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Author Topic: R.I.P. R.E.M.  (Read 5393 times)

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Limmo

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« Reply #15 on: October 05, 2004, 02:53:08 pm »
andalucia: I don't know why I think you'll really like Lifes Rich Pageant, but I do.  

Audrey would like to add:       vb                n   j b
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V-Adore

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« Reply #16 on: October 05, 2004, 03:10:57 pm »
You probably think that Andalucia would like Life's Rich Pageant because L'sRP is a fuck*ng fabulous album, just about as pure rock power as anything they've ever done. That's my hypothesis, anyway.

(Also, hi Audrey!)
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Va

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« Reply #17 on: October 05, 2004, 03:22:06 pm »
I guess I'm the odd man out here.  I liked Monster.  I liked Up.  I liked Reveal.  I liked all three of those better than Automatic for the People.  I haven't heard the new one yet, but I'll probably like it, too.

You can't expect a band that's been around as long as R.E.M. to keep sounding the same decade after decade.  If you don't like how they've changed, fair enough, but you have to know it'd be much worse if they didn't change at all.
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Limmo

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« Reply #18 on: October 05, 2004, 04:05:50 pm »
Hated Monster, liked 3 songs from Reveal, think Up could be their best album.  It's not for lack of trying, it's just that what I've heard isn't interesting from a textural standpoint ( whereas Reveal was all texture - too much, in fact ) or for the songwriting either ( Up is almost all great songs that just need a few listens to sink in ).

Actually, the more I think about it, Fables of the Reconstruction might be a better choice for andalucia.
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V-Adore

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« Reply #19 on: October 05, 2004, 04:10:34 pm »
Fables is also excellent and at least worth a try. In some ways it's the best of the "classic" R.E.M. style, insofar as there is one -- very much the descendent of the early albums (more than Pageant or Document) but much more clean and polished.

Reveal having "too much texture" I think is right on. There are only a few songs on the album where the lyrics didn't get totally swallowed by the overlush arrangements, and while I like rich instrumentals, Reveal just went too goddamn far and sounded too weirdly synthetic. Maybe I would have liked it had it been instrumental?
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Va

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« Reply #20 on: October 05, 2004, 04:20:18 pm »
I've always been of the opinion that R.E.M. are generally at their best when you can't understand what the fuck Stipe is wailing about.

I liked Up a lot, other than the execrable "Why Not Smile", their worst song since "Everybody Hurts".
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Limmo

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« Reply #21 on: October 05, 2004, 04:22:37 pm »
"Saturn Return" was a very worthy song that would have benefitted from not having been recorded at FAO Schwartz.  "I've Been High" is one of my favorite R.E.M. songs, but I could live without all the squiggly keyboards.  Then again, I heard a version of it from their last Unplugged, and I missed the squiggly keyboards.  So what the fuck do I know.
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V-Adore

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« Reply #22 on: October 05, 2004, 04:27:02 pm »
Yeah, "Saturn Return" is so close to being a genuinely decent song, and yet... sigh. "Imitation of Life" is also good, if only because it didn't get bogged down in the tepid Revealness of the rest of the album.

I will confess that, yes, I listen to R.E.M. in part for the lyrics -- it's cool if others prefer not to care 'what the fuck Stipe is wailing about,' but shit, "Swan Swan H." Glorious.
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Va

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« Reply #23 on: October 05, 2004, 04:54:35 pm »
I love "Saturn Return".
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jough

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« Reply #24 on: October 05, 2004, 05:09:43 pm »
Saturn Return is the one that started off sounding pretty good and then wore out its welcome by just repeating the same phrase/verse over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again, right?

I thought every album was getting better since Green.  I've really liked their WB work and NAIH-F is my favourite not only of theirs, but one of my Top 5 Favourite Albums of all time.  Automatic for the People is also in the Top 10 for me.

I loved Monster and have been listening to it lately as part of celebrating its 10th anniversary (more tenth anniversary celebrations include They Might Be Giants "John Henry" as well as watching The Shawshank Redemption and of course, Pulp Fiction) and it's even better than I remember it being.

I think "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?" is pretty much the defining song of the decade.

Anyway, Reveal was just so bland, so drone-y and lame.  The new album takes that a step further by REMOVING ALL MELODY.  It was the melodies and interesting lyrics that made me love REM to begin with.
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Carlos del Vaca

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« Reply #25 on: October 05, 2004, 05:59:29 pm »
Do we need to have a "Top 5 REM albums" poll here?

Interesting to hear the diversity of opinions.  I always figured all REM fans were like me--the IRS stuff is categorically better.  But hey, whatever mows your lawn.

(For the record, 1.  Fables 2.  LRP  3.  Murmur  4.  Reckoning  5.  Document.  New Adventures would be my favorite WB-era album.)
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Limmo

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« Reply #26 on: October 05, 2004, 06:59:30 pm »
Off the top of my head:

Reckoning
Up
Murmur
Dead Letter Office / Chronic Town
Lifes Rich Pageant

Fables, Out of Time, and Automatic bubble right under here.  I have never owned Document, Green sucks, Monster: no, Reveal meh.

So many people love New Adventures that I downloaded it once, listened to it once, didn't get the allure.
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jough

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« Reply #27 on: October 05, 2004, 07:59:12 pm »
Okay, my Top 5 R.E.M. albums list:

1) New Adventures In Hi-Fi
2) Automatic for the People
3) Murmur
4) Life's Rich Pageant
5) Monster

Runners up: Fables, Document, Up, and Out of Time (although you'd have to remove three tracks for it to be in the Top 10 - those cringe-worthy additions just drag the entire album down).

Green isn't bad - but it's not as good as out of time, which is not as good as Automatic - and Monster is also not quite as good as Automatic, but then they put out a combo package album written on the road which was like a combination of Monster and Automatic, and it was the best album.

Then the drummer left the band and they went apeshit with Up, which was like the band stretching its legs, trying to find the "New R.E.M." and doing so with some great songs.  Then they took the worst song from "Up" and decided to make an entire album of songs like that.

Now they've taken the worst song on Reveal, made it twice as long, and tried their damndest to remove anything resembling melody or musical interest, and just slowly drone on for an hour while talk-singing lyrics about how the country sucks now.  Inspiring.
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jough

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« Reply #28 on: October 05, 2004, 08:01:33 pm »
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jay-ell

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« Reply #29 on: October 06, 2004, 04:44:19 pm »
On a somewhat unrelated note, I think Stevie Nicks should do a cover of "Losing My Religion."  

That would be rad.
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