\\\///\\\/// It's the ILX SUPER SUMMER R.E.M. POLL OF POLLS RESULTS THREAD \\\///\\\///

Love this song but not even in my top 3 on Lifes Rich Pageant. In fact, I don't even think it's my favorite "inspirational" number on LRP -- that's "I Believe." Unless "These Days" is inspirational -- which it kind of is -- in that case, "These Days."

― Guayaquil (eephus!), Friday, 13 August 2010 03:42 (2 years ago) Permalink

I don't even remember if it's on this poll, but "Camera" came on my shuffle yesterday and jeez, my god.

― Guayaquil (eephus!), Sunday, 22 August 2010 00:45 (2 years ago) Permalink

#4: So. Central Rain
18 votes, 135 points
Highest position: #1 (David Merryweather, Nasty Brutish & Short)
Position in Reckoning poll: #1 (17 points)

fall on me? it's no 'so. central rain'.

― keyth (keyth), Sunday, April 9, 2006 1:21 PM Bookmark

― Doctor Casino, Sunday, 22 August 2010 03:47 (2 years ago) Permalink

watching rem perform this on david letterman was a striking, shattering moment for me in the 80s.

― Daniel, Esq., Sunday, 22 August 2010 03:52 (2 years ago) Permalink

That's the one I've been waiting for.

― Jerome Personnel Cheeses (Nasty, Brutish & Short), Sunday, 22 August 2010 13:51 (2 years ago) Permalink

i don't think it was in my top five, but it's a towering moment for 80s college rock (the forebearer to 90s indie-rock, i guess).

also, having them debut it in that setting was extraordinary. and it showed tremendous confidence. they were promoting murmur; reckoning wouldn't be released for another year, i think; even fans in the audience would have had no familiarity with the song. it was just so good that they went ahead with it, instead of something else from murmur. such an extraordinary band, until it all went downhill.

― Daniel, Esq., Sunday, 22 August 2010 14:29 (2 years ago) Permalink

It's also amazing to think of a time where a band could be on a major late night tv show in the U.S. and play a new, unreleased song on a national debut without their label or the tv execs shitting their pants.

― Z S, Sunday, 22 August 2010 14:55 (2 years ago) Permalink

That live clip isn't doing much for me (the sound is bad, unsurprisingly) & Stipe comes across as a thoroughly unappealing frontman. The ending isn't explosive the way it is on later versions. Buck & Mills are charming in the intro though!

I voted this song #9 it appears. That's partly a function of what ended up as choices for this poll, iirc. Is this REM's most Pearl Jam moment?

― Euler, Sunday, 22 August 2010 16:56 (2 years ago) Permalink

What stands out more than anything in that clip is that Peter's guitar it out of tune. But that, combined with Stipe's stage demeanor, just makes the whole thing more appealing for me. You can still picture them in a a garage, drinking cheap beers and casually working out a staple of college rock.

― Z S, Sunday, 22 August 2010 17:01 (2 years ago) Permalink

yep. sometimes it's more than dynamic playing/showmanship that make a performance. i just remember being struck by the song. like, "wow," these guys have a lot more than chronic town and murmur in them.

― Daniel, Esq., Sunday, 22 August 2010 17:03 (2 years ago) Permalink

having said that, i don't think this song was on my ballot at all.

― Daniel, Esq., Sunday, 22 August 2010 17:04 (2 years ago) Permalink

Yeah, but when I picture them in garages I think of the pre-Murmur boots in which they're leading what sound like awesome parties.

― Euler, Sunday, 22 August 2010 17:04 (2 years ago) Permalink

oh, yeah. well, as i've said before, it's ridiculous that they haven't officially released all those awesome performances from the early, early 80s that are floating around on bootlegs.

― Daniel, Esq., Sunday, 22 August 2010 17:05 (2 years ago) Permalink

Stipe comes across as a thoroughly unappealing frontman. [...] Buck & Mills are charming in the intro though!

Totally my first impression as well. Peter Buck especially I was like "awwwww!" and then Stipe came up from the shadows and I was like "O_O OMG WTF IS THAT THING O_O" and then his stage demeanor made me all, "...oh great."

― ilxor has truly been got at and become an ILXor (ilxor), Monday, 23 August 2010 13:29 (2 years ago) Permalink

Three things I love about this song (in order of appearance):

1) The bass line before each verse

2) Eastern to Mountain, third party call, the lines are down, the wise man built his words upon the rocks
but I'm not bound to follow suit - I just loved the way this lengthy line sounded when I was a teenager, even though I couldn't work out what he was saying (due to mumbling, American accent, American culturally specific stuff('Eastern to Mountain') and sheer unlikeliness of the lyrics)

3) The Mills 'ah-ah-ah-ah...' in the final verse

― Jerome Personnel Cheeses (Nasty, Brutish & Short), Monday, 23 August 2010 14:20 (2 years ago) Permalink

Yeah, I love that phone-connection line, especially the way it tumbles from the practical specifics of the long-distance relationship storyline to this philosophical musing on wise men etc. "Eastern to Mountain, third-party call" is so grounded and specific, it's not quite "Long distance information, get me Memphis Tennessee," but it's sure close.

So did he/she really never call, or was it just that the lines were down?

― Doctor Casino, Monday, 23 August 2010 18:01 (2 years ago) Permalink

#3: Radio Free Europe
15 votes, 138 points
Highest position: #1 (Guayaquil (eephus!))
Position in Murmur poll: tie for #1 (10 points)

I paid $100 for a fully-autographed copy of REM's Radio Free Europe on Hib-Tone.

― dan, Thursday, April 25, 2002 8:00 PM Bookmark

You have to remember how Radio Free Europe sounded late at night on commercial radio stations between Men Without fucking Hats and Quarterflash to appreciate how it impacted on observant suburban kids.

― suzy (suzy), Saturday, February 10, 2007 6:47 AM Bookmark

what a great way to start a career btw

― mr bollock apple (electricsound), Tuesday, January 5, 2010 3:48 AM Bookmark

― Doctor Casino, Tuesday, 31 August 2010 21:44 (2 years ago) Permalink

Which leaves us with these for the top two:

Beat A Drum
Crazy
Driver 8
Fretless
Harborcoat
Hope
Imitation of Life
King of the Road
Kohoutek
Leaving New York
Let Me In
Orange Crush
Sad Professor
Strange Currencies
The Lifting
The One I Love
Turn You Inside Out

― ilxor has truly been got at and become an ILXor (ilxor), Tuesday, 31 August 2010 21:51 (2 years ago) Permalink

I'd say this is between "Driver 8" and "The One I Love," perhaps with "Harborcoat" as a long-shot upset.

― ilxor has truly been got at and become an ILXor (ilxor), Tuesday, 31 August 2010 21:52 (2 years ago) Permalink

Then again I can imagine "The One I Love" getting shut out, so...

― ilxor has truly been got at and become an ILXor (ilxor), Tuesday, 31 August 2010 21:53 (2 years ago) Permalink

Have any wildcards placed yet?

― Euler, Tuesday, 31 August 2010 21:56 (2 years ago) Permalink

just #29: It's the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)

― Mosquepanik at Ground Zero (abanana), Tuesday, 31 August 2010 21:57 (2 years ago) Permalink

"Orange Crush" might have a chance

― Mosquepanik at Ground Zero (abanana), Tuesday, 31 August 2010 21:58 (2 years ago) Permalink

I think "Life..." was a wildcard as well.

― ilxor has truly been got at and become an ILXor (ilxor), Tuesday, 31 August 2010 21:58 (2 years ago) Permalink

I put a wildcard at #3, but I don't think it stands a chance.

― Euler, Tuesday, 31 August 2010 21:59 (2 years ago) Permalink

I was waiting for Sitting Still, but have just noticed it was at no.7

― Jerome Personnel Cheeses (Nasty, Brutish & Short), Wednesday, 1 September 2010 06:21 (2 years ago) Permalink

On the merits, "Driver 8" takes it, followed by "Harborcoat." In real life, "Driver 8" followed by "The One I Love" (which certainly doesn't deserve, on the merits, to get shut out.)

― Guayaquil (eephus!), Wednesday, 1 September 2010 12:42 (2 years ago) Permalink

As for my #1. When I was in high school I formed the intention to programatically become more cool. From what I read in Washington CityPaper, it was cool to like REM. This was maybe 1987. I bought _Document_ and _Murmur_ and listened to them over and over until I was cool.

Mills's up-the-stairs-down-the-stairs bassline on "Straight off the boat...." is one of my favorite moments in the history of popular music.

Is that weird? But I was once drunk at a part with a guy who played bass in a medium-successful indie rock band, and I didn't really have anything to talk about, and I started talking about this bassline, and it was like we were fans of the same baseball team or something, we were just instantly best friends, "go bassline!"

I heard this bassline and for the first time -- despite the many, many Yes albums I had listened to by 1987 -- understood that pop music was in certain ways supposed to be complicated.

― Guayaquil (eephus!), Wednesday, 1 September 2010 12:47 (2 years ago) Permalink

ha, that's just lovely

― Ismael Klata, Wednesday, 1 September 2010 12:53 (2 years ago) Permalink

Just heard "Superman" today. When I was in high school this was one of the very most canonical and beloved R.E.M. songs -- didn't even make it into this poll! I still love it to death. One of Stipe's very best wordless shouts behind the lead vocal on the last chorus.

― Guayaquil (eephus!), Thursday, 2 September 2010 02:56 (2 years ago) Permalink

Agreed about "Superman" - - absolutely beautiful recording.

― Doctor Casino, Thursday, 2 September 2010 03:21 (2 years ago) Permalink

You have to remember how Radio Free Europe sounded late at night on commercial radio stations between Men Without fucking Hats and Quarterflash to appreciate how it impacted on observant suburban kids.

― suzy (suzy), Saturday, February 10, 2007 6:47 AM Bookmark

How weird to read that, given that Men Without Hats have held up so much better than REM. Pop Goes The World album > entire REM catalog.

― dlp9001, Thursday, 2 September 2010 03:27 (2 years ago) Permalink

#2: Driver 8
17 votes, 139 points
Highest position: #1 (Pancakes Hackman)
Position in Fables of the Reconstruction poll: #1 (14 votes)

I got into a pretty major car wreck while R.E.M.'s "Driver 8" was playing on the radio. I suspect that it wasn't a coincidence, even though it was the other drivers' fault.

― Chris Barrus, Wednesday, May 23, 2001 8:00 PM Bookmark

I want to vote for "Driver 8," but it's like the mid-80s suburban "Layla" -- EVERY fucking high-school-age band was playing it.

― Sara Sara Sara, Tuesday, October 28, 2008 8:57 AM Bookmark

"Driver 8" right now. Basically, everything about it: from that understated yet attention-snagging opening riff, through the propulsive jangle, via that gorgeous bridge ("Way to shield the hated heat /Way to put myself to sleep /Way to shield the hated heat /Way to put myself, my children to sleep") to the overall mood that rides a difficult line between a literal Southern train ride -- rich and imagistic -- and some other more figurative journey (toward death?). R.E.M. were almost always better when they were ambiguous.

― Lostandfound, Monday, July 23, 2007 6:36 PM Bookmark

― Doctor Casino, Thursday, 2 September 2010 14:29 (2 years ago) Permalink

and, without further ado, speculation, or delay:

#1: Harborcoat
15 votes, 150 points
Highest position: #1 (kuba a)
Position in Reckoning poll: #2 (12 votes)

You people made me download Harbourcoat and I was so impressed I bought the first two albums (...)

― elwisty (elwisty), Saturday, April 30, 2005 5:58 PM Bookmark

did not expect such a strong showing by "Harborcoat", but I'm way happy about it!

― georgeous gorge (bernard snowy), Sunday, January 11, 2009 7:09 PM Bookmark

Harbourcoat just pips Pretty Persuasion for me. Both have some of Buck's best guitar work - Andy Gill angles and McGuinn jangles. Harbourcoat is such as stunning opener, and the way that gorgeous chorus flowers from the post-punky groove of the verse is masterful.

― Stew, Saturday, January 10, 2009 7:52 PM Bookmark

Great album. I am going to vote "Harborcoat" because then the whole album is covering after.

― Mark, Saturday, December 20, 2008 11:18 PM Bookmark

― Doctor Casino, Thursday, 2 September 2010 14:41 (2 years ago) Permalink

Thanks to everybody for participating, and for waiting out the, uh, slightly protracted results schedule. Hope y'all have gotten a kick out of all this, and more than anything I hope it's inspired people to pull out some REM!

― Doctor Casino, Thursday, 2 September 2010 14:43 (2 years ago) Permalink

Playlist is being made right now. Wish I had participated in the voting.

Great work, Doctor Casino.

― a cankle of rads (Gukbe), Thursday, 2 September 2010 14:55 (2 years ago) Permalink

Spotify playlist here: http://open.spotify.com/user/nathanwoolls/playlist/0eC7mZx2r9OaEK3C28rZfZ

― nate woolls, Thursday, 2 September 2010 15:09 (2 years ago) Permalink

This is awesome, thanks v. much!!

― ilxor has truly been got at and become an ILXor (ilxor), Thursday, 2 September 2010 15:10 (2 years ago) Permalink

how I miss spotify. making it through old fashioned iTunes.

― a cankle of rads (Gukbe), Thursday, 2 September 2010 15:10 (2 years ago) Permalink

I have 0 recollection of "Harborcoat" even though I've definitely heard Reckoning

It sounds almost like a Smiths song

― feel free to answer my Korn Kuestion (HI DERE), Thursday, 2 September 2010 15:11 (2 years ago) Permalink

what came #1 in that Reckoning poll? So. Central Rain?

― a cankle of rads (Gukbe), Thursday, 2 September 2010 15:17 (2 years ago) Permalink

yeah, just scrolled up. nevermind.

― a cankle of rads (Gukbe), Thursday, 2 September 2010 15:18 (2 years ago) Permalink

The results:

#30: Disturbance at the Heron House
4 votes, 28 points
#29: It's the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)
2 WILDCARD votes, 29 points
#28: Shaking Through
5 votes, 30 points
#27 (tie): Turn You Inside Out
4 votes, 33 points
#27 (tie): World Leader Pretend
4 votes, 33 points
#26 (tie): Leave
6 votes, 38 points
#26 (tie): Ages of You
5 votes, 38 points
#26 (tie): Daysleeper
6 votes, 38 points
#25 (tie): Finest Worksong
6 votes, 43 points
#25 (tie): Life And How To Live It
4 WILDCARD votes, 43 points
#24: Near Wild Heaven
10 votes, 52 points
#23: (don't go back TO) ROCKVILLE)
6 votes, 53 points
#22: Feeling Gravitys Pull
9 votes, 54 points
#21: Perfect Circle
7 votes, 59 points
#20: You Are The Everything
7 votes, 60 points
#19 (tie): E-Bow The Letter
9 votes, 65 points
#19 (tie): What's The Frequency, Kenneth?
9 votes, 65 points
#18: Pretty Persuasion
9 votes, 66 points
#17: Electrolite
9 votes, 72 points
#16: Cuyahoga
9 votes, 74 points
#15: Gardening At Night
9 votes, 78 points
#14 (tie): Moral Kiosk
10 votes, 92 points
#14 (tie): Drive
10 votes, 92 points
#13: Losing My Religion
12 votes, 93 points
#12: These Days
11 votes, 94 points
#11: Nightswimming
11 votes, 95 points
#10: Country Feedback
11 votes, 96 points
#9: Wolves, Lower
10 votes, 97 points
#8: Find the River
11 votes, 99 points
#7: Sitting Still
12 votes, 107 points
#6: Carnival of Sorts (Box Cars)
12 votes, 112 points
#5: Fall On Me
15 votes, 113 points
#4: So. Central Rain
18 votes, 135 points
#3: Radio Free Europe
15 votes, 138 points
#2: Driver 8
17 votes, 139 points
#1: Harborcoat
15 votes, 150 points

― a cankle of rads (Gukbe), Thursday, 2 September 2010 15:21 (2 years ago) Permalink

It is kind of hilarious how many of these songs I actually LOVE considering I used to tell everyone I hated REM

― feel free to answer my Korn Kuestion (HI DERE), Thursday, 2 September 2010 15:25 (2 years ago) Permalink

Thanks for the summary, Gukbe!

― Doctor Casino, Thursday, 2 September 2010 15:33 (2 years ago) Permalink

Overall, if it's not exactly the mix CD I'd make to hook a friend on the band, it IS a pretty umimpeachable "best of" list if you're not concerned about getting all the singles and so on. Nice picks, everybody.

― Doctor Casino, Thursday, 2 September 2010 15:35 (2 years ago) Permalink

No "The One I Love," no credibility. ;)

― ilxor has truly been got at and become an ILXor (ilxor), Thursday, 2 September 2010 15:36 (2 years ago) Permalink

In a shocking twist, it turns out to be one we don't love.

In hindsight, I do regret the "use the album polls to seed the main poll" approach - - - too many good songs thrown out of contention by the cruel logic of the ILX "one vote per poll" system. But overall, not bad results.

― Doctor Casino, Thursday, 2 September 2010 15:38 (2 years ago) Permalink

Good point. Maybe you should re-do the poll.

― Jerome Personnel Cheeses (Nasty, Brutish & Short), Thursday, 2 September 2010 15:40 (2 years ago) Permalink

Alas, no showing for my wildcard, my #3 vote, "Letter Never Sent". That's a jam, & basically "essence" of the band, or at least early band: the riff, the moaning, the explosion of drums from verse into chorus. & it's the last of these that's crucial imo about getting the early band: they took choruses really seriously for an "art rock" band; even if they weren't sing-along-able, they resolve tension, let you cut some rug a little differently. You could certainly dance to "Letter Never Sent"; it's almost kicker-danceable! Oh, and the bridge too!

Good list! "Daysleeper" is the only latter-day track & that seems about right (I'd swap "Hope" for it but one is enough). Maybe the list is a little more downtempo than I like to think of the band, but then again my ballot ended up being pretty early-band-centered (I didn't set out that way!) & they were more a dance band then than they'd become circa Fables and onward (when I love them too, but for different reasons).

― Euler, Thursday, 2 September 2010 15:52 (2 years ago) Permalink