REM vs U2

2

Comments

  • PaulJam
    PaulJam Posts: 163
    Wow, tough one. Both started out well...peaked, then went totally shit.

    The Joshua Tree and Automatic for the People are two of my all time favourite albums. I can't choose between them.

    U2 may just take it (although I dislike almost everything they've done in the last 10-15 years). You can't deny the likes of Boy, War, The Unforgettable Fire, Joshua Tree, Rattle and Hum...Achtung Baby.

    REM are cool though. To be honest I haven't heard much of their 80's stuff. I own Document and Murmur and they're good albums. Heard most of Life's Rich Pageant which is pretty good too.

    I dunno, U2 probably.
  • soulsinging
    soulsinging Posts: 13,202
    Soupy wrote:
    I struggle with U2 albums, the Best of's are great but the albums are full of fillers IMO. REM have a few dud albums like that (Around the Sun, Up, Green, Recoming) too, but overall I prefer them.

    funny, i feel the same way only in reverse. the REM hits package is incredible, but listening to their albums (even a classic like out of time or monster) i find the majority of the songs pretty bland. U2 has had some moments where they faltered (october, rattle and hum, all that you cant leave behind), but on the whole their output has been far more consistent to me. i have sworn that i will NOT miss another U2 show.
  • tybird
    tybird Posts: 17,388
    U2...........easily.
    All the world will be your enemy, Prince with a thousand enemies, and whenever they catch you, they will kill you. But first they must catch you, digger, listener, runner, prince with the swift warning. Be cunning and full of tricks and your people shall never be destroyed.
  • stu gee
    stu gee Posts: 1,174
    comatose66 wrote:
    Bono is way better than Stipe. Stipe sucks. Bono has stage presence, and is a excellent singer, musician and songwriter.

    I think bono is a prick and his songs are boring.

    I can handle sunday bloody sunday, with or without you and streets have no name but the rest is poor.
    People say im paranoid. Well, they dont say it, but i know that's what they are thinking.
  • Julien
    Julien Posts: 2,457
    stu gee wrote:
    I think bono is a prick and his songs are boring.

    I can handle sunday bloody sunday, with or without you and streets have no name but the rest is poor.

    i'm with you.
    I can't understand why so many people like U2...
    2006: Antwerp, Paris
    2007: Copenhagen, Werchter
    2009: Rotterdam, London
    2010: MSG, Arras, Werchter
    2012: Amsterdam, Prague, Berlin
    2014: Amsterdam, Stockholm
  • stranger34
    stranger34 Posts: 235
    I like both bands but REM takes this easily for being far more influential, having better albums (murmur and automatic are huge, war is great but I don't think any other U2 album reaches that level) and REM has a ton of indiviually fantastic songs. Hell even when they don't make a great album, their albums can be very good fully realized works like UP
  • suffragette
    suffragette Posts: 253
    Twenty years ago I would have said REM. Now, though, it has to be U2, just for their sheer sweep and scope. Stipe has become a cartoon. REM from 83-88 was the best group out there. Going big label was a bad move for them, even if they did make millions. I just don't think REM matters anymore.
  • zircona1
    zircona1 Posts: 293
    R.E.M. is my pick, but I hope their next record is better than Around the Sun, which was mediocre.

    U2 is great as well.
    "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
  • reeferchief
    reeferchief Posts: 3,569
    I was shopping in Tescos yesterday in Durham and there was a man walking around with a Sky Blue T on that looked like it had the MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY.COM logo on it but it actually read MAKEBONOHISTORY.NOW, so in honour of that T, I'm gonna say R.E.M.:)
    Can not be arsed with life no more.
  • Julien
    Julien Posts: 2,457
    reeferchief wrote:
    ...that looked like it had the MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY.COM logo on it but it actually read MAKEBONOHISTORY.NOW

    LoL :D:D
    2006: Antwerp, Paris
    2007: Copenhagen, Werchter
    2009: Rotterdam, London
    2010: MSG, Arras, Werchter
    2012: Amsterdam, Prague, Berlin
    2014: Amsterdam, Stockholm
  • AvocadoLady
    AvocadoLady Posts: 680
    R.E.M. No contest.
    "What happens when so many people agree on something? Can we take this beyond the parking lot when we leave tonight?" -EV, Iconoclasts
  • kdpjam
    kdpjam Posts: 2,303
    i love both bands, but i have to go with r.e.m. here...
    lay down all thoughts; surrender to the void
    ~it is shining it is shining~
  • pearl jam rules
    pearl jam rules Posts: 129
    REM. easily

    U2 pretty much sucks
  • deadmosquito
    deadmosquito Posts: 729
    r.e.m. for me... and personally i thought around the sun was really great....
  • U2rocks
    U2rocks Posts: 89
    I don't get the argument. I would find it hard to believe that anyone would like one of these amazing bands less than the other. The reason U2 is my favorite and because R.E.M. is second...is because you can't have 2 favorite bands.

    For the record.....Pearl Jam comes in 3rd.

    It's like saying which do you like better......Pizza or BBQ.
  • dharma69
    dharma69 Posts: 1,275
    Soupy wrote:
    Yeah everyone hates vs threads but badluck.

    I give this it to REM.

    I struggle with U2 albums, the Best of's are great but the albums are full of fillers IMO. REM have a few dud albums like that (Around the Sun, Up, Green, Recoming) too, but overall I prefer them.
    U2 easily.

    Vocally, lyrically, showmanship, etc. U2 as a band (not lead singer vs lead singer) stands higher to me. Surely they've done less than their best on occasions (I look at Rattle & Hum and get annoyed; I look at POP and see what could've been), but even some of their worst is far superior to other bands' best.

    They have four pieces that fit together perfectly and have done so for over 20 years.
    "I'm here to see Pearl Jam."- Bono

    ...signed...the token black Pearl Jam fan.

    FaceSpace
  • josevolution
    josevolution Posts: 31,827
    at this point in my life i don't like either of them ,plus i was into U2 & REM WAY BACK IN THE 80s but i will take the replacements before any of these 2.
    jesus greets me looks just like me ....
  • reeferchief
    reeferchief Posts: 3,569
    josevolution wrote:
    at this point in my life i don't like either of them ,plus i was into U2 & REM WAY BACK IN THE 80s but i will take the replacements before any of these 2.

    Agree's, Let It Be rips the shreads out of anything REM or U2.
    Can not be arsed with life no more.
  • josevolution
    josevolution Posts: 31,827
    reeferchief wrote:
    Agree's, Let It Be rips the shreads out of anything REM or U2.
    yeah man !!!!
    jesus greets me looks just like me ....
  • StoneG82
    StoneG82 Posts: 806
    REM's early stuff blows away anything U2 ever did.

    that being said, both bands recent output has sucked beyond reason.

    but, I'd take a song like "leaving new york" over "vertigo" any day.

    and "Imitation of Life" is a brilliant song...as far as recent REM goes.
    "What’s Orphans? I don’t know. Orphans is a dead end kid driving a coffin with big tires across the Ohio River wearing welding goggles and a wife beater with a lit firecracker in his ear." - Tom Waits

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