When it's all said and done...REM > PJ?

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  • lolobugg
    lolobugg BLUE RDGE MTNS Posts: 8,195
    2-feign-reluctance said:

    PJ.
    REM is amazing live. That's for sure. One of the best shows I've ever seen (Monster tour 1995 and again in 1998 I think).

    PJ play music... awesome live.
    REM put on a "show". Michael Stipe is one of the best frontmen of all time.
    I saw the bastard perform a 2 hour concert wearing a 3 piece suit in 100 degree weather.
    sad that they are gone but I think they hung it up at the right time.

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  • DewieCox
    DewieCox Posts: 11,432
    I'm not all that familiar with REMs catalog or success as a touring act, but I believe they've been infinitely more influential than PJ has and that carries quite a bit of weight with me.

    Trying to remove myself from my familiarity with PJ's success on a mainstream level and I think REM had a few more well known songs, but not sure how that translates to album sales. I know Monster was big and Automatic had the songs they crossed them over into the mainstream so they can't be too far behind PJ on that front, if at all.

    Obviously, I'm more of a PJ fan, but I think REM might edge them out overall.
  • JH6056
    JH6056 Posts: 2,437
    edited January 2016
    Interesting points Dewie... it's hard to tease out "influence" and "impact". PJ was part of a scene that had a huge impact at it's pinnacle (early 90s). But REM as a band and a sound and specific performers had much more of an influence on other musicians over time. I can think of way more influential, highly-respected musicians that cite REM as an inspiration and influence than PJ, and I don't think that's just a "cool" thing (i.e. it's cooler to cite REM than PJ in some critical circles). I think REM was groundbreaking, their sound and their live shows and their ways of working as a band. Not getting a new drummer when Bill Berry left... that was a big deal, as were other moves they made.

    My bias aside about who was actually a better overall band, I do think REM was also just more influential and impactful in terms of creating a new genre. Pearl Jam didn't create their genre alone, there were other bands at the time that all fed into it, although PJ and Nirvana were far and away the most famous and most successful (and I'd say best as well, although there were so many other amazing ones like Screaming Trees). But REM... there wasn't any other band like them or compared with them when they were rising up. Ed is a phenomenal songwriter, and so are Stipe and other songwriters in REM (because didn't everyone but Peter Buck write lyrics?).
    Post edited by JH6056 on
  • PJ_Soul
    PJ_Soul Vancouver, BC Posts: 50,766
    I thought the question was just supposed to be about our own personal feelings about the bands. If we're talking who is more influential, then yes, R.E.M. easily comes out on top. Of course, R.E.M. formed in 1980. Give PJ another 10 years, and maybe they will be considered more influential than they are now, who knows. On the other hand, maybe not. It's true that PJ isn't a groundbreaking band musically. They are unique, but not groundbreaking.
    With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be careful. Strive to be happy. ~ Desiderata
  • kce8
    kce8 Posts: 1,636
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJ46Y6xt2pU
  • PJ_Soul
    PJ_Soul Vancouver, BC Posts: 50,766
    edited January 2016
    .
    With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be careful. Strive to be happy. ~ Desiderata
  • dankind
    dankind Posts: 20,841
    PJ_Soul said:

    .

    Oh, no!

    Not you, too!

    :frowning:
    I SAW PEARL JAM
  • buck502000
    buck502000 Birthplace of GIBSON guitar Posts: 8,951
    I drink beer - Pearl Jam - someday I'll drink more wine - REM
  • pljam
    pljam Posts: 387
    I wipe my shoes - REM
    I walk a thousand golden miles - PEARL JAM
  • TL170678
    TL170678 Near Louisville, in Indiana, closer to Kentucky Posts: 422
    Monster is the only REM album I really like all the way through... The guitar is sick...
    Saying that I think Pearl Jam`s B-sides are better than REM`s career.
  • JH6056
    JH6056 Posts: 2,437
    TL170678 said:

    Monster is the only REM album I really like all the way through... The guitar is sick...
    Saying that I think Pearl Jam`s B-sides are better than REM`s career.

    Your second sentence doesn't surprise me at all after reading your first. :) Monster is probably my least favorite REM album (aside from 2 songs)... But there's no accounting for taste, mine or yours or anyone's!

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