REM: Classic or dud?

50 bucks? My record collection is worth more than I thought. Not selling any of it, though. Listening to them all is how I'm going to spend my nursing home years.

I've seriously only ever seen one copy of Chomp in the wild. Somehow didn't get it at the time and have been hoping to bump into one ever since. But I'm the type who really only *wants* to find things by chance, in the wild.

Man, poor Low-Life indeed. Such a great album. Technique is better though, so. . .

And, out here on the west coast, I've never seen a Pylon album. Ever.

Wonder if they've also suffered from shifts in the sonics of cool music?

Sure, and just normal generational eclipse. Anecdotally from my wife and her millennial coterie, R.E.M. barely registers at all. They maybe know Automatic for the People, but that's about it. To them, R.E.M. has always been a bunch of boring old dudes.

I'm sure there will be some occasion for a renaissance/rediscovery.

Gyrate used to be a bargain bin staple down here (NZ). Never seen Chomp tho. Suddenly realised, at this point I can prob recoup the money I blew on records in the 90s and 00s, kinda plsed

Forget the Beatles/Zep/Nirvana visibility, REM don't even seem to have the cross generational visibility of U2, Metallica, Joy Division, even Sonic Youth (to give examples of more immediate peers)

God knows what it will be like in 20 years

I bought a copy of the first Bangles EP on IRS for like three bucks (maybe four, can't remember) last week. Good record! Produced by Craig Leon.

yes it is! All Over The Place is great too...

Substance hasn't been reissued on vinyl. Low Life is available in hundreds of pressing variations on vinyl. I see it all the time. I've seen Substance in a store exactly 2 times in the last 15 years and New Order is always my first stop.

I ran across a copy of Chomp in Austin at something Ears record store. It was a nice OG pressing for a decent price. Only time i've ever seen it though.

then i decided to look it up just in case and i sold it for 50 dollars on discogs. !!! substance!

this is insane. I have no idea how anything is valued in the vinyl market, it's completely baffling.

To them, R.E.M. has always been a bunch of boring old dudes.

youth of today otm

Substance hasn't been pressed on vinyl for 30 years! How is it insane for that to be that expensive? I'm still looking for a UK gatefold copy. There will be a new Singles Box Set released this year with remastered versions of all the singles, but I think those will be 7" remasters, not the 12" original versions.

if R.E.M. had broken up in 1997, the millennials would be demanding their reunion at the coachella

Were millenials demanding Husker Du? I tend to agree with the premise that it's a sonic thing.

Check out the price on the original pressing of Get Ready. You want to talk about insanity.

the lack of REM on that recent 1980s Pitch4k list was pretty o_0. i mean christ there was more Lionel Richie in it than REM.

Was there really?

That's right embarrassing.

I still hear plenty of REM influence in stuff like Real Estate. Has it really aged that poorly?

No, I think the the biggest irony of all is that those early R.E.M. albums still hold up.

if R.E.M. had broken up in 1997, the millennials would be demanding their reunion at the coachella

dead john bonham ftw

REM don't even seem to have the cross generational visibility of

who cares? why should they? and it doesn't matter.

I think the early R.E.M. albums still hold up but I also hear very little R.E.M. in contempo indie, Real Estate included, and I think that's why they went down the memory hole at Pitchfork.

And yes, that Bangles EP is great -- How Is The Air Up There? especially -- though I think All Over the Place is where they really achieve mastery of what they're doing.

Photos from May 16, 1980

I remember back when they used to say that they would have a gig on December 31st, 1999 and when the clock stroke twelve they would split. Even though it always sounded implausible, my teenager self found that idea so poetic I couldn't help feeling somewhat disappointed when 2000 came and they were still there. The albums they released after that point didn't relieve my disappointment either.

It seems really clear now but, even though Stipe was always the spokesperson, I can't think of any other of the big bands that was less about the individuals and more about the band than R.E.M was. Which I suppose also hurts their marketability in today's landscape: there's no clear charismatic figure with a compelling narrative to sell the band; they also don't belong to any scene that's been rediscovered either.

Anyway, these kind of things happen all the time. Bowie and Talking Heads were pretty much has beens in the late 90's-early 2000's and look at how revered they're now.

there's no clear charismatic figure with a compelling narrative to sell the band

I never thought that'd be much of an issue for rock bands. I know that for pop stars coming out of the tv talent contests the "journey" is a big selling point but it doesn't seem to have any lasting power or have much effect in other countries.

I think REM basically played the game right. They were indie weirdoes from the start and that's what they sort of are now, like a Feelies that convinced millions of people to buy their records. We're talking about a band that didn't even bother touring behind its two biggest records. Possibly their two weirdest, most eccentric records, at that. They always seemed happy keeping it low key, playing clubs, going to house parties/shows in Athens, etc. Pretty private and insular. The nicest thing about them fading back into the ether is their albums have remained vital, viable things ripe for rediscovery.

They were indie weirdoes from the start and that's what they sort of are now, like a Feelies that convinced millions of people to buy their records.

They started out as indie weirdos, but they turned into this shlocky, boring, baroque bands. They're not like the Feelies at all on their last, what, 5-10 records?

they just got older. it happens. ask bob mould about it!

nothing beats how embarrassed i was when i went and saw the tom tom club in like 1990. oh my god someone's parents were drunk and having a crazy funky luau party in a club in philly and it was not easy to watch. how far the mighty had fallen...

Peter Buck used to talk about how they never wanted to fall into rock star dinosaur band cliches, specifically mentioning the Who. This was before he was arrested for drunkenly trashing an airplane cabin and attacking a flight attendant, and before they did a GREATEST HITS! tour without their original drummer.

I think even late on REM are still quite odd, but not weird.

Man, over-analyzing the word "weird" here. Just meant quirky, not, like, "Swordfishtrombones" or whatever. Though certainly "Murmur" has its share of weird, and for top selling major label breakthroughs I think "Out of Time" and "Automatic" are, yeah, a little weird. Same with "New Adventures. Of course, whatever they did weird they made normal, which I guess makes it not weird, but that's hindsight. I do agree they got lame when they went big, but that whole post-Berry period is like an afterthought or echo.

seems weird that stipey has never made a solo album. seems like someone who would REALLY want to make a solo album. maybe we should applaud his modesty.

Liked him with Golden Palominos.

i'm more surprised mike mills hasn't made a solo album

his guest stuff has always been fine. he should do a duet album. no more sea shanties with courtney though.

i liked when he would just pop up in the background in a no big deal way.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ge26Aybem2M

and this one of course...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfW4-nP2G1Q

a your ghost-like duet album could be nice!

I'm not sure Stipe was ever much of a songwriter, I always got the sense his job was to write/sing the lyrics and look enigmatic and let the others deal with the music. There was a very specific alchemy that collapsed when Berry left.

He is genuinely more likely to direct a film than release a solo album.

Totally agree with Matt DC. I'm not sure Stipe on his own has much to say through music; so much of R.E.M. was collaboration from Berry, Buck and Mills. I remember seeing some rockumentaries showing how R.E.M. wrote their music and it was very much a collaborative effort. I think I remember there even were lyrics in signature songs that Stipe didn't write (wasn't most of Perfect Circle written by Berry?)

Hindsight's 20 20, of course, but R.E.M. were such a tight unit, it's easy to see why they crumbled down after Hi-Fi.

I just remembered their appearance in the VMAs 95 and Stipe saying "If anyone on this foursome leaves this couch right now, the other three would be more comfortable, but we wouldn't be R.E.M.". Which sounds like a cliche, but ended up being totally true in their case.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTklT8u0L7U

but that's him in the spotlight! just would have figured he would have wanted a solo diva moment. although i mentioned the collab/duet thing cuz i think that comes more naturally to him. so maybe he is a shrinking violet after all. remember when he was the shy one? hiding behind the hair. they are all the shy one though in a way.

Berry is or was the most obstreperous and out-there personality of the four; they fell off hard when he left and took most of their rock attitude with him

Im not really interested in looking out for Stipe related material, new stuff anyway; maybe the other three reined him in but he was a compelling enough frontman in the 80s and 90s but from the millenium onwards hes been terrible imo

yeah i'm not saying anyone would listen to it, just seems like a natural thing for a front-singer guy to do. videos, artwork, the whole vision thing. don't call me crazy. it totally is a normal thing for lead singers of bands to do.

yeah! it's surprising he hasn't made a solo album produced/masterminded by like moby or nigel godrich.

Maybe he should a Fred Schneider and bring Albini in