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

Leave and Daysleeper are among R.E.M.'s finest achievements. Both would have made my top 10 if I had actually voted.

A 7:17 long emo kiss sounds great!

"Daysleeper" really did sound great on Up. I like that album a lot still but it has a lot of mid-tempo songs that don't leave much of an impression (e.g. "The Apologist", "Sad Professor", "You're In The Air", "Diminished", "Parakeet")---"Daysleeper" stands out among that bunch, even if it's an obvious nod to the earlier days.

"Sad Professor" almost went on my ballot in the 15th-place slot - I think it's a pretty good little character study. Maybe a bit clunky in places but I like the range of Stipe's sympathies.

I think it's their tempos---they just don't make an impression on me. It's my own lazy listening fault, and I ought to try to pay more attention on next listen.

But of course the records used to make you listen!

"Sad Professor" jumps out more than anything else on Up for me. Mainly just the strange juxtaposition of words, a whole story in a noun phrase. Not enough for me to vote for it, though.

Still my preferred Up listening experience

That's a good article, although I can never countenance the deletion of "Airportman."

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_tRg73iZIquM/SqJBGSdmz2I/AAAAAAAAdH4/y8NvAxgFTIE/s1600-h/rem+finest+w.jpg

#25 (tie): Finest Worksong
6 votes, 43 points
Highest position: #7 (dan., rat bat bruce, G00blar)
Position in Document poll: #2 (8 votes)

Has anyone ever noticed how much the coda to "Finest Worksong" sounds like mid-80s-era Rush?
― Naive Teen Idol, Tuesday, 7 October 2008 01:02 (1 year ago) Permalink

When "The Finest Worksong" came on, I thought to myself, "This is amazing! I can't believe that they've come up with the most irritating song ever recorded! What an unholy crock of shit!"
― Dan Perry, Wednesday, 16 January 2002 01:00 (7 years ago) Permalink

http://991.com/newgallery/REM-Life-And-How-To-L-457131.jpg

#25 (tie): Life And How To Live It
4 WILDCARD votes, 43 points
Highest position: #1 (dan.)
Position in Fables of the Reconstruction poll: tie for #5 (5 votes)

But there is no contest: with that shimmering riff, that shuddering tipsy feeling of love, loss and time as the track stops on a cliff's edge, that title even – LIFE AND HOW TO LIVE IT
― the pinefox, Tuesday, 28 October 2008 14:51 (1 year ago) Permalink

I couldn't believe Life and How To Live It didn't make the poll. That could be another wild card dark horse.
― kornrulez6969, Friday, 30 October 2009 17:06 (1 week ago) Permalink

Our last tie for a little bit, thank goodness. Two rock-solid songs - I think L&HTLI is way, way better, but don't let the pull quotes make you think I'm hating on "Worksong" - ILX just doesn't seem to have much to say about it!

I think L&HTLI is way, way way, way, way, way, waaaayyyyyy better

Truth.

I've skipped "Finest Worksong" when listening to Document almost every time since 1987. Stipe can't really sing the highest notes and nobly tries anyway; it's just that the noble failure makes my ears hurt. For some reason I like the Eponymous version, though; the horns counter-balance the caterwaul, maybe.

"Life and How to Live It" seems like a weird choice for so many wildcards, but I think it's a great song. As the pinefox points out, the riff is key, so frantically played; and the explosion at the end when Stipe finally blurts the song's title.

listen, listen to the holler

http://991.com/gallery_180x180/REM-Near-Wild-Heaven-5261-991.jpg

#24: Near Wild Heaven
10 votes, 52 points
Highest position: #4 (Euler)
Position in Out of Time poll: tie for #1 (10 votes)

"Near Wild Heaven" is a nice Beach Boys pastiche <…>
― Geir Hongro, Wednesday, October 8, 2008 7:23 PM Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

"Near Wild Heaven" would seem to suggest that he gets laid a lot.
― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Wednesday, February 23, 2005 7:41 PM Bookmark

for some reason I'm leaning toward "Near Wild Heaven" here, I think because I love how it sounds not like R.E.M. but the jangle-pop that came in their wake. I also love the lyrics ("Holding our hands/feet/self together/In this near wild heaven/Not near enough!") and Stipe's backing "ba-ba-ba"s. <…>
― M Matos, Saturday, June 22, 2002 8:00 PM Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

One of my unabashed favorites. This is also the first entry to really get in on a groundswell of several little votes as opposed to a couple of big ones. "Texarkana" is also quite nice - I don't think I'd go for a Mills solo record as such, but I wouldn't have minded if he'd been the group's Ringo with an obligatory lead on every album.

I like this song and it made my ballot but if I'm honest it was probably a proxy vote for "Half a World Away," which nearly got my wild card.

Most of these single covers are better than the covers of the albums they come from!

I like that it got in on a bunch of little votes. That seems sort of exactly right for this song and I don't mean that in a bad way at all. It's sweet.

re: sweet, pretty songs on Out Of Time - I was very tempted to throw my wild card to "Me In Honey"...this is just a good wild card album.

"Near Wild Heaven" is terrific. I remember when it came out that it was the consensus pick among kids at my high school (in Georgia so REM albums were big events among the kids). That's partly because it's fun to sing along to, and heck you can almost kicker dance to the chorus. Holy cow I love this era of the band: day-glo songs, switching instruments, a sea of possibilities.

What's weird is, I'm a lot like Euler except that I find this particular song kind of boring. "Stand" I love. "Shiny Happy People" I love. Their version of "Love Is All Around" I love. But not this (and not its sonic cousin "Man on the Moon" either.) I like it! And I probably find myself humming it more than most other songs on Out of Time. But there are five songs on the record I think are better. It doesn't come close to touching "Me In Honey."

Why boring? I think the harmonies are really obvious. I think there's not much of interest going on with the lyrics.

Right; for me the rhythm makes the song, especially on the chorus with Berry's cute little fills.

In the context of Out of Time I really enjoy "Near Wild Heaven". But when I was listening to songs to fill out my ballot, I found that this song on its own lands kind of flat for me. I think its mostly because Mike Mills' vocal performance feels like background vox. It hits the notes, gets the job done, but it comes across a little dull and lifeless to me.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/49/Don%27t_Go_Back_To_Rockville.jpg

#23: (don't go back TO) ROCKVILLE)
6 votes, 53 points
Highest position: #2 (G00blar)
Position in Reckoning poll: #3 (11 votes)

I go back to Rockville again and again and again.
― Geir Hongro, Monday, 22 December 2008 22:57 (10 months ago) Permalink

"don't go back to rockville" was another obvious piece of american rock sound that led to me gagging on their early stuff. I don't care however ironic it might've been about some place or other in america. It didn't mean anything to all us non-americans, just sounding like that country rock band Alabama to me, ready to go on the redneck charts. <…>
― george gosset, Friday, 25 February 2005 19:13 (4 years ago) Permalink

Does 'don't go back to Rockville' partly mean 'don't go back to Rockism'?
― the pinefox, Tuesday, 14 April 2009 14:32 (6 months ago) Permalink

^^^ love this one. Their great teenage long-distance relationship song. No irony at all for me, a really solid song. Kind of surprised nobody's ever covered this in straight mainstream country style (slowed down, probably) and had a hit.

That actually is sort of surprising! Tough call for me between this and So. Central Rain. I think I went for the one with the weaker chorus and the stronger riff but I'm very very fond of both.

The "and waste another year" punch line always hits hard. It's a terrific song. It stands out in the early REM catalog for actually being "about" something, at least *clearly* about something. I don't usually think of REM as a piano band, but between this and "Perfect Circle" maybe I should.

Wendell Gee as well.

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m271/somewhat117/CYB1%20CyberWarriors%20Rebirth/CYB1-EN019Darkloid-GravityMan.jpg

#22: Feeling Gravitys Pull
9 votes, 54 points
Highest position: #3 (rat bat bruce)
Position in Fables of the Reconstruction poll: #2 (13 votes)

"Time and distance are out of place here" sort of sums up the track. It's unsettling and fantastic.
― Guilty_Boksen, Tuesday, October 28, 2008 8:52 AM Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

My first job after leaving school was in a drug company laboratory, and one of my jobs was to inspect ampoules for specks of dust, which had to be done in the chemical store cupboard with a lamp. I would sit there and play this album completely enraptured. The jar of amphetamine sulphate that was kept in there helped too.
Gravity always sends shivers down my spine.
― Dr X O'Skeleton, Tuesday, October 28, 2008 6:28 AM Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

or, if you prefer, classic, old-school Gravity Man:

http://www.ummagurau.com/writing/video/forte/image33.gif

I really like this track, but it's so far outside of their normal line of work that it feels on some level like the R.E.M. song for people who wish R.E.M. were some entirely different type of band - the song you play to your cool, arty friends to convince them that this band could do weird, dissonant sounds too! But that's a bit unfair and anyway, great lyrics and a hell of an album opener.

love this song. one of their most distinctive album openers. psychedelic r.e.m., a nightmarish sort of riff that justifies their name. and the floaty chorus, and the skittering chords afterward, damn -- they could do no wrong "chronic town" - pageant

I'm in Athens right now! The van driver took me by the church where R.E.M. used to practice!

Anyway,

I don't usually think of REM as a piano band, but between this and "Perfect Circle" maybe I should.

I don't even like "So. Central Rain" that much but the piano at the end of it is as perfect a piece of piano as R.E.M. has to offer.

haha eephus, based on your last proof I think I figured out who you are! You've said on other threads you're a math person, so I've been curious, as I'm a math person too (i.e. my silly user name). If I'm right, it's possible we've met, and it's certain that we have mutual acquaintances or even friends (in Madison and perhaps elsewhere). Don't worry, your secret is safe with me.

This is my favourite of their big doom-laden tracks and they continued to reiterate it throughout their career, mostly due to the sudden major shift in the chorus, like it opens up and lets you see the light before abruptly closing in on your again.

eephus - Ooh, how long are you there? Be sure to grab a Golden Bowl at the Grit (if you've ever even sorta liked tofu, you will LOVE this) (failing that most anything there is yummy, including the desserts), and/or a chocolate malted at the Grill. There's plenty of other wonderful stuff to do in town but those are the ones I'm most craving right this second...

Oh right, R.E.M.... loving the commentary on this one, it's making me want to hear it more than I did this morning for sure. Good call on the chorus. I also like the way the song eventually dies off with the lonely, confused, vaguely funereal strings. It's always kind of jarring to go from all that to much more "straight" Reckoning-style R.E.M. with "Maps and Legends" - kinda wish we went instead to "Driver 8" which is classic-style R.E.M. but more shadowy, a slight element of menace in the riff that would have transitioned nicely I think.

as to the song: I remember hearing or reading once, a long time ago, that it's "about" anal sex (inasmuch as any REM song is "about" anything). I'm not sure I buy it, but it's always...colored my view of the song. The line that hits me the most is

"It's a Man Ray kind of sky
Let me show you what I can do with it"

and in particular the second line: firstly the politeness ("let me show you") and the desire to make something mutual; and what's to be made mutual is the narrator's *ability*: "what I can do with it". The latter links with the craftsman theme that I hear being articulated on the album (it's dedicated to Howard Finster). There's also mystery, and perhaps some implied menace, by the narrator's not saying what it is that he or she can do.

And then there's the reply: "somewhere near the end it said you can't do that / I said I can". Yeah, I'm getting lost in these lyrics again.

With regard to the song's structure: the second chorus is great; I mean the "I felt gravity pull onto my eyes" part. I love how it melts into the strings in the coda. It helps me understand better what Camper Van Beethoven was going for on Key Lime Pie.

http://static.rateyourmusic.com/album_images/ca501f745ba013f85eb097a7d027a8b8/794101.jpg

#21: Perfect Circle
7 votes, 59 points
Highest position: #4 (Charlie Howard, dan., Ari (whenuweremine))
Position in Murmur poll: tie for #3 (7 votes)

No pull quotes for this one - the name is damn near Googleproof, and most of what I could find on ILX was people listing it in their POX, and me personally complaining about its boring slackness on various threads - seemed somehow unfair....

BTW, if it isn't obvious, that's the cover of some dicey bootleg, and not in any way licensed by R.E.M.'s state-of-the-art graphic design team.

eephus - Ooh, how long are you there? Be sure to grab a Golden Bowl at the Grit (if you've ever even sorta liked tofu, you will LOVE this) (failing that most anything there is yummy, including the desserts), and/or a chocolate malted at the Grill

Very good malted. Thanks for the tip! Heading home tomorrow morning.

http://www.wowtcgdb.com/images/large/eviscerate.jpg

#20: You Are The Everything
7 votes, 60 points
Highest position: #3 (Guayaquil (eephus!))
Position in Green poll: #1 (14 votes)

I'll say this for Green: "You Are The Everything" sounded great in that "90210" episode in which Dylan sobs quietly on the couch remembering how much his dad loved him.
― Alfred Soto (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 3 January 2007 23:57 (2 years ago) Permalink

...the song where R.E.M. proves they can do a slow, two-chord, featureless, completely sincere ballad and make it majestic and great. Sort of a lonely monument against all the slow, two-chord, featureless, completely sincere, and kind of terrible ballads that came later.
― Guayaquil (eephus!), Monday, January 19, 2009 8:47 PM Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

The image for #20 doesn't display for me because...
"To view this page, you must log in to area “www.wowtcgdb.com” on www.wowtcgdb.com:80."

Yeah plus is annoying.

Another thing I like about this song: there are three characters in it, "you," "me," and "she." It took me a long time to appreciate this.

Wow. I expected "Perfect Circle" to place MUCH higher.

Sorry about the screwy image link, guys; it works okay on mine. :(

"You Are The Everything" has never been a favorite of mine, but pulled out of the context of Green (which I don't put on very often) it's sounding really good in my head, the opening tinkly mandolin-plucking etc. It's quite pretty and I do like Stipe's lyrics on this.

Here's a scene: you're in the backseat,
laying down, the windows
wrap around to the sound
of the travel and the engine

The only real dud is "I think about this world a lot" - eesh. There are other bits ("she is so beautiful") that are a bit generic on paper but totally sold by the vocal.

Yeah, I think you're right that the vocal sells the song. I remember on my first listen being struck by his commitment to what otherwise seemed like a silly song. I like how its last note is resolved by the opening of "Stand".

Hey, sorry for the lack of updates, guys - have been squeezing in the weekend travel and the weekdays are just too short anymore. Rather than have this limp and jerk along sporadically I'm just going to put it on hiatus until I'm back in the States and at a computer regularly - end of December most-like. Hope nobody minds too much. I do swear this won't become an abandoned poll though!

Anyway, we have Tuomas's excellent 80s albums poll to keep us entertained, and I suspect R.E.M. will be putting in some appearances over there...

I was just wondering where you'd gone off to. Enjoy the holidays and your weekends, see you here when you've got the time, and thanks.

Super summer lasts all winter long!

http://cdn.7static.com/static/img/sleeveart/00/000/072/0000007278_350.jpg

#19 (tie): E-Bow The Letter
9 votes, 65 points
Highest position: #3 (cwkiii)
Position in New Adventures poll: #2 (9 votes)

The main guitar line running through E-Bow The Letter still gets me every time - it's one of my favourite songs of theirs. Also it features Stipe playing with momentum in his vocals for pretty much the last time - it's really unlike pretty much everything else they released.
― Matt DC, Monday, January 26, 2009 12:13 PM Bookmark

"E-Bow" is horrible. May be the worst R.E.M. single ever (although the nagging and repetitive "It's The End Of The World As We Know It" comes close)
― Geir Hongro, Monday, January 26, 2009 3:35 PM Bookmark

That said, with napster I've checked them out quite a bit, and while a lot of their stuff isn't bad, it's not particularly strong either... that is, except for one song, which I actually feel is one of the most haunting I've ever heard, and that's "E-Bow the Letter" off New Adventures in Hi-Fi. From the constant drone in the background to the lyrics to the amazingly good idea of having Patti Smith on back up vocals, the song just plain works, and is surprisingly powerful, at least to me.
― Sean Patrick O'Toole, Monday, January 22, 2001 8:00 PM Bookmark

http://jackwolak.com/cd5/1741.jpg

#19 (tie): What's The Frequency, Kenneth?
9 votes, 65 points
Highest position: #3 (Matt DC)
Position in Monster poll: #1 (17 votes)

even though it's totally tuneless (read: discordant), i can still sing every note of that (backwards?) guitar solo.
― petesmith (plsmith), Friday, September 2, 2005 2:40 PM Bookmark

You want to punch Bono in the sunglasses, you want REM to just take the damn things off and stop kidding themselves.
― manthony m1cc1o (Anthony Miccio), Saturday, October 23, 2004 2:25 PM Bookmark

It's a great song. I say this despite having been asked the title question countless times.
― k/l (Ken L), Saturday, September 3, 2005 8:40 PM Bookmark

I guess it just sounds better than "what's the frequency, anthony?" or "what's the frequency, alex?"
― k/l (Ken L), Saturday, September 3, 2005 8:59 PM Bookmark

I bet the lollability people find in certain of these lines is directly proportional to the tanginess I find there.
― roxymuzak, Monday, October 1, 2007 11:27 PM Bookmark

#2 and #1 on the Modern Rock chart, respectively. It was a different age.

WHOA