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R.E.M. thread (1 Viewer)

Ghost Rider

Ghost Rider

Footballguy
They have become one of those "better late than never" bands for me.  Since the 80's, I always liked a few of their songs, but never quite saw the hype, while admittedly never diving too deep into their catalogue.  However, I heard a few of their most obscure 90's tunes recently, which I really liked, and now here I am on a full blown obsession with this band and becoming quite the fan.  Last year the same thing happened with me and XTC, and now this year it looks like it is R.E.M.  

Anyway, I am sure there are a lot of fans here, so discuss all things R.E.M. 😎

 
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i like strange currencies and that song about the great beyond there i said it take that to the bank brohans

 
Ghost Rider said:
They have become one of those "better late than never" bands for me.  Since the 80's, I always liked a few of their songs, but never quite saw the hype, while admittedly never diving too deep into their catalogue.  However, I heard a few of their most obscure 90's tunes recently, which I really liked, and now here I am on a full blown obsession with this band and becoming quite the fan.  Last year the same thing happened with me and XTC, and now this year it looks like it is R.E.M.  

Anyway, I am sure there are a lot of fans here, so discuss all things R.E.M. 😎
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REM's first ten albums are fantastic.  I don't love the next 5 as much but there are still excellent songs on those albums.

Top 20 band for me.

ETA:  XTC is another top 20 band for me....

 
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I went to a high school that had an ultra-preppy-elite kinda demographic. At the time, REM was a staple of the scene. I was rebel - lots of heavy metal at the time.

Today ... I enjoy REM more, the more I listen. Heavy metal has little air time.

 
Saw them three times in the early 80s when they were coming up.   They were four kids from Athens with obscure lyrics and a rather shy frontman.   It was amazing at the time and even more so in retrospect that they got so huge circa Green and Out of Time. 

Their timing was great and they cashed in with their Warner Bros. deal at the commercial peak of the industry.  They all got tremendously wealthy but somehow managed to never sell out.

I respect that they haven't gotten back together although Peter Buck has made some terrible albums since the band ended.

 
They were one of my favorite bands up until about 1988.  First 4.5 albums are stellar.   After that...meh.

I did get to meet Stipe and Mills during a trip to Athens circa 1989.   Stipe is as weird as you would imagine.  Mills was a cool.  Kind of a goob, but cool.

 
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The Dreaded Marco said:
REM's first ten albums are fantastic.  I don't love the next 5 as much but there are still excellent songs on those albums.

Top 20 band for me.

ETA:  XTC is another top 20 band for me....
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Yep, checking out some ratings on various sites, it looks like most of the first 10 are all rated pretty highly, with Monster being the one that doesn't have a high one.  So far, I am loving the three other 90's albums with the original four - Out of Time, Automatic for the People and New Adventures in Hi-Fi - and after not thinking much of Murmur when I first heard it a few years ago, the lightbulb went on and it sounds really good now.  I will get to more of the 80's albums in due time. 

Man of Constant Sorrow said:
I went to a high school that had an ultra-preppy-elite kinda demographic. At the time, REM was a staple of the scene. I was rebel - lots of heavy metal at the time.

Today ... I enjoy REM more, the more I listen. Heavy metal has little air time.
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It's crazy to think how segregated music fans were in the 80's.  New wave fans wanted only new wave; metal fans only wanted metal; etc. 

 
The first song I ever sang solo karaoke was Losing My Religion. If you were there that night, you might not like them as much.  But then again, a half hour later I made it look masterful in comparison to my inebriated "Living on a Prayer" solo.  That said, my skills were enough to bag me a fat chick that night.  I think, anyway.  Those days are a blur.

 
Ghost Rider said:
It's crazy to think how segregated music fans were in the 80's.  New wave fans wanted only new wave; metal fans only wanted metal; etc. 
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Yeah - exactly.

I also saw lots of "fans" based solely on social status aspirations. Like, if ya wanted to be a part of X, you had to like Y as a band.

I have no clue if kids today do this or not - I'm pretty ignorant on that front.

 
The standard take is that they were good in the 80s and became lame when they blew up in the 90s. I disagree. All their albums fall between good and all-time great (except maybe Reveal). Considering they released 15 albums, their consistency is amazing. Top 5 American band. 

 
Apple Juice said:
The standard take is that they were good in the 80s and became lame when they blew up in the 90s. I disagree. All their albums fall between good and all-time great (except maybe Reveal). Considering they released 15 albums, their consistency is amazing. Top 5 American band. 
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Being basically local to Atlanta I'm obligated to like them, and I do, but Top 5 would be pushing it IMO.  I do think they are underrated nowadays.

 
I had known of them since Radio Free Europe and dug the songs you couldn't understand the lyrics to. I saw them at the Patriot Center in VA in '89. Went with a friend and his GF. Our original seats were obstructed view so they gave us floor seats instead.  My friend kept losing his mind when the people in front of us stood on their seats.  I didn't really care, but his GF and I both had to calm him down several times.  He told me years later he was tripping that night. I just thought he was extra keyed up because of the show and because he was crazy not in a good way about his GF even when sober.

Anyway, Document was the last album they released that I liked, but I think I can pinpoint the exact moment I started moving away from them as being the aforementioned concert. When they did (I am)Superman, everyone in the crowd started putting their arms out like they were flying like Superman.  Don't know why that rubbed me the wrong way but it did, and coupled with my lukewarm reaction to their next couple of albums, I was pretty much over R.E.M.  It's even tough for me to listen to the early stuff I used to like.  Driver 8 is their only song on my iPod rotation.

 
Ghost Rider said:
Yep, checking out some ratings on various sites, it looks like most of the first 10 are all rated pretty highly, with Monster being the one that doesn't have a high one.  So far, I am loving the three other 90's albums with the original four - Out of Time, Automatic for the People and New Adventures in Hi-Fi - and after not thinking much of Murmur when I first heard it a few years ago, the lightbulb went on and it sounds really good now.  I will get to more of the 80's albums in due time. 

It's crazy to think how segregated music fans were in the 80's.  New wave fans wanted only new wave; metal fans only wanted metal; etc. 
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Monster seems to get a bad rap but it's one of my favorite albums of their's.

 
Lifelong fan since I first heard Murmur.   Seen them a bunch.   Probably classify as my favorite.   Somewhere in all these threads was my story of giving Stipe a ride a few years back and having my radiator explode at Jackson Square in the French Quarter on a Friday night in front of at least about 1000 people.   Heard outside the car as he got out with his friends  "Hey...that's Michael Stipe....

Dude...The F'ing car is on fire....

Good times.

 
Ghost Rider said:
They have become one of those "better late than never" bands for me.  Since the 80's, I always liked a few of their songs, but never quite saw the hype, while admittedly never diving too deep into their catalogue.  However, I heard a few of their most obscure 90's tunes recently, which I really liked, and now here I am on a full blown obsession with this band and becoming quite the fan.  Last year the same thing happened with me and XTC, and now this year it looks like it is R.E.M.  

Anyway, I am sure there are a lot of fans here, so discuss all things R.E.M. 😎
Click to expand...
My favorite band in HS by far.  First concert was REM in 1986 at Moody Coliseum at SMU in Dallas.  Not a bad way to break a live musical cherry.  Document isn't my favorite album of theirs, but Disturbance at the Heron House is one of my favorite REM songs (and I think it fits nicely as an obscure song for you to listen to).  

I liked Out of Time more than others even though I abhor "Shiny Happy People" and I kind of gave up on them after Monster.  Then I went back and gave their 'newer' stuff a try a few years back and there's some greatness there.  Classic REM sound here - All the Way to Reno.

There are a lot of musical acts I liked as a kid that I'm sort of ashamed of now.  Not REM.  I was dead on the money there. 

 
Country feedback is one of the most underrated songs of all time IMO. Believe Stipe has said that was his favorite song. Never saw them live. Big regret. 
 

Their last album is actually surprisingly pretty good 

 
Tiger Fan said:
Country feedback is one of the most underrated songs of all time IMO. Believe Stipe has said that was his favorite song. Never saw them live. Big regret. 
 

Their last album is actually surprisingly pretty good 
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Country Feedback is absolutely one of my favorites.  Part of the reason why I defend Out of Time as one of their better ones.  :thumbup:

 
Tiger Fan said:
Country feedback is one of the most underrated songs of all time IMO. Believe Stipe has said that was his favorite song. Never saw them live. Big regret. 
 

Their last album is actually surprisingly pretty good 
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Collapse into Now?  After Up and Reveal, I checked out of the band.   All the songs startd to sound the same around that time. 

 
Brony said:
Collapse into Now?  After Up and Reveal, I checked out of the band.   All the songs startd to sound the same around that time. 
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Their Live at the Olympia from 2009 is a solid live album.  The setlist spans their entire career and includes a lot of deeper album tracks.  Stipe is very relaxed and in good voice.

 
Every time I think I have a favorite song, someone brings up another great one. I think it's between Driver 8 and Orange Crush, but I could be persuaded...

One of my relatives has been Stipe's gardener for years. She says he's a nice guy, but doesn't see him often. 

 
I saw R.E.M. play in 81, 82 and 83.  Twice as headliners and once as an opener for The Suburbs.  They weren't very good live back then.

 
dickey moe said:
Monster seems to get a bad rap but it's one of my favorite albums of their's.
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I have only given it one listen so far, but I can see why it gets a bad rap.  What's the Frequency, Kenneth? has always been a song I liked, but much of the rest seemed like a blur, although I did like Strange Currencies, and I've always thought Bang and Blame is a solid tune. 

General Malaise said:
My favorite band in HS by far.  First concert was REM in 1986 at Moody Coliseum at SMU in Dallas.  Not a bad way to break a live musical cherry.  Document isn't my favorite album of theirs, but Disturbance at the Heron House is one of my favorite REM songs (and I think it fits nicely as an obscure song for you to listen to).  

I liked Out of Time more than others even though I abhor "Shiny Happy People" and I kind of gave up on them after Monster.  Then I went back and gave their 'newer' stuff a try a few years back and there's some greatness there.  Classic REM sound here - All the Way to Reno.

There are a lot of musical acts I liked as a kid that I'm sort of ashamed of now.  Not REM.  I was dead on the money there. 
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Side 1 of Document seems pretty great (listened to it today).  Side 2 was good as well. 

Tiger Fan said:
Country feedback is one of the most underrated songs of all time IMO. Believe Stipe has said that was his favorite song. Never saw them live. Big regret. 
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I like Country Feedback a lot so far as well. 

 
Thanks for this thread, had kind of forgotten about them, was a pretty big fan, just threw them on the spotify.

 
I deleted a snarkier post of mine so that this thread could remain at least, if in dissent, astute in observation rather than gross with snark. Carry on.

I am one that likes R.E.M. very casually and don't really ascribe them any weight or import in my life with respect to music. I think I view them like a lot of people view The Red Hot Chili Peppers -- that band that has some cool and catchy songs on the radio.

But my highly personal opinion is that they never clicked with me as a monumental act, or one of true import. Maybe they will in the future. 

 
Was a huge band for me in high school and college in the late 80’s. My favorite of the early albums is Fables which Stipe hated. A soundtrack to a lot of good memories for me.

found a video the other day of Good Advices from 85. The internet is cool.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pGcnmRHSknY&list=RDpGcnmRHSknY&start_radio=1

New Adventures in Hi-Fi Is my favorite late period album. One of their best IMO.

e bow the letter w/patti Smith

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vLYScLZFI1A

Just didn’t get into any of their music after that

 
Several years ago when my son turned 3 or 4, he got a Lego Duplo Number Train.  It’s basically a Lego train with cars they have numbers on them.

It came with two figures, a conductor and a dog. The conductor wore a number “8” (zoom in on the driver of the train in my link above. I couldn’t help but think that a Lego designer was an REM fan who dropped that little morsel into his/her work.)

I snapped a photo closeup if the conductor figure and put in on the Facebook, and asked people to guess which 80s alt/new wave song it referenced. It took about 10 replies, but one of my buddies finally got it.

 
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Their 1991 MTV Unplugged show was great. Loved when they were about to start a song, and Stipe says 'This was a request, had to get the words from a computer, and I'm not sure they're right. But we're gonna give it a go!" and they launch into...

 
Mr. Ected said:
Their 1991 MTV Unplugged show was great. Loved when they were about to start a song, and Stipe says 'This was a request, had to get the words from a computer, and I'm not sure they're right. But we're gonna give it a go!" and they launch into...
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I fondly remember this. 

 
As a kid going to prep school in the South during the 80s, R.E.M. were everything - though I came to find them a little twee and became much more of a Replacements/Husker Du guy. And for Southern alternative acts, I ended up preferring the dBs and Let's Active. But I saw them close to a dozen times, and still love listening to everything from Chronic Town through Fables, with Reckoning or Chronic Town probably my favorites. 

They did a PBS special around the release of "Monster," which has this excerpt of Stipe singing "Wichita Lineman" that slays me.

 
When I was a young man and for many years afterward, I held the conventional hipster position that R.E.M."s early stuff (the EP through Life's Rich Pageant) was a peak that their later pop hits never equaled. 

But with age comes wisdom and I now think Automatic For The People is their best album.  It has a beauty and depth that the band had to grow into.  They were better musicians in the 90s than in the early 80s.  Stipe sang where he once mumbled.  Mills' piano parts added a huge element.  On Automatic, the string parts arranged by John Paul Jones are perfection.

I still listen to and love all their records, even Around the Sun.  They were my #1 most listened to artist on Spotify last year. 

 
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