R.E.M. Monster

2

Comments

  • AnonAnon Posts: 11,175
    btb002 wrote:
    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.

    is it good quality? care to share?
  • where is the love for life's rich pageant?! flawless record and their best in my opinion. not a bad song there.

    My favorite too.
    Though you actualy get some shit for saying that, as "Superman" was a bit over the top cheese for that time in their career.

    All things considered, i think LRP is their best mix of styles and musical range.

    But ON TO MONSTER, lol ...

    I tend to disagree with Monster causing a fall in popularity, to start. I think they did well to add some cock to their rock during the grunge-laden mid 90's ... i think it scared some of the more "sensitive" fans ... but i don't think it hurt their mainstream status ...

    i do think it was a limited record in style ... its all extremely distorted (mostly) and much more aggressive on the whole ... that being said i realy liked Monster when it came out ... it was different ... it sure as fuck rocked in comparison with either OOT or AFP ...

    The only thing that Monster looses points for, and i guess it looses a lot on the whole with fans ... is that it's replay value just isn't there. Its like a realy great movie that you only want to watch once or twice. It, to me, has a very stuck-in-time kind've feel to it ... it could only be the mid 90s ....

    I dunno.
    I do know, as i've said, i did really like Monster a lot the first few months it was out. Every song was a hit in some way or another ... i just think it doesn't replay that well.

    I know i'd take it over the last two anyday. ;)

    If i had to pick a least favorite, it would most likely be Fables Of The Reconstruction (or Reconstruction of the Fables, har har) ...

    second most favorite (behing LRP) it would be, Reckoning (and NAIHF a close 3rd), with Green having a special sentimental place in my heart.l
    If I was to smile and I held out my hand
    If I opened it now would you not understand?
  • exhaustedexhausted Posts: 6,638
    love the record. hate the guitar tones.

    i remember all the hubhub about this being a big rock record and the guitars are just so disappointing.
  • wtf????

    Monster is a great record....

    if there was a decline it was because Bill dropped out of the lineup.

    Plus all the real fans thought they were serious about hanging it up for the 2K. like they said they would.
    the Minions
  • glasshouseglasshouse Posts: 1,762
    This is the most interesting thread I’ve read on here for some while. :cool:

    I’m not familiar with monster, so I can't really contribute to this thread, but i will add that I believe up is one of the more underrated albums of the 2nd part of the 90s.
    Athens, Greece: 2006/09/30

    "Call me Ishmael. Some years ago- never mind how long precisely- having little or no money in my purse, and nothing particular to interest me on shore, I thought I would sail about a little and see the watery part of the world." Herman Melville : Moby Dick
  • ZosoZoso Posts: 6,425
    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?

    NO CODE copies are littered in the same bins because of the same reason. It's a different REM album thats for sure... possibly the least accessible album yet. I love monster. I really do I played it today and really enjoyed it especially the first half of the album... Kenneth, Crush, star 69 are good R.E.M. gold. I'm a big fan so maybe this is why I like it.. I guess only big pj fans like no code and binaural also.
    I'm just flying around the other side of the world to say I love you

    Sha la la la i'm in love with a jersey girl

    I love you forever and forever :)

    Adel 03 Melb 1 03 LA 2 06 Santa Barbara 06 Gorge 1 06 Gorge 2 06 Adel 1 06 Adel 2 06 Camden 1 08 Camden 2 08 Washington DC 08 Hartford 08
  • RicsardRicsard Posts: 1,943
    Well, I am a big fan of Monster and New Adventures, No Code, Binaural, AND even Riot Act...but Up and Reveal are not my cups of tea.
    Budapest.Budapest.Arnhem.Antwerpen.Vienna.Madrid.Katowice.Nova_rock.Nijmegen.Rotterdam.Berlin.Dublin.Belfast.London.Venice.Prague.Stockholm.Copenhagen.Vienna.Leeds.Milton_keynes.Padova.Prague.Seattle1.Seattle2.Chicago1.Budapest.Cracow.Vienna..>>>LONDON.BERLIN1.BERLIN2
    Eddie: Dublin & London
  • gabersgabers Posts: 2,787
    is it good quality? care to share?

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XaoF8bDMcM&feature=related

    This was my first time hearing it. Pretty cool.
  • exhausted wrote:
    love the record. hate the guitar tones.

    i remember all the hubhub about this being a big rock record and the guitars are just so disappointing.

    Wasn't pretty much the whole album written because Peter Buck had bought a new delay pedal he loved so he wrote a load of songs using it? (I'm sure I read/heard that somewhere?)
    "I get into a state of consciousness that I can't explain. It is about feeling and not thinking. I get positive chills and insight into things that I can't get to any other way. It is Healing of the Soul." - Mike McCready
  • Ricsard wrote:
    Well, I am a big fan of Monster and New Adventures, No Code, Binaural, AND even Riot Act...but Up and Reveal are not my cups of tea.


    Im with you, but i love Up.

    I love up but cant stand reveal.
    'The more I studied religions the more I am convinced that man never worshipped anything but himself.' - Sir Richard Francis Burton
  • zircona1zircona1 Posts: 293
    Monster is actually the album that got me into R.E.M. as well. For awhile, it was one of my favorite albums ever, but recently, I listened to it and I was like, "well, I still really like it, but it's not that deep." Now, of course, records don't need to be deep for me to enjoy them, but I felt that Monster was just a bunch of really good R.E.M. songs, nothing else.

    'Tongue' and 'Strange Currencies' are terrific - they break up the pace of the album from being a loud, noisy affair.

    And 'I Took Your Name' is probably in my top 5 of favorite R.E.M. songs.
    "As long as the music's loud enough, we won't hear the world falling apart."—Jubilee

    "I'm not a very good American because I like to form my own opinions." - George Carlin
  • AnonAnon Posts: 11,175
    gabers wrote:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XaoF8bDMcM&feature=related

    This was my first time hearing it. Pretty cool.

    that is fucking unbelievable. thanks
  • Im with you, but i love Up.

    I love up but cant stand reveal.

    I know I said it in this thread already, but I don't get how people don't like Reveal. I have loved it since the day I got it.
    I love my female wife...
    we sit around and wonder exactly why our marriage should feel threatened by gay marriage
  • I know I said it in this thread already, but I don't get how people don't like Reveal. I have loved it since the day I got it.


    Just lacks the emotional depth of their other records, well to me anyway.....

    I can see how people can like it but it never truly hit me, not like Up.....

    Also, on both Reveal and Around The Sun, REM dont sound like a band.....to me it could be anyone playing on those records.....especially Around The Sun....
    'The more I studied religions the more I am convinced that man never worshipped anything but himself.' - Sir Richard Francis Burton
  • Just lacks the emotional depth of their other records, well to me anyway.....

    I can see how people can like it but it never truly hit me, not like Up.....

    Also, on both Reveal and Around The Sun, REM dont sound like a band.....to me it could be anyone playing on those records.....especially Around The Sun....

    I like Around the Sun as well, but not as much as Reveal.
    I love my female wife...
    we sit around and wonder exactly why our marriage should feel threatened by gay marriage
  • spnkrispnkri Posts: 137
    I don't think anyone's mentioned it yet, but "I Don't Sleep, I Dream" is also a great song, even though the lyrics "I'll settle for a cup of coffee but you know what I really need" sound like something Motley Crue would come up with.
  • SoupySoupy Posts: 171
    I really like Monster, while not one of my very favourate REM albums it's certainly around the top half. New Adventures on the other hand i've never understood the love this album gets, sure it's got 4 absolutely amazing REM tracks and a couple of others that are ok, but the other half of the album is just dull, dull, dull!
  • I like Around the Sun as well, but not as much as Reveal.


    I prefer Reveal to Around The Sun if anything.....

    Just felt there was something missing on those records.....but whatever it was sure feels like its back on the new single :D
    'The more I studied religions the more I am convinced that man never worshipped anything but himself.' - Sir Richard Francis Burton
  • nuffingmannuffingman Posts: 3,014
    Also, on both Reveal and Around The Sun, REM dont sound like a band.....to me it could be anyone playing on those records.....especially Around The Sun....
    Around the Sun is my favourite of all their albums. :)
    Back to the main issue I was really disappointed with Monster.
  • nuffingman wrote:
    Around the Sun is my favourite of all their albums. :)


    REALLY?!?!?!

    lol sorry, but you know......really!?!?! :D
    'The more I studied religions the more I am convinced that man never worshipped anything but himself.' - Sir Richard Francis Burton
  • nuffingmannuffingman Posts: 3,014
    REALLY?!?!?!

    lol sorry, but you know......really!?!?! :D
    No not joking it is! :D
  • nuffingman wrote:
    No not joking it is! :D


    Thats what i love abut this board, the variation in taste :D
    'The more I studied religions the more I am convinced that man never worshipped anything but himself.' - Sir Richard Francis Burton
  • nuffingmannuffingman Posts: 3,014
    Thats what i love abut this board, the variation in taste :D
    Well, i just think I'm bored with the others. Don't like Electron Blue but the rest is exellent. Give it a go, you'll learn.
  • nuffingman wrote:
    Well, i just think I'm bored with the others. Don't like Electron Blue but the rest is exellent. Give it a go, you'll learn.


    I think I'll dig it out later today and give it a spin..... :)
    'The more I studied religions the more I am convinced that man never worshipped anything but himself.' - Sir Richard Francis Burton
  • nuffingmannuffingman Posts: 3,014
    I think I'll dig it out later today and give it a spin..... :)
    Report back tomorrow and let me know. Don't put in Monster by mistake though. :eek:
  • Monster is one of those albums that I constantly see on sale at garage sales and flea markets for 99 cents. I do enjoy "Kenneth" and "Crush" immensely however.
    I believe the children are our future... unless we stop them now...
  • Soupy wrote:

    New Adventures on the other hand i've never understood the love this album gets, sure it's got 4 absolutely amazing REM tracks and a couple of others that are ok, but the other half of the album is just dull, dull, dull!


    There are no songs on that album that I can ever skip. Hell, I listen to most of them twice.
    I love my female wife...
    we sit around and wonder exactly why our marriage should feel threatened by gay marriage
  • LONGRDLONGRD Posts: 6,036
    I don't have any REM, which album should I start with?
    Honestly the reason why they slept on me is because I thought their music was kind of cheesy.
    I just turned 13 when Monster came out so I was still into the angst grunge still.

    First REM album to start with?
    PJ- 04/29/2003.06/24,25,27,28,30/2008.10/27,28,30,31/2009
    EV- 08/09,10/2008.06/08,09/2009
  • primussucksprimussucks Posts: 2,356
    New Adventures is their best in my opinion. Out Of Time is their worst, only 1 or 2 good songs the rest is crap! Monster I would probably put somewhere in the middle.
    Summerfest 7/8/95
    Missoula 6/20/98
    Alpine Valley 6/26/98 & 6/27/98
    Alpine Valley 10/8/00 
    Champaign 4/23/03
    Alpine Valley 6/21/03
    Missoula 8/29/05
    Chicago 5/16 & 17/06
    Grand Rapids 5/19/06
    Summerfest 6/29/06 & 6/30/06
    Tampa 6/12/08
    Chicago 8/23/09
    Indy 5/7/10
    Alpine Valley x2 2011
    Wrigley 2013
    Milwaukee 14
    Telluride 16
  • e-bow the letter is the best
    Van '98, Sea I+II '00, Sea '01, Sea II '02, Van '03, Gorge, Van, Cal, Edm '05, Bos I+II, Phi I+II, DC, SF II+III, Port, Gorge I+II '06, DC, NY I+II '08, Sea I+II, Van, Ridge , LA III+IV' 09, Indy '10, Cal, Van '11, Lond, Van, Sea '13, Memphis '14, RRHOF '17, Sea I+II '18, Van I+II, Vegas I+II '24
Sign In or Register to comment.