could've picked any of 8 tracks, went "Shaking Through"
― Dr Morbius, Friday, 12 December 2008 14:42 (fifteen years ago) link
"Sitting Still", a lot easier of a choice than I thought it would be. I love this song so much. In my most rockist days I made a mixtape that I called something like "the history of punk" or something similarly idiotic, and this was the last song. In my ridiculous drunk on beauty liner notes I scribbled something like "this song is the emotional culmination of punk". The thought is incoherent and I can't justify it, but I still think of the song as punk, and have always had a hard time understanding why this record got compared to the Byrds rather than the Clash or, as said above, the Who. I've listened to the Hib-Tone version of the song a lot more than the original recently, and I like it more: there's a harshness in Stipe's voice that works better than the sweetness in the Murmur version (same's true for me with the A-side, "Radio Free Europe").
After "Sitting Still" I'd probably vote for "Talk About the Passion", which meant a lot to me in high school when I spent a lot of time carrying the weight of the world (or at least talking about doing so).
― Euler, Friday, 12 December 2008 15:30 (fifteen years ago) link
Okay, I'm voting for Perfect Circle, but only because that's the words that would come out of my mouth if someone pointed a gun at my head over it, and because I dread RFE winning. Still, just fuck anyone who wants to listen to ONE track on this album at any given time. It needs to be heard in its entirety.
― Cheap Uptown Dirt (Bimble Is Still More Goth Than You), Sunday, 14 December 2008 10:29 (fifteen years ago) link
Also, what is the synth noise at the beginning of Radio Free Europe??? HANNETT ANYONE???
― Cheap Uptown Dirt (Bimble Is Still More Goth Than You), Sunday, 14 December 2008 10:42 (fifteen years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.
― System, Monday, 15 December 2008 00:01 (fifteen years ago) link
Voted for Pilgrimage in the end, btw.
― Cat-Wrangler (Pillbox), Monday, 15 December 2008 07:04 (fifteen years ago) link
i've voted for "we walk". it's nothing like the rest of the album and it's kind of cheeky in that way.
― the next grozart, Monday, 15 December 2008 10:20 (fifteen years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.
― System, Tuesday, 16 December 2008 00:01 (fifteen years ago) link
Wow, I knew "West of the Fields" wouldn't do that well, but I didn't think it would do that badly. I'm glad my vote at least made it tie for last with something else. I think my true favorite may be "Moral Kiosk" though.
― Z S, Tuesday, 16 December 2008 00:09 (fifteen years ago) link
you haven't quite got the hang of this poll business, eh?
― flavors of funyun (Roberto Spiralli), Tuesday, 16 December 2008 00:20 (fifteen years ago) link
Why won't it let me vote anymore?!
― Z S, Tuesday, 16 December 2008 00:49 (fifteen years ago) link
woulda voted laughing
― Mr. Snrub, Tuesday, 16 December 2008 02:37 (fifteen years ago) link
You cannot fuck with this album.
― Mr. Snrub, Tuesday, 16 December 2008 02:38 (fifteen years ago) link
Thanks to Euler above for turning me on to the Hib-Tone version of "Sitting Still," which I somehow never knew about before! I'm not sure it's better, but like the single "Radio Free Europe" it has a welcome metallic punchiness. Wish it was on "Chronic Town."
― Doctor Casino, Tuesday, 30 December 2008 04:58 (fifteen years ago) link
Shaking Through is my least favorite on the record. Therefore, I am slightly displeased with the results of this poll.
― kornrulez6969, Tuesday, 30 December 2008 14:32 (fifteen years ago) link
On the other hand, hooray for Shaking Through.
― served by boot-face (contenderizer), Tuesday, 30 December 2008 15:36 (fifteen years ago) link
Yeah, I don't understand the high placement of that song either.
― With Oatmeal Sauce (Bimble Is Still More Goth Than You), Tuesday, 30 December 2008 17:21 (fifteen years ago) link
Oh damn, so much harder than the LRP poll. I would have voted "Sitting Still" probably. Can't believe "Laughing" was so low.
― landfill spectre (wanko ergo sum), Tuesday, 30 December 2008 19:17 (fifteen years ago) link
Perfect Circle wuz robbed
― Ye Mad Puffin, Tuesday, 30 December 2008 19:22 (fifteen years ago) link
ok wtf, here's the order in which I'd have ranked them, could we poll for second, third, etc. I don't really get the love for "Shaking Through" as it's kinda an embarrassing Stipe vocal but maybe that's the appeal? I don't really feel the ballads on this one anyway so maybe that's what I'm missing. Also fuck yeah on the Hib-Tone "Sitting Still", metallic punchiness is a nice way to put it.
B2 Sitting Still 3:18 9A2 Pilgrimage 4:30 6B1 Catapult 3:55 4A3 Laughing 3:58 4A4 Talk About the Passion 3:23 4A1 Radio Free Europe 4:05 10B5 We Walk 3:01 2B3 9-9 3:05 3A5 Moral Kiosk 3:32 7A6 Perfect Circle 3:30 7B4 Shaking Through 4:30 10B6 West of the Fields 2
― Euler, Tuesday, 30 December 2008 21:56 (fifteen years ago) link
Shaking Through is totally embarassing, borderline Everybody Hurts, but it runs me through nonetheless.
― served by boot-face (contenderizer), Tuesday, 30 December 2008 21:59 (fifteen years ago) link
you people embarrass too easily
― kamerad, Tuesday, 30 December 2008 23:15 (fifteen years ago) link
I just bought & listened to this album recently, and I was surprised at how much I didn't take to it. Like seriously, I thought it was going to be like Chronic Town (which brought the awez), and instead it reminded me of highly unengaging albums like Document and Out of Time...
to these ears: Remy Zero's first album>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Murmur.I guess I just don't get it
― I am Robertson Speedo (Drugs A. Money), Thursday, 26 March 2009 18:50 (fifteen years ago) link
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v165/noodle_vague/U1046283INP.jpg
― Townie Mong Shit (Noodle Vague), Thursday, 26 March 2009 18:56 (fifteen years ago) link
DAM: Had to be there, maybe? I dunno. I was just floored when I first heard Murmur in the mid 80s (I discovered R.E.M. late). That energy and jangly guitar and big beat and gothic Southern vibe all sounded familiar, but somehow like it was floating in from outer space.
Too bad they've fallen so far since their pretty-damn good mid-career stuff.
― Daniel, Esq., Thursday, 26 March 2009 19:05 (fifteen years ago) link
Had to be there, maybe?
yeah, that's what I'm thinking...I heard and liked Fables decently and Chronic Town and Automatic are amazing, but I'm beginning to suspect that I think R.E.M. is shit...
― I am Robertson Speedo (Drugs A. Money), Thursday, 26 March 2009 19:13 (fifteen years ago) link
You really need to distinguish between early-R.E.M., mid-career R.E.M., and late-career R.E.M. They're fairly distinct, in terms of their sound and the quality of their work.
― Daniel, Esq., Thursday, 26 March 2009 19:17 (fifteen years ago) link
early = CT + first four albums
mid = Document thru Up
late = everything afterwards...
is this what you mean?
― I am Robertson Speedo (Drugs A. Money), Thursday, 26 March 2009 19:26 (fifteen years ago) link
I'd put Up in late-career (everything after Bill Berry left). Otherwise, yeah.
― Daniel, Esq., Thursday, 26 March 2009 19:27 (fifteen years ago) link
stuff I like from all 3 periods:
Chronic Town EP, Driver 8, prolley a couple other trax from Fables, Disturbance from the Heron House, King of Birds, Strange - the Wire cover, Losing My Religion, Texarkana, Shiny Happy People (mainly for Kate Pierson), ALL of Automatic, What's the Frequency Kenneth?, E-bow the Letter
― I am Robertson Speedo (Drugs A. Money), Thursday, 26 March 2009 19:33 (fifteen years ago) link
only E-Bow the Letter, Driver 8, and the Chronic Town EP are on a patch with that first Remy Zero album tho...
― I am Robertson Speedo (Drugs A. Money), Thursday, 26 March 2009 19:35 (fifteen years ago) link
Does "We Walk" have a vibraphone? I don't remember hearing it before!
― timellison, Monday, 30 December 2013 04:19 (ten years ago) link
not gonna blow anyone's minds here but what a fucking album am i right
― jolene club remix (BradNelson), Sunday, 17 March 2019 21:37 (five years ago) link
You're completely correct, of course!
― Le Baton Rose (Turrican), Sunday, 17 March 2019 21:50 (five years ago) link
empty prayer, empty mouth
― reggie (qualmsley), Tuesday, 5 November 2019 21:28 (four years ago) link
cambien du temps?
― reggie (qualmsley), Tuesday, 5 November 2019 21:29 (four years ago) link
take the steps to dash a worried heart
― reggie (qualmsley), Tuesday, 5 November 2019 21:31 (four years ago) link
When I was in high school, I assumed a "moral kiosk" was one of those four-sided bulletin board things (with little roofs to keep the flyers dry) you see on college campuses... because R.E.M. was a "college band"
― jeanie bueller energy (morrisp), Tuesday, 5 November 2019 21:32 (four years ago) link
combien, combien, combien du temps
Michael Stipe and I were in the same Elementary French class in 1980; he sat very quietly in the back and seemed to be hiding under his long hair. While I was struggling with pop quizzes, he was probably writing cool lyrics.
― Brad C., Tuesday, 5 November 2019 21:42 (four years ago) link
somehow gets better every time i listen to it
― american bradass (BradNelson), Saturday, 9 November 2019 18:05 (four years ago) link
it’s an incredible album, there’s nothing else quite like it
― Titanic was cliched Marxist crap. (bizarro gazzara), Saturday, 9 November 2019 18:40 (four years ago) link
I always imagine Lucy in her booth, dispensing advice to Charlie Brown, whenever I think of the phrase “Moral Kiosk”.
― sctttnnnt (pgwp), Saturday, 9 November 2019 19:16 (four years ago) link
Brad C., that’s awesome!
― quinn morgendorffer stan account (morrisp), Saturday, 9 November 2019 19:18 (four years ago) link
Minty breath, minty mouthIt’s Gumby in reactionMinty breath, minty mouthTalk about the passionGumby inGumby inGumby into town
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Saturday, 9 November 2019 19:42 (four years ago) link
Lol
― Irae Louvin (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 9 November 2019 19:53 (four years ago) link
he was probably looking out the window murmuring “combien de temps?”
― an incoherent crustacean (MatthewK), Saturday, 9 November 2019 20:14 (four years ago) link
I remember our TA very sweetly congratulating him on a story in the student paper about his band
from early 1980 to the release of Murmur was a long time in R.E.M. years
― Brad C., Saturday, 9 November 2019 20:31 (four years ago) link
It must have been astonishing to watch their trajectory after that. And the B52s of course.
― an incoherent crustacean (MatthewK), Saturday, 9 November 2019 20:32 (four years ago) link
we were such tiny children we took it for granted
the B-52s were the only frame of reference and they were rarely in Athens by that time
― Brad C., Saturday, 9 November 2019 20:39 (four years ago) link
Just looked up official lyrics to Shaking Through, and concluded that the ones I made up in my head over many years are much better. I had forgotten how great Laughing is precisely because he sings something like 'Largeing' or logic?, so I never can put title to tune. It you can't be a great lyricist, be an ambiguous one. Wonderful instrumental work in 9-9 - in fact right through the album. The song that hit me most emotionally was Perfect Circle. It's the way that depressed, wallowing verse transforms into an upbeat country jangle, always got me there.
― Dr X O'Skeleton, Tuesday, 12 November 2019 15:56 (four years ago) link