R.E.M. news - yay

It's kinda like they took the hooks and organ out of "Turn You Inside Out"

xp Cover-to-cover, my favorite is probably Green.

I think Murmur kind of sucks
crazy talk!

totally meh

and yeah res gotta b trollin)

natch

I took Lazarus' comment to be a joke since Eponymous isn't an album and Murmur is brilliant. Green is probably my fav. cover to cover as well but Out of Time is pretty solid end to end.

The internet has (d)evolved to a point where an unpopular opinion = trolling.

oh you're entitled to your (crazy) opinions

their last 2 'returns to form' haven't interested me much. wonder if this one will. struggling to recall what their last stop-you-in-your-tracks song was.
maybe You're In The Air off Up?

still on the upside, that remastered/ deluxe Lifes Rich Pageant should be along soon.

Do you think the songs are of the same caliber as the ones on Eponymous? They strike me as being generic REM, and not very memorable. Granted, I've only listened to the album about 4-5 times, but I really didn't have the inclination to listen to it any more. xp

Accelerate had a short shelf-life for me, but I appreciated the intent. I guess New Adventures was probably the last "return to form" album before that one, though, and it paid off imo.

The only R.E.M. could excite now is if they got Christine McVie to join.

An idea that should not be dismissed.

oh no don't get me wrong i loved New Adventures.. but everything after Up has left me very cold. i still shelled out to see them live on the last 2 tours mind.

speaking of Up, i haven't seen this since it was first broadcast in 98:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=noHD6diOlLU

Why didn't they break up in 2000? I thought they promised to do that.

"Up" was total genius, sounds like a completely different band as they tried to do without a drummer.

yeah i think Up is probably the most successful post-Berry record. might be a few songs too long, but it has some great stuff.

Do you think the songs are of the same caliber as the ones on Eponymous?
idgi -- there are songs from Murmur on Eponymous ...

The only R.E.M. could excite now is if they got Christine McVie to join.

On "You Are The Everything"

Only 2, but the Radio-Free Europe on there is a non-album version, I think. Anyway, nevermind-- this probably isn't a productive conversation. xp

In fact, I think Murmur kind of sucks, and I've yet to find one that I like cover to cover. Any recommendations?

__________________________

crazy talk

CRAZY TALK. but for other recommendations, i'd say fables, which has held up very well (and, of course, chronic town; also, i know you asked about full album recommendations, but i'll also point out that r.e.m.'s pre-chronic town bootlegs -- available on youtube -- are stunning).

yeah, my wife just put on fables the other day and it sounded great.

Isn't Eponymous a singles collection? I don't get why that's being thought of as an album. Like when people say Substance is the best New Order album. facepalm.jpg

I have time for all the REM albums up to New Adventures -Monster.

I call a compilation of songs placed on a storage medium an album. what do you call it?

a Compilation.

let's not get bogged down in the details though. my point is, you're preference for Eponymous is down to that compilation featuring lots of singles from several different albums. their albums have some filler and also some classics besides the singles. Lightning Hopkins, for example. Freaking love that song. That was my go-to track to play at the student disco when I dj'd.

Please note that I specifically excluded Eponymous from the designation of being a proper album. I am aware that it is a compilation. My point was that my experience with REM is that they are much more a singles band than an album band. That is all.

couldn't disagree more, at least with respect to their albums up to and including life's rich pageant.

lol at this quote from the Up doc that piscesx posted above (Peter Buck speaking, I think):

"I just never in my wildest dreams thought that someone in the band would quit while we're doing great work. My picture that I 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"

siiigh. I'm glad that a couple like that new song, but I'm in the camp that thinks it's really really awful. Just like Around the Sun was awful. and (imo) Accelerate was pretty mediocre, at best. I liked a few songs at the Accelerate it came out, but I think that was partly because it's much better, relatively, than Around the Sun, and plus I really liked the idea of R.E.M. being awesome and relevant again. Very few bands (as opposed to solo artists) are very good after 30+ years together. For god's sake, go to the Chinese restaurant and order some drinks with umbrellas in 'em.

at one point before the new century, stipe said he wanted to do a final concert in 2000, then call it a career.

as much as i loved this band, stipe should have stuck to his plan.

"I just never in my wildest dreams thought that someone in the band would quit while we're doing great work. My picture that I 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"

are they still working off that megacontract signed right before berry left? Would love to believe they'll finally say sayonara once it's fulfilled. I don't necessarily think a Mike Mills solo album would be great but I think its almost embarrassing the guy hasn't made one yet.

it's kinda funny that Peter Buck always envisioned them breaking up after making a couple of bad records. First, because most people seem to want to go out "on top", and also because most pop stars aren't honest enough to admit that they're capable of making a really bad record in the future, let alone two in a row!

tbf when they said all this "always the four of us, always great, done in ten years" they were total King Shits

yeah, i remember that too. nye 1999 was going to be the last show. now we get to see a bloated peter buck do imitations of the child molester from that 60s group.

are they still working off that megacontract signed right before berry left?

Presumably. It was signed right after Monster, and none of the albums since then have sold as much. It's doubtful Warners would choose to re-up with them after so many eh-selling albums.

on't necessarily think a Mike Mills solo album would be great but I think its almost embarrassing the guy hasn't made one yet.
it is weird -- has an interviewer ever asked why he hasn't? doesn't seem like he does much of anything outside the band these days.

if you spend all your time on the band, why should it take years for an album to come out, i wonder.

dunno, not like the other people in the band don't have 20 other things going on besides REM.

REM's famous mega-deal must have been so much more lucrative than those similar mega-deals accorded Motley Crue or ZZ Top.

That's a interesting point. What DOES Mike Mills do outside REM, other than play golf? Peter Buck, as we know, tours with Robyn Hitchcock, hangs around Portland, and breaks my heart by working with the Decemberists and the bloke from Snow Patrol. But what does Mike Mills do? I envision him living a Curb Your Enthusiasm style bored millionaire lifestyle, doing the rounds of the country clubs, going to charity dinners and the like. I'd hope not though. He's a bit of a mysterious one. Mike Mills, what is your life?

Er, anyway, this new single. Oh dear. The guitar intro is ok, but the tune is completely unmemorable and takes some gimmicky and rather unpleasant turns. Jacknife Lee's production sucks as well. I wish they'd see sense and get someone like Jim O'Rourke in. Or produce it themselves. Up! was overlong, but it had some good songs and an interesting sound, suggesting a more interesting future than the one they've taken.

My understanding is that Mike Mills lurks in the shadows of Athens, catching the eyes of girls who SHOULD have been paying attention to ME, but I might be sort of biased on that point.

http://www.contactmusic.com/pics/m/REM_2_260309/mike_mills_of_rem_1803183.jpg
Mike Mills, man of mystery

Haven't heard the single yet, but to my ears the biggest problem with post-Berry R.E.M. is the band clearly playing to a rigid click track. It just makes everything so lifeless and precise. Then again, I can understand why they might do it this way. First, they probably got in the habit when they started working on demos post-Berry, sans drummer. And these days I bet they record in the studio one at a time. Because they hate each other and stuff.

I wonder why more bands don't produce themselves? Dylan's done a great job with his last few albums. Hasn't Neil Young produced or co-produced nearly everything he's done?

Anyway, R.E.M. should do a no-fuss live in a church album of elegiac new songs - Berry can guest on piano or something - and then call it a day. At least until true inspiration strikes, because working with Jacknife Lee is the opposite of that.

Yeah, live in a church with Berry sounds good. I guess by bringing in Jacknife Lee they think they're remaining relevant by getting a hot, punchy modern commercial rock sound. But it doesn't suit them. All the mystery is gone.

Sort of fascinating belated appreciation of REM from Robbie Fulks:

http://robbiefulks.com/blog/posts/185-some-music-that-sounds-good-and-why-does-it-

they hate each other?

I can only assume, right? Their interaction level on stage or otherwise out and about is pretty nil, and recalling the conflicts circa "Up" re who gets what songs on the disc and how many, it doesn't sound like a band prone to compromise and cooperation at this point. Recent REM has always seemed to me two very different songwriters who live far apart from one another, linked by Stipe. But that's cool. I assume most bands together as long as REM hate each other. Like, the Drive-By Truckers, my current fave - those two guys apparently literally never speak between tours and records, but they've stayed together for decades. Decoding the Keith book, he and Mick never buried the hatchet after the early '80s, if not earlier, but they know how to work together.

those two guys apparently literally never speak between tours and records

to be fair, these guys tour constantly

if I spent ten months of the year on the road with my best friends, i wouldn't want people to assume i hate them if I hung around the wife and kids the other 2 months.

Fair enough. What's the Pete Townshend line about the ironies of being in a successful rock band? About how when you first get together to play you have no idea you'll be forever linked to these three other often very different guys?

made the same exact sigh that hot lava hair made when i read that quote too.