TS: R.E.M.'s "Radio Free Europe"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBmMl7ocUuE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ac0oaXhz1u8&feature=related

hibtone for sure. the song gains nothing from the slower tempo

what a great way to start a career btw

i'm ignorant of the majority of their catalogue but the hibtone version is the best rem song i've ever heard.

I wish there was a version at the Hib-Tone tempo with the IRS production.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KA57Pafq_NU

(Posted for the performance not the "I'm gay lol" bubble.)

I rep for the Hib-Tone "Sitting Still" over the IRS version, but I narrowly prefer the IRS "Radio Free Europe" over the Hib-Tone version. Maybe it's just the production: the bass on the IRS version sounds great and better than the Hib-Tone version. But it's not just the production: Stipe's vocal is less snotty, deeper, more majestic, which suits it as an album opener. Also, I love how, on the IRS version, Stipe shouts and goes hoarse in the transition from the verse to the chorus (the "where to go" part). He sings it more cleanly on the Hib-Tone version.

And oh the bridge on the IRS version, in particular the piano.

Both are great of course.

Hibtone. After hearing it at that tempo, the Murmur version didn't sound quite right.

I always liked "Sitting Still" better than "Radio Free Europe."

hib-tone

I wish there was a version at the Hib-Tone tempo with the IRS production.
^this

But it's not just the production: Stipe's vocal is less snotty, deeper, more majestic

Biggest reason I'm voting IRS. the Hib-tone version is cool, but I don't miss it when I throw on Murmur.

Gorgeous fucking song in either version, too.

Hibtone's the one on Eponymous, right? I always liked the way the last note on that version had the metallic DING!

The Hibtone version is the song that made me like REM. (Actually Eponymous in general is what ended up making me like REM but wau that song)

I always heard that the actual 45 Hib-Tone single (as opposed to the version on Eponymous) was very poorly mastered and sounds awful. And Peter Buck hated it so much he smashed a copy of it over his leg after hearing it for the first time. Can anyone confirm?

Voted IRS. Probably mostly because it's what I grew up on tbh. But here's the argument: at this moment REM is transiting from being the nervous, noisy party band you hear on the early boots (the band that plays "Narrator," "Body Count," "Mystery to Me," "Wait," etc.) to being, you know, REM, making records unique to them. The slower version fits on Murmur, which is not really a nervous party record at all.

Also, I like the opening sound effects better on the Murmur version. And Mills's bass line on "Decide Yourself....," the very best thing in a song with many good things in it, is easier to hear on Murmur.

The pastoralism of the slower version is such a big part of what I like about early R.E.M.

I always heard that the actual 45 Hib-Tone single (as opposed to the version on Eponymous) was very poorly mastered and sounds awful ...

I haven't played it in a long time, but yeah, the quality is pretty bad.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

this was closer than I thought!

New EP is really fun, with a new Jacknife Lee remix and Mitch Easter’s old dub mix.

All proceeds go to help save the real RFE, which ithe administration is refusing to appropriate earmarked funds to.