REM: Classic or dud?

singing 'midnight blue' at the rem memorial karaoke tonight, might do 'harborcoat' also.

I just find the unvarying sound of those 80s albums - clean electric guitar/bass/drums/vocals + occasionally backing vocals - with no overdubs or other instruments ever just really fucking boring

Uh this is not even accurate regarding Murmur let alone any of the other records. I mean you quite literally are 100% wrong.

Cripes, by Fables they're using horns and string quartets and everything. By Green they're already starting with the mandolins, and p sure the SMASH HIT Stand has a damned farfisa on it If you're gonna troll, troll harder.

"occasionally backing vocals"

Yeah, like, on every occasion!

and the worst backing vocalist in the history of rock too. that's nothing to sneeze at.

Yeah, man. All that singing.

What depressed me was the run of uninspired, redundant albums of the last thirteen years.

Most R.E.M. albums from the past thirteen years are better than what they did in the mid 90s. "Monster" was horrible and "New Adventures In Hi-Fi" was not much better. It was sort of a relief when they did "Up" and "Reveal", realising they were never meant to be a rock band.

and the worst backing vocalist in the history of rock too. that's nothing to sneeze at.

Mills or Berry? Either way you're wrong, but I'm just curious.

xpost I like the idea of that, those albums being the sound of a group realizing they were never meant to rock.

probably because they never really made a "perfect" album besides Murmur

"Automatic For The People" was perfect. And also the one R.E.M. album that always performs best at surveys of the best 100 albums ever made. Sure, if you don't like acoustic 12 string guitars, mandolins, accordions and strings, it may not be your cup of tea. But it is generally considered to be their best (well, maybe besides "Murmur").

A group realizing they were never meant to rock, as middle aged men, which is why they should have broken up before they recorded them. They should have just released the occasional awesome single. Hell, most bands should do this.

the twerpy dude who played bass. his voice. ugh. makes yoko sound like mario lanza. as far as backing vocalists go.

x-post

"Murmur" is almost like an accidental masterpiece, the honor accorded after the fact. "Automatic" showed the band could do it on purpose.

perfect albums feh

itt people who are deaf

A group realizing they were never meant to rock, as middle aged men, which is why they should have broken up before they recorded them.

They weren't a rock band to begin with either. Those first two albums were jangle pop. They tried rocking on "Document", some liked that, I did not. Otherwise, they have done best when they were more mellow.

All complains about horrible backing vocals are very much OTM though.

complaints even.

i liked begin the begin! that's a good song. john cougar stipe.

Mike Mills was certainly a terrible dresser.

i mean its a good rock song. not many jangly bands went for a drum sound like that back then. they should have though.

rem twerp is the sister twerp to u2's doofus bass player. they both dressed in the dark.

Aw, I really liked Mills' backing vocals.

I'm really weird though because Monster is one of their albums that holds up best for me. Probably my favourite of the major-label years, not that I've heard anything since Up.

Didn't even clue in as to why there were two or three R.E.M. threads near the top today--I just heard the news from Amerindie icon Wolf Blitzer! I stopped following them album by album very early, around #4 or #5, but the rest of the way they'd regularly catch me by surprise with a song I really liked (enough so that they topped one of my year-ends with "Man on the Moon," and again came close with "The Great Beyond"). Even when I'd find a cheap CD from the 2000s, there'd be one or two good ones. I was lucky enough to see them in a club their first time through Toronto, July 9, '83, $10.

Just downloaded LRP. I haven't listened to this in ages. My cassette is at my parents'. Sounds pretty great.

I hated everything from Lifes Rich Pageant onward, so fuck these guys for not staying together so I can keep pointing and laffing at them.

Not even Automatic for the People?

more like fartomatic for poophole

R.I.P.

you were a good band most of the time

...in the '80s.

Uh this is not even accurate regarding Murmur let alone any of the other records

yr right I forgot that one song on Murmur with the piano. how exciting

christ in hindsight that jokey NYE 99 split would have been amazing

In reality, the '03 best of would have been a good way to do it. Seen a couple of great shows in Brixton Academy in support, like it was 1987 or something

RIP Berry Buck Mills Stipe

I just find the unvarying sound of those 60s John Coltrane albums - tenor saxophone/bass/drums/piano - with no overdubs or other instruments ever just really fucking boring

Looking forward to post-band endeavours, though. Peter Buck mezcal, Michael Stipe publishing house... Mike Mills Navajo jumpsuits

any Michael Stipe solo 'project' is going to be the worst thing mankind's produced

never mind the fucking 'guest appearances'

I just find the unvarying sound of those 60s John Coltrane albums - tenor saxophone/bass/drums/piano - with no overdubs or other instruments ever just really fucking boring

LOOOOOOOL at comparing any of the guys in REM to Coltrane's classic quartet

rock and jazz, the same thing!

Didn't make any such comparison between the two groups, just pointing out the silliness of singling out instrumentation in and of itself as the source of a band's successes or failures.

Always liked them! Always! Every album had something that pulled me in, something that moved me.

RIP!

rem twerp is the sister twerp to u2's doofus bass player. they both dressed in the dark.

mike mills/adam clayton should form a band: sister doofus twerp.

X-Post Even "Around The Sun"? :)

(Well, OK, "Leaving New York" was a great song)

Squaring off the two behemoths of '80s mushheadedness, I'd take R.E.M. a thousand times over U2.

Yes, I quite like Around the Sun. On the whole, I think it and the most recent one are my two favorite post-Bill Berry albums.

Any excuse to watch this is a good one. (Tho it's from '83 not '85.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmWW8pZS7ys

Murmur is, i think, one of the better rock albums of the 80s. love it so, so much.

also, New Adventures in Hi-Fi is my personal cut-off line. "New Test Leper" and "E-Bow the Letter" are rather good, especially the production on the former.

but yeah after that eh

Like them as far as "Up" ('daysleeper' is a great song). "Around the sun" was pretty wretched but even those songs didnt sound too bad live tbf. A little dissapointed at the level of hate towards them here......

I had no idea what "Carnival of Sorts" was actually about, but not yet out of school and still living in a small town at the time, it meant leaving. Great, great song.

yeah, the clip tipsy posted is nice. i also checked-out a 1984 performance of driver 8 and carnival of sorts, and some really, really early demos, including a high-pitched version of the lion sleeps tonight that i've always loved.

the 80s were a long time ago.

i have to admit: i was obsessed with REM when i was about 15 years old, in 2000-2001. don't really understand why that happened, but nonetheless, really can't understand the hate for them. they WERE a great band and released some amazing records... jesus, i was even in a band that COVERED some REM songs. Cello, stand-up bass, and acoustic guitar version of "Try Not to Breathe" was a show-stopper.

i was older than 15, i realize. *sigh*