REM Draft Discussion Thread

[Erik]

World Leader Pretend was on my rapidly dwindling list.

[Lucky]

Just saying...our numbers changed considerably when we added a drafter, and this last round of posts have some screwed up numbering. I think we're still in order, but it's getting hard to tell.

[Erik]

World Leader Pretend was on my rapidly dwindling list.

And so was Harborcoat.

[Pogues]

I mean, look at the first friggin' track, "Radio Song". You all want to deny that the song never existed. That it wasn't part of that record. It was the band's choice to LEAD with that song.

But...but...I said I like it...

[Erik]

Just saying...our numbers changed considerably when we added a drafter, and this last round of posts have some screwed up numbering. I think we're still in order, but it's getting hard to tell.

We are. Here are the proper numbers since we skipped FB:

7.04 (Erik)
7.05 (JonCarlos)
7.06 (Long John)
7.07 (Johnny)
7.08 (Pogues)
7.09 (DMT)
7.10 (Stephen)
7.11 (Senorsheep)

[Pogues]

And so was Harborcoat.

Mother @#$(@#$ Sheep...I debated long and hard between We Walk and Harborcoat. I went with We Walk mostly because it was from their first album and I believed it had less of a chance of making it back to me.

Well, at least Harborcoat locks in my next pick.

[Stephen]

Isn't Sheep supposed to make another pick?

[joncarlos]

New Adventures was actually quite a spontaneous record. It was mostly wrote and rehearsed on the road. They apparently used the sound checks at gigs on the Monster Tour to trial and flesh out songs. I remember reading that several of the tracks are actually recorded straight from the sound checks ... could be wrong there.

Sounds like you gave the record 1 listen ... it's not an immediate record, so I don't think it will be able to gives over it's true value with only a couple of listens. A bit like Monster, it's one of the records that gets better the more you listen.

Up will be a shock to the system

Your recollection matches mine. I have always loved road albums. That's probably why I love HiFi. Interestingly, I really DON'T like Monster. I feel like HiFi, because it was written on the road, forced them to take out a lot of what I didn't like about Monster, and distill it down to something simpler.

[johnnya24]

It's getting old saying this, but how was Harborcoat still around?

... and World Leader Pretend

A: because there are too many great tunes.

[Erik]

Isn't Sheep supposed to make another pick?

Yes he is.

[Stephen]

I tried to PM him but he isn't receiving private messages.

[senorsheep]

Sorry, I lost my network signal in the blizzard. Un momento, por favor...

[Lucky]

Fans will forever differ on Out of Time. I don't like Radio Song, but there is a time and a place for Shiny, Happy People. But even if you disregard those two, everything else on OOT is good, and at least two or three of the songs are great.

It is an extremely rare album that has no warts. A lot of band fanatics will point to a certain album by their faves and say it is flawless, but that's seldom the case. I've found less than twenty albums in 45 years of listening that I thought were perfect from beginning to end, without a bad cut. I don't think there is any REM album that way.

We'll disagree on whether REM matured. I'll just say that jangly guitars, low-fi production and opaque lyrics will only get you so far. I think Stipe matured as a songwriter, and I can say with some authority that Mike Mills matured as a bass player. I also feel Peter Buck grew by leaps and bounds from his beginnings, which seemed at times like a Roger McGuinn impersonator.

Everybody Hurts was an important song, as much for the message and the directness of the message as anything. It seemed to get a huge response every time they played it.

Some of the "early REM" die-hards remind me of early Beatle fans, still clinging to "Beatles for Sale" a couple of years later when "Revolver" was released. A matter of taste.

[bryanbutler]

7 Chinese Brothers was my next pick. but i didn't assume it'd make it back to me ...

[Stephen]

I've been sitting here trying to pick between the song that I prefer and the one that I know won't make it back to me. "Until the Day is Done" isn't one of their most well known songs, but I think it's beautiful and probably a top 5 R.E.M. song for me and I couldn't not take another chance that it might go unnoticed in this crowd.

Someone else will likely make a steal of a pick with the other song I was considering here, but I'd rather make sure I have "Until..." in my playlist.