KoL and REM

Porsuk&Co

REM-Around The Sun, Kings Of Leon-Aha Shake heartbreak
Hi it's been a while since these albums are out, but how are they compared with the previous albums of them? any comments?

offhegoes09

Aha Shake Heartbreak is a HUGE progression from Youth & young manhood. If you don't have it, check out Aha Shake. It's a superb album!
I don't know shit about REM

transplant

by REM standards Around the Sun sucks. It would be the very last one I would purchase and only if your a completist would I consider really getting it.

I hope to feel different someday.

Charlie the man

With the exception of the Best Of complilation, R.E.M. have released nothing after New Adventures In Hi-Fi that peaks my interests in any way. They kinda went to shit after that album. And I think Bill Berry (the drummer) leaving the band contributes in a big way to that.

I know nothing of KoL, however

Man_Of_The_Hour

I'm not that big on REM, but both KOL records are really good. I dont think Aha is better then Youth. It's more mature and more refined. They just started out making music when they did Youth and Aha shows how far they've come in the 2 or 3 years in-between. I think it's better to get into them through Aha but both records are really great, just in different ways.

Dick Jones

Aha is definately more mature. Check out the lyrics, really good. But I can't say it is better than Y&YMH, not with songs like Trani, Dusty, Joe's Head, etc...

sadprofessor

As one of this board's self proclaimed R.E.M. experts... Around the Sun is not really that good. It isn't terrible really. I liked it more than Reveal, but the record is just overproduced, overthought, overworked, I bet some of these songs sounded awesome as rough demos, and I remember them sounding pretty damn cool live at the two shows I saw on that tour, but that record is just sterile and boring, especially by R.E.M. standards.

elderman

I actually thought Reveal was a big return to form for REM, as a result I could not wait to hear Around the Sun.
Regretfully it was by a long shot the worst REM record, and I am a huge fan.

Automatic for the People remains one of the very best albums released EVER!

UpHereInMyTree500

Aha is a cracker of a record...but not quite as fun as Youth and Young Manhood.
Gotta love the little solo on Taper Jean Girl though...ho ho ho

Porsuk&Co

thnx alot people that was more than I had expected.Now I know Im gonna get Aha SHB..

DriftingByTheStorm

Charlie the man wrote:

With the exception of the Best Of complilation, R.E.M. have released nothing after New Adventures In Hi-Fi that peaks my interests in any way. They kinda went to shit after that album. And I think Bill Berry (the drummer) leaving the band contributes in a big way to that.

amen, brother.
100% with you on this.

so sad.
so, so sad.

Up was "ok".
Reveal and Around the Sun SOOK ! ! !

Hitchiker

Porsuk&Co wrote:

REM-Around The Sun, Kings Of Leon-Aha Shake heartbreak
Hi it's been a while since these albums are out, but how are they compared with the previous albums of them? any comments?

Both of KOL's albums are good. Both have a different sound.

Caleb's voice on Youth is much deeper and muddled and they have a dirtier sound, on Aha he is a bit higher pitched and there is much more melody in their music.

Both are great, I can't say one is better than the other.

Best song on Youth: California Waiting
Best song on Aha: The Bucket

bobasfeet

sadprofessor wrote:

As one of this board's self proclaimed R.E.M. experts... Around the Sun is not really that good. It isn't terrible really. I liked it more than Reveal, but the record is just overproduced, overthought, overworked, I bet some of these songs sounded awesome as rough demos, and I remember them sounding pretty damn cool live at the two shows I saw on that tour, but that record is just sterile and boring, especially by R.E.M. standards.

I have been getting more into it lately..lyrics are pretty good.

mrwalkerb

sadprofessor wrote:

As one of this board's self proclaimed R.E.M. experts... Around the Sun is not really that good. It isn't terrible really. I liked it more than Reveal, but the record is just overproduced, overthought, overworked, I bet some of these songs sounded awesome as rough demos, and I remember them sounding pretty damn cool live at the two shows I saw on that tour, but that record is just sterile and boring, especially by R.E.M. standards.

I love how you're always here to more elegantly explain my thoughts. as far as post Berry R.E.M goes Up is the record to start with

sadprofessor

mrwalkerb wrote:

I love how you're always here to more elegantly explain my thoughts. as far as post Berry R.E.M goes Up is the record to start with

Yeah I have a soft spot for Up, I don't really know why, but I just really connected with that record for some reason. New Adventures is still their finest hour in my book.

mrwalkerb

sadprofessor wrote:

Yeah I have a soft spot for Up, I don't really know why, but I just really connected with that record for some reason. New Adventures is still their finest hour in my book.

yeah it is pretty hard to argue against I like up in the same way I like u2's Pop, it might have something to do with the lack of commercial success that makes it feel more like "my" record but I would like to think that there is more to it then that. Without trying to sound like some punk kid looking for street cred I really think the singles were on the weaker side compared to songs like Hope, Walker Unafraid and *cough* Sad Professor

sadprofessor

mrwalkerb wrote:

yeah it is pretty hard to argue against I like up in the same way I like u2's Pop, it might have something to do with the lack of commercial success that makes it feel more like "my" record but I would like to think that there is more to it then that. Without trying to sound like some punk kid looking for street cred I really think the singles were on the weaker side compared to songs like Hope, Walker Unafraid and *cough* Sad Professor

Yeah you are right about the singles... they pretty much went for the most conventional songs on the record as singles, because everything else was too weird. The problem being that the singles may have been conventional but they were far from the records strong points. Walk Unafraid is up there with the best stuff in R.E.M.'s rather hefty catalog, and has been a regular in their live set since it was released. I really love that record all the way through though. I wish they had kept on with that sort of weird abstract minimalist thing they had going on there. Reveal was just too conventional, and Around the Sun just had a lot of problems, although it did sound great live. Someone needs to lock R.E.M. in a studio for a week and tell them they have to make a record in 7 days, this 3 years writing/recording bullshit just isn't cutting it.

Porsuk&Co

Hitchiker wrote:

Both of KOL's albums are good. Both have a different sound.

Caleb's voice on Youth is much deeper and muddled and they have a dirtier sound, on Aha he is a bit higher pitched and there is much more melody in their music.

Both are great, I can't say one is better than the other.

Best song on Youth: California Waiting
Best song on Aha: The Bucket

that's what I actually really liked about the first album; Caleb's voice..the screaming and all that funny thing that he does with his voice.. but I really dont mind a little bit melody, It should be better in fact..

Man_Of_The_Hour

Hitchiker wrote:

Best song on Youth: California Waiting
Best song on Aha: The Bucket

I think it's Molly's Chambers and King Of The Rodeo (the clapping is so great )

mrwalkerb

sadprofessor wrote:

Yeah you are right about the singles... they pretty much went for the most conventional songs on the record as singles, because everything else was too weird. The problem being that the singles may have been conventional but they were far from the records strong points. Walk Unafraid is up there with the best stuff in R.E.M.'s rather hefty catalog, and has been a regular in their live set since it was released. I really love that record all the way through though. I wish they had kept on with that sort of weird abstract minimalist thing they had going on there. Reveal was just too conventional, and Around the Sun just had a lot of problems, although it did sound great live. Someone needs to lock R.E.M. in a studio for a week and tell them they have to make a record in 7 days, this 3 years writing/recording bullshit just isn't cutting it.

I agree with Around teh Sun sounding good live, but I was listening to it this morning as it had been on my mind (this Ipod shit is amazing) and I do really like a lot, whereas Reveal leaves me dissinterested about halfway through. what is teh plan for them now anyways? are they working on stuff or just hanging out?

bladworth116

I like "Around the Sun." I think Michael's vocals have never sounded better on record. It's definitely not a party album, but "Leaving NY," "Make it all ok", "High speed train", and "The ascent of man" are all big favs of mine.

"Up" "Reveal" and "ATS" are all great albums imo

dunkman

If people dont start to twitch and feel like jumping around when listening to Kings of Leon then they must be clinically dead...

KoL are only two albums in to what is hopefully a long and magnificent career... I fookin love them!!!

The last 2 REM albums have left me a bit cold, but as i have always been a huge fan i'll keep on perservering with them... they'll always come good

sadprofessor

mrwalkerb wrote:

I agree with Around teh Sun sounding good live, but I was listening to it this morning as it had been on my mind (this Ipod shit is amazing) and I do really like a lot, whereas Reveal leaves me dissinterested about halfway through. what is teh plan for them now anyways? are they working on stuff or just hanging out?

Supposedly they were writing a bunch while on the road, there were supposed to have been some new songs soundchecked. That had me really excited becaue the last album that was written and recorded on the road, was one of my favorite records in the history of time, New Adventures in HiFi. Peter actually said recently that he wanted to get right in the studio and keep working but the other guys didn't. I know Peter is doing his usual bunch of side projects, but as far as R.E.M. goes, I don't think they could possibly be more dormant than they are right now.

PJ_GA

Dick Jones wrote:

Aha is definately more mature. Check out the lyrics, really good. But I can't say it is better than Y&YMH, not with songs like Trani, Dusty, Joe's Head, etc...

I agree. They even said, y&YMH was written about things they imagined, and the 2nd was more things they have experienced. Makes ya wonder who "Soft" was about,lol... But anyways, they're both great in their own way....

dunkman

PJ_GA wrote:

I agree. They even said, y&YMH was written about things they imagined, and the 2nd was more things they have experienced. Makes ya wonder who "Soft" was about,lol... But anyways, they're both great in their own way....

Caleb has admitted that "Soft" is about him when he met a model one night and due to over indulgence in the booze he was "sooofffhhttt"

True

jumpin cat rival

Boy, do they really miss Bill....


Up was a good album.....so good that u kinda forget the fact that it didnt have basically any drums on it.....
but after that they went too dull on their music.......Reveal( which think is their worst album) was pretty weak. Asides from the singles(all the way from reno, lifting, imitation of life) i didnt find anything else interesting to listen to it. Around the sun was a little bit better,,,,,,but still their whole vibe just seem too tired, heartless, and well boring....its been like centuries since we have listened to Peter's trademark electric guitar sound......

in the end it seems that it was case of lost chemistry......once bill left they were doomed---

Dick Jones

dunkman1974 wrote:

Caleb has admitted that "Soft" is about him when he met a model one night and due to over indulgence in the booze he was "sooofffhhttt"

True

It was in some tabloid or some shit, and he was pissed. So he put it on record, and made an amazing song out of it. Pretty much a fuck you to the writer.

"I'm passed out in your garden, I'm in, I can't get off, I'm so soft"

bucket1988

I feel I must take a step back for a second and observe the humor of this thread. There are only a couple of posts dealing with both REM and KoL, so instead we have 2 separate conversations happening in the same thread, at the same time. Its rather comical to read the whole thing. Now I shall continue with the trend.

I admit I have only heard a couple of songs each off Around the Sun and Reveal, but I don't like them. Up was overall good with a few excellent songs, but too inconsistent. New Adventures in Hi-Fi, I agree, is their best. It probably breaks my list of top 10 or 15 albums by anyone. Losing Bill Berry hurt bad, but I just think that after so many albums they are just out of good ideas.

Porsuk&Co

bucket1988 wrote:

I feel I must take a step back for a second and observe the humor of this thread. There are only a couple of posts dealing with both REM and KoL, so instead we have 2 separate conversations happening in the same thread, at the same time. Its rather comical to read the whole thing. Now I shall continue with the trend.

Well I was just too lazy to open 2 threads instead of 1!(c'mon everyone does that!!)
anyways; dead thread resurrected..(?)

walkunafraid

I'm not very familiar with KoL, so I can't add much to that conversation, sorry.

However, R.E.M. is right up there with Pearl Jam in my book (the username is a dead giveaway), so I do have a lot to say about them.

First, "Up" is quite possibly my favorite album by any band, ever. Sure, all of the drums on the record are machine-created, but that's not what the album is about. What it IS about is an eloquent, beautiful, minimalistic introspection of the self that is absolutely stunning in its achievement. The album is an album of moments -- brief, brilliant bits and pieces of songs that, together, create a tone, atmosphere, and mood that is absolutely breathtaking. Pay attention, for example, to the Hawaiian-ish guitar twang that makes up the bridges in "Diminished"; the lovely chorus in "You're in the Air" ("I'm what you found / I'm upside down / You're everywhere / You're in the air / And I am breathing you"); the quietly heartbreaking beginning of "Sad Professor" ("If we're talking about love / Then I have to tell you / Dear reader, I don't know where I'm headed / I've gotten lost before..."); the roaring crescendo at the end of the final track of the album, "Falls to Climb," in which Michael Stipe repeatedly proclaims "I am free" -- a perfect ending to an album in which he disrobes his mental and emotional armor and reveals his inner self to anyone who wants to listen. That's not to mention some of the other brilliant tracks on the record, such as "Suspicion," "At My Most Beautiful," "Hope," "Why Not Smile," and "The Apologist." Sheesh, I could go on forever. I wish I could describe it better, but obviously words just aren't enough. Try listening to the record three or four times in a row, with your ears pressed as close to the speakers as you can, to truly understand what I mean. I seriously love this album.

Then came "Reveal." Although there are some good songs on this one ("I'll Take the Rain" is my favorite, and "Imitation of Life," "All the Way to Reno," "The Lifting," and "I've Been High" are all excellent), the album is a bit too repetitive to be considered among the band's best. I never fully got into it, which is a big surprise based on how much I was looking forward to it after a multi-year love affair with "Up."

"Around the Sun," though, is very underrated, in my opinion. The first few times I listened to the record, it didn't strike me as anything special. Then, on the fifth or sixth listen, I completely fell in love with it. It's one of those albums that REQUIRES multiple listens, because it's not especially catchy or hooky -- yet, once you DO get it, it grows and grows and grows on you and doesn't let go. It opens with "Leaving New York," which includes a gorgeous three-layered chorus of Stipe's vocals (you can hear him singing three different parts at once), and includes some politically-charged songs that capture some powerful moments of urgency and anger ("Final Straw" and "I Wanted to be Wrong" being the best of those). More than anything, "Around the Sun" is a showcase of Stipe's lyrical and vocal abilities -- never before has his words or his voice sounded so good. I wouldn't quite put ATS on the level of "Up," but I do think it is under-appreciated by fans who largely have not been willing to give it enough of a chance.