AVC: The two songs that are probably most identified with you personally are “(Don’t Go Back To) Rockville” and “Nightswimming.”
WHITHER TEXARKANA???
― da croupier, Wednesday, 16 November 2011 23:12 (twelve years ago) link
not near enough!
― lumber up, limbaugh down (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 16 November 2011 23:15 (twelve years ago) link
Fuck a Texarkana, how about maybe SUPERMAN?
― i couldn't adjust the food knobs (Phil D.), Wednesday, 16 November 2011 23:42 (twelve years ago) link
NOT NEAR ENOUGH
― lumber up, limbaugh down (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 16 November 2011 23:45 (twelve years ago) link
wait, why "Nightswimming"?
― virginia is for losers (rip van wanko), Wednesday, 16 November 2011 23:46 (twelve years ago) link
Mills is an infamous skinny dipper
― tylerw, Wednesday, 16 November 2011 23:48 (twelve years ago) link
ha forgot about superman myself. both that and texarkana went rock radio top 20, even. Wonder how Mills felt about that question.
― da croupier, Wednesday, 16 November 2011 23:59 (twelve years ago) link
Love that Salon interview. Softball questions, sure, but they do the job. Stipe's not usually that forthcoming.
― Science, you guys. Science. (DL), Thursday, 17 November 2011 09:37 (twelve years ago) link
Their best album... is Reckoning.
― Clarke B., Wednesday, 17 October 2012 02:43 (eleven years ago) link
It's definitely an easy one to overlook. You go back, you listen to "Murmur," bask in its glow, and then bam, "you want more of that, well here's more of that!"
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 17 October 2012 03:28 (eleven years ago) link
Really odd that I have never owned "Reckoning" considering how much time I have spent with "Murmur" and "Fables of the Reconstruction". Next time I see that cheapish on vinyl I am going to buy it. The time has come.
― grandavis, Wednesday, 17 October 2012 15:29 (eleven years ago) link
I think it's one of their weaker efforts. You have "SCR" and "Don't Go Back...", two of their best, but otherwise, it's a bit lacking.
― Freedom, Wednesday, 17 October 2012 18:40 (eleven years ago) link
lol what?
Pretty Persuasion, Harbourcoat and Seven Chinese Brothers are like all-time.
― C-3PO Sharkey (Phil D.), Wednesday, 17 October 2012 19:52 (eleven years ago) link
^^this
― Mule, Wednesday, 17 October 2012 20:37 (eleven years ago) link
Reckoning feels like a GOAT candidate when it hits just right.
― omar little, Wednesday, 17 October 2012 20:40 (eleven years ago) link
Reckoning def my fave, though i've known these albums for so long I basically just bracket the albums in my mind under slots - The Club/Theater Years (Chronic thru Fables), The Arena Years (Lifes thru Green) and The 4x Platinum Years (Out Of Time thru Monster) - and i'll get in a mood to dive into one. It'd be really hard to honestly rank each one individually.
― da croupier, Wednesday, 17 October 2012 21:01 (eleven years ago) link
LETTER NEVER SENT
― Euler, Wednesday, 17 October 2012 22:35 (eleven years ago) link
Reckoning is the best
Every song is great... "Camera" is a career highlight; "Seven Chinese Brohans" is near-perfect.
― Clarke B., Wednesday, 17 October 2012 22:57 (eleven years ago) link
The second side of Reckoning is weaker - good, but weaker - but that first side is brilliant.
― Master of Treacle, Wednesday, 17 October 2012 23:11 (eleven years ago) link
I would say the same about Lifes and Docu
― Master of Treacle, Wednesday, 17 October 2012 23:12 (eleven years ago) link
side 2 > side 1 of Reckoning
LETTER NEVER SENTso the best
― Euler, Thursday, 18 October 2012 01:54 (eleven years ago) link
been listening to the i.r.s. comp today and remembering when this was my favorite band. the emo pours out of me.
― With extreme tenderness - flexible - always guided by the words (get bent), Friday, 19 October 2012 22:02 (eleven years ago) link
Best song they ever did: "Life and How to Live It"
― Mr. Snrub, Saturday, 20 October 2012 01:05 (eleven years ago) link
"BARK at night and RUN-ning round TALKing in the STREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEETS" CHING-CHING! cha-da-chung, cha-da chung, cha-da-da CHING-CHING!
― Mr. Snrub, Saturday, 20 October 2012 01:11 (eleven years ago) link
listen to the holler!
― reggie (qualmsley), Saturday, 20 October 2012 01:43 (eleven years ago) link
"Mine Smell Like Honey" is such an amazingly great song.
― timellison, Wednesday, 7 November 2012 21:19 (eleven years ago) link
Unsurprisingly crap late period song title though
― Master of Treacle, Wednesday, 7 November 2012 22:33 (eleven years ago) link
ha i could never get past that title. will there ever be a groundswell of love for REM's latter days i wonder, now that they're gone? guess i can see it happening.
― tylerw, Wednesday, 7 November 2012 22:41 (eleven years ago) link
Nah.
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 7 November 2012 22:47 (eleven years ago) link
No, it's a beautiful title. I mean, obviously, there's a silly pun, but the sentiment of the song is so righteous.
You're going to sing the praises of your fruitI can hear you shouting over it all
― timellison, Wednesday, 7 November 2012 22:49 (eleven years ago) link
too late i'm already pitching my "why REM was the best band of the 21st century" thinkpiece to PASTE. xp
― tylerw, Wednesday, 7 November 2012 22:50 (eleven years ago) link
all i can think of when i think of Michael Stipe singing "Mine Smell Like Honey" is testicles
― beef richards (Mr. Que), Wednesday, 7 November 2012 22:50 (eleven years ago) link
silly pun
or silly double entendre, I mean
The song is an affirmation of life.
― timellison, Wednesday, 7 November 2012 22:55 (eleven years ago) link
And all its freaking scary-ness.
― timellison, Wednesday, 7 November 2012 22:56 (eleven years ago) link
all i can think of when i think of Michael Stipe singing "Mine Smell Like Honey" is testicles farts.
― By the end of my second term, Gingrich said... (Dan Peterson), Wednesday, 7 November 2012 22:57 (eleven years ago) link
new peter buck album is the best "rem" album since 'new adventures in hi fi'
― reggie (qualmsley), Thursday, 8 November 2012 03:38 (eleven years ago) link
hahaha, are you being serious or not? i haven't heard it yet. but of course every time rem put out a new album peter buck would always claim it was the best one they'd done in decades or something
― but the boo boyz are getting to (Z S), Thursday, 8 November 2012 04:11 (eleven years ago) link
ha ha yeah he always says that but no, for real, this is awesome. it's loose and fun like rem hasn't sounded in way too long. first three songs are larkish like maybe what you'd expect; then it gets really tuneful with "travel without arriving," followed by a swampy organ dirge a la 'automatic for the people,' and just keeps soaring. get in on this if you have any love left for this band
― reggie (qualmsley), Thursday, 8 November 2012 04:52 (eleven years ago) link
was there a post-Berry poll? maybe there should be? Up/Reveal/Accelerate/ etc.. all that stuff.
― piscesx, Thursday, 8 November 2012 04:54 (eleven years ago) link
I'm glad to hear the Buck album has a bit of variety to it. The live clips I've heard so far were pretty ropey. I don't begrudge him having a bit of fun, but millionaire rock star doing Nuggets just doesn't work for me. Also, now we know why he never sang in REM... However, tunes and swampy organ dirges sounds promising... Isn't Corin Tucker singing a couple too?
― Poor.Old.Tired.Horse. (Stew), Thursday, 8 November 2012 13:08 (eleven years ago) link
yeah, and she sounds good. pete sounds like tom waits hungover, with a cold, but i'm telling you, the songs are there. a very very pleasant surprise
― reggie (qualmsley), Thursday, 8 November 2012 15:14 (eleven years ago) link
will there ever be a groundswell of love for REM's latter days i wonder, now that they're gone? guess i can see it happening.
I've thought about this recently since the split - I think it depends if Up retains the goodwill it has right now cases will be made for at least up to that point. New Adventures has become a sleeper critical hit as well.
Generally aside though I think people will forget they existed in the 21st century (lol NYE 1999). Many many people will forget they existed after Bill Berry left.
I wonder if their critical consensus will go further back as the years progress, to the point where 'should've split after AFTP' becomes the dominant line. People are already quite ambivalent over the overall 90s stuff.
― Master of Treacle, Thursday, 8 November 2012 15:51 (eleven years ago) link
Starting with Out Of Time, which has really suffered in retrospect over the years (10/10 in NME at the time I think?). Monster is obviously the used bins favourite, and Up (and a lesser extent New Adventures) is too divisive.
Automatic is the only 90s album that has survived all this
― Master of Treacle, Thursday, 8 November 2012 16:02 (eleven years ago) link
However if we're talking about the very late period, I don't see enough people going back on it for these recent albums to even become what Up or New Adventures are right now. Too far down the line
― Master of Treacle, Thursday, 8 November 2012 16:08 (eleven years ago) link
In my head, "Up" is the final R.E.M. album. The other records are all artifacts of some other band, like when McCulloch and Sergent formed Electrafixion.
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 8 November 2012 16:40 (eleven years ago) link
"Out of Time" definitely boasts the largest discrepancy between highs and lows of any R.E.M. album.
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 8 November 2012 16:41 (eleven years ago) link
dunno, out of time and aftp are pretty equal in my mind. and they both have a skippable opening track.
― tylerw, Thursday, 8 November 2012 16:43 (eleven years ago) link
Out of Time is still for me in the highest REM tier, along with Reckoning & probably AFTP.
― Euler, Thursday, 8 November 2012 16:54 (eleven years ago) link
Out of Time has "Country Feedback" on it, so it rules, basically.
― Mule, Thursday, 8 November 2012 17:20 (eleven years ago) link