― piscesboy, Friday, 4 April 2003 12:16 (twenty-two years ago)
― Al (sitcom), Friday, 4 April 2003 12:35 (twenty-two years ago)
― stevem (blueski), Friday, 4 April 2003 12:36 (twenty-two years ago)
― Matt Maxwell (Matt M.), Friday, 4 April 2003 12:37 (twenty-two years ago)
― Matt DC (Matt DC), Friday, 4 April 2003 12:52 (twenty-two years ago)
― Charles McCain (Charles McCain), Friday, 4 April 2003 15:16 (twenty-two years ago)
Orange CrushStandLosing My ReligionShiny Happy PeopleNear Wild HeavenRadio SongDriveMan On The MoonEverybody HurtsWhat's The Frequency KennethE-Bow The LetterImitation Of LifeAll The Way To Reno
I wouldn't exactly complain about such a selection of hits, really
― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Friday, 4 April 2003 17:31 (twenty-two years ago)
Songs which seem like sure shots for inclusion:
StandOrange CrushPop Song 89Losing My ReligionShiny Happy PeopleMan on the MoonEverybody HurtsWhat's The Frequency, Kenneth?Crush With EyelinerElectroliteDaysleeperAt My Most BeautifulThe Great BeyondImitation of LifeReno
"Bad Day (PSA)", a rerecorded version of an unreleased Document/Green era song, is going to be included, along with a new post-Reveal song.
― Matthew Perpetua (Matthew Perpetua), Friday, 4 April 2003 17:45 (twenty-two years ago)
"Find The River" was a single, although not a big hit.
― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Friday, 4 April 2003 17:47 (twenty-two years ago)
― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Friday, 4 April 2003 17:48 (twenty-two years ago)
― david day (winslow), Friday, 4 April 2003 17:59 (twenty-two years ago)
― Carey (Carey), Friday, 4 April 2003 18:36 (twenty-two years ago)
I did acknowledge that Find The River was a single. It just wasn't a hit single.
― Matthew Perpetua (Matthew Perpetua), Friday, 4 April 2003 20:02 (twenty-two years ago)
― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Friday, 4 April 2003 20:08 (twenty-two years ago)
― Carey (Carey), Friday, 4 April 2003 20:11 (twenty-two years ago)
― steve k (http://go.to/stevek) (stevek10), Friday, 4 April 2003 21:13 (twenty-two years ago)
Who cares anyway?
― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Friday, 4 April 2003 21:16 (twenty-two years ago)
they just got out and walked! probably cuz "everybody hurts" came on the radio.
― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Friday, 4 April 2003 21:17 (twenty-two years ago)
― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Friday, 4 April 2003 21:19 (twenty-two years ago)
― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Friday, 4 April 2003 21:20 (twenty-two years ago)
― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Friday, 4 April 2003 21:30 (twenty-two years ago)
All other choices = WRONG!
― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Friday, 4 April 2003 21:37 (twenty-two years ago)
― M Matos (M Matos), Friday, 4 April 2003 21:43 (twenty-two years ago)
― Sam J. (samjeff), Friday, 4 April 2003 21:45 (twenty-two years ago)
― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Friday, 4 April 2003 21:48 (twenty-two years ago)
― Carey (Carey), Friday, 4 April 2003 22:00 (twenty-two years ago)
― Chris Barrus (Chris Barrus), Saturday, 5 April 2003 01:32 (twenty-two years ago)
What will it take to redeem R.E.M.? I feel like they have to break up as soon as possible (they're only delaying their eventual redemption by staying together); spend a decade apart; then get inducted into the R&R Hall of fame and do a VH1 reunion special. There will be Rolling Stone articles about how they were one of the greatest bands ever; middle school kids will seek out their albums, with whispered warnings of, "dude, watch out for anything after 'Monster'..."
At one point, they were probably the most critically and commercially successful band in the world (if you could combine the two into some sort of index) - respected by journalists for "maintaining their integrity" and loved by millions for "Green" and "Out of Time." Now, they're rock's creepy bachelor uncle who shows up at random family events every few years, grinning awkwardly and shifting his weight from foot to foot in the corner.
I spent most of high school obsessed with this band; R.E.M. was, 100%, my gateway into music fandom. I must have listened to "Automatic for the People" more times in a year than I've listened to any other album since in my life. I put it on a few years ago, to "test it": what is this strange, dorky music? What is this band?
I feel that everything pre-"Pageant" would probably still be artistically unimpeachable to my ears; and "Green" is good, classic fun. But seriously, has any band ever had so strange and utter a decline?
― Sam J. (samjeff), Saturday, 5 April 2003 02:04 (twenty-two years ago)
― Sam J. (samjeff), Saturday, 5 April 2003 02:11 (twenty-two years ago)
Automatic, Up, New Adventures, Out of Time, Monster, Reveal.
Reveal was really really dire, aside from the first song. none of them are, I think, really strong or consistent albums, but each of the rest has at least a few I really really like.
― Al (sitcom), Saturday, 5 April 2003 04:13 (twenty-two years ago)
1. Chronic Town2. Murmur3. Reckoning4. New Adventures in Hi-Fi5. Document6. Automatic For the People7. Lifes Rich Paegent8. Green9. Out of Time10. Monster11. Fables of the Reconstruction12. Reveal13. Up
― James Blount (James Blount), Saturday, 5 April 2003 04:50 (twenty-two years ago)
i may be an old fart (early 30s is an old fart?), but i have no use for almost anything REM did after they left IRS in the late eighties.
― Tad (llamasfur), Saturday, 5 April 2003 05:01 (twenty-two years ago)
― James Blount (James Blount), Saturday, 5 April 2003 05:03 (twenty-two years ago)
Nightswimming would be lovely if not for the horrible string arrangement. This applies to lots of songs on that album, maybe.
― thom west (thom w), Saturday, 5 April 2003 05:12 (twenty-two years ago)
― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Saturday, 5 April 2003 16:16 (twenty-two years ago)
You get to blame John Paul Jones for that! Isn't that cool!
― Sam J. (samjeff), Saturday, 5 April 2003 17:12 (twenty-two years ago)
REM albums1. Murmur2. Chronic Town3. Life's Rich Pageant4. Reckoning5. Out of Time6. Fables of the Reconstruction7. New Adventures in Hi Fi (Dead Letter Office would go somewhere around here)8. Green9. Document10. Automatic for the People11. Reveal12. Monster13. UP
oddly enough i never understood the Automatic for the People dying devotion. Weaver D is very great though.
― Carey (Carey), Saturday, 5 April 2003 17:25 (twenty-two years ago)
― Bruce Urquhart (Bruce Urquhart), Saturday, 5 April 2003 17:31 (twenty-two years ago)
1)Chronic Town2)Reckoning3)Out Of Time4)Murmur5)Green6)Automatic For The People7)Life's Rich Pageant8)Document9)Fables Of The Reconstruction10)Monster11)Up12)New Adventures In Hi-Fi 13)Reveal
I don't get the "devotion" to it. But it's a nice, calm album that I can get into with the right mood. "Nightswimming" I'd enjoy more without that "they CAAAAnot see me naked" line. I'd rather Michael didn't give us the image.
― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Saturday, 5 April 2003 17:36 (twenty-two years ago)
"A Perfect Circle" uses subtlety and understatement, both musical and lyrical, to create (for me) a deep sense of loss and nostalgia. (I could say the same about most songs on Murmur, but "Circle" in particular seems to take a kind of nostalgia as its "subject.") "So. Central Rain," "You Are the Everything," and "Nightswimming" are increasingly "direct," both musical and lyrical (I don't know what I mean by "direct"). When you get to "Nightswimming" (a "nostalgia song" like "Circle" and "Rain"), the directness sounds cheesy to me, and doesn't create any emotional reaction. Though it's a cute song.
On the other hand, I could see people really liking Stipe's increasing lyrical explicitness -- and even, by contrast, finding the obliqueness of "A Perfect Circle"'s lyrics to be silly and ineffective. I still can't imagine anyone finding "Nightswimming" to be anywhere in the same musical realm as "A Perfect Circle," though.
("Nightswimming" IS 10,000 times better than that fucking Ben Folds song that rips it off.)
― Sam J. (samjeff), Saturday, 5 April 2003 18:13 (twenty-two years ago)
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 5 April 2003 18:33 (twenty-two years ago)
1. Reveal2. Automatic For The People3. Murmur4. Reckoning5. Up6. Life's Rich Pageant7. Out Of Time8. Green9. Document10.Fables Of The Reconstruction11.New Adventures In Hi-Fi12.Monster
― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Saturday, 5 April 2003 18:34 (twenty-two years ago)
1. Automatic for the People2. Out of Time3. Chronic Town4. Document5. Murmur6. Lifes Rich Pageant7. New Adventures in Hi-Fi8. Monster9. Reckoning10. Fables of the Reconstruction11. Green12. Reveal13. Up
― M Matos (M Matos), Saturday, 5 April 2003 18:39 (twenty-two years ago)
― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Saturday, 5 April 2003 18:41 (twenty-two years ago)
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 5 April 2003 18:43 (twenty-two years ago)
― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Saturday, 5 April 2003 18:44 (twenty-two years ago)
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 5 April 2003 18:46 (twenty-two years ago)
― M Matos (M Matos), Saturday, 5 April 2003 18:47 (twenty-two years ago)
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 5 April 2003 18:54 (twenty-two years ago)
― Chris P (Chris P), Monday, 7 April 2003 05:52 (twenty-two years ago)
― James Blount (James Blount), Monday, 7 April 2003 06:03 (twenty-two years ago)
― rex jr., Monday, 7 April 2003 08:58 (twenty-two years ago)
"Everybody hurts/When I whine on this song/Fear my nasal notes/EHHHHHN EHHNNN EEHNNNNNNNN EHNNNNNNN/Sometimes"
― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Monday, 7 April 2003 12:55 (twenty-two years ago)
I have Pylon's hits, and while it's enjoyable in small doses ("Cool," "Crazy" - REM's cover I enjoy too, "Don't" - REM's homage I enjoy too), aren't those folks a bit monotonous after awhile?
― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Monday, 7 April 2003 20:26 (twenty-two years ago)
'pleeeease don'tr take my pic-shurrrrr'.gosh he really does sound like peter lorre on this one.
hey who knows ? r.e.m.'s first number one on the cards ?
― piscesboy, Sunday, 1 June 2003 09:15 (twenty-two years ago)
― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Sunday, 1 June 2003 16:51 (twenty-two years ago)
it's an all time great incongruous moment in pop.
― piscesboy, Monday, 2 June 2003 10:46 (twenty-two years ago)
― AaronK (AaronK), Monday, 2 June 2003 14:16 (twenty-two years ago)
01 Man on the Moon02 The Great Beyond [from Man on the Moon soundtrack]03 Bad Day [previously unreleased]04 What's The Frequency, Kenneth?05 All The Way To Reno (You're Gonna Be A Star)06 Losing My Religion07 E-Bow The Letter08 Orange Crush09 Imitation of Life10 Daysleeper11 Animal [previously unreleased]12 The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite13 Stand14 Electrolite15 All The Right Friends [from Vanilla Sky soundtrack]16 Everybody Hurts17 At My Most Beautiful18 Nightswimming
― Sam J. (samjeff), Friday, 5 September 2003 19:56 (twenty-one years ago)
― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Friday, 5 September 2003 21:18 (twenty-one years ago)
― amateurist (amateurist), Friday, 5 September 2003 21:21 (twenty-one years ago)
― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Friday, 5 September 2003 21:21 (twenty-one years ago)
― fact checking cuz, Friday, 5 September 2003 21:31 (twenty-one years ago)
Plus with the soundtrack songs and "Imitation Of Life," I might find this worth buying (especially if a friend of mine never gives me back my copy of Reveal, which then won't bother me).
― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Friday, 5 September 2003 21:36 (twenty-one years ago)
― teeny (teeny), Friday, 5 September 2003 22:14 (twenty-one years ago)
― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Friday, 5 September 2003 22:20 (twenty-one years ago)
― Sam J. (samjeff), Friday, 5 September 2003 22:32 (twenty-one years ago)
The Great Beyond [from Man on the Moon soundtrack]StandDaysleeperImitation of LifeMan on the MoonWhat's The Frequency, Kenneth?Losing My ReligionOrange CrushE-Bow The LetterAt My Most BeautifulBad Day [previously unreleased]Everybody HurtsAll The Right Friends [from Vanilla Sky soundtrack]The Sidewinder Sleeps ToniteAll The Way To Reno (You're Gonna Be A Star)ElectroliteAnimal [previously unreleased]Nightswimming
(I don't think I've actually heard "Bad Day" or "Animal," but I imagine them to be uptempo and rocky, which is sorely needed to break up the mandolin strum.)
― Sam J. (samjeff), Friday, 5 September 2003 22:46 (twenty-one years ago)
― Sam J. (samjeff), Friday, 5 September 2003 22:49 (twenty-one years ago)
― t\'\'t (t\'\'t), Friday, 5 September 2003 22:52 (twenty-one years ago)
― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Friday, 5 September 2003 22:55 (twenty-one years ago)
How do you mean?
― t\'\'t (t\'\'t), Friday, 5 September 2003 22:59 (twenty-one years ago)
― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Friday, 5 September 2003 23:10 (twenty-one years ago)
― t\'\'t (t\'\'t), Friday, 5 September 2003 23:24 (twenty-one years ago)
― Sean (Sean), Friday, 5 September 2003 23:52 (twenty-one years ago)
― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Saturday, 6 September 2003 00:00 (twenty-one years ago)
I'm gonna go listen to Reveal again, as I think time and history will tell us it wasn't so bad as all these (us) curmudgeonly critics said it was. "Imitation of Life" is sublime classic R.E.M. jangle pop, though, I agree.
― David A. (Davant), Saturday, 6 September 2003 01:07 (twenty-one years ago)
in a way i'm glad looking back that out of time was so awful thoughbecause it prepared me for dudz like 'reveal' and 'monster'.after glastonbury though i'll forgive pretty much anything.
sidewinder's only on it because warners insisted.
there's a second cd edish coming out with it too fulla rarities + shit.
― piscesboy, Saturday, 6 September 2003 09:17 (twenty-one years ago)
And what exactly 'll be on THAT one?
― t\'\'t (t\'\'t), Saturday, 6 September 2003 11:12 (twenty-one years ago)
― piscesboy, Saturday, 6 September 2003 14:13 (twenty-one years ago)
― t\'\'t (t\'\'t), Saturday, 6 September 2003 14:20 (twenty-one years ago)
― Sam J. (samjeff), Saturday, 6 September 2003 17:30 (twenty-one years ago)
― keith (keithmcl), Sunday, 7 September 2003 15:39 (twenty-one years ago)
knocks dido off after 5 weeks !!
goonmysons.
― piscesboy, Monday, 3 November 2003 13:14 (twenty-one years ago)
― stevem (blueski), Monday, 3 November 2003 13:22 (twenty-one years ago)
OMG. I heard "The One I Love" in the store tonight, and it was all I could do to stop myself from bursting out laughing. I mean I wasn't stoned or anything, but it struck me as terribly funny. It's just so fucking literal and simple. I mean that is the official end of everything that was so magical and mysterious about R.E.M.isn't it? And the part where he says "Fire" especially cracks me up. Like he couldn't think of anything more venomous or clever than that..."Fiiiiire..." Jesus H.
Hahahaha
― Bimble, Saturday, 2 June 2007 05:06 (eighteen years ago)
where'd you get the idea that it it was meant to sound venomous? it's supposed to sound like a love song, after all. it's like he's singing 'you don't mean shit to me', yet dropping clues that it's very much not so.
― John Splith, Saturday, 2 June 2007 06:29 (eighteen years ago)
No. I take issue with that. Didn't the band say they were sick and tired of folks taking it like it was this sweet love song when the truth is it's meant to be bitter as fuck?
― Bimble, Saturday, 2 June 2007 06:31 (eighteen years ago)
You know they stole the tune for that song from the Minutemen.
― MacDara, Saturday, 2 June 2007 08:20 (eighteen years ago)
that is the official end of everything that was so magical and mysterious about R.E.M.isn't it?
― Daniel, Esq., Saturday, 2 June 2007 12:24 (eighteen years ago)
What? Which song?
― Mr. Snrub, Saturday, 2 June 2007 15:21 (eighteen years ago)
"mystery/magic" is way overrated
― dan., Saturday, 2 June 2007 15:45 (eighteen years ago)
it's supposed to sound like a love song, after all
he calls the ones he loves 'props to occupy his time.' the hints he's dropping are that he'll fuck whoever over, but i guess the fair warning is somewhat considerate
― kamerad, Saturday, 2 June 2007 15:52 (eighteen years ago)
Just 'cuz
1. Lifes Rich Pageant 2. Reckoning 3. Murmur 4. Automatic For The People 5. New Adventures In Hi Fi 6. Up 7. Document 8. Fables Of The Reconstruction 9. Reveal 10. Out Of Time 11. Monster 12. Green 13. Around The Sun
― Davey D, Saturday, 2 June 2007 20:02 (eighteen years ago)
Interesting, but how about...
1. Murmur 2. Reckoning 3. Automatic 4. Life's Rich Pageant 5. Fables 6. Out of Time 7. Green 8. Document 9. New Adventures 10. Up 11. Monster 12. Reveal 13. Around the Sun
Biiiig drop off with the last two!
― Stew, Saturday, 2 June 2007 20:37 (eighteen years ago)
(I am midway through listening to all REM tunes I like before making a decision)
(not that anyone really needs to know that)
― Nasty, Brutish & Short, Saturday, 2 June 2007 20:48 (eighteen years ago)
No, I'm incapable of doing it (ranking the albums). In answer to the original question from four years ago: it would be easy to make a best of without either of those songs as I could quite happily live without ever hearing either of them again. Here's my best of:
Catapult Sitting Still We Walk 7 Chinese Brothers So. Central Rain (Don't Go Back To) Rockville Driver 8 Green Grow The Rushes Fall On Me Cuyahoga Swan Swan H Superman (maybe) Finest Worksong Pop Song 89 Get Up Country Feedback Drive
and that'll do
― Nasty, Brutish & Short, Saturday, 2 June 2007 22:21 (eighteen years ago)
If most of the melody from 'The One I Love' isn't a lift from 'Stories' on Three Way Tie (For Last) I'll eat my hat.
― MacDara, Saturday, 2 June 2007 22:25 (eighteen years ago)
I mean, it even has 'The One I Love' in the freakin' lyrics!
― MacDara, Saturday, 2 June 2007 22:26 (eighteen years ago)