Who will break up first, REM or U2?

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Seems like REM could sort of peter out. U2 is more popular than ever, right?

― Mark (MarkR), Wednesday, 4 May 2005 15:49 (twenty years ago)

I thought REM already broke up.

― ath (ath), Wednesday, 4 May 2005 15:51 (twenty years ago)

U2 will never break up. They are the Rolling Stones for a Generation that Deserves Them.

― Huk-L, Wednesday, 4 May 2005 15:52 (twenty years ago)

Huk-L so OTM i want it tatooed on my behind

― Dave M. (rotten03), Wednesday, 4 May 2005 15:54 (twenty years ago)

R.E.M., though I think they'll kind of fade away and just quit releasing stuff rather than make an Official Breakup Announcement. U2 are more the Breakup Announcement (and Inevitable Reunion Tour) types.

― Lyra Jane (Lyra Jane), Wednesday, 4 May 2005 15:58 (twenty years ago)

How has Bono not made a solo album yet?

― Mark (MarkR), Wednesday, 4 May 2005 15:59 (twenty years ago)

too busy doing humanitarian stuff

― Matos-Webster Dictionary (M Matos), Wednesday, 4 May 2005 16:00 (twenty years ago)

Because Lenny Kravitz is busy.

― Johnny Fever (johnny fever), Wednesday, 4 May 2005 16:01 (twenty years ago)

I don't think either will ever really break up. They might go dormant for a stretch of years, but I can't imagine either ever definitively breaking up unless Stipe or Bono died.

― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Wednesday, 4 May 2005 16:02 (twenty years ago)

Well, actually, Stipe would probably not carry on the REM name if Buck or Mills died. And Bono might be decent enough never to replace the Edge. (Probably not so with Larry and Adam!)

― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Wednesday, 4 May 2005 16:03 (twenty years ago)

Once Bill Berry left, all bets were off on REM solidarity. U2, on the other hand, would probably completely disband if one member left.

― Johnny Fever (johnny fever), Wednesday, 4 May 2005 16:04 (twenty years ago)

REM, without a doubt.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Wednesday, 4 May 2005 16:05 (twenty years ago)

REM. U2 have a holy cause. REM have financial obligations and a sense of inertia.

― miccio (miccio), Wednesday, 4 May 2005 16:11 (twenty years ago)

yeah, U2 would break up if anyone left the band.

and i don't think bono's heart is really in it anymore, certainly not enough to make a solo album, even tho that never stopped mick jagger

― JD from CDepot, Wednesday, 4 May 2005 16:12 (twenty years ago)

With the possible exception of Pop, U2 have never had any of their albums critically panned in the way that REM has. With their last one failing to set the world on fire, I would not be at all surprised if Stipe and Co. hung it up very soon. U2, as boring as they've become, seem like they feel they're just gettin' warmed up.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Wednesday, 4 May 2005 16:15 (twenty years ago)

Strangely enough, Stipe is the one I can see quietly banging out a low-key solo record when we least expect it (I can even go further! It will be evenly split between fey bedroom electronica and big acoustic ballads, will be produced by Andy Lemaster and feature a duet with Conor Oberst and heaps of uncredited Buck and Mills).

― joseph cotten (joseph cotten), Wednesday, 4 May 2005 16:38 (twenty years ago)

U2 = Bono + Edge. Clayton and Mullen could die in a fiery limo crash and *U2* will be playing at their memorial service.

― joseph cotten (joseph cotten), Wednesday, 4 May 2005 16:40 (twenty years ago)

You don't think Clayton and Mullen are absolutely essential parts of the U2 dynamic? Hogwash!

― Johnny Fever (johnny fever), Wednesday, 4 May 2005 16:42 (twenty years ago)

With their last one failing to set the world on fire

That's the thing, as far as I can tell the rest of the world still seams to like them very much. Number one records, sellout shows and all that. Not sure about the new record, but up through Reveal definitly.

― dan. (dan.), Wednesday, 4 May 2005 16:43 (twenty years ago)

You don't think Clayton and Mullen are absolutely essential parts of the U2 dynamic? Hogwash!

That they may be, but they're certainly not essential parts of the U2 brand. Which is, mind you, a billion-dollar business with some actual moral obligations to several causes.

― joseph cotten (joseph cotten), Wednesday, 4 May 2005 16:44 (twenty years ago)

was Bill Berry considered expendable before he was expended?

― miccio (miccio), Wednesday, 4 May 2005 16:46 (twenty years ago)

x-post

Because Lenny Kravitz is busy.

I don't get this quip.

― joseph cotten (joseph cotten), Wednesday, 4 May 2005 16:52 (twenty years ago)

Once Bill Berry left, all bets were off on REM solidarity.

i think they said bill berry insisted they didn't split up when he left. something along the lines of he'd 'rather be unhappy in the band than be the guy who broke them up'.

― se3_uk (se3_uk), Wednesday, 4 May 2005 17:02 (twenty years ago)

It's true, Berry insisted that they not break up. They were going to.

― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Wednesday, 4 May 2005 17:03 (twenty years ago)

i maintain that when berry left they should have changed their name to R.E. a la Wir

― mookieproof (mookieproof), Wednesday, 4 May 2005 17:05 (twenty years ago)

R.E.M. have never been more popular internationally than they have since Reveal. So it's really an America/Canada/kinda sorta UK issue.

Rattle & Hum generally got worse reviews than Pop. Pop was more of a commercial disappointment than a critical disaster.

― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Wednesday, 4 May 2005 17:06 (twenty years ago)

Actually, they should have got rid of the dots - R.E.M. to REM

― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Wednesday, 4 May 2005 17:06 (twenty years ago)

If we are to believe the making-of documentary, they came extremely close to calling it quits during the "Up" sessions. It actually took a visit from Berry to calm them down.

― joseph cotten (joseph cotten), Wednesday, 4 May 2005 17:06 (twenty years ago)

x-post
Because Lenny Kravitz is busy.
I don't get this quip.

-- joseph cotten (josephcotte...), May 4th, 2005 1:52 PM. (joseph cotten) (link)

Lenny writes all kinds of songs for people, including a chunk of Jagger's last solo album.

― Johnny Fever (johnny fever), Wednesday, 4 May 2005 17:17 (twenty years ago)

Ah. I knew that. Thank you. I am, how you say, not very smart.

― joseph cotten (joseph cotten), Wednesday, 4 May 2005 17:19 (twenty years ago)

I think U2 would split up if Larry Mullen left. He's too crucial to the band's story. But the other three might stay together if Adam Clayton decided he'd rather do something else. (He's come close to leaving a couple times.)

Bono + the Edge would probably sell almost as much as U2, but i don't think they'd use the band name.

― Lyra Jane (Lyra Jane), Wednesday, 4 May 2005 17:27 (twenty years ago)

I recently read a biograhpy of U2 and seem to recall that sometime around the time of The Unforgettable Fire/The Joshua Tree U2 renegotiated their contract with Island. One of the provisions was that the contract would continue even if one member left the band. Obviously this has already happened with Berry leaving R.E.M., but I think it's really difficult to say which band will throw in the towel first.

From what I understand, R.E.M. are writing new material on the road, and have enough material left over from the last record (I'm Gonna DJ and others), to release another album. I actually think that R.E.M.'s recent decline in popularity could lead to them lasting longer. They seem to have settled into a groove of "Hey, we're gonna keep on touring, whether we sell out the bigger arenas or not," whereas, for U2, each album and tour has to be a newer/bigger/better/huger spectacle. I don't know if U2 would be willing or able to continue touring through a decline in popularity similar to that which R.E.M. has experienced - the whole raison d'être of U2 has always been "we're gonna be the biggest band in the world," whereas R.E.M. genuinely seemed to sort of accidentally stumble into that role for a few years in the early 90s. Also, I have a feeling that the incredibly hostile press that R.E.M. have received over the last few years could cause them to circle the wagons and come out fighting. I'm sure Peter Buck, in particular, knows what the critics are saying about them, and, whether he would publicly acknowledge it or not, would dearly like to prove them wrong before throwing in the towel. Stipe, on the other hand, probably doesn't care as much - he can always just become a full time Hollywood producer if the band breaks up.

― John Hunter, Wednesday, 4 May 2005 18:42 (twenty years ago)

John Hunter OTM re: R.E.M., though I've read a couple interviews from him linked from murmurs.com that suggested that he's eager to get American audiences back on their side. I think that they are probably more concerned with the critical side than the commercial end - I think they've more or less given up hope on being super popular again. I don't think it would be too hard for R.E.M. to get back in good graces with hipsters and critics - all they'd really have to do is ditch the adult contemporary/lounge/electronic element and make something closer in spirit to the IRS albums and tour smaller venues. I think that their wilderness years should come to an end before the end of the decade. Lots of popular artists have those rough years, it's not always permanent. Eventually people outside of the hardcore fanbase will be happy to have them back even if they never went away. Look at all those other 80s bands who are getting so much good will right now with discographies that aren't even half as good.

― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Wednesday, 4 May 2005 18:58 (twenty years ago)

Er, "he" would be Stipe.

― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Wednesday, 4 May 2005 18:59 (twenty years ago)

will be produced by Andy Lemaster - soooooooooooooooo otm

― j blount (papa la bas), Wednesday, 4 May 2005 19:02 (twenty years ago)

"Look at all those other 80s bands who are getting so much good will right now with discographies that aren't even half as good."

I agree that R.E.M. have been hurt by never breaking up and reforming. Would there have been the same hysteria over the Pixies tour last year if those seven or eight awful Frank Black solo records had had the Pixies brand name on them? Ditto for the upcoming Dinosaur Jr. reunion tour.

I think another problem that R.E.M. faces is that Wilco have stolen their thunder as the "acceptable edge of the unacceptable" American guitar band of the moment. Although I think that Up was just as daring a departure, and almost as good, as Yankee Hotel Foxtrot.

― John Hunter, Wednesday, 4 May 2005 19:18 (twenty years ago)

If R.E.M. broke up after new Adventures in Hi-Fi, that album would be considered some sort of lost classic as opposed to a patchy warning sign of imminent decline.

― Gear! (can Jung shill it, Mu?) (Gear!), Wednesday, 4 May 2005 19:23 (twenty years ago)

There are some of us who think that New Adventures in Hi Fi is a lost classic, but back to the thread...

The answer is probably neither band will split up, but I don't think U2 will ever regain the heights of 11 O' Clock Tick Tock (remember the "We want to sound like Joy Division" phase?)or October or Boy.

However, part of me really thinks that REM still has the ability to produce a great album. Wishful thinking? Probably - but I'll still keep listening in the desperate hope that it happens.

― Guilty Boksen (Bro_Danielson), Wednesday, 4 May 2005 19:44 (twenty years ago)

The heights of 11 O'Clock Tick-Tock? Serious old school there, man.

― Mark (MarkR), Wednesday, 4 May 2005 19:46 (twenty years ago)

Yeah I know - I may be sad, but Hannett produced it so it had to a classic!

― Guilty Boksen (Bro_Danielson), Wednesday, 4 May 2005 19:50 (twenty years ago)

I can't imagine either ever definitively breaking up unless Stipe or Bono died.
-- Matthew C Perpetua (perpetu...), May 4th, 2005.

Actually (little known fact), Bono did die in the early '80s, but rose on the second day -- one-upping Christ yet again -- amid his flowing black leather robes and The Edge's reverbed, sweeping soundscapes.

― PB, Wednesday, 4 May 2005 20:00 (twenty years ago)

I'll also go for R.E.M. U2 has kept on with the same lineup since 1979, and are not ever likely to break up, it seems. R.E.M. also seem happy about things now, but sales are dropping and they might end up getting dropped by their label in an album or two. Which will often lead to the band breaking up.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Wednesday, 4 May 2005 20:01 (twenty years ago)

Both bands are still quite good live. And I just read somewhere that R.E.M. has the Euro equivalent of U2's custom iPod. That said, R.E.M. will quietly dissolve well before U2 goes anywhere. Somewhere after they release an album on Sanctuary. Or maybe they'll pull a Yes, dissolve, then reform as Buck, Mills, Stipe and Berry or something. Which I'm cool with, as long as Trevor Horn produces.

― Josh in Chicago (Josh in Chicago), Wednesday, 4 May 2005 21:05 (twenty years ago)

they should have got rid of the dots - R.E.M. to REM

They should have got rid of the letters - R.E.M. to ...

― JoB (JoB), Wednesday, 4 May 2005 21:58 (twenty years ago)

I keep saying this, but R.E.M. should hire Britt Daniel and Jim Eno to produce their comeback record.

― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Wednesday, 4 May 2005 22:10 (twenty years ago)

Didnt REM negotiate the BIGGEST RECORD DEAL EVER right before their decline? Howcome their lable didnt pull a Mariah and pay them to piss off?

― Actor Sizemore fails drug test with fake penis (jingleberries), Wednesday, 4 May 2005 22:51 (twenty years ago)

Because they sell so well overseas maybe.

― dan. (dan.), Wednesday, 4 May 2005 22:57 (twenty years ago)

This recurring point is interesting. Does anyone have territorial sales data?

― Nag! Nag! Nag! (Nag! Nag! Nag!), Wednesday, 4 May 2005 23:00 (twenty years ago)

Also, I don't think R.E.M had a collective breakdown.

― Ben Dot (1977), Thursday, 5 May 2005 00:13 (twenty years ago)

Bands that signed the BIGGEST RECORD DEAL EVER before starting to immediately suck: R.E.M., Motley Crue (remember Vince Neil on the cover of Musician, lighting a cigar with a $100 bill?), ZZ Top, Mariah ... who else?

― Josh in Chicago (Josh in Chicago), Thursday, 5 May 2005 04:10 (twenty years ago)

I'd say Aerosmith, but that's cuz I like their Geffen albums a bit.

― miccio (miccio), Thursday, 5 May 2005 14:25 (twenty years ago)

Peter Buck actually said in an interview that he'd like to see REM gradually scale down. Certainly the post-Monster albums have succeeded in that regard, like them or not.

― mike a, Thursday, 5 May 2005 18:20 (twenty years ago)

Are REM on Sanctuary, or is that a prediction? I just read an interview with Lou Reed in which he said he signed a big deal with Sanctuary, and seemed uncharacteristically impressed with their American A&R man.

― Mary (Mary), Thursday, 5 May 2005 20:54 (twenty years ago)

six years pass...

is that peter at the end of the studio version of "i walked with a zombie"? did he ever sing lead on anything?

― reggie (qualmsley), Friday, 7 October 2011 18:28 (fourteen years ago)

lol, I was sure the revive was going to say "I guess we can lock this now"

― the tax avocado (DJP), Friday, 7 October 2011 18:29 (fourteen years ago)

Some of us are holding out hope for "Project Kill Bono in 1988, If You Have a Time Machine."

― You people are supposed to be some kind of music culture intelligentsi (Phil D.), Friday, 7 October 2011 18:37 (fourteen years ago)

lol!

― Porto for Pyros (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Friday, 7 October 2011 19:35 (fourteen years ago)

Who will break up first, U2 or the Rolling Stones?

― john. a resident of chicago., Friday, 7 October 2011 20:49 (fourteen years ago)

"Desmond Tutu is more punk rock than anyone I know" - Bono yesterday. Maybe today.

Just when you think he really isn't that bad.

― Master of Treacle, Friday, 7 October 2011 21:14 (fourteen years ago)

I say just, but in reflection there's a lot of 'right, hurry up U2 and split' which is good.

― Master of Treacle, Friday, 7 October 2011 21:15 (fourteen years ago)

The good or bad is that Bono is about as likely as Stipe to get the solo thing going.

― Master of Treacle, Friday, 7 October 2011 21:16 (fourteen years ago)

Not sure that's true. For one I'm sure Desmond Tutu would play in his pickup band.

― lumber up, limbaugh down (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 7 October 2011 21:19 (fourteen years ago)

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