Matador de Froot Loops
R.E.M. was good when they began, but slowly became everything that they weren't, i respect them and like a few songs but i find the material of their last 5 albums, boring to say the least
It's true also what you guys said about Stipe, he always wanted to show he "cared" for the world's problems but always came off as bland and opportunist instead of rebellious and transcendent
desperately chilled
i don't really have any major opinions about this one way or the other, but how is he opportunist? the band worked political references in since the IRS years (cold war, reagan, vietnam, etc.) unless you feel it was dishonest then too? it's less that i disagree, but i'd like to hear more about this, since i'm just kind of confused about those opinions.
tempus est umbra in mente
New Adventures in Hi Fi is awesome
I'm not a huge fan of REM, but considering some of the truly horrifying stuff that's been defended in this thread, I'm going to say fuck that. They were a good band.
Matador de Froot Loops
It's just small things like the makeup he whore mostly in the 2000's, i mean it looked really forced, i have no problem with makeup in guys like Marilyn Manson, Rob Zombie, Nick Cave or Robert Smith but "hiding his true personality?" that sounded very forced...Originally Posted by frankieteardrop
http://www.contactmusic.com/news/sti...e-away_1009796
I have no trouble with R.E.M's political agenda in a way they had more credibility with U2, but in my mind i never considered them a political group...
desperately chilled
michael stipe has ALWAYS been a very awkward person. between mumbling during early live shows, trying to identify with himself as a queer artist as they became more successful, the guy has had a lot to cope with as the band got bigger. they were never in it to become major pop stars, but when attention began to focus on him as a frontman, he cut his hair and tried to be as outgoing as possible, evolving as a more dramatic frontman, but obviously that doesn't change who he is. instead of locking himself away like scott walker or syd barrett he chose to work with what they had as a band. the makeup is a huge extention of his insecurity, and obviously also a nod to his love of t.rex/post-punk (see 'wake up bomb,' which not only name checks the band but sounds just like a slinky cut from the slider).
but that still doesn't explain what you mean when you say he tries to care about the world's problems but falls short on being bland, especially given that you say you don't have an issue with their political agenda. they were never trying to be rebellious but had some things to say about the world as it was in the 80s, politics and the cold war. are you trying to say that his personality and makeup make him unfit to make social commentary? because there's always manic street preachers and even manson but i really don't want to steer this into another manson conversation so i'll leave it at that. or perhaps it's because he isn't as in your face as those two that makes him seem insincere with his agenda? i dunno, i still don't follow and am fine if people just don't like them for whatever reason, but to make claims like we've been hearing i'd like some more solid reasoning behind it.
as an aside, i also don't think u2 were insincere, especially in their early days. it's amazing what a slew of prominent media stories and overexposure can do for your image, though... a lot of that flak (and honestly a lot of unfair criticism of the band's worth) comes mostly from cynicism relating to bono's public image, like people just find him annoying because he's so involved with world relations. i don't like u2 these days because their post-90s records are lacking, not because of bono's agenda.
Throbbing Member
St. Anger is slowly becoming my favorite Metallica album, followed closely by Load.
Throbbing Member
Love early R.E.M, only their 80s material. Not a single note of their music hit me after 1989. Feel they literally stopped being good after the Green tour in 1989. Then they released Out of Time and became biggest band in the world. And Automatic for the People which i just found drab and boring.
Could not get into those two albums. didnt like when they introduced strings and became the Coldplay of their day.
i see a real difference between early R.E.M and stadium R.E.M , Murmur is a near masterpiece. Very calm, gentle, beautiful record. Still think Perfect Circle is their best song. I kind of saw them as an American version of The Smiths. Real good prolific 80s Indie band, Morrissey and Michael Stipe are quite similar type of people.
Murmur, Life's Rich Pagent and Green are my favourites.
House Always Wins
Never got into R.E.M. Never found anything remotely special about them to really go outside the usual go-to tracks.
Upon trying to listen to the radio earlier I can state:
Stairway to Heaven is boring and one of the worst LZ tracks ever. I cringe every time I hear the opening intro. It's a really flat and overly long song that shouldn't be revered as it is.
tempus est umbra in mente
I can't really follow you here...
If anything, he just sounds a little insecure, and that's probably the last thing I'd fault a famous person for. I can't imagine what it's like to be famous, but it's got to be a little hard when you aren't the sort of person who gets off on it.
Regarding the quality of their 90s material and on, there's some moments that are pretty great. Sure, Monster wasn't a very solid album, but What's the Frequency Kenneth is a fucking amazing single. And I will defend New Adventures in Hi Fi as being probably my favorite REM album, even despite its weaker moments.
And this is probably my favorite REM song, even if it's a little transparent and melodramatic. Sometimes that shit works
Last edited by Jinsai; 10-24-2012 at 04:21 PM.
Active Member
R.E.M. is my favorite band and while it's perfectly alright if people genuinely can't get into them, I thought I'd pop in and post a rundown of my personal favorite tracks in case they might strike a chord with someone who's having trouble. I think it's a good mixture of singles and deep cuts (frankie mentioned a couple of these already, but yeah)...
Drive
Lotus
Finest Worksong
Country Feedback
Bittersweet Me
How The West Was Won And Where It Got Us
Fretless
Low
I Don't Sleep, I Dream
What's The Frequency, Kenneth?
The Flowers of Guatemala
Radio Free Europe
Harborcoat
Nightswimming
Sweetness Follows
Try Not To Breathe
You Are The Everything
Feeling Gravitys Pull
Begin The Begin
Moral Kiosk
And for my money, the very best albums are Murmur, Lifes Rich Pageant, Out of Time, Automatic For The People and New Adventures In Hi-Fi.
Last edited by piggy; 10-25-2012 at 07:19 PM.
Active Member
I love REM up until Up. I honestly thought with that album was the point where they really started to want to become that arena rock band that U2 had become prior to them. I did think Accelerate and Collapse Into Now were good albums and probably the best things they'd done since New Adventures in Hi-Fi.
But I honestly didn't think of them as too much of a political band, to me they were always more reserved than say a band like U2. Sure, you knew where they stood on social and political issues obviously, but they weren't shoved down our throats like Bono or Chris Martin does. I also can't name a band who put out five straight albums out of the gate that were not only masterpieces, but influential to rock and roll till present day. If you really want to dig deep in the bands catalog, check out their Live at the Olympia album. It's gone tons of deep tracks and showcases how great of a live band they were.
Matador de Froot Loops
I wasn't trying to bash them as i said in a few posts ago i respect them but i've never "bought" them as a political band, that's all, i think they have awesome records mostly in the IRS years (although "Out of Time" and "Automatic for the People" are very good albums)
I couldn't get into them on their last years, i even bought "Around the Sun" and watched live in those days (Stipe had the makeup by the way), i thought the show was an enjoyable show but i found most of the new stuff very boring and found Stipe's attitude mostly "arena rock" and not punk at all (nothing wrong with that but in my mind they never were a political band, maybe the media in here didn't care for those issues...)
In closing: i respect them a lot i would be lying if i said im a huge fan, i now enough of them to know i don't like the new stuff but i think his 80's and early 90's records deserve all praise they get
Mars And Daemons
^ I still like REM.
Most controversial thing I can bring up in a discussion about music.
I like dubstep, brostep, drumstep...a lot..
Stubby Member
I fucking love Die Antwoord. They have the right combination of fucking weird and really talented that makes for something really interesting. I don't know what those two could do for their next project that would top DA.
Active Member
One thing that surprised me about REM, is their easy acknowledgment of hard rock. You'd think a band of their stature in the alternative/indie world now would pooh-pooh bands like Aerosmith (who they covered) and Van Halen (who Stipe gave props to in his Rock & Roll Hall of Fame speech).
Throbbing Member
Hearing "Feeling Gravitys Pull" (love that track so much) recently spurred me to listen to their early stuff. All I can say is I slept on the band for wayyyyyyyyyyyy too long.
Controversial opinion: Fables of the Reconstruction is probably my favourite of their albums.
desperately chilled
you know, i always thought fables was my least favorite of the IRS years, but when i was picking out standouts for my list above, i remembered how great that exact track was and gave the whole album a spin. it's definitely a lot better than i had originally ranked it.
my favorite is still life's rich pageant though. god damn, what an album. for the later years, it's new adventures by a country mile.
Throbbing Member
REM Green was the first album I ever bought (on cassette tape, bitchez), and they were my favorite band in my early teenage years until I discovered Nine Inch Nails. Everything went downhill from there.
The end.
Active Member
Pearl Jam's selftitled album is their best album There, I said it.
tempus est umbra in mente
Was that the second one? For some reason I thought it was called "Vs"
I'd say that really the only album of their's that holds up for me is Vitalogy.
Active Member
^^^
Jinsai finally says something I can get behind wholeheartedly: I disagree with most of his musical opinions, but not this one.
To me Vitalogy is their greatest hour: it took Kurt Cobain killing himself to push them to make an outstanding record. I find it gripping from start to finish.
Active Member
Nah, the one I'm referring to is the Blue one with the picture of an avocado on it.
Matador de Froot Loops
That's controversial i don't think it's the best one but it's definitely in the Top 3!
Memb, Member, The Membest
Short “intro” tracks on records make me uncomfortable. Especially the type that smoothly segues into 2nd track which is a proper song.
I mean, it's cool you let us hear you tuning instruments and whatnot — but if you make it skippable maybe think again about releasing it at all?
Or put the jamming after songs like Mars Volta does
tempus est umbra in mente
oddly enough, this is exactly the sort of thing I've been getting into lately. More and more I've been fascinated with the idea of an album being loaded with short tracks (thirty seconds and shorter for the most part) with them doing their thing, setting it out, and and then stopping. Kind of like the album Minidisc by Gescom, but with less of a randomness concept driving it.
Throbbing Member
I like it best when songs have those intros and interludes WITHIN the song - it bugs me when they get their own separate track, especially if they're under a minute. I like music to be a journey; most of my favorite songs establish a hook, then tear off in the complete opposite direction.
Active Member
The first time I heard pinion I thought my friend had fucked up the taping
Active Member
i don't mind intros when they are used properly and work...
like i love the intro to The Prodigy's "Music For The Jilted Generation"
just sets the tone perfectly as a follow up to their debut album and introduced the change of styles from their last album.
also i loved what System Of A Down did with "Mesmerize/Hypnotize" with the Solider Side intro on the first disc and the closing of the 2nd disc with the full song and how it you put em on together in a multiple CD player, when "Soldier Side" ends and the first disc starts again it just goes perfectly back to the intro track of the first disc.
Active Member
I just think, it's mad uncreative to call a first song "Intro"... or to call a skit "Skit". Why even have an extra track for a skit? A lot of rap records suffer from this bullsh*t.
Throbbing Member
Kendrick Lamar's new record is good about incorporating them within the tracks. Other people might've just put five more on there.
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