"Not everyone can carry the weight of the world."
April 12, 2023 1:49 PM Subscribe
On the 40th anniversary of Murmur, 40 Greatest REM Songs (AV Club list)
10 Best R.E.M. Songs (Rolling Stone poll)
20 Best R.E.M. Songs of All Time (Paste list)
R.E.M.'s 20 Best Songs (Consequence of Sound list)
All 282 R.E.M. Songs, Ranked (Slicing Up Eyeballs poll)
10 Best R.E.M. Songs (Rolling Stone poll)
20 Best R.E.M. Songs of All Time (Paste list)
R.E.M.'s 20 Best Songs (Consequence of Sound list)
All 282 R.E.M. Songs, Ranked (Slicing Up Eyeballs poll)
I have no quarrel with the song at number one, but that said there are about fifty R.E.M. songs I’d have no quarrel with as someone’s number one R.E.M. song.
posted by Kattullus at 1:56 PM on April 12, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by Kattullus at 1:56 PM on April 12, 2023 [4 favorites]
Shaking Through omg I’m right back in uni.
posted by whatevernot at 2:02 PM on April 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by whatevernot at 2:02 PM on April 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
1-12: All of Murmur
13-17: All of Chronic Town
18-21: Crazy, There She Goes Again, Voice of Harold, King of the Road
22-32: Life's Rich Pageant, except for "Hyena"
33+: Do what you wanna
posted by credulous at 2:04 PM on April 12, 2023 [9 favorites]
13-17: All of Chronic Town
18-21: Crazy, There She Goes Again, Voice of Harold, King of the Road
22-32: Life's Rich Pageant, except for "Hyena"
33+: Do what you wanna
posted by credulous at 2:04 PM on April 12, 2023 [9 favorites]
R.E.M. songs I would have a quarrel with as someone's number one R.E.M. song:
Toys in the Attic: I don't care how big an Aerosmith fan you are. If you're even aware of this song's existence, you must know there are better R.E.M. songs.
Radio Song: It's no 'Kool Thing.' KRS-One should've seen it coming.
Walter's Theme: You know, on second thought, I'm cool with this selection. Ohhh-klahoma!
Anything that happened after Bill Berry retired: Self-explanatory.
posted by box at 2:20 PM on April 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
Toys in the Attic: I don't care how big an Aerosmith fan you are. If you're even aware of this song's existence, you must know there are better R.E.M. songs.
Radio Song: It's no 'Kool Thing.' KRS-One should've seen it coming.
Walter's Theme: You know, on second thought, I'm cool with this selection. Ohhh-klahoma!
Anything that happened after Bill Berry retired: Self-explanatory.
posted by box at 2:20 PM on April 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
I'm surprised "Fall On Me" is rated so high on so many of these lists. I've always thought it was one of the weaker early singles. No particularly memorable riff or instrument part, the bridge is by far the best part.
And I'll take REM's electronic period over their grunge period all day long.
posted by The_Vegetables at 2:23 PM on April 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
And I'll take REM's electronic period over their grunge period all day long.
posted by The_Vegetables at 2:23 PM on April 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
Also, REM's What's the Frequency Kenneth is sort of based on Game Theory's Kenneth What's the Frequency song snippet, both referencing the ramblings of a guy who mugged CBS Nightly News anchor Dan Rather. Both bands shared Mitch Easter as a producer, and probably had more ties than just that.
posted by The_Vegetables at 2:30 PM on April 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by The_Vegetables at 2:30 PM on April 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
I pick up and listen to E-Bow the Letter every few years. Still hits a spot. Shame that the band is terrible to service workers.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 2:34 PM on April 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 2:34 PM on April 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
Because slideshow lists which are just an excuse to show you 10 ads for a simple list are an abomination, here's the AV Club list:
40: The Great Beyond
39: New Test Leper
38: Carnival of Sorts
37: Sweetness Follows
36: Green Grow The Rushes
35: Supernatural Superserious
34: Imitation of Life
33: Fretless
32: (Don't Go Back to) Rockville
31: E-Bow the Letter
30: Strange Currencies
29: It Happened Today
28: Perfect Circle
27: Find the River
26: Near Wild Heaven
25: Begin the Begin
24: Wolves, Lower
23: Radio Free Europe
22: Drivew
21: World Leader Pretend
20: What's the Frequency, Kenneth?
19: 7 Chinese Bros.
18: Driver 8
17: It's the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)
16: Cuyahoga
15: Talk About the Passion
14: At My Most Beautiful
13: Live and How to Live It
12: Everybody Hurts
11: Orange Crush
10: Electrolite
9: Shaking Through
8: The One I Love
7: Gardening At Night
6: Nightswimming
5: Country Feedback
4: Man on the Moon
3: Fall on Me
2: Losing My Religion
1: So. Central Rain
posted by tclark at 2:39 PM on April 12, 2023 [18 favorites]
40: The Great Beyond
39: New Test Leper
38: Carnival of Sorts
37: Sweetness Follows
36: Green Grow The Rushes
35: Supernatural Superserious
34: Imitation of Life
33: Fretless
32: (Don't Go Back to) Rockville
31: E-Bow the Letter
30: Strange Currencies
29: It Happened Today
28: Perfect Circle
27: Find the River
26: Near Wild Heaven
25: Begin the Begin
24: Wolves, Lower
23: Radio Free Europe
22: Drivew
21: World Leader Pretend
20: What's the Frequency, Kenneth?
19: 7 Chinese Bros.
18: Driver 8
17: It's the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)
16: Cuyahoga
15: Talk About the Passion
14: At My Most Beautiful
13: Live and How to Live It
12: Everybody Hurts
11: Orange Crush
10: Electrolite
9: Shaking Through
8: The One I Love
7: Gardening At Night
6: Nightswimming
5: Country Feedback
4: Man on the Moon
3: Fall on Me
2: Losing My Religion
1: So. Central Rain
posted by tclark at 2:39 PM on April 12, 2023 [18 favorites]
But also, Don't Go back to Rockville belongs higher up on the list.
So much higher!
posted by procrastination at 2:40 PM on April 12, 2023 [12 favorites]
So much higher!
posted by procrastination at 2:40 PM on April 12, 2023 [12 favorites]
Walter's Theme yt : You know, on second thought, I'm cool with this selection. Ohhh-klahoma!
This is my #1. It's a stupid clip of the band goofing around in the studio but it's also the band on the verge of turning into rock stars. It's got Athens GA all over it (it's an ad for a local BBQ joint!) but if you close your eyes you can hear the roots of some of their later hit songs.
posted by JoeZydeco at 3:14 PM on April 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
This is my #1. It's a stupid clip of the band goofing around in the studio but it's also the band on the verge of turning into rock stars. It's got Athens GA all over it (it's an ad for a local BBQ joint!) but if you close your eyes you can hear the roots of some of their later hit songs.
posted by JoeZydeco at 3:14 PM on April 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
4. Radio Free Europe
3. Pretty Pursuasion
2. Driver 8
1. Fall On Me
I stopped listening to REM when "Losing My Religion" came out, so my list is short.
posted by oneirodynia at 3:23 PM on April 12, 2023 [8 favorites]
3. Pretty Pursuasion
2. Driver 8
1. Fall On Me
I stopped listening to REM when "Losing My Religion" came out, so my list is short.
posted by oneirodynia at 3:23 PM on April 12, 2023 [8 favorites]
Honestly, there is not a single song on a single album after "New Adventures in HiFi" that deserves a place on this list and I have DEFENDED their latter-period records to people.
You know how you read a thing about one of your Top 5 Favorite Bands, like, the Band You Grew Up With, like, the Band as a Weirdo Teenager in the South you Identified With the most and you're like, "Hey, these people are almost certainly younger than I am, and it's possible their first exposure to R.E.M. was that godawful Lotus song, and you remember how you used to talk about how "Come Dancing" was actually, no really, actually a good Kinks song, and you know, you know, it's time for you t leave the room and not be an asshole. But lord, this list, THIS LIST.
(But GODDAMN, among other things, "Losing My Religion," a critical text for me at time of release--"Out of Time" was the first CD I ever bought for my first ever CD player, on its release day, at the Tracks by the Asheville Mall--should not be nearly so high)
GODDAMN
posted by thivaia at 3:33 PM on April 12, 2023 [14 favorites]
You know how you read a thing about one of your Top 5 Favorite Bands, like, the Band You Grew Up With, like, the Band as a Weirdo Teenager in the South you Identified With the most and you're like, "Hey, these people are almost certainly younger than I am, and it's possible their first exposure to R.E.M. was that godawful Lotus song, and you remember how you used to talk about how "Come Dancing" was actually, no really, actually a good Kinks song, and you know, you know, it's time for you t leave the room and not be an asshole. But lord, this list, THIS LIST.
(But GODDAMN, among other things, "Losing My Religion," a critical text for me at time of release--"Out of Time" was the first CD I ever bought for my first ever CD player, on its release day, at the Tracks by the Asheville Mall--should not be nearly so high)
GODDAMN
posted by thivaia at 3:33 PM on April 12, 2023 [14 favorites]
Part of my recalled experience of REM was being surprised by how quickly they went from being described as “alternative” to so much other music sounding like watered down REM.
posted by mhoye at 3:36 PM on April 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by mhoye at 3:36 PM on April 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
But while we're on it, Pylon's "Chomp" also turns 40 this year. And it feels weird not to mention it.
posted by thivaia at 3:40 PM on April 12, 2023 [11 favorites]
posted by thivaia at 3:40 PM on April 12, 2023 [11 favorites]
1. Driver 8
2. Night Swimming
3. Swan Swan H
4. That song with the chorus that sounds like Vasari! Vasari! which as an art history student at the College of Charleston made me unreasonably happy and like I had entered a secret society of artsy cool people who knew who Vasari was and even sang about him.
5. Pretty much everything on Fables.
5A. I went to the Fables of the Reconstruction third tour stop on Dec. 3 1985 at the Columbia Township Auditorium with The Minutemen! as the opening act in Columbia South Carolina and it was one of the top nights of my life, even the end part when we were driving home to Charleston, two hours in somebody's car and it was dark and half my friends were asleep piled on top of each other and the rest of us were trying to keep ourselves and the driver, who might have been me, in fact I think it was probably me, awake by talking about our favorite favorite parts. It was all my favorite part.
5. Pretty much everything on Murmur.
6. Pretty much everything on Reckoning.
7. OK, Life's Rich Pageant is also pretty good.
8. No, no, sorry, they're popular now.
9. Wait! They did a song with the Muppets on Sesame Street! That was amazing!
posted by mygothlaundry at 4:09 PM on April 12, 2023 [17 favorites]
2. Night Swimming
3. Swan Swan H
4. That song with the chorus that sounds like Vasari! Vasari! which as an art history student at the College of Charleston made me unreasonably happy and like I had entered a secret society of artsy cool people who knew who Vasari was and even sang about him.
5. Pretty much everything on Fables.
5A. I went to the Fables of the Reconstruction third tour stop on Dec. 3 1985 at the Columbia Township Auditorium with The Minutemen! as the opening act in Columbia South Carolina and it was one of the top nights of my life, even the end part when we were driving home to Charleston, two hours in somebody's car and it was dark and half my friends were asleep piled on top of each other and the rest of us were trying to keep ourselves and the driver, who might have been me, in fact I think it was probably me, awake by talking about our favorite favorite parts. It was all my favorite part.
5. Pretty much everything on Murmur.
6. Pretty much everything on Reckoning.
7. OK, Life's Rich Pageant is also pretty good.
8. No, no, sorry, they're popular now.
9. Wait! They did a song with the Muppets on Sesame Street! That was amazing!
posted by mygothlaundry at 4:09 PM on April 12, 2023 [17 favorites]
They are so conjoined in my mind that my vote goes to Swan Swan H/Superman. Also shout out to Crush With Eyeliner for the crunchy guitar.
posted by lumpy at 4:28 PM on April 12, 2023 [6 favorites]
posted by lumpy at 4:28 PM on April 12, 2023 [6 favorites]
As long as all 40 of them are from before Green I'm cool with it.
posted by OHenryPacey at 4:38 PM on April 12, 2023 [8 favorites]
posted by OHenryPacey at 4:38 PM on April 12, 2023 [8 favorites]
REM put out records that mattered, and continue to matter, almost annually, for a decade and change. No band that existed between murmur and AFTP comes even close to that sustained output.
Honestly, I don’t know that any band, ever, compares.
The album titles alone are poetry
Chronic Town
Murmur
Reckoning
Fables of the Reconstruction
Lifes Rich pageant
Document
Green
Out of Time
AFTP is their greatest achievement, but seldom cited as a favorite. Nightswimming is the last song that successfully evoked the world referenced in songs like So. Central Rain.
Sky blue bells ringing
posted by Caxton1476 at 5:00 PM on April 12, 2023 [10 favorites]
Honestly, I don’t know that any band, ever, compares.
The album titles alone are poetry
Chronic Town
Murmur
Reckoning
Fables of the Reconstruction
Lifes Rich pageant
Document
Green
Out of Time
AFTP is their greatest achievement, but seldom cited as a favorite. Nightswimming is the last song that successfully evoked the world referenced in songs like So. Central Rain.
Sky blue bells ringing
posted by Caxton1476 at 5:00 PM on April 12, 2023 [10 favorites]
Radio Free Europe at 23? What a joke, and The Great Beyond should also be way higher.
posted by Beholder at 5:06 PM on April 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by Beholder at 5:06 PM on April 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
I loved every album through Green and could not be bothered after that for the most part. Not sure why but I’ve talked to a few other olds who had similar takes. Bang & Blame and Daysleeper were nice though.
posted by aquanaut at 5:08 PM on April 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by aquanaut at 5:08 PM on April 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
AFTP is their greatest achievement, but seldom cited as a favorite.
*raises hand* One of my favorite albums by any band ever, let alone R.E.M.
It's probably the whole "stuff that was out when you were in high school" thing. Their existence entered my consciousness with Green, but that was when I was 11 or 12, so their subsequent run of albums is where my head's at with them. I went back and picked up the rest of their catalog, but the highlights for me there are certain songs and the entirety of Murmur. AFTP came out before I went to college.
posted by LionIndex at 5:23 PM on April 12, 2023 [5 favorites]
*raises hand* One of my favorite albums by any band ever, let alone R.E.M.
It's probably the whole "stuff that was out when you were in high school" thing. Their existence entered my consciousness with Green, but that was when I was 11 or 12, so their subsequent run of albums is where my head's at with them. I went back and picked up the rest of their catalog, but the highlights for me there are certain songs and the entirety of Murmur. AFTP came out before I went to college.
posted by LionIndex at 5:23 PM on April 12, 2023 [5 favorites]
WENDELL GEE ALL DAMN DAY
posted by credulous at 5:32 PM on April 12, 2023 [9 favorites]
posted by credulous at 5:32 PM on April 12, 2023 [9 favorites]
Crush With Eyeliner or go home.
posted by jonp72 at 5:56 PM on April 12, 2023 [5 favorites]
posted by jonp72 at 5:56 PM on April 12, 2023 [5 favorites]
The post got me to try some of their newer stuff that I'd missed, and I liked Living Well is the Best Revenge. I'm glad I came across the song.
Also, Monster was always one of my favourites and I'm not sorry to say so. Some of us grew up at different times.
Plus the whole back catalogue was right there for us to enjoy. I think we got the chance to love more of the music than you ;-)
posted by Chef Flamboyardee at 6:04 PM on April 12, 2023 [4 favorites]
Also, Monster was always one of my favourites and I'm not sorry to say so. Some of us grew up at different times.
Plus the whole back catalogue was right there for us to enjoy. I think we got the chance to love more of the music than you ;-)
posted by Chef Flamboyardee at 6:04 PM on April 12, 2023 [4 favorites]
Leave is all ten slots in the top ten for me.
It's one of those songs I can never listen to only once.
posted by Mister Moofoo at 6:23 PM on April 12, 2023 [6 favorites]
It's one of those songs I can never listen to only once.
posted by Mister Moofoo at 6:23 PM on April 12, 2023 [6 favorites]
Honestly, there is not a single song on a single album after "New Adventures in HiFi" that deserves a place on this list and
mostly agree. Though I think I'd miss Lotus (from Up). But nothing really past that.
Which raises a perhaps more interesting question than yet another, what's yrrr top five or forty faves from [band in question]?
What's the last REM song that really mattered to you?
posted by philip-random at 6:51 PM on April 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
mostly agree. Though I think I'd miss Lotus (from Up). But nothing really past that.
Which raises a perhaps more interesting question than yet another, what's yrrr top five or forty faves from [band in question]?
What's the last REM song that really mattered to you?
posted by philip-random at 6:51 PM on April 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
What's the last REM song that really mattered to you?
I guess Electrolite. I bought Up and like it OK but nothing really sticks with me from it. I bounced right off Reveal. Didn't bother after that.
posted by LionIndex at 7:12 PM on April 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
I guess Electrolite. I bought Up and like it OK but nothing really sticks with me from it. I bounced right off Reveal. Didn't bother after that.
posted by LionIndex at 7:12 PM on April 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
What's the last REM song that really mattered to you?
Probably "Find the River". A lot of stuff on Monster is cool, but for me AFTP is the last real REM album. Those last three songs in sequence are a heck of a coda.
posted by credulous at 7:26 PM on April 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
Probably "Find the River". A lot of stuff on Monster is cool, but for me AFTP is the last real REM album. Those last three songs in sequence are a heck of a coda.
posted by credulous at 7:26 PM on April 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
This list is missing "Ignoreland" and therefore it is flawed, good day
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:44 PM on April 12, 2023 [6 favorites]
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:44 PM on April 12, 2023 [6 favorites]
“Daysleeper” is the last great REM song for me. Reminds me of night shift doing bank processing early in the decade.
Back when actual checks, ACH clearinghouses, kiting and COBOL were things. Also, 14” hard drive packs and microfiche.
Mini-frames larger than two doghouses …
I’m misting up here.
posted by JustSayNoDawg at 8:06 PM on April 12, 2023 [9 favorites]
Back when actual checks, ACH clearinghouses, kiting and COBOL were things. Also, 14” hard drive packs and microfiche.
Mini-frames larger than two doghouses …
I’m misting up here.
posted by JustSayNoDawg at 8:06 PM on April 12, 2023 [9 favorites]
And there's no debate that Fables has the most rural Georgia Southern gothic feel of the collection. If you swapped "Feeling Gravity's Pull" with "Swan Swan H" you would have a shutout.
posted by credulous at 9:50 PM on April 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by credulous at 9:50 PM on April 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
I’m surprised how many people are confidently discounting latter period R.E.M. While I do think that by Around the Sun the band had started to fray as a creative entity, they were still capable of putting out great singles, such as 2008’s Supernatural Superserious.
Also, my main quibble with the lists above is that they should have more songs off Up which I genuinely think has some of their greatest ever compositions. While I agree that it’s too long, I’d be hardpressed to select which songs to cut out, especially given how well the album flows from track to track. Either way, it’s one of my top three R.E.M. albums, with Automatic for the People and Reckoning.
posted by Kattullus at 10:20 PM on April 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
Also, my main quibble with the lists above is that they should have more songs off Up which I genuinely think has some of their greatest ever compositions. While I agree that it’s too long, I’d be hardpressed to select which songs to cut out, especially given how well the album flows from track to track. Either way, it’s one of my top three R.E.M. albums, with Automatic for the People and Reckoning.
posted by Kattullus at 10:20 PM on April 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
I discovered REM when Out of Time came out and it was everywhere. I remember going back through their albums from there and damn, they just got better and better.
posted by my-username at 11:38 PM on April 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by my-username at 11:38 PM on April 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
2. Voice of Harold
1. (Don't Go Back To) Rockville
posted by chavenet at 11:47 PM on April 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
1. (Don't Go Back To) Rockville
posted by chavenet at 11:47 PM on April 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
Saw them in '85, the same night as Live Aid, in a nightclub in Vancouver. Still one of the best gigs from that era that I saw, and my very favourite song of theirs will always and eternally be Pretty Persuasion, which they roared through a that show.
posted by Phlegmco(tm) at 12:11 AM on April 13, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by Phlegmco(tm) at 12:11 AM on April 13, 2023 [2 favorites]
What's the last REM song that really mattered to you?
The Great Beyond.
The thing with REM, is just like every band, they had their run, they checked every box, early genius phase but not top 40 friendly, then their pop phase also their commercial peak, then comes the find their original sound phase (always fails for every band), lastly the fizzling out phase with only a rare standout track.
On a side note, REM vs U2. You could go with U2 simply because they never recorded Shiny Happy People or you can go with REM because Bono isn't in their band.
posted by Beholder at 12:23 AM on April 13, 2023 [10 favorites]
The Great Beyond.
The thing with REM, is just like every band, they had their run, they checked every box, early genius phase but not top 40 friendly, then their pop phase also their commercial peak, then comes the find their original sound phase (always fails for every band), lastly the fizzling out phase with only a rare standout track.
On a side note, REM vs U2. You could go with U2 simply because they never recorded Shiny Happy People or you can go with REM because Bono isn't in their band.
posted by Beholder at 12:23 AM on April 13, 2023 [10 favorites]
Before looking at this list I just assumed Begin the Begin would be somewhere way up there. Huh. They put out too much shit later on, the early stuff was the best.
posted by Meatbomb at 1:30 AM on April 13, 2023 [5 favorites]
posted by Meatbomb at 1:30 AM on April 13, 2023 [5 favorites]
I 'discovered' REM when I was 17 years old and Green came out. I fell in love with the album and even went to see them on the Green tour. Wish I still had the T shirt. Then I dug into their older stuff and loved that, too. Little by little after Green, REM became more and more like a jangly pop and ballad band. I still liked a lot of the subsequent output, but I preferred them as a rock band.
Still, one of the all-time greats. And I admire that they hung together, didn't get into embarrassing fights with each other and didn't go off on embarrassing solo ventures. REM = eternally solid and often extremely great.
posted by SoberHighland at 4:00 AM on April 13, 2023 [1 favorite]
Still, one of the all-time greats. And I admire that they hung together, didn't get into embarrassing fights with each other and didn't go off on embarrassing solo ventures. REM = eternally solid and often extremely great.
posted by SoberHighland at 4:00 AM on April 13, 2023 [1 favorite]
Yeah, I wondered if this list gave their late stuff too much credit, or if I don't give it enough. Probably some of each. But there's just so much early material that is SO GOOD. I think part of what happened is that they never managed to really work as an arena-rock act. U2 turned itself into a different band (maybe several different bands, actually) in order to play shows that worked in large venues. REM was obviously a great live band, but they needed more intimate settings for their best work. Their pop stuff was too ironic to hold up against the vulnerability of the early stuff. Or maybe my taste just calcified during high school and college (shrug).
posted by rikschell at 4:43 AM on April 13, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by rikschell at 4:43 AM on April 13, 2023 [2 favorites]
Reckoning was the soundtrack to my 16th summer after seeing them in April, so most of that is top 20 for me. I can actually smell my teen world when I listen to it.
I wanna say "Driver 8" was the last vital song for me.
I too stopped at Green, but I do want to listen to the rest just so I can say my Old opinions are rigorous.
posted by rhizome at 5:31 AM on April 13, 2023 [5 favorites]
I wanna say "Driver 8" was the last vital song for me.
I too stopped at Green, but I do want to listen to the rest just so I can say my Old opinions are rigorous.
posted by rhizome at 5:31 AM on April 13, 2023 [5 favorites]
Echoing what I said in the recent U2 post, I managed to be born in the mid seventies, spend my teen years listening to early nineties college radio, yet the only REM album I ever owned was a bootleg I bought in a random store in China (it was the one with Daysleeper). I didn’t (and don’t) dislike the band. There are a number of songs I deeply love, but they just never reached that “I would like to have that album” status for me.
Having just shown I have no leg to stand on here, Nightswimming is by far and away my favorite song of theirs, and is damn near perfect in its longing for the past. Daysleeper, and its haunted despair would be number 2. Then some other songs that were pretty good, too.
posted by Ghidorah at 5:34 AM on April 13, 2023 [1 favorite]
Having just shown I have no leg to stand on here, Nightswimming is by far and away my favorite song of theirs, and is damn near perfect in its longing for the past. Daysleeper, and its haunted despair would be number 2. Then some other songs that were pretty good, too.
posted by Ghidorah at 5:34 AM on April 13, 2023 [1 favorite]
I went from seeing REM as My Guys in middle school to losing interest as I found the bands that influenced them (and as the obnoxious 90210 fans found Out of Time, but that's another rant for another day). When Elif Batuman's Either/Or came out, I went back and listened to New Adventures in Hi-Fi, the album Selin and Svetlana listen to in Svetlana's dorm room, and I think that's the last great REM album.
In light of the rumors why Jefferson Holt left REM, I wish Michael Stipe hadn't struck up a friendship with Mario Batali, and I wonder if he regrets that.
posted by pxe2000 at 5:49 AM on April 13, 2023 [1 favorite]
In light of the rumors why Jefferson Holt left REM, I wish Michael Stipe hadn't struck up a friendship with Mario Batali, and I wonder if he regrets that.
posted by pxe2000 at 5:49 AM on April 13, 2023 [1 favorite]
If I had to reduce my music collection to just one song, "Fall On Me" might well be it. I would rank "Man On The Moon" second.
I am the same age as Michael Stipe (strictly speaking, he is five months older), so I think of R.E.M. as the Music Of My Generation. The hardest part is watching old videos of songs from the 1980s - the people in them are about my age, and we were all so young then.
posted by tallmiddleagedgeek at 6:20 AM on April 13, 2023 [6 favorites]
I am the same age as Michael Stipe (strictly speaking, he is five months older), so I think of R.E.M. as the Music Of My Generation. The hardest part is watching old videos of songs from the 1980s - the people in them are about my age, and we were all so young then.
posted by tallmiddleagedgeek at 6:20 AM on April 13, 2023 [6 favorites]
I stopped listening to REM when "Losing My Religion" came out, so my list is short.
posted by oneirodynia at 6:23 PM on April 12 [5 favorites +] [!]
Since I was 5 when their first album came out, I started listening to R.E.M. when "Losing My Religion" came out, though almost everything I know is from Green (1988). I think I must have taped that one from the library (my only way of getting music in the mid-90s, unless it was taping from a tape that my dad copied from a library album).
I am very glad that "Orange Crush" is on the AV club list. It is sadly lacking from the others. Also "Pop Song 89".
Furry Happy Monsters is also a classic.
posted by jb at 6:59 AM on April 13, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by oneirodynia at 6:23 PM on April 12 [5 favorites +] [!]
Since I was 5 when their first album came out, I started listening to R.E.M. when "Losing My Religion" came out, though almost everything I know is from Green (1988). I think I must have taped that one from the library (my only way of getting music in the mid-90s, unless it was taping from a tape that my dad copied from a library album).
I am very glad that "Orange Crush" is on the AV club list. It is sadly lacking from the others. Also "Pop Song 89".
Furry Happy Monsters is also a classic.
posted by jb at 6:59 AM on April 13, 2023 [4 favorites]
1. (Don't Go Back To) Rockville
I'll contend that 10,000 Maniacs' cover is better than the original. I'll also contend that 10KM's "A Campfire Song" is really an REM song.
posted by JoeZydeco at 7:34 AM on April 13, 2023 [3 favorites]
I'll contend that 10,000 Maniacs' cover is better than the original. I'll also contend that 10KM's "A Campfire Song" is really an REM song.
posted by JoeZydeco at 7:34 AM on April 13, 2023 [3 favorites]
REM was obviously a great live band, but they needed more intimate settings for their best work.
Too true. How do you even turn a song called "Gardening at Night" into an arena rock song? The obscure content of the song, the mumbled lyrics, the dynamics - it's all the opposite of arena rock.
posted by The_Vegetables at 7:55 AM on April 13, 2023 [2 favorites]
Too true. How do you even turn a song called "Gardening at Night" into an arena rock song? The obscure content of the song, the mumbled lyrics, the dynamics - it's all the opposite of arena rock.
posted by The_Vegetables at 7:55 AM on April 13, 2023 [2 favorites]
Electrolite is the only REM song I really like, and I do really like it, even though "electrolite" is not actually a word. Michael Stipe said this about it:
I kind of like Man on the Moon, too. You know how sometimes there's a song you've heard enough that it's familiar and you have a vague sense of what it's about, but you haven't paid close attention to all the lyrics and maybe you've misheard some of them and you eventually find out that your vague idea about the song is completely wrong? To me, Man on the Moon is a song about a guy remembering his brother Andy who died when they were kids, back in the 60's, before the moon landing. He sings about the games they used to play - Monopoly, twenty-one, checkers, chess, Twister, Risk. He says "See you in heaven" and "Would you believe they put a man on the moon?" Eventually I learned it was about Andy Kaufman, but I still picture those kids playing Twister in the basement every time I hear the song.
posted by Redstart at 8:09 AM on April 13, 2023 [5 favorites]
The title of the song came from flying into L.A. and/or seeing it from on high and it looking like a blanket of stars or those bizarre sea creatures that light up when you stir up the water. How I got 'electrolite' out of that I don't know, I still can't think of the word I was going for, but it is actually called 'phosphorescence' or 'bioluminescence.' I thought it was 'electro'- something, so I just used light/lyte, giving it the 'lite' of modern fad diet language.I can't imagine just throwing something I kind of thought might be a word into a song without looking it up first but maybe that's why I'm just a regular person and not a famous songwriter.
I kind of like Man on the Moon, too. You know how sometimes there's a song you've heard enough that it's familiar and you have a vague sense of what it's about, but you haven't paid close attention to all the lyrics and maybe you've misheard some of them and you eventually find out that your vague idea about the song is completely wrong? To me, Man on the Moon is a song about a guy remembering his brother Andy who died when they were kids, back in the 60's, before the moon landing. He sings about the games they used to play - Monopoly, twenty-one, checkers, chess, Twister, Risk. He says "See you in heaven" and "Would you believe they put a man on the moon?" Eventually I learned it was about Andy Kaufman, but I still picture those kids playing Twister in the basement every time I hear the song.
posted by Redstart at 8:09 AM on April 13, 2023 [5 favorites]
I was aware of R.E.M. and kind of liked them but wasn't into them until the Green tour in 1989. They came through St. Louis and a friend showed up in class one day "hey, I got you a ticket for R.E.M., you want it?" -- this was when the cost of a concert ticket was a serious expense.
I was like "well, dunno... not unless Robyn Hitchcock is opening for them or something." And he was like "I got good news..."
So -- since a concert ticket is an investment -- I spent the next few weeks really diving into their catalog. (He was kind enough to dub some tapes for me...)
While they never quite topped Robyn Hitchcock on my favorites list, they were quickly in the top 10. It was an amazing show, which really reinforced my newfound love of the band. One of my favorite memories even today is dancing wildly on the mostly-empty floor (row 42) with my friend to Robyn Hitchcock's set. (We also danced to R.E.M.'s set... but with less abandon since we were packed in once everybody showed up for the main set.)
If you have a chance to watch Tourfilm, I highly recommend it. I hope it gets a 4K (or is it 8K these days?) re-release one of these days.
My top 40 wouldn't include anything past New Adventures and "Leave" would be in the top 5, easily. Sad to see it missing. Document is criminally under-represented on this list. A top songs list missing "Finest Worksong" or "Exhuming McCarthy" is invalid, for sure.
I'm also on the "nothing after Bill Berry left counts" train. After years of saying that they'd end the band if any one member left, I was truly disappointed that they continued under the same name once he quit. I don't often buy into "they let the fans down" type complaints, but IMO they did let fans down with that decision. I still love the catalog prior to that (excepting Monster) but I haven't been able to bond with anything released since.
posted by jzb at 8:28 AM on April 13, 2023 [6 favorites]
I was like "well, dunno... not unless Robyn Hitchcock is opening for them or something." And he was like "I got good news..."
So -- since a concert ticket is an investment -- I spent the next few weeks really diving into their catalog. (He was kind enough to dub some tapes for me...)
While they never quite topped Robyn Hitchcock on my favorites list, they were quickly in the top 10. It was an amazing show, which really reinforced my newfound love of the band. One of my favorite memories even today is dancing wildly on the mostly-empty floor (row 42) with my friend to Robyn Hitchcock's set. (We also danced to R.E.M.'s set... but with less abandon since we were packed in once everybody showed up for the main set.)
If you have a chance to watch Tourfilm, I highly recommend it. I hope it gets a 4K (or is it 8K these days?) re-release one of these days.
My top 40 wouldn't include anything past New Adventures and "Leave" would be in the top 5, easily. Sad to see it missing. Document is criminally under-represented on this list. A top songs list missing "Finest Worksong" or "Exhuming McCarthy" is invalid, for sure.
I'm also on the "nothing after Bill Berry left counts" train. After years of saying that they'd end the band if any one member left, I was truly disappointed that they continued under the same name once he quit. I don't often buy into "they let the fans down" type complaints, but IMO they did let fans down with that decision. I still love the catalog prior to that (excepting Monster) but I haven't been able to bond with anything released since.
posted by jzb at 8:28 AM on April 13, 2023 [6 favorites]
...in 1989. They came through St. Louis and a friend showed up in class one day "hey, I got you a ticket for R.E.M., you want it?" -- this was when the cost of a concert ticket was a serious expense.
I understand you were on a student's budget back then, but the actual 1989 ticket cost (eg: $16.47) seems shockingly low today in the age of $5000 Springsteen tickets.
posted by fairmettle at 9:10 AM on April 13, 2023 [2 favorites]
I understand you were on a student's budget back then, but the actual 1989 ticket cost (eg: $16.47) seems shockingly low today in the age of $5000 Springsteen tickets.
posted by fairmettle at 9:10 AM on April 13, 2023 [2 favorites]
I think my time machine iternary would include seeing them live circa 1982.
posted by credulous at 9:12 AM on April 13, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by credulous at 9:12 AM on April 13, 2023 [2 favorites]
Nthing the late-period R.E.M. stans. New Adventures in Hi-Fi is like my favorite album ever, a potent musical drug that sends me back to long van rides to high-school debate tournaments in the dead of Minnesota winter. Even apart from my personal nostalgia and biases it has some lovely songs on it, as reflected in the AV Club list. I'd also offer "Departure" as a forgotten gem.
A couple years ago I was writing a Southern-inflected noir nuclear conspiracy novel and listening to Monster on repeat, because those songs felt like they reflected a moment, and a pose, and an attitude that was not quite "grunge," even though that word is how much commentary sums up the album. The sense of obsession both tender and sinister running through every dang song on that album still gets me. "Circus Envy" is a complex, weird track, and I love that they returned to it still later in their career.
And there's a good chance that that novel I wrote sprang fully-formed from this video of R.E.M. playing "Sing for the Submarine," which is my nomination for Last Great R.E.M. Song.
posted by Handstand Devil at 9:45 AM on April 13, 2023 [3 favorites]
A couple years ago I was writing a Southern-inflected noir nuclear conspiracy novel and listening to Monster on repeat, because those songs felt like they reflected a moment, and a pose, and an attitude that was not quite "grunge," even though that word is how much commentary sums up the album. The sense of obsession both tender and sinister running through every dang song on that album still gets me. "Circus Envy" is a complex, weird track, and I love that they returned to it still later in their career.
And there's a good chance that that novel I wrote sprang fully-formed from this video of R.E.M. playing "Sing for the Submarine," which is my nomination for Last Great R.E.M. Song.
posted by Handstand Devil at 9:45 AM on April 13, 2023 [3 favorites]
I understand you were on a student's budget back then, but the actual 1989 ticket cost (eg: $16.47) seems shockingly low today
Oh, for sure. We had floor seats and I think it was a bit higher than that + fees, but definitely inexpensive compared to $5,000 tickets.
For comparison I think I paid $50-$60 the same year for a Paul McCartney ticket in Chicago that was so far back in the arena I was practically in the parking lot. The Who tickets for Busch Stadium went for less than $30... (nosebleed).
But, I was a high school senior and made minimum wage, part-time. So I wouldn't part with $20-$40 lightly... Especially with prom coming up!
posted by jzb at 10:16 AM on April 13, 2023 [1 favorite]
Oh, for sure. We had floor seats and I think it was a bit higher than that + fees, but definitely inexpensive compared to $5,000 tickets.
For comparison I think I paid $50-$60 the same year for a Paul McCartney ticket in Chicago that was so far back in the arena I was practically in the parking lot. The Who tickets for Busch Stadium went for less than $30... (nosebleed).
But, I was a high school senior and made minimum wage, part-time. So I wouldn't part with $20-$40 lightly... Especially with prom coming up!
posted by jzb at 10:16 AM on April 13, 2023 [1 favorite]
I grew up in northern Virginia, about 25 miles from Rockville, so I've always been fond of that one.
I also lived about 10 miles from a town called Annandale, which everyone thought was the town in Steely Dan's "My Old School," especially with the reference to William & Mary, but it's in New York, where they went to college and were in a band with Chevy Chase.
posted by kirkaracha at 10:17 AM on April 13, 2023
I also lived about 10 miles from a town called Annandale, which everyone thought was the town in Steely Dan's "My Old School," especially with the reference to William & Mary, but it's in New York, where they went to college and were in a band with Chevy Chase.
posted by kirkaracha at 10:17 AM on April 13, 2023
I understand you were on a student's budget back then, but the actual 1989 ticket cost (eg: $16.47) seems shockingly low today
This is a valid point, but I get how $16.47 would seem like a lot. Save a couple (traveling, old-style) Lollapaloozas, I don' t think I went to a stadium rock show between 1990 (Paul McCartney with my parents) and Bruce Springsteen . . . I dunno 2009-ish? . . . because I spent much of that time in college towns, deep in the club show/house show world, where I started out thinking anything more than 10$ was highway robbery and did plenty of griping about paying, like, $45 toward the end for things like Yo La Tengo or whatever. I would hear faint echoes of people paying hundreds of dollars of tickets and be like, "ha, no way that will ever be me. These people paying a rent payment to see a pop act. What suckers!" Like I genuinely could not understand $400 concert tickets or $5000 concert tickets or whatever. Who were these people? Why would they do that?
Little did my precious little punk rock soul know that know then the answer would be 1) Me in 2023 and 2) Because Beyonce., duh. But I digress.
posted by thivaia at 10:55 AM on April 13, 2023 [6 favorites]
"Leave" is also on the list for me, and "Country Feedback" is probably my no 1 (it's Michael Stipe's, allegedly, and who am I to argue?)
If you have Netflix, the Song Exploder series they did has a nice episode about Losing my Religion.
posted by dismas at 11:01 AM on April 13, 2023 [2 favorites]
If you have Netflix, the Song Exploder series they did has a nice episode about Losing my Religion.
posted by dismas at 11:01 AM on April 13, 2023 [2 favorites]
It's really nice to read this thread. I spent so much of my teen-hood in the 90s listening to R.E.M. that I've literally lost all perspective. I can't tell if they're a good band or not anymore, because so many songs have such personal meaning for me. I have been in three separate close friendships over the course of my life where I was the R.E.M. fan to someone else's U2 fan, and spent countless hours arguing the merits of this lyric or that hook. I listened close and read deep of the liner notes in the days before the internet or official lyrics, and remember speculating, only partly in jest, that perhaps W. Jefferson Holt and Bertis E. Downs IV were the names of Bill Berry's significant eyebrows. Every part of the band was both myth and mystery to me, is what I'm saying.
I count my awakening to the band (and music in general) when Losing My Religion popped up on MTV and spent years grousing that I hadn't heard of them early enough to also claim that they sold out with Green. Along with many fans, I lost heart when Bill Berry left the band, and I stopped listening to albums shortly after Up -- though I bought the super deluxe version of it, and I probably bought Reveal and really wanted to like it, of course.
Anyway. Thanks for commenting, everyone. This thread is really making my day.
Also, the correct answer is Nightswimming. That is the best song. There are very few perfect songs in this world, but that is one. You Are The Everything is close but the line "And you're drifting off to sleep with your teeth in your mouth" is just so fucking stupid.
posted by heyitsgogi at 11:41 AM on April 13, 2023 [6 favorites]
I count my awakening to the band (and music in general) when Losing My Religion popped up on MTV and spent years grousing that I hadn't heard of them early enough to also claim that they sold out with Green. Along with many fans, I lost heart when Bill Berry left the band, and I stopped listening to albums shortly after Up -- though I bought the super deluxe version of it, and I probably bought Reveal and really wanted to like it, of course.
Anyway. Thanks for commenting, everyone. This thread is really making my day.
Also, the correct answer is Nightswimming. That is the best song. There are very few perfect songs in this world, but that is one. You Are The Everything is close but the line "And you're drifting off to sleep with your teeth in your mouth" is just so fucking stupid.
posted by heyitsgogi at 11:41 AM on April 13, 2023 [6 favorites]
I have been in three separate close friendships over the course of my life where I was the R.E.M. fan to someone else's U2 fan
Is this the 90s version of Stones vs. Beatles? My wife's favorite band is U2. R.E.M. isn't my favorite but I'd definitely side with R.E.M. in this debate. No contest.
@heyitsgogi - I've always assumed this referred to someone with dentures?
posted by jzb at 12:28 PM on April 13, 2023 [2 favorites]
Is this the 90s version of Stones vs. Beatles? My wife's favorite band is U2. R.E.M. isn't my favorite but I'd definitely side with R.E.M. in this debate. No contest.
@heyitsgogi - I've always assumed this referred to someone with dentures?
posted by jzb at 12:28 PM on April 13, 2023 [2 favorites]
I grew up in northern Virginia, about 25 miles from Rockville, so I've always been fond of that one.
wait wait, I always thought they were talking about Rockville, SC
posted by mygothlaundry at 12:47 PM on April 13, 2023 [1 favorite]
wait wait, I always thought they were talking about Rockville, SC
posted by mygothlaundry at 12:47 PM on April 13, 2023 [1 favorite]
I thought that phrase twofold: As a Stipean Southern neologism/tautology, like "yep, teeth are in the mouth". And also as evoking a sensation of closing your eyes meditating on the sensations of breath and tongue. (I also agree that that album has a nonzero quantity of cringe -- but it's okay, okay?)
posted by credulous at 12:49 PM on April 13, 2023
posted by credulous at 12:49 PM on April 13, 2023
Also just a thing that Southern people say, as in like 'Don't just stand there with your teeth in your mouth.'
posted by box at 1:01 PM on April 13, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by box at 1:01 PM on April 13, 2023 [4 favorites]
I've always assumed this referred to someone with dentures?
a Stipean Southern neologism/tautology
@jzb and @credulous: Both are very reasonable and generous readings! But it has always jolted me so far out of the song -- so far from the drifting off to sleep feeling that the song evokes -- that I just can't stand it.
Most of the time, I appreciate Stipe's cringey moments even if I don't love them. Lyrically, he was willing to go to some pretty strange places, and risk being very goofy, in order to find new or interesting material. And it worked a lot. But that lyric always, uh, stuck in my craw.
posted by heyitsgogi at 1:03 PM on April 13, 2023 [2 favorites]
a Stipean Southern neologism/tautology
@jzb and @credulous: Both are very reasonable and generous readings! But it has always jolted me so far out of the song -- so far from the drifting off to sleep feeling that the song evokes -- that I just can't stand it.
Most of the time, I appreciate Stipe's cringey moments even if I don't love them. Lyrically, he was willing to go to some pretty strange places, and risk being very goofy, in order to find new or interesting material. And it worked a lot. But that lyric always, uh, stuck in my craw.
posted by heyitsgogi at 1:03 PM on April 13, 2023 [2 favorites]
To me, the genius of a good REM song is that it feels like it always existed and was discovered rather than created. In other words, timeless. But of course it’s not that but rather that they channeled and materialized something that was just below the surface. (Offer void if you aren’t from a certain stratum of America at a particular time. But it worked for me.)
posted by sjswitzer at 1:08 PM on April 13, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by sjswitzer at 1:08 PM on April 13, 2023 [2 favorites]
Son Volt, the better half of Uncle Tupelo’s split, captures and possibly magnifies a lot of what appeals to me about REM. There’s the trippy/crunchy sound reminiscent of The Byrds or Neil Young, but something more recognizable as Americana to someone who grew up on the borderlands of the South. “Faulknerian” perhaps? Well, I wouldn’t be the first to say “Southern gothic.”
posted by sjswitzer at 1:23 PM on April 13, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by sjswitzer at 1:23 PM on April 13, 2023 [2 favorites]
I grew up in northern Virginia, about 25 miles from Rockville, so I've always been fond of that one.
wait wait, I always thought they were talking about Rockville, SC
Everyone's got their own personal Rockville
posted by chavenet at 2:44 PM on April 13, 2023 [5 favorites]
wait wait, I always thought they were talking about Rockville, SC
Everyone's got their own personal Rockville
posted by chavenet at 2:44 PM on April 13, 2023 [5 favorites]
I grew up in northern Virginia, about 25 miles from Rockville, so I've always been fond of that one.
wait wait, I always thought they were talking about Rockville, SC
Huh, apparently it is about Rockville, MD.
posted by eckeric at 2:51 PM on April 13, 2023 [1 favorite]
wait wait, I always thought they were talking about Rockville, SC
Huh, apparently it is about Rockville, MD.
posted by eckeric at 2:51 PM on April 13, 2023 [1 favorite]
My hot take is that "Losing My Religion" is one of the best crafted songs of the last quarter of the 20th century. So the list is manifestly bogus.
posted by morspin at 5:43 PM on April 13, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by morspin at 5:43 PM on April 13, 2023 [2 favorites]
This article and thread made me pull up my "R.E.M.emories" playlist on my flight home today. I may end up doing an AskMe about this, but I'm wondering if any other Gen Xers have a hazy memory of a Sesame Street song when they listen to Belong? There's something about the spoken vocal part that pulls me back to 1972ish.
posted by Sweetie Darling at 6:12 PM on April 13, 2023
posted by Sweetie Darling at 6:12 PM on April 13, 2023
It’s on my my mind because I’m working on a solo guitar arrangement of it, but I think feeling gravity’s pull is an amazing tune that doesn’t sound like anything else they’ve done.
posted by umbú at 4:13 AM on April 14, 2023 [5 favorites]
posted by umbú at 4:13 AM on April 14, 2023 [5 favorites]
Pretty Persuasion is still top of the heap for me, but probably because of the place and time when that album came out in my life. I had heard the first album, but Reconing was really my entry point. I have generally liked most of what they did, but man, the radio killed some songs like Stand.
Other than that, I don’t mean to be contrarian, but I don’t Sleep, I Dream, and Bang And Blame are actually my numbers 2 and 3. I guess I like Stipe at his most overtly sexual. Or maybe in his easiest-to-be-misinterpreted-as-overtly-sexual, I don’t know.
posted by Devils Rancher at 4:39 PM on April 14, 2023 [3 favorites]
Other than that, I don’t mean to be contrarian, but I don’t Sleep, I Dream, and Bang And Blame are actually my numbers 2 and 3. I guess I like Stipe at his most overtly sexual. Or maybe in his easiest-to-be-misinterpreted-as-overtly-sexual, I don’t know.
posted by Devils Rancher at 4:39 PM on April 14, 2023 [3 favorites]
I think feeling gravity’s pull is an amazing tune that doesn’t sound like anything else they’ve done.
True that. I just went down a mini rabbit hole and man, Fables sure was a bit of a shocker at the time.
posted by rhizome at 3:14 AM on April 15, 2023 [3 favorites]
True that. I just went down a mini rabbit hole and man, Fables sure was a bit of a shocker at the time.
posted by rhizome at 3:14 AM on April 15, 2023 [3 favorites]
How do you even turn a song called "Gardening at Night" into an arena rock song?
I guess I know the answer to this, as I definitely submitted this song to the band’s requests site for an arena tour in 200…3? 4? when they came through Atlanta and they played it. And it was good.
Sped up a tiny bit, as I recall, but it’s not like the original isn’t a mumblejam on its own, let’s be clear.
posted by deludingmyself at 6:11 AM on April 15, 2023 [1 favorite]
I guess I know the answer to this, as I definitely submitted this song to the band’s requests site for an arena tour in 200…3? 4? when they came through Atlanta and they played it. And it was good.
Sped up a tiny bit, as I recall, but it’s not like the original isn’t a mumblejam on its own, let’s be clear.
posted by deludingmyself at 6:11 AM on April 15, 2023 [1 favorite]
I think feeling gravity’s pull is an amazing tune that doesn’t sound like anything else they’ve done.
the second time I saw REM was the gem. That was the Fables tour. And it opened with Gravity's Pull, which still sticks with me as a lead example of a song that's pretty darned good on record, but live it achieves a whole other something for which it's hard to find words.
Put it this way. It was a packed room, a big sort of dance hall bar (capacity one thousand), probably a Saturday night. People were there to party, have fun. But Gravity's Pull fiercely announced that the band had something more serious in mind. And they delivered it all set long -- entirely on top of their game. As I recall, one of the encores was Wind Out which showed up on the rarities compilation Dead Letter Office as a sub two minute throwaway. But live, it soared, went on for way longer, Michael Stipe eventually giving up on enunciating altogether, just howling like a train horn, strange and mysterious and coming at you with dangerous momentum.
posted by philip-random at 9:48 AM on April 15, 2023 [5 favorites]
the second time I saw REM was the gem. That was the Fables tour. And it opened with Gravity's Pull, which still sticks with me as a lead example of a song that's pretty darned good on record, but live it achieves a whole other something for which it's hard to find words.
Put it this way. It was a packed room, a big sort of dance hall bar (capacity one thousand), probably a Saturday night. People were there to party, have fun. But Gravity's Pull fiercely announced that the band had something more serious in mind. And they delivered it all set long -- entirely on top of their game. As I recall, one of the encores was Wind Out which showed up on the rarities compilation Dead Letter Office as a sub two minute throwaway. But live, it soared, went on for way longer, Michael Stipe eventually giving up on enunciating altogether, just howling like a train horn, strange and mysterious and coming at you with dangerous momentum.
posted by philip-random at 9:48 AM on April 15, 2023 [5 favorites]
"Losing My Religion" was touted as the Michael-Stipe-opens-up song, but I've always thought "World Leader Pretend" was more revelatory.
posted by kirkaracha at 11:28 PM on April 15, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by kirkaracha at 11:28 PM on April 15, 2023 [1 favorite]
For comparison I think I paid $50-$60 the same year for a Paul McCartney ticket in Chicago that was so far back in the arena I was practically in the parking lot.
Examples of 1989 McCartney concert tickets appear to have prices in the range of $25 - $35.
posted by fairmettle at 1:58 PM on April 22, 2023
Examples of 1989 McCartney concert tickets appear to have prices in the range of $25 - $35.
posted by fairmettle at 1:58 PM on April 22, 2023
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I grew up in the 80s in nowhere Illinois, and REM was a blessing. So this is biased.
The band started to take a wrong turn about the time they began lip synching in music videos. Then I found out what complete assholes Peter Buck and Michael Stipe are to normal people (like wait staff).
So while I'll always love some of the early stuff as the music of my youth, I can't really call myself a fan anymore.
But also, Don't Go back to Rockville belongs higher up on the list.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 1:55 PM on April 12, 2023 [7 favorites]