REM: Classic or dud?

wonder what a Mick Jagger/Automatic Baby would sound like.

I copied Flashpoint in the late nineties from a friend and it's damn tight, even the new song about how the first Gulf War pissed Mick off.

re choosing to do Monster: I remember after OOT many interviews with the band where they insisted the next record would be a back to basics four track recording, and then they did Automatic instead. and then the same party line in interviews after that. and then Monster. which wasn't back to basics! later figured out that was Berry talking, figured sick or not he wanted to get out by then.

Funnily, an actual back-to-basics REM record would have been gangbusters in the world of Hootie, etc. They paved the way for this hugely successful sound, then turned away from it really just as it was peaking, in order to have huge success with a related but rather different sound on the mandolin/strings albums. Obviously ''Stand'' etc were successful but an album like Lifes Rich Pageant, or a slightly glossier Reckoning, would have sold millions in 1993-95 IMO.

Circa "Steel Wheels" so many of the sixties / oldies crowd were doing the state fair circuit ... at least the Stones were still a working rock and roll band, even if you didn't care for the more recent albums!

i just had pretty much NO expectations (get it?) when i saw stones on that tour. some people i knew were going and had an extra ticket and i thought what the heck it will be something different to do anyway. hadn't been to a mega-show in years. that's why i was so shocked to have my hands in the air the whole night just screaming for stones. they worked 100,000 people like it was nothing. you'd think it would be impossible to connect like that with a crowd that big but they made it look really easy. a seriously professional party machine. they could make anyone a believer. i'm pretty sure springsteen could do the same. i always loved that greg tate live springsteen review where he sees the power of bruce first-hand. bruce obviously another dude who is just pro to the bone. in a good way. and r.e.m. definitely had that thing you need to have too to get a crowd to follow your every move. they were good at it. on a smaller level. never saw them in some football arena.

Track from the upcoming Buck LP here, with Patterson Hood from Drive-By-Truckers:

http://www.spin.com/articles/rem-peter-buck-second-solo-album-roswell-stream/

an album like Lifes Rich Pageant, or a slightly glossier Reckoning, would have sold millions in 1993-95 IMO

"Bittersweet Me" from New Adventures successfully recaptured that Reckoning/Pageant sound, in my opinion. Should have been the lead single instead of "E-Bow The Letter."

Bittersweet Me is my favourite song on the album and is ostensibly the obvious go to song for a single but as a first single it lacks the fanfare of Kenneth. Maybe Wake Up Bomb although I don't think it's a better song.

yeah i don't think there's any perfect lead single choice for that album that would've dramatically improved its reception, beyond the undeniable truth that anything would've worked better than "E-Bow"

Was surprised listening to Around the Sun again how much it still sounds like New Adventures period. "Electron Blue" and "The Outsiders" (in somewhat different arrangements, I guess) wouldn't be out of place on that album.

I like the return to more rock classicism like the garage psych of "Wanderlust" and then whatever "Mr. Richards" is on Accelerate.

Ha, I'm listening to it now and it's kind of "What's the Frequency, Kenneth," isn't it?

A little early 1981 for ya

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyUvmu1IIss

so, has anyone listened to this deluxe unplugged they just released? i didn't even know they did a second unplugged in 2001

haven't heard but I'll certainly get it; the 1991 is among my very favorite things they did. the version of "Disturbance at the Heron House" is the best version of it.

me too. apparently there are six (!) previously unreleased songs from the 1991 set

http://theseconddisc.com/2014/03/17/r-e-m-unplugged-set-to-complicate-your-life-on-record-store-day/

really curious if the second set can illuminate some of the post-berry songs they way the first one did stuff like "radio song"

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/22/rem-unplugged-ive-been-high_n_5190602.html

Yes. I remembered this one was good live:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJ46Y6xt2pU

that's awesome. i forget how good they still were live post-berry. the unplugged "imitation of life" is a revelation. all that studio glop didn't do the underlying song any favors

very early r.e.m. tapes.

i like.

oh man I love that

this bootleg helps explain why Chronic Town and especially Murmur came as surprises to most of their local audience

(stands up and leans on walker)

40 Watt Mark 2, The Teeveez in support ... iirc it was about 100 degrees in the room and the loft floor was flexing up and down underfoot through the whole set

heyyy i wrote that early REM thing. wait, you were really there Brad C.? that is pretty amazing.

that's a good article, tyler. i love the version of baby i, which is so raw and energetic that it threatens to totally go off the rails.

Yeah Tyler, that was a cool piece. I had never heard anything this early from REM I don't think, and it is a lot of fun.

no surprise to see the byline on that, tylerw, you always bring the hightone

I think the May 30 show was the second time I saw them; the first was when they opened for the Brains on campus a couple of weeks earlier

this is representative of how they sounded well into 1981, when their setlist started to include more of the material that appeared on the first two IRS records

They definitely sound a bit like Wire at times in this, which isn't that surprising, but yeah really punchy and tight at times. Would have been a fun show I am sure.

radical, brad, you have eternal bragging rights.
yeah this stuff is so much fun - you can imagine them putting out a record of some of this early stuff in 1981 or thereabouts and having a totally different career.
another good early thing, from a week after the 40 Watt show:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0F2G7L6vLNY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JTNM5aRl4k
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58ceTXVcoMI

it seems like they got popular in athens pretty fast -- the crowd at that 40 Watt show sounds super into it. Was that pretty standard for local bands, or were they just a band that people were instantly drawn to?

thanks for the links, tyler ~ and the great story

it seems like they got popular in athens pretty fast -- the crowd at that 40 Watt show sounds super into it. Was that pretty standard for local bands, or were they just a band that people were instantly drawn to?

iirc there were very few non-cover/non-frat-party bands playing in Athens in 1980, so anything faintly "new wave" or "punk" was received with wild enthusiasm (no one I knew as a freshman was very clear on what those labels meant or to whom they applied) ... Pylon was active and I guess the Method Actors, but R.E.M. immediately became more popular than those bands, maybe because they were less art-schoolly ... the epidemic of young Athens bands didn't really get going until 1982

the B-52's were too big to play Athens in 1980 ... there were no clubs open to non-cover local bands except Tyrone's O.C. (which burned down in January 1982) and the 40 Watt Club ... the Mad Hatter, a larger frat-oriented venue, put on a few shows but probably lost money on them ... R.E.M. had to go to Atlanta and North Carolina for gigs

The May 1980 iteration of the 40 Watt Club was just barely afloat as something other than a house party space, and I'm certain it was way over capacity for that show with maybe 100-200? people packed in

that is awesome. yeah when researching the article i sort of expected there to be a lot more info about that early scene (and there probably is somewhere, but i didn't find too much).
even on those early songs, REM had the big chorus thing down, which maybe is what distinguished them a bit from say, pylon.

Spotify just removed Chronic Town EP tracks from Dead Letter Office.

best heard on vinyl anyways

True, i'll just bring my turntable into the office tomorrow.

http://www.mtv.com/videos/misc/1034022/disappear-unplugged.jhtml

So there was that one IRS rarities set from last month...and guess what:

http://www.slicingupeyeballs.com/2014/05/20/rem-complete-rarities-warner-bros-1988-2011/

1. “Funtime” (Live) (Iggy Pop Cover)
2. “Ghost Rider” (Suicide Cover)
3. “Dark Globe” (Syd Barrett Cover)
4. “Pop Song 89” (Acoustic Version)
5. “Memphis Train Blues” (Non-Album Track)
6. “Skin Tight” (Live Orlando, FL April 30, 1989) (Ohio Players cover)
7. “Losing My Religion” (Acoustic) (Live At KFOG)
8. “Losing My Religion” (Live In Dublin 2005)
9. “Rotary Eleven” (Non-Album Track)
10. “You Are The Everything” (Live – Greensboro Coliseum, NC 11/10/1989)
11. “Love Is All Around” (Live)
12. “Shiny Happy People” (Dance To The Music Mix)
13. “Shiny Happy People” (Pop Mix)
14. “Shiny Happy People” (Hip Mix)
15. “It’s a Free World Baby” (Non-Album Track)
16. “Winged Mammal Theme” (Non-Album Track)
17. “First We Take Manhattan” (Leonard Cohen Cover)
18. “Everybody Hurts” (Album Fade)
19. “Mandolin Strum” (Non-Album Track)
20. “Orange Crush” (Live Version)
21. “Man On The Moon” (Album Edit)
22. “Arms Of Love” (Non-Album Track)
23. “World Leader Pretend” (Live) (Charleston WV 4/28/91)
24. “Belong” (Live) (Charleston WV 4/28/91)
25. “Low” (Live) (Charleston WV 4/28/91)
26. “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” (Non-Album Track)
27. “Fretless” (Non-Album Track)
28. “Everybody Hurts” (Live) (9/2/93-Los Angeles for the MTV Video Awards)
29. “Orange Crush” (Instrumental)
30. “Fall On Me” (Live)
31. “Me In Honey” (Live)
32. “Finest Worksong” (Live)
33. “Drive” (Live) (1992)
34. “Funtime” (Live) (1992)
35. “Radio Free Europe” (Live) (1992)
36. “What’s The Frequency, Kenneth?” (Live at SNL-11/12/94)
37. “Bang And Blame” (Live at SNL-11/12/94)
38. “I Don’t Sleep, I Dream” (Live at SNL-11/12/94)
39. “What’s The Frequency, Kenneth?” (Radio Version)
40. “Monty Got A Raw Deal” (Live)
41. “Everybody Hurts” (Live) (Athens, GA ’92)
42. “Man On The Moon” (Live) (Athens, GA ’92)
43. “Bang And Blame” (Album Version w/o Between Track Noise)
44. “Losing My Religion” (Live) (Athens 1992) (Applause Faded)
45. “Country Feedback” (Live) (Athens 1992) (Applause Faded)
46. “Begin The Begin” (Live) (Athens 1992)
47. “Undertow” (Live)
48. “Wichita Lineman” (Live) (Non-Album Track)
49. “New Test Leper” (Live Acoustic)
50. “Tricycle” (Instrumental) (Non-Album Track)
51. “Departure” (Live) (Rome Soundcheck)
52. “Wall Of Death” (From “Beat The Retreat”-Richard Thompson Tribute Album)
53. “The Wake Up Bomb” (Live Version) (Atlanta)
54. “Binky The Doormat” (Live Version) (Atlanta)
55. “King Of Comedy” (808 State Remix)
56. “Be Mine” (Mike On Bus Version)
57. “Love is All Around” (The Troggs Cover)
58. “Sponge” (Vic Chesnutt Cover)
59. “Emphysema” (Non-Album Track)
60. “Sad Professor” (Live In Studio Version)
61. “Why Not Smile” (Oxford American Version)
62. “Surfing The Ganges” (LP Version)
63. “Suspicion” (Live In Studio Version)
64. “Lotus” (Weird Mix)
65. “Electrolite” (Live From Jools Holland)
66. “Man On The Moon” (Live From Jools Holland)
67. “Suspicion” (Live At Ealing Studios)
68. “At My Most Beautiful” (Radio Remix)
69. “Passenger” (Recorded From “Later” With Jools Holland)
70. “Country Feedback” (Recorded From “Later” With Jools Holland)
71. “So. Central Rain” (Live From “Later”)
72. “The Great Beyond” (Non-Album Track)
73. “The One I Love” (Live From Glastonbury Festival)
74. “Everybody Hurts” (Live From Glastonbury Festival)
75. “Man On The Moon” (Live From Glastonbury Festival)
76. “Yellow River” (Non-Album Track)
77. “165 Hillcrest” (Non-Album Track)
78. “Imitation Of Life” (Live From Trafalgar Square)
79. “Summer Turns To High” (32 Chord Song Demo)
80. “I’ve Been High” (Live Video Version) (Channel V, Sydney)
81. “The Lifting” (Original Version)
82. “Beat A Drum” (Dalkey Demo)
83. “2JN” (Non-Album Track)
84. “Favorite Writer” (Non-Album Track)
85. “Out in the Country” (Non-Album Track)
86. “Adagio” (Unused Tune)
87. “Turn You Inside-Out” (Live Version)
88. “Chance” (Dub)
89. “Drive” (Live Version) (1994)
90. “Star Me Kitten” (Featuring W.S. Burroughs)
91. “Revolution” (Non-Album Track)
92. “Leave” (Alternate Version)
93. “The Lifting” (Demo)
94. “The One I Love” (Live Version) (MMM Sydney)
95. “Maps & Legends” (Live Rehearsal Version)
96. “Tongue” (Live Rehearsal Version)
97. “Little America” (Live Rehearsal Version)
98. “South Central Rain” (Live Rehearsal Version)
99. “Imitation Of Life” (Live Rehearsal Version)
100. “So Fast, So Numb” (Live) (Athens Rehearsal Sessions, 2004)
101. “All The Right Friends” (Live) (Athens Rehearsal Sessions, 2004)
102. “Animal” (New Mix)
103. “Pretty Persuasion” (Live) (NYC 2003)
104. “Welcome To The Occupation” (Live) (NYC 2003)
105. “You Are The Everything” (Live) (Raleigh, NC-Oct. 10, 2003)
106. “These Days” (Live) (Toronto-Sept. 30, 2003)
107. “(Don’t Go Back To) Rockville” (Live) (Oslo NRK P1 National Radio-Oct. 25, 2003)
108. “Wanderlust” (Live-Santa Barbara, CA 2004)
109. “Sweetness Follows” (Live) (Recorded in Cincinnati-Oct. 27, 2004)
110. “Horse To Water” (Live In Vancouver)
111. “Indian Summer” (Non-Album Track)
112. “Living Well Is The Best Revenge” (Live In London)
113. “Auctioneer” (Live In London)
114. “Hollow Man” (Live In London)
115. “Supernatural Superserious” (Live In London)
116. “Fall On Me” (Live In London)
117. “West Of The Fields” (Live In London)
118. “Horse To Water” (Live In London)
119. “Man-Sized Wreath” (Live In London)
120. “Man On The Moon” (Live In London)
121. “Mr. Richards” (Vancouver)
122. “Living Well Jesus Dog” (Non-Album Track)
123. “Airliner” (Non-Album Track)
124. “Redhead Walking” (Non-Album Track)
125. “Houston” (iTunes Live From London)
126. “Harborcoat” (Live At The Olympia)
127. “Letter Never Sent” (Live At The Olympia)
128. “Second Guessing” (Live At The Olympia)
129. “Pretty Persuasion” (Live At The Olympia)
130. “NOLA-4/26/10” (Non-Album Track)
131. “That Someone Is You” (Live In The Studio)

I looked up the IRS rarities and noticed it was mostly Dead Letter Office and various other stuff that had seen the light of day before.
But...man I love 'Voice of Harold'.

gotta rep for Ghost Rider which was the only version of that song i knew for like 10 years.

Murmurs.com has finally closed up for good.

Shit, forgot about Chance (Dub). used to love that one.

61. “Why Not Smile” (Oxford American Version)

loved this so much. was sad -- did not smile, as it were -- when up came out and sounded nothing like it.

I bought the new Unplugged set yesterday and listening now I notice that they edited out Stipe's opening to "It's the End of the World..." when he says MTV made them play it and that he didn't remember the words so someone had printed them out for him.

12. “Shiny Happy People” (Dance To The Music Mix)
13. “Shiny Happy People” (Pop Mix)
14. “Shiny Happy People” (Hip Mix)

uh

14. "Hello, I Love You" [Psychedelic Version]
15. "Hello I Love You"
16. "Hello I Love You" [Slight Return Mix]

it was the 90s maaaaaaaan

12. “Shiny Happy People” (Dance To The Music Mix)
13. “Shiny Happy People” (Pop Mix)
14. “Shiny Happy People” (Hip Mix)

uh

― guess that bundt gettin eaten (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, May 20, 2014 7:46 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Someone should make a 'Dance To The Music & Pop Your Hip Mix'.

"Shinier, Happier" (Thom Yorke Mix)

which was the godawful '91/'92 era b side recorded live at the Bingo Hand Job gig? it's them and Bragg yukking it up improvising doing EMF's Unbelievable and such? a get-of-the-bus moment for many old fans i'm sure.

awwww I love that show. was it "Tom's Diner" you're thinking of?

Baggy trousers!

yeah that "Tom's Diner" is one of the "Near Wild Heaven" b-sides, had to check