R.E.M. Monster
Pearls&Stones
Posts: 585
With R.E.M. set to release their first rocker since 1996's "New Adventures in Hi Fi," I thought I'd pop in "Monster" for a listen. I tend to agree with the consensus that "Monster' is not very good and is solely resposnible for the band's popularity decline in the U.S. I've always liked "What's the Frequency Kenneth," "Crush With Eyeliner" "Bang and Blame" and "Strange Currencies," plus a few of the other songs are ok ("I Took Your Name") but the songs that are bad are REALLY REALLY bad. For example, I can't stand "You," but that is at the end of the cd and easy to avoid. The other one is "Tongue" which is right in the middle and ruins the whole album. Everything else is kind of hard on the ears too.
I know there are a lot of R.E.M. fans on here (I LOVE 95% of their stuff), and I know there are others that don't love Monster (which is obvious by the nosedive their sales took afterword and the dozens of copies that are available in used cd bins everywhere.)What are your thoughts?
I know there are a lot of R.E.M. fans on here (I LOVE 95% of their stuff), and I know there are others that don't love Monster (which is obvious by the nosedive their sales took afterword and the dozens of copies that are available in used cd bins everywhere.)What are your thoughts?
I love my female wife...
we sit around and wonder exactly why our marriage should feel threatened by gay marriage
we sit around and wonder exactly why our marriage should feel threatened by gay marriage
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Yes, but that was followed by the classic New Adventures in HiFi making no splash when it came out. One of the best ways to tell how people feel about an album is to see how the follow up debuts (ie People were crazy about Ten---look how Vs did when it came out)
By the time New Adventures came out, every cd store I went to had 5 used copies of Monster. The funny thing is, that even though Monster wasn't great, it didn't destroy them at all. New Adventures is still one of my favorites to this day, as is Reveal. And there are songs on Up and Around the Sun that I like.
Plus, I can't wait for Accelerate.
we sit around and wonder exactly why our marriage should feel threatened by gay marriage
Adventures in Hi-Fi, now that is a difficult album. For me that is the most dense one, and obviously longest. I blame the decline on that album. No successful singles on that one at all. Does anyone else think "Leave" is their "How Soon Is Now?"
I also conclude that the decline stage is over and they are like the Rolling Stones where it doesn't matter what type of album they release. People see them because they are R.E.M. Pearl Jam would be the same way if their last album was unsuccessful.
a bigger bang was a great album. many of those songs sounded like they could have been written in their prime.
I agree, I do like A Bigger Bang. Rough Justice, It Won't Take Long, Streets of Love, Sweet Neo Con, I think the album is really solid. I'm just saying they are a well established touring force. And they won't see a major drop in fans supportive of their touring. R.E.M. are STILL big in Europe.
ohh i gotcha. i hope they break out some old tunes at these upcoming R.E.M. shows
agreed, it's probably my favorite REM record and they are in my top 5 all time bands so not like I'm fairweather here, the guitar tone on this album is just killer it's a fucking great record, while it may have blips here and there Let Me In makes up for every song on there that isn't awesome, Kenneth is still a sweet song no matter how many times I've heard it, just a cool disc
Chris Cornell
http://www.myspace.com/mrwalkerb
Let Me In always came across to me like a mainstream Sonic Youth Daydream Nation-thing. Its probably my traditional stance, but I only like that amount of feedback on sort of lower end recordings. JATMC's Psychocandy, Daydream Nation, and even the first Foo Fighters CD, Monster was too polished for me to pull off that song. But that's just my thought, and I totally respect yours. Other than that the song is fine.
I like Monster a lot - but then again, my favorite REM albums are "New Adventures" and "Murmur", so f... the heck.
I think Around the Sun sucked, neither did I like Up, so I'm really looking forward to the new rocky stuff.
Monster is absolutely underrated, it's a lot more better than Reveal, Up or even Around The Sun. Maybe I only miss the twist in the songs, they are sometimes ...too simple...but still great. And the sound is just HUGE!!!
Tongue - I used to dislike it but the live version in 1998 was awesome, I'll never forget it and love it since.
Let Me In, I Took Your Name, Circus Envy are my biggest favs here so I can see all their songs have their own fans!!!
Eddie: Dublin & London
REM's one of my favorite bands. I recently picked up Monster and love it. It's different, no doubt, but then again my favorite albums by them range from Murmur to Up, so I find myself loving all the weird incarnations this band has gone through. Whereas a lot of you seem to only like "Kenneth" I actually think thats one of my least favorites on the album. "Crush With Eyeliner", "King of Comedy", "Bang and Blame", "Let Me In," and "Circus Envy" are all awesome in my opinion.
Some die just to live.
Kenneth, Crush With Eyeliner, I Don't Sleep I Dream, Strange Currencies, I Took Your Name, Let Me In....they're easily some of the best REM songs ever in my opinion!
Personally, i thought it was a step up from Automatic for the People
As it always is with this band, it took Monster a while for me and it just clicked. Although I'm not a big Pitchfork fan, I always loved this quote from an R.E.M. record review, where they talked about the difficulty of making a classic album that stands the test of time; "make one classic, and you've earned your place in the canon. Make two, and you stand with the greats of all time. Make five or six and you're R.E.M." That's how I feel about them; I can't believe this much good music from this band. Arguably the best band of the 80's and 90's.
I think "A Bigger Bang" is a great Rolling Stones record.
I've always liked "Star Me Kitten"
I am always shocked when people say they aren't crazy about "Reveal." Sometimes I have to drive an hour for work, and when I do, "Reveal" is one of my go-to cd's for the drive. I never skip any songs on it.
My opinion of "Monster" is the bad songs are really bad, and distract from the great ones.
we sit around and wonder exactly why our marriage should feel threatened by gay marriage
most people forget that Bill Berry half seriously threatened to quit the band unless they put out a rocker after Automatic.
I hope to catch R.E.M.'s Toronto show in June, I hope I didn't jinx myself.
we sit around and wonder exactly why our marriage should feel threatened by gay marriage
I love that album. I think PJ loved it too because Sad sounds likes a blatant Begin the Begin copy to me.
you are right! i never thought of that but i can see it perfectly. good pick up.
Eddie must really love that song. I found a file floating out on the net with Vedder duetting with them on it. Must have been from the inductions.
what they said.