Lack of "general reason to be" has definitely been the problem since Up at least so at this stage of the game I don't even expect it - soldily pleasurable is enough. The sound of Accelerate was obviously designed to signal hunger and renewed energy but it didn't make the record any more essential. The needy titles are beginning to remind me of Sly Stone's later albums though - Accelerate! Collapse Into Now! We Still Got It!
― Pop is superior to all other genres (DL), Wednesday, 16 March 2011 19:08 (thirteen years ago) link
soldily pleasurable is enoughhaven't heard this new one yet, but this is otm. Since REM were such a BIG band people have high expectations, but I think of them now in the realm of, i don't know, the new Steve Wynn album. it's not gonna be an *important* album or anything, but it might be good, who knows?
― tylerw, Wednesday, 16 March 2011 19:14 (thirteen years ago) link
The lyrics to All the Best seem pretty knowing in this context:
"It's just like me to overstay my welcome manLet's sing it and rhymeLet's give it one more timeLet's show the kids how to do it fine, fine, fine, fine"
― Pop is superior to all other genres (DL), Wednesday, 16 March 2011 19:59 (thirteen years ago) link
"Oh My Heart" has no reason to exist except to remind me of how awesome "E-Bow The Letter" and the second side of Out of Time are.
― Rich Lolwry (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 16 March 2011 20:03 (thirteen years ago) link
I have no idea why so many critics have picked that one out as a highlight - it's a snooze. Equally, I really like Blue, which keeps coming in for a kicking.
― Pop is superior to all other genres (DL), Wednesday, 16 March 2011 20:10 (thirteen years ago) link
Apologies if the gist this has been posted previously but REM last 17 album releases have been deemed 'a return to form'. They never fucking have been since the disaster that was Monster.
Apart from All The Way To Reno
― Jessie Fer Ark (Mobbed Up Ping Pong Psychos), Wednesday, 16 March 2011 20:41 (thirteen years ago) link
Since REM were such a BIG band people have high expectations, but I think of them now in the realm of, i don't know, the new Steve Wynn album. it's not gonna be an *important* album or anything, but it might be good, who knows?
You know, that's not true for me. The highlights of their albums from the last say, fifteen years, whether it's "Electrolite" or "Imitation of Life" or "Leaving New York" or others, have been some of my very favorite music of these times!
― timellison, Wednesday, 16 March 2011 22:05 (thirteen years ago) link
sure, i've liked a lot of their stuff from the last decade, but i guess i just don't get too worked up over whether the newest is "a return to form" or a "horrible embarrassment" or w/e. they've made a lot of great music over the years, if an album isn't that hot, no big deal. all part of life's rich tapestry, right?
― tylerw, Wednesday, 16 March 2011 22:13 (thirteen years ago) link
Life's rich pageant even, one might say.
― Ian Curtis danced like a tortured chicken DO U SEE (Phil D.), Wednesday, 16 March 2011 22:27 (thirteen years ago) link
it's all just new adventures in hi-fi knowwhatimean?
― tylerw, Wednesday, 16 March 2011 22:34 (thirteen years ago) link
REM "return to form"
About 598,000 results (0.33 seconds)
― Pop is superior to all other genres (DL), Thursday, 17 March 2011 10:05 (thirteen years ago) link
Isn't it just what happens when a) being in a band becomes a career and b) it's lasted long enough that there is no other way for the people involved to find a way of self-definition and c) the career becomes so successful that it actually becomes harder to split, given the number of people who are dependent on REM (or U2, or the Stones or many other bands) for their living. It becomes a grind of trying to find inspiration, sometimes with success sometimes not. I'd guess REM had said everything they needed to say by Automatic, and since then they've been trying to find things to say.
― Alan Partridge Project (ithappens), Thursday, 17 March 2011 11:07 (thirteen years ago) link
so i haven't wanted to turn this off yet! (i almost wanted to during the peaches duet)
― tylerw, Wednesday, 6 April 2011 17:34 (thirteen years ago) link
hey this was OK! just a little generic-y sounding at times.
― tylerw, Wednesday, 6 April 2011 17:55 (thirteen years ago) link
Pageant next on the reissues list, second CD with 19 demos from '86 including an early take on King Of Birds (although that might be instrumental) and Wait, which iirc from bootlegs is pretty good.
― the crap gig in the sky (MaresNest), Wednesday, 4 May 2011 15:27 (thirteen years ago) link
that sounds cool. stil haven't gotten the last two reissues, but i plan to.
― tylerw, Wednesday, 4 May 2011 15:28 (thirteen years ago) link
I think LRP might be my favourite REM record, but I just don't listen to it as much as say Up.
― the crap gig in the sky (MaresNest), Wednesday, 4 May 2011 15:35 (thirteen years ago) link
i go back and forth between 'pageant' and 'fables.' excited for this
― reggie (qualmsley), Wednesday, 4 May 2011 15:38 (thirteen years ago) link
If I'm allowed I'll post a tracklisting for the demo's disc later.
― the crap gig in the sky (MaresNest), Wednesday, 4 May 2011 15:43 (thirteen years ago) link
Wow! Maresnest, I feel exactly the same way! I've always felt like "Up" was made by a different band yet still showcasing what makes REM great.
― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Wednesday, 4 May 2011 15:49 (thirteen years ago) link
:) There's something consistently bright, optimistic and headrush-y and also weirdly a bit post-hardcore about it, like those tours with Minutemen got to the core of Buck's songwriting for a while.
― the crap gig in the sky (MaresNest), Wednesday, 4 May 2011 15:53 (thirteen years ago) link
Here we go:
Disc Two: The Athens Demos – all previously unreleased(Recorded March 1986 at John Keane’s Studio, Athens GA)
1. Fall On Me 10. Cuyahoga2. Hyena 11. I Believe3. March Song (King Of Birds) 12. Out Of Tune4. These Days 13. Rotary Ten5. Bad Day 14. Two Steps Onward6. Salsa (Underneath The Bunker) 15. Just A Touch7. Swan Swan H 16. Mystery To Me8. Flowers Of Guatemala 17. Wait9. Begin The Begin 18. All The Right Friends 19. Get On Their Way (What If We Give It Away)
― the crap gig in the sky (MaresNest), Wednesday, 4 May 2011 16:03 (thirteen years ago) link
Oh jeez..
1. Fall On Me2. Hyena3. March Song (King Of Birds)4. These Days5. Bad Day6. Salsa (Underneath The Bunker)7. Swan Swan H8. Flowers Of Guatemala9. Begin The Begin10. Cuyahoga11. I Believe12. Out Of Tune13. Rotary Ten14. Two Steps Onward15. Just A Touch16. Mystery To Me17. Wait18. All The Right Friends19. Get On Their Way (What If We Give It Away)
― the crap gig in the sky (MaresNest), Wednesday, 4 May 2011 16:07 (thirteen years ago) link
I love "Cuyahoga" so much.
1) "Let's put our heads together & start a new country up"---been feeling this a lot lately; & Stipe sounds so earnest about it, a totally suitable attitude imo. I want to do this too.
2) The rush from the third chorus into the bridge ("rewrite the book")---sublime. And the idea goes too far & it dies out, into the opening again.
3) How the rhythm section swings: the opening bass riff gets it started, and then whilst the first verse kinda thuds on the drums, the pre-chorus bit ("this is where we walked...") just dances; and so does the chorus; you could dance to this & it wouldn't be that awkward!
4) "We are not your allies, we cannot defend."
5) Is that feedback on the second verse? Or is that an organ? It adds to the menace, whatever it is. I think there's an electric piano in that second chorus at the end, so it's probably keys. I don't have any session notes handy.
― Euler, Wednesday, 4 May 2011 16:28 (thirteen years ago) link
euler you are otm. the whole album's galvanizing. the first two songs are calls to arms
― reggie (qualmsley), Wednesday, 4 May 2011 17:01 (thirteen years ago) link
The bridge of Swan Swan H has always been one of my fav rem moments
― secretariat on demand (Z S), Wednesday, 4 May 2011 17:59 (thirteen years ago) link
My main problem with this album is that "What If We Give It Away?" & "Just A Touch" are the worst songs on an REM album until "Ignoreland". I know they're old songs & I love pre-Murmur REM but they don't fit the flow of the album. They'd work ok as singles, though they're still sub-par. The chorus of "What If We Give It Away?" is a whine; & "Just A Touch" doesn't pop like the raver they're envision, plus its chorus sounds like a mishmash of lines ending up in "I Believe" with, well, just a bunch of garbled words---the kind of thing REM haters accuse Stipe of! I'm happy when it ends because that moment of Stipe falling off is a highlight & it leads into a couple of great songs.
― Euler, Wednesday, 4 May 2011 18:11 (thirteen years ago) link
"just a touch" works for me like a reassertion of "little america" -- "i can't see myself at 30" to "i'm so young, i'm so goddamn young." never been a huge fan of "what if we give it away" though either
― reggie (qualmsley), Wednesday, 4 May 2011 18:29 (thirteen years ago) link
yeah that last bit is the good part of "Just A Touch". They must have been struggling for material to put those two old songs on there.
― Euler, Wednesday, 4 May 2011 18:32 (thirteen years ago) link
man "The Flowers of Guatemala" is REM's first power ballad & it's a great one. Another ace bridge! that feedback blast on it is a hook, & then into a rare guitar solo. I'd kinda like to have heard more Mills vocal on it, maybe even a lead or a duet? Stipe hits a few too many drones that I think helixing with Mills could have cured or at least blurred.
― Euler, Wednesday, 4 May 2011 18:36 (thirteen years ago) link
maybe we'll hear more mills on the demos?
― reggie (qualmsley), Wednesday, 4 May 2011 18:38 (thirteen years ago) link
true! I didn't find the Fables demos to be much of a revelation but tbh I only listened through once & anyway I like the murk of Boyd's production.
― Euler, Wednesday, 4 May 2011 18:44 (thirteen years ago) link
ok I take that back, the demo of "Auctioneer" is really swell; it ends with Stipe saying "another...engine....another...engine" à la "Horses" & then someone yells really loudly & then it ends; really tense!
― Euler, Wednesday, 4 May 2011 18:58 (thirteen years ago) link
What is it with PSA? Surprised at it popping up here, I thought it was written around the time of Green, odd to be reiterating such an obvious lame duck.
― the crap gig in the sky (MaresNest), Wednesday, 4 May 2011 19:07 (thirteen years ago) link
LRP's second side is weak in the songwriting dept - they didn't have enough songs, had to flesh out old 1980/01 live numbers. Disappointing given the first side is so cohesive. Would say the same for Document (ace first side) but I like the oddball stuff after the big hit - people obviously don't. But it was more interesting than LRP's.
Fables better the whole way through both albums.
― Master of Treacle, Wednesday, 4 May 2011 19:14 (thirteen years ago) link
xpIt sounds like "I Believe", so maybe it's a version of that? It also sounds like "It's the End of the World..." so I dunno.
― Euler, Wednesday, 4 May 2011 19:16 (thirteen years ago) link
Can't wait for this, as this is my favorite R.E.M. album by quite a ways. This was the one where I REALLY got them as a band. And if these songs benefit from the remastering as much "Fables" did, I'll probably listen to it exclusively for days on end. "Begin the Begin"/"These Days" is as good as it gets for a one-two punch in the whole R.E.M. catalog.
― Captain Hyrax (Phil D.), Wednesday, 4 May 2011 19:17 (thirteen years ago) link
That half acoustic, half electric thing they were after on Green should/could have been LRP - Guatemala, Swan, Fall on Me, Cuyahoga on one side and Begin the Begin, These Days on the other - problem is they didn't have enough examples of the latter and fleshed it out with light stuff like Superman/Bunker/JAT, which don't fit on the album IMO. Superman I love, but better as a standalone single.
― Master of Treacle, Wednesday, 4 May 2011 19:22 (thirteen years ago) link
"My picture that I have of us breaking up is that we'd do a couple of really bad records...and then we'd go to a Chinese restaurant and get drinks with umbrellas in them and say 'you know guys it's been a really haul but we just don't have it anymore', you know, and have a good toast and go home"
Peter Buck 1998.
― piscesx, Thursday, 22 September 2011 02:51 (twelve years ago) link
How many bad records had they made at that point?
<- got off the bus with Out of Time
― citation needed (Steve Shasta), Thursday, 22 September 2011 03:09 (twelve years ago) link
4
― Mr. Que, Thursday, 22 September 2011 03:11 (twelve years ago) link
I just wanted to see Buck with the Baseball Project but he hurt his back and skipped a month of gigs.
So is Stipe gonna do an album with Patti Smith now that REM are broken up ?
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 22 September 2011 03:31 (twelve years ago) link
heard some REM news - yay
― let me markers that for you http://tinyurl.com/6jdgf7f (cozen), Thursday, 22 September 2011 19:55 (twelve years ago) link
lol
― some dude, Thursday, 22 September 2011 22:49 (twelve years ago) link
wait until you get the Bill Berry ''they've sucked the last decade'' interview now
― Master of Treacle, Thursday, 22 September 2011 22:56 (twelve years ago) link
album of the year?
― reggie (qualmsley), Friday, 23 September 2011 02:56 (twelve years ago) link
when I heard this my first thought was 'but don't they have an album that is coming out pretty soon?" and then I remembered that it already came out, and I listened to it, and didn't remember anything about it. so I guess that says it all.
― akm, Friday, 23 September 2011 05:58 (twelve years ago) link
it's good, i find myself whistling the beginning of "it happened today" quite a lot
― Guayaquil (eephus!), Friday, 23 September 2011 12:58 (twelve years ago) link
hearing "blue" now as their "riders on the storm." what a great band
― reggie (qualmsley), Friday, 23 September 2011 19:09 (twelve years ago) link
do we think they knew it'd be the last album so threw their all into 'Collapse...' to go out with some dignity? i mean you know even the title suggests it.
― piscesx, Friday, 23 September 2011 19:34 (twelve years ago) link