REM Appreciation Thread

2

Comments

  • Just got done listening to Murmur. Love R.E.M.
  • Michael's voice is like a fine wine, just keeps getting better. Saw them live in Calgary Nov 2004, totally killer. I'm one of the rare people who believes that Up, Reveal, and Around the Sun hold their own in the R.E.M. catalogue. They are uncompromising in that they never create the same album twice. I think these guys are the fucking "greatest thing since bread came sliced". I'd love to see Bill behind the skins for the next record, but either way they won't dissappoint.
  • Well for me personally I like UP. I think it's a really beautiful album in every way. I think they still would have made it like they had even with Berry still in the band. Reveal I like the songs but those versions I just don't like. With Around The Sun I don't really like any of the songs on it and it's terribly over produced in my opinion. So for me I feel UP is one of their best because it's like nothing else in their catalogue and it's just a great record imo. First one with all the lyrics printed as well. Green just had World Leader Pretend.
  • Well for me personally I like UP. I think it's a really beautiful album in every way. I think they still would have made it like they had even with Berry still in the band. Reveal I like the songs but those versions I just don't like. With Around The Sun I don't really like any of the songs on it and it's terribly over produced in my opinion. So for me I feel UP is one of their best because it's like nothing else in their catalogue and it's just a great record imo. First one with all the lyrics printed as well. Green just had World Leader Pretend.

    I love Up as well, I think it is probably my 3rd favorite of the their records, and I love pretty much all of their albums, all 12 of them. And I totally agree that Around the Sun was overproduced and overthought, those weren't bad songs in their own right, they sounded good live, but on the record they are sterile and boring as hell.
    The Man has a branch office in each of our brains, his corporate emblem is a white albatross, each local rep has a cover known as the Ego, and their mission in this world is Bad Shit.
  • Rob89
    Rob89 Posts: 22
    I really like Reveal, even more than Up. I know that for the most part I'm alone on that view but as far as I'm concerned, any album that has, 'Ive Been High', 'She Just Wants To Be', 'Imitation of Life', 'Beat a Drum' and 'Ill Take The Rain' has to be recognised.

    As far as Bill, I've been hearing A LOT of rumours lately that the band he's slowly starting to get back into the mix and starting to work with the guys more. I know the rumour has been going around since he left but this time around, it seems different. He recently played at a wedding and Peter's been talking about him coming back for their lifetime achievement award in athens this year to play with them. Playing withthem twice in such a short period! Oh, and Mike when asked, said that he's started dabbling with the drums again! Maybe just wishful thinking on my behalf, but sometime in the future I really do see him rejoining.
  • keyser_soze
    keyser_soze London, England Posts: 205
    i really love rem but have been seriously disappointed by the last two albums.
    www.facebook.com/PandoraApparel
  • I FUCKING LOVE REM!!!!!

    I'm listening to Document at the moment, such an incredible record. I've been lucky enough to see them four times live now, and they are just fantastic, certainly the most consistent live band I've seen, other than Pearl Jam.
  • Pearl Juli
    Pearl Juli Posts: 1,213
    I like 'em. I hope they tour the USA soon.
    MISSION ACCOMPLISHED: 2008-06-11

    ♪ Juli ♪
  • i would appreciate REM if they

    1. Cut the CRAP and stopped making Radiohead inspired suck albums that border on easy listening. They used to ROCK ... now they just make me sleepy.

    2. LOWERED THEIR TICKET PRICES!


    REM is quite possibly THE FIRST band I ever appreciated ... I would listen to Green and Lifes Rich Pagent on tape cassette while taking family trips in my pre-teen years ... I viewed Michael Stipe as like my long lost older brother or something ...

    but i've only ever seen them during their performance at the Freedom Concert in '98 ... (which, BTW, wasn't all that great) ...

    ... i've heard they are good live, but i've also heard the opposite ... and either way ... i'm not willing to find out for the prices they charge ...

    ... it just irks me ...

    ... besides, like Jane's Addiction, to me it feels like somethings just wouldn't be the same as they were 10 years ago ... I don't want to here Airport Man or The Boy In The Well ... i just don't.

    sorry,
    i guess i still appreciate REM, but never have i felt like a band left me to head in the wrong direction of everything i thought they were ...

    i have so far followed pearl jam around every bend ... but Stipe lost me after UP, and even that was a bit of a stretch on the whole.

    :(
    If I was to smile and I held out my hand
    If I opened it now would you not understand?
  • i would appreciate REM if they

    1. Cut the CRAP and stopped making Radiohead inspired suck albums that border on easy listening. They used to ROCK ... now they just make me sleepy.

    2. LOWERED THEIR TICKET PRICES!


    REM is quite possibly THE FIRST band I ever appreciated ... I would listen to Green and Lifes Rich Pagent on tape cassette while taking family trips in my pre-teen years ... I viewed Michael Stipe as like my long lost older brother or something ...

    but i've only ever seen them during their performance at the Freedom Concert in '98 ... (which, BTW, wasn't all that great) ...

    ... i've heard they are good live, but i've also heard the opposite ... and either way ... i'm not willing to find out for the prices they charge ...

    ... it just irks me ...

    ... besides, like Jane's Addiction, to me it feels like somethings just wouldn't be the same as they were 10 years ago ... I don't want to here Airport Man or The Boy In The Well ... i just don't.

    sorry,
    i guess i still appreciate REM, but never have i felt like a band left me to head in the wrong direction of everything i thought they were ...

    i have so far followed pearl jam around every bend ... but Stipe lost me after UP, and even that was a bit of a stretch on the whole.

    :(

    You should reconsider. At their shows they focus mainly on the older favorites as opposed to the newer material. It is damn expensive though, but it's worth it. Their energy level certainly hasn't gone down and they don't play stuff like Airportman live.
  • New Adventures is my favorite REM record, and probably one of my favorite records ever by and band.

    But the old stuff is great too, LRP and Document was a killer one-two punch. Would have loved to have seen the band back then. But sadly I was only a small child...

    New Adventures in Hi Fi is my favorite album by them as well. Such a mood and great songs. It's funny when I bring up that album to some people and they're like Oh I didn't really like that one. Then I'll go and put it in and they'll ask What album is this? I really like it.
  • You should reconsider. At their shows they focus mainly on the older favorites as opposed to the newer material. It is damn expensive though, but it's worth it. Their energy level certainly hasn't gone down and they don't play stuff like Airportman live.

    I couldn't find '04/'05 tour stats, but here are '03 stats:

    http://www.onlineathens.com/rockathens/remsetlists.shtml
    :(:(:(

    Things that make me sad from the above setlist analysis:

    1. failure to play Catapult OR Perfect Circle & yet playing Sitting Still & Shaking Through !?!

    2. failure to play Harborcoat or 7 Chinese Bros. & yet playing So. Central Rain. :(

    3. Failure to play THE FLOWERS OF GUATEMALA or What if we Give it Away !

    4. Playing Disturbance At the Heron House once and The One I Want To Strangle about a million times ! ! !

    5. Snubbing You Are Everything (save for final date) and The Wrong Child :(

    6. Playing Losing My Fucking Respect For This Band AT EVERY SINGLE SHOW ! ! !

    7. The ONLY other song off of OOT played was Country Feedback ... hey CF is THE SHIT, but what about Belong or Half A World Away !?!

    8. Pretty much the same as #6 but insert Drive, Man On The Moon & Everybody Hates This Song

    9. Knocking out most songs from Monster & New Adventures in favor of post UP crap.

    10. some actual covers would be nice. How bout some of the Dead Letter Office VU covers, at least !?!
    (and no, permanent vacation doesn't count!)

    Things i like about those set stats:

    1. Hey, atleast they played Sweetness Follows a time or two, and picked up Find The River and Nightswimming on the back half of the tour.

    2. Country Feedback

    3. World Leader Pretend

    4. I Believe

    5. Exhuming McCarthy

    6. Pretty Persuasion at least not forgotten, if not comatose.

    7. They DIDN'T play AIRPORT MAN ...

    ah shit... i gotta get back to work ...


    yeah ... i don't think from seeing that list, that i'd be to interested in seeing what they would play AFTER these last two albums ...

    i mean ... they were already snubbing most of Monster and New Adventures in '03 ... along with pretty much every song i WOULD want to hear off of the earlier albums.

    sorry i'm such a party pooper.
    I'm just not feeling it.

    :(
    If I was to smile and I held out my hand
    If I opened it now would you not understand?
  • I couldn't find '04/'05 tour stats, but here are '03 stats:

    http://www.onlineathens.com/rockathens/remsetlists.shtml
    :(:(:(

    Things that make me sad from the above setlist analysis:

    1. failure to play Catapult OR Perfect Circle & yet playing Sitting Still & Shaking Through !?!

    2. failure to play Harborcoat or 7 Chinese Bros. & yet playing So. Central Rain. :(

    3. Failure to play THE FLOWERS OF GUATEMALA or What if we Give it Away !

    4. Playing Disturbance At the Heron House once and The One I Want To Strangle about a million times ! ! !

    5. Snubbing You Are Everything (save for final date) and The Wrong Child :(

    6. Playing Losing My Fucking Respect For This Band AT EVERY SINGLE SHOW ! ! !

    7. The ONLY other song off of OOT played was Country Feedback ... hey CF is THE SHIT, but what about Belong or Half A World Away !?!

    8. Pretty much the same as #6 but insert Drive, Man On The Moon & Everybody Hates This Song

    9. Knocking out most songs from Monster & New Adventures in favor of post UP crap.

    10. some actual covers would be nice. How bout some of the Dead Letter Office VU covers, at least !?!
    (and no, permanent vacation doesn't count!)

    Things i like about those set stats:

    1. Hey, atleast they played Sweetness Follows a time or two, and picked up Find The River and Nightswimming on the back half of the tour.

    2. Country Feedback

    3. World Leader Pretend

    4. I Believe

    5. Exhuming McCarthy

    6. Pretty Persuasion at least not forgotten, if not comatose.

    7. They DIDN'T play AIRPORT MAN ...

    ah shit... i gotta get back to work ...


    yeah ... i don't think from seeing that list, that i'd be to interested in seeing what they would play AFTER these last two albums ...

    i mean ... they were already snubbing most of Monster and New Adventures in '03 ... along with pretty much every song i WOULD want to hear off of the earlier albums.

    sorry i'm such a party pooper.
    I'm just not feeling it.

    :(

    Well yeah they don't dig that deep with the setlists sadly. Although you forgot to mention Maps and Legends from Fables.
  • AndySlash
    AndySlash Posts: 3,289
    Michael's voice is like a fine wine, just keeps getting better.

    I thought he sounded terrible and ragged on Around the Sun. Live, he was fine, but there are a couple songs on ATS that I just can't stand because of his vocals... Worst Joke Ever... ugh.

    I'm one of the rare people who believes that Up, Reveal, and Around the Sun hold their own in the R.E.M. catalogue.

    You might be the only one...

    Up is terribly underrated, I'll agree, but the other two certainly are not. Again, live, the songs from these records sound much better, but their actual studio versions are just too sterile and boring. Until ATS came out, I thought Reveal was their worst album. But on the way up to Winnipeg to see them on the ATS tour I listened to Reveal and ATS back to back (figuring we'd get a good dose of these) and ATS made Reveal sound like Automatic For the People. Final Straw is the best thing on that record, and probably my favorite song of theirs since Leave, but that's probably because it sounds nothing like the rest of the record.

    Thanks to the REM fanclub I did get to watch that Winnipeg show from the second row just right of center. It was great. During 'Imitation of Life', at the line 'water hyacinth, named by a poet' I pointed at Michael and he gave me a knowing smile. That was cool. I also have the setlist and Scott McCaughey's pick, which I am looking at right now in my office.

    I also saw them a month or so before that at the St Paul VFC show with Springsteen. The highlight of that night, for me, was hearing Neil Young play on Country Feedback. Michael just kind of nonchalantly introduced him and they went into the song. I just stood up, closed my eyes and soaked it all in. Amazing.
  • AndySlash wrote:
    I pointed at Michael and he gave me a knowing smile. That was cool.


    Lol.
    Apparently he is good with that kind've personalized crowd response shit.

    During the Freedom Concert '98 ... i think during some boring ass song like Suspiscion or Parakeet or some crap ... Michael was scanning his eyes through the audience ... i was about 5 "rows" (Gen Admin) from the stage, and it was still daytime ... i could tell he was scanning over where i was standing ... so, being that i do have an affection for the guy, I mouthed "I love you" to him ... he immediately pulled his hands in over his heart, and mouthed back "Thank You!" in between a line ...

    ... i thought that was awesome ... more awesome than Parakeet or Suspiscion or whatever the fuck it was.

    :D
    If I was to smile and I held out my hand
    If I opened it now would you not understand?
  • Rob89
    Rob89 Posts: 22
    Ye i love the interaction with the crowd. I remember when he acknowledged me in 2003 as i was screaming up at him, great night!

    Hope they bring out a dvd of the last tour.
  • Igottago
    Igottago Posts: 483
    rockpants wrote:
    Unfortunately, I've only seen them play a shortened set at Groundwork. They came to Vancouver in '03 but I had to work that night (Friday), but radiohead played the same venue the next night and Michael came out to sing Karma Police during the encore. It was rad.

    Yup...I was at the Radiohead and REM shows there...Michael came out for a couple during the Radiohead show, and Thom Yorke came out for a couple during the REM show..fucking awesome concert experience, once in a lifetime for sure....I had prime tickets for both shows too. Not to mention Wilco happened to open the REM show, and they kicked major arse too.
  • Penny453
    Penny453 Posts: 200
    I really got hooked with the song "what's the frequency kenneth?" great band.
    "And even when I'm right with you I'm so far away"
  • chris3
    chris3 Posts: 43
    Love R.E.M.!!! I saw um the last two times they came to atlanta and they were fucking great. The 03 show was insane, i believe it was one of the longest shows they had ever played and i was dancing like a goddamn fool w/ some completely toasted 30something yr old woman and having a blast (I was only 1/2 intoxicated!!).
  • sadprofessor
    sadprofessor Posts: 1,034
    I'm_One wrote:
    Love R.E.M.!!! I saw um the last two times they came to atlanta and they were fucking great. The 03 show was insane, i believe it was one of the longest shows they had ever played and i was dancing like a goddamn fool w/ some completely toasted 30something yr old woman and having a blast (I was only 1/2 intoxicated!!).

    Ahh yes, that 2003 show was one of my favorite concerts ever by any band... It was just amazing. We had seen them the night before in Raleigh and I was wondering if the Atlanta show would be able to top it... To this day I can't decide which was my favorite, but they were both amazing nights.
    The Man has a branch office in each of our brains, his corporate emblem is a white albatross, each local rep has a cover known as the Ego, and their mission in this world is Bad Shit.