View Poll Results: Favorite R.E.M. Album?
Chronic Town E.P.
0
0%
Dead Letter Office
0
0%
Up
0
0%
Reveal
0
0%
Accelerate
0
0%
Collapse Into Now
0
0%
Voters: 53. You may not vote on this poll
R.E.M. Appreciation Thread (w/ Favorite Album Poll & Post Break-up News)
09-28-11, 09:29 AM
#27
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Re: R.E.M. Appreciation Thread (w/ Favorite Album Poll & Post Break-up News)
Great things about REM:
- evocative vintage/nostalgic/yearning Americana undertones. They captured certain aspects of what it means to be "American" that no other band has quite matched
- mysterious image (early on). They had a sound that was simulteously archaic and ahead of its time. They seemed to have dropped in from some imagined past or present
- probably the most underrated rhythm section in rock history.
- Stipe's bizarre Southern Gothic lyrics, enhanced by his weathered baritone vibrato
- great live shows
- reintroducing the Byrds jangle to pop radio
- their ability to write a solid hook, e.g.: the chorus of "Don't Go Back to Rockville"
- evocative vintage/nostalgic/yearning Americana undertones. They captured certain aspects of what it means to be "American" that no other band has quite matched
- mysterious image (early on). They had a sound that was simulteously archaic and ahead of its time. They seemed to have dropped in from some imagined past or present
- probably the most underrated rhythm section in rock history.
- Stipe's bizarre Southern Gothic lyrics, enhanced by his weathered baritone vibrato
- great live shows
- reintroducing the Byrds jangle to pop radio
- their ability to write a solid hook, e.g.: the chorus of "Don't Go Back to Rockville"
09-28-11, 02:40 PM
#29
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Thread Starter
Re: R.E.M. Appreciation Thread (w/ Favorite Album Poll & Post Break-up News)
Wow, what a spread. Votes on all of the proper albums up through Hi-Fi.
09-28-11, 03:38 PM
#30
DVD Talk Godfather & 2020 TOTY Winner
Re: R.E.M. Appreciation Thread (w/ Favorite Album Poll & Post Break-up News)
I forget : Did Berry play of Hi-Fi or not? I know we see a pretty big slide in quality after that album, but I had thought his aneurysm was during the Automatic tour and didn't think he played on Hi-Fi.
09-28-11, 04:32 PM
#31
Re: R.E.M. Appreciation Thread (w/ Favorite Album Poll & Post Break-up News)
New Advantures in Hi Fi was Berry's last album. And yes the band changed dramatically after that album.
09-28-11, 05:00 PM
#32
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Re: R.E.M. Appreciation Thread (w/ Favorite Album Poll & Post Break-up News)
I'm listening to Hi-Fi right now. It's really good. One of the members said that after Berry left they really had no idea what they were doing until Accelerate. I think he phrased it like, "We're like a three legged dog doing tricks again" or something like that. I like Up, but I can't tolerate Reveal or Around the Sun.
I'm glad they finished up with Accelerate and Collapse into Now instead of the other two. Ending with the two they did shows some creativity even at the end. Ending w/ the previous two would have been damaging to their legacy, IMO.
I'm glad they finished up with Accelerate and Collapse into Now instead of the other two. Ending with the two they did shows some creativity even at the end. Ending w/ the previous two would have been damaging to their legacy, IMO.
09-28-11, 05:10 PM
#33
DVD Talk Limited Edition
Re: R.E.M. Appreciation Thread (w/ Favorite Album Poll & Post Break-up News)
I followed them from Murmur and for me they peaked with Automatic for the People, so I that's how I voted.
09-28-11, 05:39 PM
#34
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Re: R.E.M. Appreciation Thread (w/ Favorite Album Poll & Post Break-up News)
New Adventures for me. I'd just started college, it was the first midnight release party I went to at a record shop there and I played the hell out of the album my freshman year. I love a lot of their catalogue, but I'm heavily biased towards that album just because the time in my life when it hit.
10-01-11, 05:49 PM
#35
DVD Talk Godfather & 2020 TOTY Winner
Re: R.E.M. Appreciation Thread (w/ Favorite Album Poll & Post Break-up News)
Great article here from the newest issue of Rolling Stone:
Exclusive: Mike Mills on Why R.E.M. Are Calling It Quits
POSTED: September 26, 9:55 AM ET
"There is a great deal of sadness, but it's really celebratory," R.E.M. bassist Mike Mills says, describing his conflicting emotions the day after he, guitarist Peter Buck and singer Michael Stipe announced they were disbanding after 31 years together. "There is sadness because I will never play on the same stage as Peter and Michael again." Yet, Mills insists, "We're doing this for good reasons, and we end up looking back at all the fun, the joy and the incredible opportunities we had."
So why is America's biggest alternative-rock band breaking up now? "It's not because we have to or we can't stand each other or we suck," Mills contends. "We're happy. But we're done."
Mills, Buck and Stipe issued the news of their split without warning on September 21st, in a statement posted on R.E.M.'s website. "A wise man once said, 'The skill in attending a party is knowing when it's time to leave,' " Stipe wrote. "We built something extraordinary together. . . . Now we're going to walk away from it."
Photos: R.E.M. Through the Years
"It was very unexpected," says Rob Cavallo, the chairman of Warner Bros. Records, the band's label. He found out "the same morning that the press release went on their website," in a phone call from R.E.M. manager Bertis Downs. "I can't believe they're breaking up, but I understand," Cavallo says. "They're too pure, too respectful of their own thing."
R.E.M. actually made their decision a few months ago, before they met in Athens, Georgia, this summer to record three new songs for a two-CD greatest-hits package, R.E.M., Part Lies, Part Heart, Part Truth, Part Garbage 1982- 2011, out November 15th. The band delayed the announcement because "a lot of people are affected by this decision in a serious way," Mills says, referring to R.E.M.'s staff and crew. "We wanted everything set up the way it should be.
"And we were excited to find three really good songs to put out as a farewell," he adds. Two of the new tracks, "Hallelujah" and "A Month of Saturdays," came from demos for R.E.M.'s last studio album, Collapse Into Now, released in March. The third song, a Sixties-flavored treat with sunshine-pop brass, is called, aptly, "We All Go Back to Where We Belong." It comes out as a single October 18th.
Mills can't remember when he, Buck and Stipe began seriously talking about the end of the band. "But it was discussed on the 2008 tour," he says, and during the sessions for Collapse Into Now. The group was coming to the end of its Warner Bros. deal and chose not to tour behind that record. There are "indications" on the album, Mills notes, citing Stipe's "lyrical content" in "All the Best." "There are some straightforward see-you-laters on that one.
From Art School to Hall of Fame: R.E.M. Tours Through Their Discography
"It might have been talked about in more general terms before that," Mills suggests. "We'd say things like, 'We have X number of records in the contract. By the time we finish, we'll be X number of years old. Do we still want to be out there flogging it?' " Ironically, R.E.M.'s disappointing 2004 album, Around the Sun, made Mills, Stipe and Buck determined to stick around long enough to redeem themselves.
"We needed to prove, not only to our fans and critics but to ourselves, that we could still make great records," Mills says, "and we made two" – Accelerate, released in 2008, and Collapse Into Now. "We thought, 'We've done it. Now let's do something no other band has done: Shake hands and walk away as friends.' "
R.E.M. formed in Athens in 1980 with drummer Bill Berry and issued their debut single, "Radio Free Europe," in July 1981. Through heavy touring, growing airplay and a stunning creative evolution – from the jangling enigma of 1983's Murmur to the complex and commercial dynamics of 1987's Document and 1991's Out of Time – R.E.M. became American rock's biggest grass-roots-success story. The day after R.E.M. broke up, Cavallo was on the phone with Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong: "Billie said R.E.M. were the first underground band he saw that conquered the mainstream. He was 13 years old, and it changed his perception of what rock could be."
Berry quit in 1997, after suffering a brain aneurysm on tour two years earlier. The others continued while doing side projects, which they will now pursue full-time. Stipe is a film producer and active in visual arts. Buck has a long discography as a sideman for cult heroes such as Robyn Hitchcock and the Decemberists. R.E.M.'s 15 studio albums have sold more than 85 million copies worldwide, and the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007. But Mills says R.E.M.'s greatest accomplishment was that "we conducted ourselves with as much integrity as possible. We showed people you can conduct your operation on your own terms and be successful.
"In fact," he adds, "you'll have a much better time and sleep better at night."
This story is from the October 13, 2011 issue of Rolling Stone.
Exclusive: Mike Mills on Why R.E.M. Are Calling It Quits
POSTED: September 26, 9:55 AM ET
"There is a great deal of sadness, but it's really celebratory," R.E.M. bassist Mike Mills says, describing his conflicting emotions the day after he, guitarist Peter Buck and singer Michael Stipe announced they were disbanding after 31 years together. "There is sadness because I will never play on the same stage as Peter and Michael again." Yet, Mills insists, "We're doing this for good reasons, and we end up looking back at all the fun, the joy and the incredible opportunities we had."
So why is America's biggest alternative-rock band breaking up now? "It's not because we have to or we can't stand each other or we suck," Mills contends. "We're happy. But we're done."
Mills, Buck and Stipe issued the news of their split without warning on September 21st, in a statement posted on R.E.M.'s website. "A wise man once said, 'The skill in attending a party is knowing when it's time to leave,' " Stipe wrote. "We built something extraordinary together. . . . Now we're going to walk away from it."
Photos: R.E.M. Through the Years
"It was very unexpected," says Rob Cavallo, the chairman of Warner Bros. Records, the band's label. He found out "the same morning that the press release went on their website," in a phone call from R.E.M. manager Bertis Downs. "I can't believe they're breaking up, but I understand," Cavallo says. "They're too pure, too respectful of their own thing."
R.E.M. actually made their decision a few months ago, before they met in Athens, Georgia, this summer to record three new songs for a two-CD greatest-hits package, R.E.M., Part Lies, Part Heart, Part Truth, Part Garbage 1982- 2011, out November 15th. The band delayed the announcement because "a lot of people are affected by this decision in a serious way," Mills says, referring to R.E.M.'s staff and crew. "We wanted everything set up the way it should be.
"And we were excited to find three really good songs to put out as a farewell," he adds. Two of the new tracks, "Hallelujah" and "A Month of Saturdays," came from demos for R.E.M.'s last studio album, Collapse Into Now, released in March. The third song, a Sixties-flavored treat with sunshine-pop brass, is called, aptly, "We All Go Back to Where We Belong." It comes out as a single October 18th.
Mills can't remember when he, Buck and Stipe began seriously talking about the end of the band. "But it was discussed on the 2008 tour," he says, and during the sessions for Collapse Into Now. The group was coming to the end of its Warner Bros. deal and chose not to tour behind that record. There are "indications" on the album, Mills notes, citing Stipe's "lyrical content" in "All the Best." "There are some straightforward see-you-laters on that one.
From Art School to Hall of Fame: R.E.M. Tours Through Their Discography
"It might have been talked about in more general terms before that," Mills suggests. "We'd say things like, 'We have X number of records in the contract. By the time we finish, we'll be X number of years old. Do we still want to be out there flogging it?' " Ironically, R.E.M.'s disappointing 2004 album, Around the Sun, made Mills, Stipe and Buck determined to stick around long enough to redeem themselves.
"We needed to prove, not only to our fans and critics but to ourselves, that we could still make great records," Mills says, "and we made two" – Accelerate, released in 2008, and Collapse Into Now. "We thought, 'We've done it. Now let's do something no other band has done: Shake hands and walk away as friends.' "
R.E.M. formed in Athens in 1980 with drummer Bill Berry and issued their debut single, "Radio Free Europe," in July 1981. Through heavy touring, growing airplay and a stunning creative evolution – from the jangling enigma of 1983's Murmur to the complex and commercial dynamics of 1987's Document and 1991's Out of Time – R.E.M. became American rock's biggest grass-roots-success story. The day after R.E.M. broke up, Cavallo was on the phone with Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong: "Billie said R.E.M. were the first underground band he saw that conquered the mainstream. He was 13 years old, and it changed his perception of what rock could be."
Berry quit in 1997, after suffering a brain aneurysm on tour two years earlier. The others continued while doing side projects, which they will now pursue full-time. Stipe is a film producer and active in visual arts. Buck has a long discography as a sideman for cult heroes such as Robyn Hitchcock and the Decemberists. R.E.M.'s 15 studio albums have sold more than 85 million copies worldwide, and the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007. But Mills says R.E.M.'s greatest accomplishment was that "we conducted ourselves with as much integrity as possible. We showed people you can conduct your operation on your own terms and be successful.
"In fact," he adds, "you'll have a much better time and sleep better at night."
This story is from the October 13, 2011 issue of Rolling Stone.
10-02-11, 08:32 AM
#36
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10-02-11, 10:19 AM
#37
DVD Talk Godfather & 2020 TOTY Winner
Re: R.E.M. Appreciation Thread (w/ Favorite Album Poll & Post Break-up News)
Glad you caught that. I felt it was appropriate.
10-09-11, 07:20 AM
#38
DVD Talk Limited Edition
Re: R.E.M. Appreciation Thread (w/ Favorite Album Poll & Post Break-up News)
My favorite is Murmur, but with it just barely edging out Reckoning, Fables of the Reconstruction, and Lifes Rich Pageant. I then put Dead Letter Office (with Chronic Town included) next. Although Document is almost on the same level, its Side B was (IMO) their first decline and they never reached those early heights again in any of their later albums.
One thing about R.E.M.'s early albums is how much of it seemed to be a spreading out of some very early work over many years.
For example, they were playing "Just A Touch" as early as 1981 even though it didn't show up on an album until Lifes Rich Pageant in 1986:
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/lvAUJroYT5M?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
To me, it seems that when they completely ran out of material from this early creative phase, they just weren't quite as good anymore.
One thing about R.E.M.'s early albums is how much of it seemed to be a spreading out of some very early work over many years.
For example, they were playing "Just A Touch" as early as 1981 even though it didn't show up on an album until Lifes Rich Pageant in 1986:
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/lvAUJroYT5M?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
To me, it seems that when they completely ran out of material from this early creative phase, they just weren't quite as good anymore.
10-19-11, 07:00 AM
#39
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Re: R.E.M. Appreciation Thread (w/ Favorite Album Poll & Post Break-up News)
One last single:
http://stereogum.com/848272/r-e-m-we...e-belong/mp3s/
You can listen to it at the above link. It's low key, but I like it.
R.E.M. – “We All Go Back To Where We Belong”
Oct 18th '11 by tom @ 11:01am 5 Comments Share168
They announced their breakup last month, but alt-gods R.E.M. aren’t going away until they give us one last greatest-hits album. The Part Lies, Part Heart, Part Truth, Part Garbage 1982- 2011 collection includes three unreleased tracks, one of which is final single “We Go Back To Where We Belong,” a prettily low-key string-drenched ballad that the band recorded after the March release of their Collapse Into Now album. Listen below right now.
Oct 18th '11 by tom @ 11:01am 5 Comments Share168
They announced their breakup last month, but alt-gods R.E.M. aren’t going away until they give us one last greatest-hits album. The Part Lies, Part Heart, Part Truth, Part Garbage 1982- 2011 collection includes three unreleased tracks, one of which is final single “We Go Back To Where We Belong,” a prettily low-key string-drenched ballad that the band recorded after the March release of their Collapse Into Now album. Listen below right now.
You can listen to it at the above link. It's low key, but I like it.
10-19-11, 07:56 AM
#40
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Thread Starter
Re: R.E.M. Appreciation Thread (w/ Favorite Album Poll & Post Break-up News)
I know it's a word, but who the hell uses "prettily" in a sentence.
10-19-11, 11:35 PM
#42
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Re: R.E.M. Appreciation Thread (w/ Favorite Album Poll & Post Break-up News)
Other than Uberlin, I haven't really loved any song from the last 3 or 4 albums, but the "new" song is actually quite good. Not brilliant, but something nice to add to an album that's really being released to milk the hardcore REM fans out of a little bit more money.
I don't mind giving R.E.M. another $15 for all they've given me.
I REALLY hope that someone involved with their re-releases makes sure those Chronic Town songs get the same treatment. I know some people say it sounds like crap, but maybe I just don't have great ears. But Wolves, Lower, 1,000,000, Carnival of Sorts (Box Cars) and the others shouldn't be left out of the special edition treatments their old/classic/best 4-5 consecutively released albums by one artist in my lifetime are getting.
And while it does seem like R.E.M sort of had probably 3 different, distinct periods, I still think everything through Hi-Fi was great or very, very good.
I don't mind giving R.E.M. another $15 for all they've given me.
I REALLY hope that someone involved with their re-releases makes sure those Chronic Town songs get the same treatment. I know some people say it sounds like crap, but maybe I just don't have great ears. But Wolves, Lower, 1,000,000, Carnival of Sorts (Box Cars) and the others shouldn't be left out of the special edition treatments their old/classic/best 4-5 consecutively released albums by one artist in my lifetime are getting.
And while it does seem like R.E.M sort of had probably 3 different, distinct periods, I still think everything through Hi-Fi was great or very, very good.
10-20-11, 07:36 AM
#43
DVD Talk Limited Edition
Re: R.E.M. Appreciation Thread (w/ Favorite Album Poll & Post Break-up News)
The REMchout YouTube Channel has stepped up in posting rarities lately:
"Radio Free Europe" - the "original" original version (i.e. before the Hib-Tone version):
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/wqQDv7sIj0w?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
"Sitting Still" - demo version:
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/FzWtq_1YYZ4?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
"That Beat" - demo version of an unreleased song (note: this opens with banter, the song starts at about the 1 minute mark):
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/I-pajRJ8PJo?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Hopefully, the "Part Lies, Part Heart, Part Truth, Part Garbage 1982- 2011" compilation will include all of this and even more that we don't know about
"Radio Free Europe" - the "original" original version (i.e. before the Hib-Tone version):
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/wqQDv7sIj0w?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
"Sitting Still" - demo version:
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/FzWtq_1YYZ4?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
"That Beat" - demo version of an unreleased song (note: this opens with banter, the song starts at about the 1 minute mark):
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/I-pajRJ8PJo?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Hopefully, the "Part Lies, Part Heart, Part Truth, Part Garbage 1982- 2011" compilation will include all of this and even more that we don't know about
10-20-11, 07:58 AM
#44
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Thread Starter
Re: R.E.M. Appreciation Thread (w/ Favorite Album Poll & Post Break-up News)
I don't think the new compilation will include anything unreleased, aside from the 3 new songs.
10-24-11, 06:52 AM
#45
DVD Talk Limited Edition
Re: R.E.M. Appreciation Thread (w/ Favorite Album Poll & Post Break-up News)
Well, that's disappointing to hear. I was really hoping they would continue the trend of putting out some unreleased material like on the recent Deluxe Edition releases. And with "In Time" and "When the Light is Mine..."/"...And I Feel Fine" out there, I don't see a need for another "Best Of" type of compilation.
Last edited by dhmac; 10-24-11 at 07:01 AM.
10-24-11, 08:26 AM
#46
Re: R.E.M. Appreciation Thread (w/ Favorite Album Poll & Post Break-up News)
Well, that's disappointing to hear. I was really hoping they would continue the trend of putting out some unreleased material like on the recent Deluxe Edition releases. And with "In Time" and "When the Light is Mine..."/"...And I Feel Fine" out there, I don't see a need for another "Best Of" type of compilation.
10-24-11, 08:30 AM
#47
DVD Talk Limited Edition
Re: R.E.M. Appreciation Thread (w/ Favorite Album Poll & Post Break-up News)
). Also that they already released good "Best Of" compilations in the past few years and really don't need yet another one.
10-24-11, 12:04 PM
#48
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Thread Starter
Re: R.E.M. Appreciation Thread (w/ Favorite Album Poll & Post Break-up News)
The garbage they're referring to is "At My Most Beautiful".
11-19-11, 06:18 PM
#49
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Re: R.E.M. Appreciation Thread (w/ Favorite Album Poll & Post Break-up News)
Voted for Murmur as their best, then I go to the poll and see that my top three are the three with the most votes:
1. Murmur
2. Automatic for the People
3. Lifes Rich Pageant
It seems a bit redundant to praise Murmur when so much has been said about it already. Incredibly accessible melodies combined with eerie, haunting vocal sounds. (I almost hesitate to say "lyrics" in the case of this album). The cover art perfectly complements the record; the kudzu inexorably creeps across the countryside like the music creeps into your consciousness and says there. The mood of the album, for me, is like that created by a chilly early evening in early spring or fall. Magnificent in every way.
In the "deserve better than they got" category are New Adventures (I know a lot of people here seem to like it, but I still think it's not fully appreciated by many) and Around the Sun. I've said it before: I know the latter is the album everyone hates, but I find a lot of it surprisingly beautiful. Just listened to Leaving New York again a while ago; love that song. I'll take this over most of their post-Berry output any day.
Currently occupying the bottom slot for me: Reveal. I like Imitation of Life and All the Way to Reno, but after that the "memorable" factor drops off quickly. Repeated listens haven't helped so far. Still, every album they made has at least a few worthwhile tracks on it.
Still don't own Collapse Into Now.
1. Murmur
2. Automatic for the People
3. Lifes Rich Pageant
It seems a bit redundant to praise Murmur when so much has been said about it already. Incredibly accessible melodies combined with eerie, haunting vocal sounds. (I almost hesitate to say "lyrics" in the case of this album). The cover art perfectly complements the record; the kudzu inexorably creeps across the countryside like the music creeps into your consciousness and says there. The mood of the album, for me, is like that created by a chilly early evening in early spring or fall. Magnificent in every way.
In the "deserve better than they got" category are New Adventures (I know a lot of people here seem to like it, but I still think it's not fully appreciated by many) and Around the Sun. I've said it before: I know the latter is the album everyone hates, but I find a lot of it surprisingly beautiful. Just listened to Leaving New York again a while ago; love that song. I'll take this over most of their post-Berry output any day.
Currently occupying the bottom slot for me: Reveal. I like Imitation of Life and All the Way to Reno, but after that the "memorable" factor drops off quickly. Repeated listens haven't helped so far. Still, every album they made has at least a few worthwhile tracks on it.
Still don't own Collapse Into Now.
11-20-11, 12:29 AM
#50
DVD Talk Limited Edition