Link: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/r-e-m-break-up-after-three-decades-20110921?link=mostpopular1
So does this mean Bill Rieflin will come back to Al? lol…
I have always been a fan. I never got the appeal of Automatic For The People, which to many was their opus - funny.
They really went to shit in areas after Berry left. Reveal and Around The Sun were terrible albums, with only glimpses at originality.
I don’t know much of their material, except the obvious big hits, so I’m listening now.
EDIT - Listened to “Uberlin” just now I think it’s a good song but not really a big progression of their sound so maybe it was time to end it.
I mean we might shit on Al but at least his music now sounds way different than the shit he was doing in the early nineties.
I’m a big fan of their 90’s albums - from Automatic To The People to Up.
Their 80’s (much lauded) period sounds anaemic for the most part - like a sub par Byrds meets The Smiths.
But those 4 albums: Automatic For The People, Monster, New Adventures In Hi Fi, Up …are timeless.
Good that they’ve broken up tho. The magic was LONG GONE.
Whenever I hear R.E.M.'s music or hear someone talking about R.E.M. or read the words ‘R.E.M.’ in print I yawn.
But I would like to see Bill back on the ex-Ministry/Ministry victim scene. Well I’d like to see all the old Ministry faces back together in an act, minus Jourgensen.
I only like the '80s stuff. One of these days I need to get the IRS Years collection, since it’s every REM song I could possibly want.
Rieflin’s about to tour with The Humans, so I imagine he’s not hurting.
The early stuff, especially Reckoning, are the classics. Everything up to and including Green was great. They jumped the shark with Out Of Time, which had 1 or 2 great songs but was full of really awful stuff as well. Automatic was a surprise and was great because of the melancholy tone. Everything after that was pretty unlistenable. Too poppy for my taste.
Even if some pundits say this should have happened years ago, when there ever been so much disagreement over the high points of the first twenty years of a band’s output?
For as many fans who laud the first four albums as the most definitive there’s as many who celebrate the first few Warner Bros albums as being their best. I think that’s damn impressive.
I saw REM in 2003 as a casual listener (having only owned Automatic and Out of Time) when that turd Reveal was their latest. Stipe was a consummate performer and the band showcased a large catalog of songs I knew I had to immediately go explore. Absolutely no regrets in discovering how many timeless songs they recorded in the 80s as well as the occasional gem they continued up until their demise. Haven’t heard the new one but Accelerate was in my opinion what Monster thrived to be.
I look forward to seeing Bill the Cat’s name in more liner notes now that he has a freer schedule.
First started getting into R.E.M around the time Up was coming out. Bought Up, loved it, so about a week later I ran out and bought five cds from their back catalogue.
Sadly Up was their last good one. Reveal onwards…oh boy, just terrible.
My favourites in order:
Automatic For The People
Murmur
Up
Monster
New Adventures In Hi Fi
Reckoning
Document
Out Of Time
Life’s Rich Pageant
IMO I think Monster got a majorly bad wrap, of course it strayed from their normal fare but a lot of groups put out really “almost generic” 90’s albums - Urge Overkill had ‘Saturation’, Sonic Youth had ‘Dirty’…the list goes on.
In fact, the last half of Monster was very similar in the experimentation they dabbled with on ‘Hifi’.
Terrible fucking band. The embodiment of whiny college wuss rock. Imagine if Morrissey started acting like Bono and tried saving the world through song. And then got a Sinead O’Conner fixation and shaved his head. That’s Michael Stipe - a cross between Morrissey, Bono and Sinead O’Conner.
Saw REM play a gig in 1990, with Living Colour as the opening act. Should have left after Living Colour. Michael acted like a sensitive new age Jesus and kept hugging himself and swaying from side to side. Occasionally he would wipe a tear from his eyes.
At some point, he dedicated some shit awful garbage indie mandolin strumm workout to “all the babies in the world who are dying of Aids.”
I thought, well they might be dying of Aids, Mr Stipe, but at least they don’t have to stand here and listen to this.
Good riddance and fuck off.
amlux has just become my new favorite poster.
Late,
grmpysmrf
At some point, he dedicated some shit awful garbage indie mandolin strumm workout to “all the babies in the world who are dying of Aids.”
I’m actually going to do this at my gig on Saturday night, because I think it’s one of the funniest things I’ve read all day.
And yes, I do own a mandolin.
Wasn’t there a rumour going around at some point that Michael Stipe had died of AIDS and was secretly replaced by a butch dyke skinhead chick with a fucked up voice and no tits?
Or maybe I just dreamt the whole thing?
I remember R.E.M. played on Jools Holland about 7 or 8 years ago and they played that song about skinny dipping; the guy with the fuzzy hair and glasses was playing on the piano while Stipe leaned over the piano gazing into his bandmate’s eyes as he played. I puked. That piano became a paino.
Rieflin’s about to tour with The Humans, so I imagine he’s not hurting.
Everybody hurts, Dude.
Michael acted like a sensitive new age Jesus and kept hugging himself and swaying from side to side. Occasionally he would wipe a tear from his eyes.
Maybe Trent Reznor didn’t invent Emo after all?
Next you’re going to try to tell me that Diddy didn’t invent the remix, aren’t you?
What didn’t Diddy do? R.E.M. was one of those bands that I was pretty whatever about. Couple good songs, but can’t say I ever really gave them a decent shot. If you had to recommend a single album for a noob, what would it be?
What didn’t Diddy do? R.E.M. was one of those bands that I was pretty whatever about. Couple good songs, but can’t say I ever really gave them a decent shot. If you had to recommend a single album for a noob, what would it be?
Automatic for the People.
Late,
grmpysmrf