. Found Green, put it on, and just fell in love with Michael's voice and their sound! (Wish I could credit my mom on this one, but when I asked about the CD, she said she received it as a gift a long time ago and hadnt even really listened to it) Countless great songs and so much musical talent outta them. Gotta love R.E.M.!

dimitrispearljam

HERE!!ONE OF MY FAVORITE AS WELL..

BinauralJam

:thumbup:

Some of the coolest video's.

dcfaithful

Love 'em.

FenwayFaithful

Im currently sitting here in the library writing my shit, listening to REM: Live from Dublin. Love the crowd in this show. Boy in the Well and Imitation of Life are so underrated. Fantastic tracks in my opinion. The later albums get no love for the most part, but there are certainly some gems on New Adventures in Hi-Fi, Reveal and Accelerate.

RYEzupSF

One of my faves too. Automatic, Green, Murmur, Document ruled my life during the 90s.

A few years ago I was sitting at the shitty/awesome little dive bar I used to work at. A guy walked in and sat down next to me. He was bald and wearing a scarf around his neck. It was summer. In a super sarcastic voice I said to my friend who was bartending "Michael Stipe has entered the building" and laughed. Upon closer examination I realized it was Michael Stipe. I was mortified. I looked at him, and told him I'm an asshole. He laughed and asked for a Newport Light. We smoked cigarettes, drank shitty wine and had a great conversation. He was super nice and smart, but also a sarcastic asshole. After the bar closed, we stuck around with a few people and drank all of the $8 champagne in the place. I got wasted with Michael Stipe on shit champagne. It was an amazing night I will never forget.

dcfaithful

RYEzupSF wrote:

One of my faves too. Automatic, Green, Murmur, Document ruled my life during the 90s.

A few years ago I was sitting at the shitty/awesome little dive bar I used to work at. A guy walked in and sat down next to me. He was bald and wearing a scarf around his neck. It was summer. In a super sarcastic voice I said to my friend who was bartending "Michael Stipe has entered the building" and laughed. Upon closer examination I realized it was Michael Stipe. I was mortified. I looked at him, and told him I'm an asshole. He laughed and asked for a Newport Light. We smoked cigarettes, drank shitty wine and had a great conversation. He was super nice and smart, but also a sarcastic asshole. After the bar closed, we stuck around with a few people and drank all of the $8 champagne in the place. I got wasted with Michael Stipe on shit champagne. It was an amazing night I will never forget.

That's an awesome story!

EvoLukin

Seeing them at the 40 watt club in Athens, GA in High school with the fake ID made me a fan for life. Although I will say I still love the 80's and 90's R.E.M more than the later material. But still think their great.

norm

RYEzupSF wrote:

One of my faves too. Automatic, Green, Murmur, Document ruled my life during the 90s.

A few years ago I was sitting at the shitty/awesome little dive bar I used to work at. A guy walked in and sat down next to me. He was bald and wearing a scarf around his neck. It was summer. In a super sarcastic voice I said to my friend who was bartending "Michael Stipe has entered the building" and laughed. Upon closer examination I realized it was Michael Stipe. I was mortified. I looked at him, and told him I'm an asshole. He laughed and asked for a Newport Light. We smoked cigarettes, drank shitty wine and had a great conversation. He was super nice and smart, but also a sarcastic asshole. After the bar closed, we stuck around with a few people and drank all of the $8 champagne in the place. I got wasted with Michael Stipe on shit champagne. It was an amazing night I will never forget.

:shock: damn that's cool!!

FenwayFaithful

RYEzupSF wrote:

One of my faves too. Automatic, Green, Murmur, Document ruled my life during the 90s.

A few years ago I was sitting at the shitty/awesome little dive bar I used to work at. A guy walked in and sat down next to me. He was bald and wearing a scarf around his neck. It was summer. In a super sarcastic voice I said to my friend who was bartending "Michael Stipe has entered the building" and laughed. Upon closer examination I realized it was Michael Stipe. I was mortified. I looked at him, and told him I'm an asshole. He laughed and asked for a Newport Light. We smoked cigarettes, drank shitty wine and had a great conversation. He was super nice and smart, but also a sarcastic asshole. After the bar closed, we stuck around with a few people and drank all of the $8 champagne in the place. I got wasted with Michael Stipe on shit champagne. It was an amazing night I will never forget.

Now THAT is a great story. So jealous, RYE. No wonder Michael and Eddie get along so well.

Also, you guys all know that Stipe is Frances Bean's godfather, right? Needless to say, the man is super-respected by his peers. I always love hearing about the relationships between these rock stars we as fans put on pedestals. They are just regular assholes like you and me, as evidenced by RYE's story about Mr. Stipe.

Brisk.

Some great stories here!

Haha the irony of "night you'll never forget"

how much you drink?

veddertown

FenwayFaithful wrote:

Does anyone here love REM as much as I do? They are far and away my #3 band ever. They had so much success in both the 80's and 90's, becoming a driving force in the genre that became known as "college radio". They have evolved as the years have passed so well and have gained new fans with their recent albums.

What say you? Anybody care to opine on what REM means to them? By the way, I think Automatic for the People is equal to anything Pearl Jam has ever put out. Pearl Jam's obviously better, but that record is pure genius.

REM are up there with my favoutite bands too! PJ, The Beatles, REM, Masters Of Reality and The Black Crowes are probably my top 5. REM have developed and matured a lot from the early days and although I think they are still a really great band I think the period that produced Out Of Time, Automatic..., Monster, New Adventures.. is as good an output as any band has achieved. That 4 albums for me have many similarities to PJ's period from Ten to No Code:

Out Of Time / Ten - Major radio/MTV rotation, massive global success & sales, rave reviews.
Automatic.../Vs - Huge anticipated release, same euphoria as previous and successful tours.
Monster/Vitalogy - Peak pre-release euphoria and similar less radio friendly albums/singles.
New Adventures/No Code - Strange single choices, both gave press a wider berth and albums developed good cult followings instead of massive sales, both albums separated true fans from trendy hangers on.

Early material is still fresh sounding and also like PJ a few later albums are either loathed or loved and both have made very short and to the point albums recently and increased younger fanbases along the way.
Great live band and reasonable at mixing up setlists throwing in some good surprises. A perfect afternoon's listening at work would probably be New Adventures.. & No Code. I wouldn't know where to start with favourite songs because I can't even put on certain albums without listening all the way through. I have a major soft spot for Green and Around The Sun. Seen them 3 times, Glasgow SECC, Stirling Castle and Loch Lomond and each time was better. Cheers Fenway, I know what to listen to at work tomorrow now!!

dcfaithful

veddertown wrote:

FenwayFaithful wrote:

Does anyone here love REM as much as I do? They are far and away my #3 band ever. They had so much success in both the 80's and 90's, becoming a driving force in the genre that became known as "college radio". They have evolved as the years have passed so well and have gained new fans with their recent albums.

What say you? Anybody care to opine on what REM means to them? By the way, I think Automatic for the People is equal to anything Pearl Jam has ever put out. Pearl Jam's obviously better, but that record is pure genius.

REM are up there with my favoutite bands too! PJ, The Beatles, REM, Masters Of Reality and The Black Crowes are probably my top 5. REM have developed and matured a lot from the early days and although I think they are still a really great band I think the period that produced Out Of Time, Automatic..., Monster, New Adventures.. is as good an output as any band has achieved. That 4 albums for me have many similarities to PJ's period from Ten to No Code:

Out Of Time / Ten - Major radio/MTV rotation, massive global success & sales, rave reviews.
Automatic.../Vs - Huge anticipated release, same euphoria as previous and successful tours.
Monster/Vitalogy - Peak pre-release euphoria and similar less radio friendly albums/singles.
New Adventures/No Code - Strange single choices, both gave press a wider berth and albums developed good cult followings instead of massive sales, both albums separated true fans from trendy hangers on.

Early material is still fresh sounding and also like PJ a few later albums are either loathed or loved and both have made very short and to the point albums recently and increased younger fanbases along the way.
Great live band and reasonable at mixing up setlists throwing in some good surprises. A perfect afternoon's listening at work would probably be New Adventures.. & No Code. I wouldn't know where to start with favourite songs because I can't even put on certain albums without listening all the way through. I have a major soft spot for Green and Around The Sun. Seen them 3 times, Glasgow SECC, Stirling Castle and Loch Lomond and each time was better. Cheers Fenway, I know what to listen to at work tomorrow now!!

^^ I have this guy to thank for getting me into R.E.M.

FenwayFaithful

I read something a few years back about how Michael writes lyrics from the perspective of "a gay man in a straight culture". Though this may conjure up notions of disconnect between many of his fans, but the feelings and thoughts he expresses in his lyrics are universal. We all grow up dealing with fears of social alienation and rejection, regardless of our gender or sexual orientation. I know this falls under the category of "how music helps us through life's issues", but it's worth mentioning how exceptional REM is at making that connection.

RYEzupSF

FenwayFaithful wrote:

RYEzupSF wrote:

One of my faves too. Automatic, Green, Murmur, Document ruled my life during the 90s.

A few years ago I was sitting at the shitty/awesome little dive bar I used to work at. A guy walked in and sat down next to me. He was bald and wearing a scarf around his neck. It was summer. In a super sarcastic voice I said to my friend who was bartending "Michael Stipe has entered the building" and laughed. Upon closer examination I realized it was Michael Stipe. I was mortified. I looked at him, and told him I'm an asshole. He laughed and asked for a Newport Light. We smoked cigarettes, drank shitty wine and had a great conversation. He was super nice and smart, but also a sarcastic asshole. After the bar closed, we stuck around with a few people and drank all of the $8 champagne in the place. I got wasted with Michael Stipe on shit champagne. It was an amazing night I will never forget.

Now THAT is a great story. So jealous, RYE. No wonder Michael and Eddie get along so well.

Also, you guys all know that Stipe is Frances Bean's godfather, right? Needless to say, the man is super-respected by his peers. I always love hearing about the relationships between these rock stars we as fans put on pedestals. They are just regular assholes like you and me, as evidenced by RYE's story about Mr. Stipe.

And he was a total asshole. The drunker we got on shit champagne the more we talked shit about everyone and everything, including ourselves. It was actually hilarious. At one point he told me he really liked what a bitch I was and I showed him my tattoo, which is an old school anchor with a banner across it that says "bitch". He told me it was one of the coolest tattoos he has seen. My cool card shot up so high at that point.

bobasfeet

Started at

Life's Rich Pageant...Document...Green

then back cataloge to current

Fan For Life

aspoonfulweighsaton

They are my #2 all-time. They can do no wrong in my book and as much as I love Automatic for the People, my favorite album of theirs is actually New Adventures in Hi-Fi.

I actually got to meet Peter Buck (and Scott McCaughey) before a Tuatara show back in 1997 which was pretty cool. As someone who plays guitar, I consider Peter Buck (along with Stone) my main inspiration for his style and the way he plays.

gecko

I have to put their CDs in the car. I had a period of time when I listened to them intensively, I can remember always choosing them when driving in the night, I don't know why I drifted away.
And the above story about getting drunk with Michael Stipe is awesome.

keeponrockin

Great band.

nuffingman

Great band. I absolutely love 'em. I have all the albums and am always finding a song that becomes my current favourite. Twickenham a couple of years ago is in my top 3 shows.

The Rock

I fucking love R.E.M. They're probably my #3 band, after Pearl Jam and Springsteen.

I might be in the minority but I absolutely prefer the later material to the earlier stuff. Everything after Automatc is better than everything before it in my opinion. However, I do love Document.

Stipe's lyrics are the among the hardest to decipher and make sense of, but that's partly what I love. His imagery is fantastic but a lot of what he sings can be so ambiguous. There's a lot of mystery there.

Saw them in 2005 on the Around The Sun tour, and then in 2008 for Accelerate and the second show was head and shoulders above the first one. Amazing crowd and even better setlist, and Stipe sounded beautiful.

Favourite tracks from some albums.....

Life's Rich Pagaent - Begin The Begin, Fall On Me

Document - Finest Worksong, Disturbance..., The One I Love

Out Of Time - Radio Song, Losing My Religion, Half A World Away, Country Feedback, Me In Honey

Automatic - Sidewinder Sleeps Tonight, Man On The Moon, Nightswimming, Find The River

Monster - Crush With Eyeliner, I Don't Sleep I Dream, Strange Currencies, Bang & Blame, I Took Your Name, Let Me In

New Adventures - New Test Leper, Leave, Departure, So Fast So Numb

Up - Lotus, Walk Unafraid, Why Not Smil, Daysleeper

Reveal - The Lifting, I've Been High, She Just Wants To Be, Imitation Of Life, I'll Take The Rain

Around The Sun - Electron Blue, The Outsiders, Wanderlust, Boy In The Well, Aftermath

Accelerate - Living Well..., Hollow Man, Sing For The Submarine, I'm Gonna DJ

So yeah, an awesome band.

nuffingman

The Rock wrote:

I might be in the minority but I absolutely prefer the later material to the earlier stuff. Everything after Automatc is better than everything before it in my opinion. However, I do love Document.

Most of my REM best playlist is later stuff but includes a lot of the older songs too. I'd like some of the older songs to be re-recorded as IMHO some of the older material sounds a bit tinny.

FenwayFaithful

And how cool is Monster? Might be their most underrated album.

catefrances

FenwayFaithful wrote:

Does anyone here love REM as much as I do? They are far and away my #3 band ever. They had so much success in both the 80's and 90's, becoming a driving force in the genre that became known as "college radio". They have evolved as the years have passed so well and have gained new fans with their recent albums.

What say you? Anybody care to opine on what REM means to them? By the way, I think Automatic for the People is equal to anything Pearl Jam has ever put out. Pearl Jam's obviously better, but that record is pure genius.

i think AFTP is ahead of anything pearl jam ever put out, casue by your words i dont think anything pj have put out is pure genius.

Of The Aggie

I was a huge fan in college. In my bootleg tape trading days I racked up quite a collections of shows. I fell out of favor with the release of Up. Saw them only once, in 1995, and it was a great show.

TiaMija

I'm an old school fan from when Michael still had long hair!
I love everything, but Chronic Town, Mumur and Reckoning will always hold special places in my heart because they helped me survive college. Those songs come floating to the top of my brain whenever it's a chilly, rainy morning....like today.

pandora

FenwayFaithful wrote:

Does anyone here love REM as much as I do? They are far and away my #3 band ever. They had so much success in both the 80's and 90's, becoming a driving force in the genre that became known as "college radio". They have evolved as the years have passed so well and have gained new fans with their recent albums.

What say you? Anybody care to opine on what REM means to them? By the way, I think Automatic for the People is equal to anything Pearl Jam has ever put out. Pearl Jam's obviously better, but that record is pure genius.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNBKM5so8tQ this was the beginning for me 1987. I love the 80's!! Yes REM is an epic band, a favorite from a favorite time....