I walked into the dying remnants of Kemp Mill in Dupont yesterday. And in the depressing scene at what used to be a very cool place, surrounded by pathetic CDs being sold for $0.20, what serves as the soundtrack? REM's Monster. Seemed perfectly fitting. REM has shat the bed so thoroughly its difficult to remember how cool they were. Murmur and Reckoning put them on a plane above everyone. But they got some strange artistically self-destructive impulse. First in the form of shit pop with the likes of Stand and Shiny Happy People and then just misguided crap. Losing My Religion was a great cry for help and Automatic For the People was a great "Hey, I'm losing my shit for real" CD. Then they were lost (w/ a brief semi-return to form w/ Adventures in Hi-Fi) Michael Stipe's demise is almost on par with Syd Barrett's. Talk about aging ungracefully.
when did REM get so shit?
I'd have to say that Automatic For the People was their closest to being a return to decency in their post-Green output. Adventures in HiFi?
Originally posted by Mobius:
I walked into the dying remnants of Kemp Mill in Dupont yesterday. And in the depressing scene at what used to be a very cool place, surrounded by pathetic CDs being sold for $0.20, what serves as the soundtrack? REM's Monster. Seemed perfectly fitting. REM has shat the bed so thoroughly its difficult to remember how cool they were. Murmur and Reckoning put them on a plane above everyone. But they got some strange artistically self-destructive impulse. First in the form of shit pop with the likes of Stand and Shiny Happy People and then just misguided crap. Losing My Religion was a great cry for help and Automatic For the People was a great "Hey, I'm losing my shit for real" CD. Then they were lost (w/ a brief semi-return to form w/ Adventures in Hi-Fi) Michael Stipe's demise is almost on par with Syd Barrett's. Talk about aging ungracefully.
Originally posted by Rhett Miller:I heard OAR try to somewhat cover Bob Marley and i must say it insighted much rage in me.
I thought Guster and OAR were the seminal college rock bands?
OAR sucks eggs, and Guster is right behind them. No one should be allowed to cover Bob, or Led Zeppelin.
I've seen REM around 12 times and will see them next week as well. Always a great live show. Loved Monster and its predecessors, never got into anything after Monster,though.
I saw them in Vegas a couple of weeks ago and now that I am more in a Wilco phase, I liked the Wilco set much better. REM still put on a good show, but much of their stuff just seems dated now.
I saw them in Vegas a couple of weeks ago and now that I am more in a Wilco phase, I liked the Wilco set much better. REM still put on a good show, but much of their stuff just seems dated now.
REM Will be on Today on NBC this Friday morning.
Goddamn, has-been, washed-up sell outs! eh Rhett?
Goddamn, has-been, washed-up sell outs! eh Rhett?
I think REM lost it at around the time their lyrics stopped being unintelligible. Once you could hear what Michael Stipe was saying, it was possible to notice that a lot of the lyrics were rather dumb, whereas before it was possible to insert one's own thoughts into the parts that couldn't be understood, thus making it seem a lot more personal. But musically also, they became increasingly boring and generic. The last halfway decent album was that one with Kate Pearson on it, and even that is a far far cry from the brilliance of Chronic Town, Murmur, Reckoning, and Fables.
rem are a bunch of ring pirates.
Originally posted by bags:
[QB] Aw Mank, come on. I think all of the first eight R.E.M. albums are wonderful. Up through Automatic for the People. And I like Monster, but you could do without it.
I couldnt have said it better myself, i loved Automatic for the People and Monster was pretty good. After that……..They lost me.
Are you kidding? REM was one of the worst blends of C&W (both kinds of music, to paraphrase the owner's wife of Bob's Country Bunker) and pop. To sell music has nothing to do with talent. Get a clue.
they lost me kinda of with monster….hi-fi sort of brought me back…the load of crap they released after that…that was it
Originally posted by 2nabote:not familiar with the byrds, television, soft boys, velvet underground, wire, or big star… only one of them having a strong country influence.
Are you kidding? REM was one of the worst blends of C&W (both kinds of music, to paraphrase the owner's wife of Bob's Country Bunker) and pop. To sell music has nothing to do with talent. Get a clue.
Man On The Moon was a splendid song.
If you don't agree, well then…I suppose you spend too much time lounging about on soft cushions, forever indulging yourself in the pleasures of the palm.
If you don't agree, well then…I suppose you spend too much time lounging about on soft cushions, forever indulging yourself in the pleasures of the palm.
I have a clue and you are selling them way short. They started in 1982 and brought American jangle pop to the world, and that was a beautiful thing. The descriptor "jangle" started there, my friend.
Originally posted by 2nabote:
Are you kidding? REM was one of the worst blends of C&W (both kinds of music, to paraphrase the owner's wife of Bob's Country Bunker) and pop. To sell music has nothing to do with talent. Get a clue.
Originally posted by bags:[/QB]
I have a clue and you are selling them way short. They started in 1982 and brought American jangle pop to the world, and that was a beautiful thing. The descriptor "jangle" started there, my friend.
:eek: DUDE!!!!! Jangle dates back to the freakin' SIXTIES with bands like the Byrds. REM didn't even come CLOSE to inventing the genre. The most that could be said for them is they helped revive the sound at a time when the synth and heavy guitar effects were in ascendancy.
REM is also credited with taking "Southern Rock" away from Lynyrd Skynyrd, .38 Special, etc… and endowing it with more "gothic" tendencies.
Okay, I'll take that. But I do think they forged some new territory as well.
You will *never* see me claim to be much of a music historian. And in the end, everything has roots to something.
You will *never* see me claim to be much of a music historian. And in the end, everything has roots to something.
Originally posted by Doctor Doom::eek: DUDE!!!!! Jangle dates back to the freakin' SIXTIES with bands like the Byrds. REM didn't even come CLOSE to inventing the genre. The most that could be said for them is they helped revive the sound at a time when the synth and heavy guitar effects were in ascendancy. [/QB]
Originally posted by bags:
I have a clue and you are selling them way short. They started in 1982 and brought American jangle pop to the world, and that was a beautiful thing. The descriptor "jangle" started there, my friend.
Originally posted by bags:
Okay, I'll take that. But I do think they forged some new territory as well.
You will *never* see me claim to be much of a music historian. And in the end, everything has roots to something.
Originally posted by Doctor Doom::roll:
Originally posted by bags:
I have a clue and you are selling them way short. They started in 1982 and brought American jangle pop to the world, and that was a beautiful thing. The descriptor "jangle" started there, my friend.
All I know is REM were the original kings of that mythical genre "College Rock."
Did anyone see them on Today on NBC this morning? I was lucky enough to have left the house before they came on.
Originally posted by Bubba:I heard that song for the first time this morning on The Today Show. You hit the nail on the head, like a bad cover of one of their own songs.
Its been a bad day is on the radio right now…. Its like a bad cover version of one of their own songs.
I'd still have Peter Buck as my husband, though. :D