― kiwi, Sunday, 17 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― al, Sunday, 17 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
eviscerate me to that album - i will go quietly and mourn for a time never to be seen again, for a love never to be felt.
― Queen G, Sunday, 17 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― Ned Raggett, Sunday, 17 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― alex in mainhattan, Sunday, 17 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― Sonicred, Sunday, 17 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― kiwi, Monday, 18 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― owen hatherley, Monday, 18 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― weasel diesel (K1l14n), Wednesday, 10 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― Lukas (lukas), Saturday, 8 November 2003 02:00 (twenty years ago) link
― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Saturday, 8 November 2003 03:07 (twenty years ago) link
― Jim Reckling (Jim Reckling), Saturday, 8 November 2003 03:18 (twenty years ago) link
― t\'\'t (t\'\'t), Saturday, 8 November 2003 08:09 (twenty years ago) link
― the surface noise (electricsound), Saturday, 8 November 2003 08:14 (twenty years ago) link
― t\'\'t (t\'\'t), Saturday, 8 November 2003 08:22 (twenty years ago) link
Oh, man! I bet Stipey and co. have sleepless nights over that one.
I'd take Monster over New Adventures. I don't know why I've never really got into NIAH, but Monster is almost always the one I have in my walkman. I like that it's a bit messed up and wrong. Great guitar sound as well.
― Philip Alderman (Phil A), Saturday, 8 November 2003 14:16 (twenty years ago) link
Uh, drummer. Guitarist = Andy Summers, bassist = oh, I think we all know by now.
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 9 November 2003 16:33 (twenty years ago) link
― disco stu (disco stu), Sunday, 9 November 2003 16:39 (twenty years ago) link
Always liked 'Bittersweet Me' and 'Electrolite' OK. Maybe it hasn't really improved that much. We'll see.
― the bellefox, Friday, 19 August 2005 13:08 (eighteen years ago) link
Also from these sessions - a cover of Vic Chesnutt's "Sponge" that's probably my favorite R.E.M. track post-1992.
― joseph cotten (joseph cotten), Friday, 19 August 2005 15:17 (eighteen years ago) link
― PeopleFunnyBoy (PeopleFunnyBoy), Friday, 19 August 2005 15:19 (eighteen years ago) link
― joseph cotten (joseph cotten), Friday, 19 August 2005 15:22 (eighteen years ago) link
But, yeah, up to about track 10 this is my favorite overrated underrated REM album, after Life's Rich Pageant.
― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Friday, 19 August 2005 15:24 (eighteen years ago) link
― the bellefox, Friday, 19 August 2005 17:58 (eighteen years ago) link
I'd cut "Suspicion", "At My Most Beautiful" and...maybe "Walk Unafraid"? Maybe only 2 need to be cut.
I love "Parakeet".
― PeopleFunnyBoy (PeopleFunnyBoy), Friday, 19 August 2005 18:03 (eighteen years ago) link
― zeus, Friday, 19 August 2005 18:13 (eighteen years ago) link
― joseph cotten (joseph cotten), Friday, 19 August 2005 18:16 (eighteen years ago) link
x-post: "The Michael Stipe Band" is ridiculous. It's Buck, Mills, and Stipe, minus Berry. They have a great regular band w/ McCaughey and Stringfellow and Bill Rieflin is actually a stronger drummer than Berry was.
― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Friday, 19 August 2005 18:22 (eighteen years ago) link
― joseph cotten (joseph cotten), Friday, 19 August 2005 18:26 (eighteen years ago) link
Bullshit.
― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Friday, 19 August 2005 18:27 (eighteen years ago) link
― joseph cotten (joseph cotten), Friday, 19 August 2005 18:29 (eighteen years ago) link
― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Friday, 19 August 2005 18:30 (eighteen years ago) link
― joseph cotten (joseph cotten), Friday, 19 August 2005 18:32 (eighteen years ago) link
― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Friday, 19 August 2005 18:33 (eighteen years ago) link
― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Friday, 19 August 2005 18:34 (eighteen years ago) link
― alex in mainhattan (alex63), Friday, 19 August 2005 20:12 (eighteen years ago) link
― gear (gear), Wednesday, 9 November 2005 06:11 (eighteen years ago) link
― kyle (akmonday), Wednesday, 9 November 2005 07:20 (eighteen years ago) link
― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Wednesday, 9 November 2005 10:56 (eighteen years ago) link
― my name is john. i reside in chicago. (frankE), Wednesday, 9 November 2005 15:58 (eighteen years ago) link
― David R. (popshots75`), Wednesday, 9 November 2005 16:05 (eighteen years ago) link
I think the rockers sound fantastic - the opening racket of "Departure" might be what Buck was looking for on Monster but never quite finding. OTM on Low Desert's lyrics. "A road owl hit your windshield..."
I dunno. The whole package works, and it does deliver a consistent mood without sounding the same throughout. It's hard not to hear it as Berry's swan song though, or wonder what might have come next if he hadn't bowed out (and I'm speaking as a general defender of Up and to a lesser extent Reveal).
It's hard to believe this is now almost ten years old.
― Doctor Casino, Wednesday, 9 November 2005 16:11 (eighteen years ago) link
― M@tt He1geson (Matt Helgeson), Wednesday, 9 November 2005 16:45 (eighteen years ago) link
"Reveal" is also underrated, I think. Good songs all throughout, even the weird stuff like "Beachball" works.
― Chris O., Wednesday, 9 November 2005 16:52 (eighteen years ago) link
― Vornado, Wednesday, 9 November 2005 16:57 (eighteen years ago) link
agreed on the lyrics here. great stuff. contrast that with, say, "imitation of life," which came on at the gym the other day. aaargh. stipe's "greatest thing since bread came sliced" line. wtf is that? add mill's blander than bland songwriting/arrangement (i assume it's him, since it was such a big deal when his songs started getting more prominent around out of time. sounds like him even it's not.) and buck's surliness/seeming disinterest in being in a band (look at him, he constantly looks pained) and the result is a severely damaged legacy.
― my name is john. i reside in chicago. (frankE), Wednesday, 9 November 2005 17:16 (eighteen years ago) link
That's just nuts. They sure have done a lot of work and toured around the world relentlessly for someone disinterested in being in a band.
― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Wednesday, 9 November 2005 17:19 (eighteen years ago) link
Stipe being silly.
― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Wednesday, 9 November 2005 17:26 (eighteen years ago) link
dc otm
― STOCK FIST-PUMPER BRAD (BradNelson), Thursday, 4 November 2021 13:26 (two years ago) link
Bono's lyrics on AB and Zooropa are best-ever, though. He never tried again.
― So who you gonna call? The martini police (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 4 November 2021 13:35 (two years ago) link
but they're almost being used more like the strings on Automatic
I think Star Me Kitten is the song on Automatic that sounds most like a pointer towards Monster despite being one of the least rocking things on the album, with the gauzy wall of sound and the sexual frankness
I definitely feel like the reason Monster works so well is the production/sound of the thing, it's not the same at all as New Adventures In Hi-Fi 'live in the studio'/recorded at soundchecks thing - Monster reminds me of a bit in the Simon Reynolds Glam Rock book where he talks about glam sounding ragged and rough-hewn but not in a rootsy, naturalistic way, in an artificial plastic way Live versions of Monster songs usually sound a little underwhelming to me, the same with those remixes on the re-release that made them sound more like trad REM songs. I feel the same way about The Wake-Up Bomb, it could have sounded great on Monster but the New Adventures version kind of falls flat
― soref, Thursday, 4 November 2021 13:51 (two years ago) link
― So who you gonna call? The martini police (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, November 4, 2021 6:35 AM (eighteen minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink
they're his best. grading on a curve
― STOCK FIST-PUMPER BRAD (BradNelson), Thursday, 4 November 2021 13:54 (two years ago) link
I think Mumur's arrangements & orchestration of the instruments (that may be the same thing) are what makes it timeless. Reckoning and Fables are both a little more straightforward "rock band" albums where Murmur reminds me of the first two Gang of Four records, where the instruments and vocals are kind of all going off in different directions sometimes while still maintaining cohesion.
― a (waterface), Thursday, 4 November 2021 13:59 (two years ago) link
Think about the first minute or so of Pilgramage (or heck the last minute or so) there's nothing even close to that on the next two
― a (waterface), Thursday, 4 November 2021 14:00 (two years ago) link
That's a sharp way of putting the Go4 influence in context. Also: bass lines! The only other contemporaneous Amerindie band with comparable ones is The Minutemen.
― So who you gonna call? The martini police (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 4 November 2021 14:03 (two years ago) link
Monster makes me imagine introverted teenage Michael Stipe in the 70s living out his fantasies and desires through these sexually ambiguous glam rock records, and this is how they bridge the gap between mumbly early REM and the fact that they were now literally the biggest band in the world, pretending to be a rock star while also being a literal rock star - I love the way it's exhibitionist and introverted at the same time, it reminds me of Morrissey with the focus on the idolizer imagining themselves as the idol or maybe becoming the idol.
― soref, Thursday, 4 November 2021 14:05 (two years ago) link
"Finest Worksong" is the height of Go4 worship, so great
Also the song title is very Minutemen
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Thursday, 4 November 2021 14:10 (two years ago) link
ah yes bass lines. Mike Mills is so underrated in that band. as is Bill
― a (waterface), Thursday, 4 November 2021 14:11 (two years ago) link
the three four descending bass notes right before Stipe starts singing Worksong are *so Mike Watt*
― a (waterface), Thursday, 4 November 2021 14:13 (two years ago) link
The feedback at the start of the third verse of New Test Leper is my shit.
― Mule, Thursday, 4 November 2021 15:21 (two years ago) link
soref post upthread (re: Monster) very interesting & OTM
― juristic person (morrisp), Thursday, 4 November 2021 15:24 (two years ago) link
yeah great post soref! i like The Wake-Up Bomb as-is, but would definitely be interested in a more artifical, shiny, Monster-type version of it. lyrically it feels VERY appropriate for that album as well.
― I Am Fribbulus (Xax) (Doctor Casino), Thursday, 4 November 2021 16:37 (two years ago) link
https://i.imgur.com/3kgJcTN.png
― just staying (Karl Malone), Thursday, 4 November 2021 16:41 (two years ago) link
still wish Lady Gaga had gone with my "climb atop David Howell Evans's shoulders shrieking 'I'm on The Edge!'" music video treatment
― I Am Fribbulus (Xax) (Doctor Casino), Thursday, 4 November 2021 16:42 (two years ago) link
I think I also just find something off-putting about Wake-Up Bomb's positioning on the album as the second track after How The West Was Won, although they do something similar with the first two tracks on Up - slow, low key, atypical opening song with Airportman, then swaggering suggestive rock song with Lotus. I think Lotus was the last time they did anything in the same style as Monster? I'm not that familiar with the last two albums so maybe I'm forgetting something on one of them.
― soref, Thursday, 4 November 2021 16:59 (two years ago) link
and think it really works with those two tracks on Up, so idk why it doesn't quite come off for me on New Adventures
― soref, Thursday, 4 November 2021 17:00 (two years ago) link
zach i'm stealing that for the memes thread.
up fucking rules.
― the beginning of the end of discourse. (Austin), Thursday, 4 November 2021 17:32 (two years ago) link
hmm
― So who you gonna call? The martini police (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 4 November 2021 17:43 (two years ago) link
just got the vinyl, playing it now
WOW, they did such an amazing job on this, hats off to Kevin Gray who remastered and cut the vinyl
modern vinyl can be such a crapshoot, but I tell ya what, when they hit it out of the park nowadays it's as good as vinyl has ever sounded. this sounds huge and i'm noticing little things in the mix i never heard. dead quiet, no bullshit black vinyl, high quality plastic sleeves, A+
especially noticeable during the quieter stuff, new test leper really blew me away
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Thursday, 4 November 2021 18:05 (two years ago) link
anyway if you've been thinking about the vinyl i would definitely pull the trigger on this. on the bad and hated hoffman boards, praise for the new pressing/master seems almost universal which is rare
thanks for the heads up! buying now
― lukas, Thursday, 4 November 2021 19:57 (two years ago) link
Listened to this quite a bit during my final year of high school in 1997. Returning to it today, it's definitely patchy, but that said, Electrolite could be one of their best songs. I'd completely forgotten about it.
― MikoMcha, Thursday, 4 November 2021 20:39 (two years ago) link
wow, did not realize the original had become one of those $200 records for some reason. tempted to shine mine up, sell it off, and grab the new one, but it's not really how i relate to my stuff.
― I Am Fribbulus (Xax) (Doctor Casino), Thursday, 4 November 2021 20:53 (two years ago) link
I fucking love this record.
― a superficial sheeb of intelligence (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Thursday, 4 November 2021 20:56 (two years ago) link
ty for the nudge ums, i hedged and bought the package with both the vinyl and cds
― call all destroyer, Friday, 5 November 2021 01:10 (two years ago) link
aluminum, it tastes like fear
― brimstead, Thursday, 14 September 2023 01:03 (eight months ago) link
idk why i thought this album had a bad reputation (must have missed ivy's p4k review lol), but i listened for the first time ever today and it might be my favorite post-reckoning r.e.m. album? combines the best aspects of automatic and monster with fewer clunkers and higher highs
― is he disgruntled adrian? (voodoo chili), Tuesday, 31 October 2023 15:11 (seven months ago) link
like "undertow" in particular sounds to me like they're subconsciously saying, "sorry about monster we have actually figured out how to use feedback now"
― is he disgruntled adrian? (voodoo chili), Tuesday, 31 October 2023 15:13 (seven months ago) link
it's always been one of my favorites, i think it has a pretty strong cult following
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, 31 October 2023 15:22 (seven months ago) link
It got great reviews on first release, did better business in the UK, and has never gone away.
― hat trick of trashiness (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 31 October 2023 15:24 (seven months ago) link
my parents had out of time, automatic, and monster on cd, but not this one. maybe that's what tricked me
― is he disgruntled adrian? (voodoo chili), Tuesday, 31 October 2023 15:31 (seven months ago) link
Wake Up Bomb and Undertow feel like they've fully realised their straight-up glam side whereas Monster is this weird, slightly stunted mix of things (not a criticism).
Hi-Fi was the first R.E.M. CD my mum didn't have so I get believing that this one was where things fell apart. I only knew about it when I was little through my uncle's CDs (ditto the next two).
― you can see me from westbury white horse, Tuesday, 31 October 2023 15:50 (seven months ago) link
yeah this always had a positive reputation but it was definitely the first R.E.M. album in awhile that didn't make any radio impact iirc. It didn't have big singles, it's entirely stellar deep cuts. Classic album.
― omar little, Tuesday, 31 October 2023 15:58 (seven months ago) link
R.E.M. from this point on did benefit from the way the UK singles chart's infrastructure changing though - lengthier gaps between radio and physical and crucially having built a dedicated enough fanbase helping contribute to the new climate of first week peaks and front-loaded sales (and the marketing and managing that pushed this change). Hence, E-Bow being their highest charter to date, despite probably having not been played on the radio since (and, if they could help it, probably not too much at the time either).
― you can see me from westbury white horse, Tuesday, 31 October 2023 16:08 (seven months ago) link
I've always wanted to call a song "E-Bola, The Virus" but never got around to it
― chr1sb3singer, Tuesday, 31 October 2023 16:19 (seven months ago) link
I enjoy Monster now, but, when E-Bow came out as the first single, it was such as relief to have "the old REM" back. And "Electrolite" is so pretty.
These days I think New Adventures is very listenable but is also kind of... their first boring record? Almost everything sounds like another, older, better song.
I always thought "Low Desert" was an intentional Stone Roses' Second Coming pastiche -- the swampy riffing and the "hey heys".
― Chuck_Tatum, Tuesday, 31 October 2023 17:06 (seven months ago) link
Every good band releases one of these variety packs a couple times in their careers: a summa of what they do best (think Tattoo You, Lil Wayne's Funeral, any number of Yo La Tengo albums).
― hat trick of trashiness (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 31 October 2023 17:10 (seven months ago) link
I adore this album. Well, except for “wake up bomb” and “bittersweet me”.
― brimstead, Tuesday, 31 October 2023 18:13 (seven months ago) link
Do I think The Cure’s Wish might be one of these?
― piscesx, Tuesday, 31 October 2023 18:19 (seven months ago) link
* I think, that should’ve said.
I was thinking the same thing ha. That's the first album with no genuine new territory covered (for all that there are shoegaze guitars and beefy dance-via-baggy rhythms on some songs). Rather it's a this-is-us-and-we're-top-of-the-mountain record.
― you can see me from westbury white horse, Tuesday, 31 October 2023 18:23 (seven months ago) link
it's a record of synthesis, not evolution. the fact that it was all recorded while on the road, and they were playing selections from all over their catalog, probably contributed to that (and also gave them an idea of the kinds of experiments that worked and did not)
― is he disgruntled adrian? (voodoo chili), Tuesday, 31 October 2023 18:37 (seven months ago) link
― piscesx,
Why I love it best.
― hat trick of trashiness (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 31 October 2023 18:39 (seven months ago) link
Adore NAIHF, loathe Wish
― assert (matttkkkk), Tuesday, 31 October 2023 18:58 (seven months ago) link
despite a half decade of the most intense Cure fandom preceding it
― assert (matttkkkk), Tuesday, 31 October 2023 18:59 (seven months ago) link