REM Draft Discussion Thread

[senorsheep]

Up will be a shock to the system

Listening to Up for the first time ever right now, and five songs in... wow! I really like it so far. Apologies for being referential again, but it kinda reminds me of when The Smashing Pumpkins lost their drummer and used it as in opportunity to explore electronica on Adore. A lot of their fanbase thought that album was crap, but I thought it was really interesting to hear them in a whole new context. I think my frustration with New Adventures was/is that a lot of it falls into the "heard it before" trap. Not so with Up - here's hoping it ends as well as it begins.

[Stephen]

Photograph w/ Natalie Merchant

I think what I'm saying with this pick is...REM needed a female presence for me to like them more.

Photograph is a Natalie Merchant song "with R.E.M.". It's on a Natalie Merchant retrospective and was written by Natalie Merchant & Michael Stipe, not R.E.M.

It's fine for a pick as far as I'm concerned, but it seems more like what Natalie Merchant needed for you to like her was a male presence.

[Erik]

Impressions of the songs on page 6 of the draft thread.

Shaking Through is typical of the aggressive jangle of the early days.

Buck and Mills do great work on Belong, but I'm not a fan of the rest of it.

I LIKE Kate Pierson's part on Me in Honey. And the chugging rhythm as well.

Auctioneer (Another Engine) does a good job of using Stipe's voice as an instrument.

Pilgrimage is one of the best things on Murmur IMO. Yep, it's the bass again.

Life and How to Live It doesn't make much of an impression; generic jangle.

Like Swan Swan H, Low was one of those tracks that I could never enjoy because of excessive Stipeyness.

[Erik]

Random thoughts about the songs on page 7 that I haven't already discussed.

Turn You Inside Out is one of the best things on Green. One of the most haunting/creepy things they ever did.

Bill Berry is what gives Moral Kiosk its distinction -- a fascinating, frenetic drum part. Melodically it could be from one of any number of early '80s post-punk outfits, but the rhythm sets it apart.

Is there an album that opens with a better five tracks than Begin the Begin, These Days, Fall on Me, Cuyahoga, and Hyena? These Days is so damn joyful, you just wanna jump around whenever it comes on.

Kohoutek is solid.

Daysleeper is a nice ditty, but aside from Stipe's vocal (which is excellent) it sounds like it could have been done by any number of late '90s bands. In other words, it's a fine example of "dad rock" but we know the band is capable of much more. I would have taken Finest Worksong before it, too.

Let Me in is a touching tribute to Cobain and a fantastic lyric, but its music always struck me as by-the-numbers grunge -- wouldn't sound out of place on a Bush record. Monster's hard-rock tracks avoided that for the most part, but not here.

Oddfellows has a pulsating intensity to it that you don't always find with REM. I may be totally off-base, but Buck's work in the demo version sounds a bit like The Edge.

[johnnya24]

Listening to Up for the first time ever right now, and five songs in... wow! I really like it so far. Apologies for being referential again, but it kinda reminds me of when The Smashing Pumpkins lost their drummer and used it as in opportunity to explore electronica on Adore. A lot of their fanbase thought that album was crap, but I thought it was really interesting to hear them in a whole new context. I think my frustration with New Adventures was/is that a lot of it falls into the "heard it before" trap. Not so with Up - here's hoping it ends as well as it begins.

That's a good comparison.

I really really like Up, and I have some really good memories of when it came out. At the time of its released it wasn't "later period REM" or anything arbitrary like that ... it was just their next record after the brilliant New Adventures. There wasn't even any indication that the 90's musical peak was coming to a close ... OK Computer, Urban Hymns etc still ruled the charts. It was imaginative, catchy, risky, the usual outstanding lyrics and a great mixture of instant catchy songs and interesting experimental songs.

It's only later Up was designated as the start of a "decline", and it seems to fit nicely with Bill Berry quitting, and peoples desire to impose categories and simplify things. Not for me. Up and Reveal are great records ... as are Accelerate and Collapse.

[senorsheep]

That's a good comparison.

I really really like Up, and I have some really good memories of when it came out. At the time of its released it wasn't "later period REM" or anything arbitrary like that ... it was just their next record after the brilliant New Adventures. There wasn't even any indication that the 90's musical peak was coming to a close ... OK Computer, Urban Hymns etc still ruled the charts. It was imaginative, catchy, risky, the usual outstanding lyrics and a great mixture of instant catchy songs and interesting experimental songs.

It's only later Up was designated as the start of a "decline", and it seems to fit nicely with Bill Berry quitting, and peoples desire to impose categories and simplify things. Not for me. Up and Reveal are great records ... as are Accelerate and Collapse.

I just finished Up, and I can't wait to give it another listen. I'm definitely more enthused to try out the rest now.

[johnnya24]

I'll update the history post later ... my internet is lagging badly for some reason and opening that Draft Thread is impossible with all those videos.

Experiment failed BTW ... it does nothing to page load times to use the embedded player. When sites like Youtube move away from flash to HTML5 hopefully that will change.

[johnnya24]

I just finished Up, and I can't wait to give it another listen. I'm definitely more enthused to try out the rest now.

Reveal is somewhere between Up and a more traditional REM sound.

[Lucky]

I just finished Up, and I can't wait to give it another listen. I'm definitely more enthused to try out the rest now.

I've got some comments I'd like to share with you later.

[Erik]

Some more.

Half a World Away is a pleasant ballad. Not one of my favorites but I can see why people like it.

I Believe would be a top 2 or 3 song on almost any other album by any other band, but it's middle-of-the-pack for LRP.

1,000,000 is no Wolves, Lower but it's pretty good.

I'd never heard Fretless before. I like it better than about 3/4 of what did make it on to OOT. It's rare to see Stipe so nakedly emotional, which is probably why he didn't want it on the record.

[Pogues]

Photograph is a Natalie Merchant song "with R.E.M.". It's on a Natalie Merchant retrospective and was written by Natalie Merchant & Michael Stipe, not R.E.M.

It's fine for a pick as far as I'm concerned, but it seems more like what Natalie Merchant needed for you to like her was a male presence.

Unless you can find better proof, the Wiki page lists it as:
R.E.M. with Natalie Merchant, "Photograph"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Born_to_choose

Also on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Born-Choose-R-E-M/dp/B0000009OO

[Pogues]

Listening to Up for the first time ever right now, and five songs in... wow! I really like it so far. Apologies for being referential again, but it kinda reminds me of when The Smashing Pumpkins lost their drummer and used it as in opportunity to explore electronica on Adore. A lot of their fanbase thought that album was crap, but I thought it was really interesting to hear them in a whole new context. I think my frustration with New Adventures was/is that a lot of it falls into the "heard it before" trap. Not so with Up - here's hoping it ends as well as it begins.

I'm also listening to Up for the first time right now, and 3 tracks in I'm sorely disappointed.

[Stephen]

Hmmm, strange.

Spotify & Natalie Merchant's official site lists it as "Michael Stipe & Natalie Merchant"

But you're right, it seems that there is a mix of sites that mention R.E.M. vs Michael Stipe.

I stand corrected.

[johnnya24]

Here's a great little version of Stephen's last pick ... "Until The Day Is Done"

[Stephen]

Wow, that is a great version. I hadn't heard that before.