Yeah, I could see Cobain liking 'Low' ... the choice of chords and the palm-muted way in which they're played.
― The Anti-Climax Blues Band (Turrican), Wednesday, 31 May 2017 18:46 (six years ago) link
"Low" as something in common with "You" and "You" was Stipe's attempt to write a song Cobain would have liked so I agree
― Guayaquil (eephus!), Wednesday, 31 May 2017 19:19 (six years ago) link
Ha, funnily enough when Euler posted above about "their rare dirges don't do it for me", 'You' was the first track that popped into my head... I think it's a great song, but one which took its time to grow on me. I think it would have been better served by a cleaner recording and some soaring strings (real or synthetic) on the chorus.
When it comes down to it, I don't think 'You' is too far removed from stuff like 'Oddfellows Local 151', really
― The Anti-Climax Blues Band (Turrican), Wednesday, 31 May 2017 19:34 (six years ago) link
I was thinking more of "Camera" and "E-Bow". "You" is more a grind than a dirge (and I love it).
― droit au butt (Euler), Wednesday, 31 May 2017 19:43 (six years ago) link
I revisited this LP for the first time in years when I reviewed the reissue, and I was kind of floored by how much better it was than my memories of it. I largely remembered it as a couple great songs padded with filler and outright failures. But it's so much less uneven than I remembered it being, and even the fillers and failures are pretty incredible. Such a lush, gorgeous, ambitious record. Not their best but a generous work from a band working at their peak.
― Evan R, Wednesday, 31 May 2017 20:13 (six years ago) link
She's only on three songs but I can't even imagine this album without Kate Pierson
― Evan R, Wednesday, 31 May 2017 20:17 (six years ago) link
i think of it as one of their most experimental records, along with new adventures
― ToddBonzalez (BradNelson), Wednesday, 31 May 2017 20:20 (six years ago) link
yep
― the Rain Man of nationalism. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 31 May 2017 20:26 (six years ago) link
Yeah, it was definitely an experimental record for them as much as it was a natural progression from Green - trying a few things out they'd never tried before, doing a few things that (at that point) were unexpected of them (working with KRS One, for example) and trying to shake things up a bit by swapping instruments and bringing more outside musicians into the sessions. Not all of the experiments work, but when it does work it's great. It was their biggest record to date and one of their oddest.
― The Anti-Climax Blues Band (Turrican), Wednesday, 31 May 2017 20:40 (six years ago) link
I still find it funny that this and Automatic For The People were their two most successful LP's worldwide and they didn't tour either of 'em.
― The Anti-Climax Blues Band (Turrican), Wednesday, 31 May 2017 20:43 (six years ago) link
i was at a french-immersion program in quebec in the summer of 91 and we pretty much listened to this and de la soul is dead every single day
we also heard jean leloup's '1990' one way or another most days, and crystal waters' 'gypsy woman' slightly less frequently
these were all good things
― mookieproof, Wednesday, 31 May 2017 23:24 (six years ago) link
"belong" got robbed. michael's wordless keening, his voice cracking, is all-time
― reggie (qualmsley), Wednesday, 31 May 2017 23:42 (six years ago) link
I love so many things about "Belong," but right now I am just going to single out the bass fill before the chorus. Took me a long time to realize that it is simply a descending G major scale. Deceptively simple, slightly syncopated, tasty in the extreme.
I like that they performed "Endgame" live, on that Unplugged where Michael wears a stupid hat with snaps on the side. Someone more completist than I am will quickly correct me, but I am not aware of them doing other instrumentals live.
― leprechaundriac (Ye Mad Puffin), Thursday, 1 June 2017 03:28 (six years ago) link
They used to do "Ghost Riders in the Sky."
― timellison, Thursday, 1 June 2017 04:04 (six years ago) link
I've been going through old videotapes lately. Got this one where I'm just filming from my dorm window a big evening thunderstorm, lightning and students running in from the parking lot.
Classic rock station on in the background. Final seconds of "Losing My Religion" providing the soundtrack. That was just a dream. Just a dream. Just a dream. Dream. Peter Buck's mandolin trails off.
Then it's KCMQ Q-96 followed right by ... "Enter Sandman" by Metallica.
1992 was such a different place.
― pplains, Thursday, 1 June 2017 04:20 (six years ago) link
They totally did "White Tornado" live I think
― Guayaquil (eephus!), Thursday, 1 June 2017 04:32 (six years ago) link
YES! That part, for me, is actually one of the hooks of the song!
― The Anti-Climax Blues Band (Turrican), Thursday, 1 June 2017 06:53 (six years ago) link
I've been going through old videotapes lately. Got this one where I'm just filming from my dorm window a big evening thunderstorm, lightning and students running in from the parking lot.Classic rock station on in the background. Final seconds of "Losing My Religion" providing the soundtrack. That was just a dream. Just a dream. Just a dream. Dream. Peter Buck's mandolin trails off.Then it's KCMQ Q-96 followed right by ... "Enter Sandman" by Metallica.1992 was such a different place.― pplains, Thursday, June 1, 2017 5:20 AM (three hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
― pplains, Thursday, June 1, 2017 5:20 AM (three hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
put that on youtube
― in twelve parts (lamonti), Thursday, 1 June 2017 08:02 (six years ago) link
yeah that bass fill on belong is so great. i worked it out on keyboard at some point for a totally unfinished and shitty cover version, and ever since it's been something i'll hum to myself independently in the shower or whatever. doot-doot, dee doo doo doo, doot doot doot
― ﴿→ ☺ (Doctor Casino), Thursday, 1 June 2017 21:41 (six years ago) link
w-w-whaaat? Can't believe "Near Wild Heaven" polled this high! Worst song on the album for me.
― j.o.h.n. (john. a resident of chicago.), Thursday, 25 July 2019 20:53 (four years ago) link
No one will ever agree like we did in 1991 that "Radio Song" was the first.
― TikTok to the (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 25 July 2019 20:57 (four years ago) link
As a fan Mills’ vocal is affecting; I can see why others would sneer.
― L'assie (Euler), Thursday, 25 July 2019 20:57 (four years ago) link
also whatever happened to Ismael Klata, that was a good poster
― L'assie (Euler), Thursday, 25 July 2019 20:59 (four years ago) link
Country Feedback, Half a World Away, and LMR are the three keepers for me.
― the last Berry La Croix in the work fridge (morrisp), Thursday, 25 July 2019 21:02 (four years ago) link
I am also surprised that NWH is that high. But Deadbeat Club is my favorite B52s song and it kind of has the same vibe so I guess I can see it now.
Just looked up where they filmed it and never realized it was at Spring Lounge in nyc.
― Yerac, Thursday, 25 July 2019 21:11 (four years ago) link
belong was the first track that grabbed me back then, but i'm sure i ended up voting for country feedback
― mookieproof, Thursday, 25 July 2019 21:21 (four years ago) link
I really really like "Radio Song" including the KRS-One part, don't know why I haven't mentioned that in this thread
― Guayaquil (eephus!), Thursday, 25 July 2019 21:30 (four years ago) link
I love Near Wild Heaven. Sounds like how I imagine the Beach Boys could have sounded in 1991 if they'd all still been around and functioning.
― frame casual (dog latin), Thursday, 25 July 2019 22:04 (four years ago) link
I like Belong too
― frame casual (dog latin), Thursday, 25 July 2019 22:06 (four years ago) link
When I first heard this album I was still quite young and new to alternative rock music, so I didn't know much about what REM looked like. In my head I imagined Michael Stipe looked like Robin Williams. I still think of Robin Williams when I hear 'Endgame' somehow
― frame casual (dog latin), Thursday, 25 July 2019 22:08 (four years ago) link
I also like “Radio Song” à lot, all of it, and have probably said so way too many times on this message board.
― L'assie (Euler), Thursday, 25 July 2019 22:33 (four years ago) link
Dammit, if I had seen this thread in time I would have voted for Near Wild Heaven and thus pushed it over the top as unchallenged number one.
I never took to Radio Song. I get that they liked rap at the time and wanted to tip their hat to the genre in some way, but it makes about as much sense as Stipe turning up on a hip-hop track. It just doesn't work, and at the very least it certainly shouldn't have been the opening track. (The cascading jangly riff on the chorus is good though.)
― does it look like i'm here (jon123), Friday, 26 July 2019 10:53 (four years ago) link
Haven't heard it in years but "Out of Time" was my first-ever cd I got (I was 11 when it came out). Strangely, it was on Top 40 radio as well as "alternative" radio programs. The same thing happened later when "Nevermind" came out. Rather than picking separate songs it's the overall production and baroque sounds/arrangements that make it a highlight of their career. I wonder what the poll results would have been with "Fretless" being an album track. I remember Buck saying it should have been on the album.
― EvR, Friday, 26 July 2019 15:21 (four years ago) link
surprised Low polled as poorly as it did.
― campreverb, Friday, 26 July 2019 20:29 (four years ago) link
losing my religion towers so many miles above the rest of the album that overexposure can't do it any harm. and i was so much in love with an rem fan at the time that it hurt.
― je est un autre, l'enfer c'est les autres (alex in mainhattan), Saturday, 10 August 2019 20:19 (four years ago) link
It's crazy what you could have had if you had 5 more voters, but as it was, you were not near enough.
― ☮ (peace, man), Saturday, 10 August 2019 21:02 (four years ago) link
Yeah LMR is a very special track for me too, in a coming of age way. It was so ubiquitous during the summer of 91 and I still feel emotional when I listen to it (rarely though).That said, there are other great tracks on the album.
― AlXTC from Paris, Saturday, 10 August 2019 21:25 (four years ago) link
that Unplugged where Michael wears a stupid hat with snaps on the side. 1991-core... barn jacket & shorts, perched on that stool... doing those weird little hand flick motions he was into at this time... luv it
― 60... 90... 120 Minute IPA (morrisp), Saturday, 10 August 2019 21:40 (four years ago) link
every time At 10:35 on an early summer's morning, John Lanchester sat down at his study desk, switched on his new Dell computer, opened up the word processing programme that the computer had come with and began reappears in sna, i think
those creatures jumped the barricades and headed for the seasea
― mookieproof, Thursday, 24 September 2020 16:03 (three years ago) link
so many of my weirdo friends skipped school to buy this on release day that one of the principals thought something was going down and we all had to talk to the counselor and have our mental health confirmed
― avellano medio inglés (f. hazel), Thursday, 24 September 2020 16:14 (three years ago) link
Yer old.
tempus fugit dept.: released 30 years ago today. a rare song in that I can recall exactly where & how I first heard it (my freshman dorm room; on WFNX) & what I first thought ("that's pretty good--wonder if it'll be a hit, there's a lot of mandolin on it") pic.twitter.com/ejEksBvfGm— Bowiesongs (@bowiesongs) February 19, 2021
― Ned Raggett, Friday, 19 February 2021 20:35 (three years ago) link
Pitchfork Mark, in the replies, wants to make sure the world knows he's lukewarm on the song.
― stuck in the version layer (morrisp), Friday, 19 February 2021 20:38 (three years ago) link
30th for the album
ffs
― mookieproof, Saturday, 13 March 2021 04:11 (three years ago) link
I am listening to this album in full for the first time ever right now. “Radio Song” and “Shiny Happy People” are universally reviled as the band’s nadir when “Endgame” and “Belong” are RIGHT THERE?!
Fucking hell is “Me in Honey” a great song.
― Mr. Snrub, Friday, 12 November 2021 15:57 (two years ago) link
I like Me In Honey as a closer, there are two or three more obvious choices but they made the right decision
― PaulTMA, Friday, 12 November 2021 16:27 (two years ago) link
"Belong" rules
― covidsbundlertanze op. 6 (Jon not Jon), Friday, 12 November 2021 20:34 (two years ago) link
otm
― mookieproof, Friday, 12 November 2021 22:32 (two years ago) link
“Radio Song” and “Shiny Happy People” are universally reviled as the band’s nadirIs this true? “Endgame” is kinda weak as a “song,” but I guess it sounded ok at the time, as some texture…
― You Suffer (10 Minute Version) (morrisp), Friday, 12 November 2021 22:43 (two years ago) link
i like endgame, would like it better if it had been arranged/produced in the style of pretty much any other era of good REM though, and if it lost the "lead" vocal
― Lavator Shemmelpennick, Friday, 12 November 2021 23:48 (two years ago) link
I haven't listened to radio song on purpose in years, but I heard it on the radio, and I kind of thought, eh, if it had no KRS One it might be okay.
― Josh in Chicago, Saturday, 13 November 2021 00:38 (two years ago) link