R.e.m.

[Prettybrokenspiral]

Probably my all-time "comfort band" ever; it's never not a good time for me to listen to their music. I didn't see any thread for them, or even so much as a mention of them on ETS, aside from that time @Lew mentioned his kid thought Michael had the worst voice in music or something. That made me laugh pretty good, I remember..

Their 90s run was nothing short of formidable, easily on par with the Smashing Pumpkins and Soundgarden for me. This was after an 80s college rock decade any indie band in history would die for. I remember sitting with a friend in Prague's Old Town Square when the news broke that they had disbanded, and I actually shed tears. I had finally gotten the opportunity to meet the band at a VIP event on their tour for Accelerate and they were the nicest guys you could ever hope to encounter. Michael told me I seemed nervous to be talking to him and that's how he knew I really liked them.

Their music videos -- especially from the 90s -- were always fun, abstract and incredibly complementary to whatever song they were supporting, the way music videos should be.

New Adventures in Hi-Fi is my favorite album of theirs. Monster, Up and Reveal are all classic af, too. It doesn't even need to be stated how fantastic and timeless Automatic For The People is, and it's released again today in a 25th anniversary edition.

I know it's cool to dislike them in the NIN universe (Starfuckers, Inc.), but I'm hoping at least a few others here love their stuff as much as I have..?

[Arcspiral]

Buying and listening to Monster on repeat in my early teens was nothing short of a revelation. That album was one of my first "aha" moments regarding music. To this day, "Tongue" is still one of my favorite songs of all time.

[talkingnothing]

The only REM albums i own are Automatic for the People, Monster, and Accelerate. Automatic for the People is one of my favorite albums, probably top 15. I got that one for my 12th birthday along with U2 Achtung Baby. By the time Monster came around i was pretty into other 90s bands like NIN so it got less of my time than Automatic. but i feel like Monster holds up better today than a lot of the other albums i liked in the 90s. Pretty sure i picked up Accelerate after reading some good reviews, but it never really connected for me. I have digital copies of several of their other albums that i got from friends, but have never really been able to get in to any of them. apart from the stuff that got radio play, i never got into the 80s output either.

[thevoid99]

Automatic for the People I believe is their best album as I only listen to it on rainy days. I also love New Adventures in Hi-Fi as I just love how messy it is and all over the place but it's got such great song. R.E.M. is a band I still love. After all, they're local boys.

[caca]

New Adventures in Hi-Fi is my favorite album of theirs. "Leave" is pure magic. I also loves me some "Undertow," "So Fast, So Numb," and "The Wake-Up Bomb."

Monster is awesome, too. "I Took Your Name" is one of their most underrated tunes IMO, and the singles from that album are all great.

Automatic for the People and Green are also favorites of mine. Excellent band.

[Exocet]

I remember R.E.M being the biggest band in the world in the early 90s...this was around 1991-1994, Unlike other huge bands of that era, R.E.M were more radio friendly and gentler, compared to Guns n Roses or Nirvana even Pearl Jam, they attracted huge audience, remember hearing tracks from Out of Time and Automatic for the People everywhere, both albums came out within 18 months of each other. seemed like everyone had either of these two records, Monster was huge too, then they seemed to fade into the background a bit

But yeah my favourite is Murmur, I think its one of the best debut albums of all time, tracks like Moral Kiosk, Pilgrimage, Perfect Circle floor me, I live in a city whenever I play it makes me want to go to the countryside.
Life's Rich Pagent is my second favourite has a slightly more direct sound, Document and Green are both amazing too, I like anything by them really up to before Bill left the group.

[thevoid99]

For me,

1. Automatic for the People
2. Murmur
3. Life's Rich Pageant
4. Reckoning
5. Document
6. New Adventures in Hi-Fi
7. Up
8. Fables of the Reconstruction
9. Green
10. Accelerate
11. Reveal
12. Monster
13. Collapse into Now
14. Out of Time
15. Around the Sun

[piggy]

R.E.M. is my favorite band with NIN right there at a close second. I have mentioned or referenced them many times on this board. Not super fond of everything they did from 2001-2011, but they fucking ruled.

[bobbie solo]

obvious point is obvious:

this video was super important and has always stuck with me, part. the ending on the traffic jammed freeway:

[thevoid99]

My gripe about Around the Sun is that I just found it to be very boring musically. Stipe's vocals were great but a lot of the music just seemed uninspired.

[Boots]

They've always been one of my favorite bands. My mom's sister lives in their hometown. My favorite tracks are What's the Frequency Kenneth, The One I Love, Losing My Religion, and Orange Crush.

[frankie teardrop]

god dam jaw-droppingly good stunner.

my favorite record is probably lifes rich pageant followed closely by new adventures in hi-fi. love most of their records, except for the one we all don't like...

[kel]

"nightswimming" is one of my all-time favorite songs.

monster personifies 8th grade for me. in a good way. such a great record.

trying to decipher the lyrics led to some great inside jokes. most involving "star 69".

[astfgyl]

obvious point is obvious:

this video was super important and has always stuck with me, part. the ending on the traffic jammed freeway:

Watched this video lately and it struck me that if it were to be made nowadays, all of the people in their cars would be on smartphones videoing the situation. It is a sad situation we are in when nobody can live in the real world anymore.

Anyway, back to the main idea, which album would anybody here recommend to somebody who only ever took a passing interest in REM to get started with? I don't actually like Everybody Hurts, but strangely enough, don't mind Shiny Happy People. Also didn't enjoy the Monster album when I heard it years ago. Mostly into heavy rock and 80s pop, but wouldn't mind giving these lads a go just to see if there is anything there for me

[henryeatscereal]

I like them, i love "Monster" (glad to find so much love for that album), but i like them even more during thier "I.R.S. Years" (80's REM)

Lots of songs from the "IRS Era" are very underrated and/or forgotten: "Pretty Persuation", "So, central rain, "Radio Free Europe" are great tunes...

[piggy]

Anyway, back to the main idea, which album would anybody here recommend to somebody who only ever took a passing interest in REM to get started with? I don't actually like Everybody Hurts, but strangely enough, don't mind Shiny Happy People. Also didn't enjoy the Monster album when I heard it years ago. Mostly into heavy rock and 80s pop, but wouldn't mind giving these lads a go just to see if there is anything there for me

For the rock side of things, you're gonna want to look into Lifes Rich Pageant and Accelerate. For the pop side, you'll want to check out Out of Time and Green.

[astfgyl]

For the rock side of things, you're gonna want to look into Lifes Rich Pageant and Accelerate. For the pop side, you'll want to check out Out of Time and Green.

Thanks for that, I'll start giving those a run through and see how it goes. I'll probably start with the pop stuff

[Lew]

fuck yeah. can't believe there was no thread on rem. they are one of my all time favourite bands. my favourite track is "end game", and has been since the first time i heard it when the album came out. @Prettybrokenspiral fyi: my kid suffers from a lack of taste, in my unhumble opinion...but he sees it as the reverse so i guess all is well.
it is odd though, he likes gord downie's voice and i find stipe and downie sound alike in a lot of ways.
also, i am sure that i have generated youtube based revenue for rem via "popsong 89" and "lotus" videos being slavishly watched. sigh. nothing makes me smile quite like a half dressed stipe shaking himself around.
ea: dead letter office is a treat.

[Shadaloo]

Drive is one of the best songs ever fucking written, thx

[Reznor2112]

Drive is one of the best songs ever fucking written, thx

THIS...times 1000.

Drive and Turn You Inside Out are my two favorite.

[piggy]

Here's a cool mini documentary on AFTP that was recently posted.

[GulDukat]

Micky Dolenz Sings R.E.M. is out November 3.