REM=DEAD

They were one of my must see bands and first time I saw them was in New Orleans for Voodoo Fest and it was awesome.  Saw them again at Merriweather like two years ago.  Always an entertaining live show  ;D

hutch wrote:
I still vommit when I hear Shiny Happy People.

That too . . . Green is alright . . . awesomely alright. Pop song 89 playing right now. In my itunes it's the first of their albums that's classified as "Alternative". . . just an aside.

Brian_Wallace wrote:

ggw wrote:
On a road-trip down to Georgia earlier this year, I listened (in chronological order by release date, of course) to every album from Chronic Town through Document.  It was awesome.  The band started to lose me with Green (which i find kind of hit-or-miss) and completely lost me with Monster.   Haven't really cared for anything they released after that.  Maybe some of it is "good" or "interesting" but I think it all pales in comparison to those first seven albums (five albums, an EP, and a compilation if you want to get technical about it).

I think "Green" and "New Adventures In Hi-Fi" are really underrated.  Especially "Green."  The singles are probably my least favorite songs on that album.  "World Leader Pretend".  How can you declare an album "hit-or-miss" that contains one of the best first lines ever ("I am not the type of dog that could keep you waiting for no good reason/Run a carbon-black test on my jaw and you will find it's all been said before.")  Top THAT lyric, Bono!  You can't!  You just CAN'T.  I don't care if you cure cancer/successfully convince the world you're not bald and 5'4".

Jeez.  I have to listen to "I Remember California."  RIGHT NOW!  That's one of the great lost R.E.M. songs.  You either get that one or not.  So mysterious and evocative.  Like a Steely Dan song, if Steely Dan had surfed.

Brian

I'll gladly give you I Remember California, World Leader Pretend, Turn You Inside Out, and Orange Crush.  Stand sounds like a crappy children's song.  Much of the rest is just passable and the mandolin and accordion schtick gets a little tiring.

And I find Stipe to be a narcissistic, fatuous ass.

hutch wrote:
I still vommit when I hear Shiny Happy People.

I got over that. Now I just get a migraine

Thousand wrote:

Brian_Wallace wrote:

R.E.M. are one of the greatest bands ever just for this quote from Michael Stipe: "?I've always referred to the Beatles as elevator music, because that's exactly what they were."

Brian

Wow. I just developed a whole new respect for Stipe and REM.

Well if you like the quote because it's negative towards the Beatles, then you should also know the full context of the quote from Rolling Stone.

''The Monkees and the Banana Splits meant a lot more - and whoever did 'Yummy, Yummy, Yummy,' '' says Stipe, 34. ''That was the stuff I knew and loved.''

I guarantee if forced to be on a desert island with the complete discography of the Monkees/Banana Spilts or the Beatles you're taking the later.

Probably. Doesn't make me hate the fucking Beatles any less.

The Green tour was one of the first concerts I ever went to. REM did not disappoint. I came across this setlist and its pretty insane. From the Shoreline Amphitheater

1. Stand
2. The One I Love
3. So. Central Rain
4. Turn You Inside-Out
5. Belong
6. Orange Crush
7. Good Advices
8. Exhuming McCarthy
9. Feeling Gravitys Pull
10. World Leader Pretend
11. These Days
12. Pilgrimage
13. Future 40s
14. I Believe
15. I Remember California
16. Get Up
17. Auctioneer (Another Engine)
18. It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)

Encore
1. Pop Song 89
2. Fall On Me
3. You Are The Everything

Encore
1. Harpers
2. Begin the Begin
3. King of Birds
4. Strange

Encore
1. Low
2. Finest Worksong
3. Perfect Circle
4. Dark Globe
5. Word Up
6. After Hours

ggw wrote:
On a road-trip down to Georgia earlier this year, I listened (in chronological order by release date, of course) to every album from Chronic Town through Document.  It was awesome.  The band started to lose me with Green (which i find kind of hit-or-miss) and completely lost me with Monster.

Couldn't have said it better myself.  Green is ok.  Everything that came after is complete garbage.

Their first three full lengths are among my favorite records, though.  They may have been the best band on the planet during that time frame.  Maybe except the Mats.

Thousand wrote:
Probably. Doesn't make me hate the fucking Beatles any less.

LOL. That's cool.
I just thought some context was needed. If not, it's kinda like digging Stalin 'cause he hated Hitler.

Highlights of my REM concert days-

Theme song from Barney Miller,  Dont fear the Reaper, and other requests because they ran out of music (w/ 200 people @ a tiny place in Scotia, NY) 1981

Up front, inside a speaker @ the Boston U. gym- English Beat opened  (responsible for my tinnitus)1983

Best opener ever-  Minutemen @ The Mosque in Richmond 1985ish

Didn't get much better than the Gargoyle EP and Murmur,  as far as ANY "progressive rock" is concerned

RIP

Bagley wrote:
Highlights of my REM concert days-

Theme song from Barney Miller,  Dont fear the Reaper, and other requests because they ran out of music (w/ 200 people @ a tiny place in Scotia, NY) 1981

Up front, inside a speaker @ the Boston U. gym- English Beat opened  (responsible for my tinnitus)1983

Best opener ever-  Minutemen @ The Mosque in Richmond 1985ish

Didn't get much better than the Gargoyle EP and Murmur,  as far as ANY "progressive rock" is concerned

RIP

Didn't realize you went to the Mosque show.  Small world.

okay, so I think I may have over-attended at 13 shows: Good Skates Roller Rink, Setauket, NY (Dream Syndicate opened and were awful); Nassau Coliseum opening for Squeeze and The English Beat, 2 GWU Smith Center Shows, 2 DAR shows, 2 Cap Center Shows, 2 Patriot Center Shows, Richmond Mosque Show, UNLV Thomas and Mack Center (Wilco opening), Merriweather Post Pavillion…

all were enjoyable shows, thanks to Seth, Rich & IMP for 9 of them…i think that REM may have been a gateway act for IMP to reach into the arena show world?

the break will be good, and I'll be at the 3 night stand of reunion shows in 5 years at 9:30…

So does one unlock a badge or get a sticker from getglue for not liking beatles?  Because that's pretty much all that opinion is worth…

kosmo wrote:
So does one unlock a badge or get a sticker from getglue for not liking the nestles?  Because that's pretty much all that opinion is worth…

People are allowed to hate The Beatles.  I can give you 50 reasons off the top of my head and none of them involve the Magical Mystery Tour.  Sorry to upset your world view.  That's reason #1 right there:

Reason To Hate the Beatles #1:  If you hate ANY other band, no big deal.  Who cares?  But if you HATE the Beatles, it's assumed that you are being contrary or are stupid.  Beatles fans are THAT arrogant.  When in reality Beatles fans are incredibly naive and un-adventurous.  To Beatles fans, the Beatles are the ONLY band.  No band can come close.  It's a pretty pathetic way to view life.  Look at Noel Gallagher.  It's like being a fan of the Yankees.

However, The Nestles?  I LOVE the Nestles.  Especially their early stuff.  Before they sold out and became a video game.

Brian

as usual a poorly broadly drawn argument from bw….

I first saw R.E.M. when they opened for the English Beat and at the time I didn't know anything about them.  They left an impression, but I was far more into the Beat that night.

Saw them for at least the three tours up to and including Green.  Including one memorial night when a very drunk Replacements came out as a surprise middle act on the bill.  If the Mats intent was to win over new fans that night, they didn't do a real bang up job with it.  Set include a incredible sloppy rendition of "I only had a brain" with Paul on drums.

Think I saw them one more time after that when some friends got a chance to open for them in NJ in the late 90s.

kosmo wrote:
So does one unlock a badge or get a sticker from getglue for not liking beatles?  Because that's pretty much all that opinion is worth…

People under the age of 60 who are hardcore Beatles fans are big-time simpletons. I went through a Beatles phase. I was 18 and it lasted about a year, when I discovered newer, more relevant shit. That's the thing with the Beatles…they're irrelevant. Two of them are fucking dead. Yes, they'll always have being "the fucking Beatles" going for them. They helped revolutionize rock. I've listened to the second half of Abbey Road a billion times. They had some great albums. But there is just so much other great music out there, to pidgeon-hole yourself to the Beatles is just sad. It's simple shit.

First time I saw them was opening for The Police during Murmur tour.  Last time was at Vote for Change in Philly.  I think their last great album was Document.  Losing My Religion marked their downward turn for me. 

so basically the argument is that The Beatles are horrible, because they have hardcore fans.  Newsflash that argument could made about any band with a hardcore fan base. i.e. Pearl Jam, Radiohead, Wilco, Pink Floyd, Phish, GBV, etc, etc, etc.

pigeon-holeing is distateful to everyone, including the pigeon

the beatles are/were a great and influential band

REM are/were as well, but probably not as great or as influential

those of us on rock club "boards" not likely all that great or influential (other than James Ford)