Rem

What REM albums would be people recomend? I have Reveal and I like it a lot, I've been listening to that a lot recently and want to get more into REM. I've downloading some classics such as loosinh my religion and everybody hurts on MP3 but they sound crap and I want them on proper CD. Also is "UP" any good, I've seen it brand new in music zone for £5.

 

yes you are a rem

 

"Green"and "Out of time" are both good albums

Robert

 

The tracks you mention are on out of time and automatic for the people, respectively.

Cheers, Robbo

 

AT, I'm a big fan of "Reveal" as well (seems a bit of a love or hate album amongst most folks) and I don't think you'll really find an REM album like it elsewhere.

Personal fav's are "Reveal", "Automatic for the People" (I still don't think it's as good as most people say, though.), "Out of time", "Green", "Document" and bizarrely "New Adventures in hi-fi".

"NAIH" can be picked up pretty cheap these days and features some stunning stuff; none more so than "Leave". If you can get a decent MP3 copy of that - give it a try .

"Up" has some cracking tracks on it too but, IMHO, overall - it's a bit average (for REM).

Q have an REM guide on the go at the mO' ....

http://www.q4music.com/nav?page=q4music.now.news&fixture_news=411700&resource=411700

....but their longterm judgement is pathetic. Point in case; they gave "Reveal" 5 out of 5 when it came out and went mental for it but as the guide shows, they now give it 2 ?!?!?

(Q are awful for this. They once stated that "Millionaires" by James was the best album they had ever done and gave it 4 out of 5 but the month before they had doen a big interview with them and gave opinion on their other albums. They gave "Laid" 5 out of 5. Eh ?)

 

Murmer is worth owning for "Perfect circle" alone! A truly beautiful song!

 

Oh dear - how embarrasing - i have everything they have ever done - albums,comps,most singles,promo cd's etc etc. All from my years of teenage angst, when i thought they were the nut muts and raved about them a bit like Q-magazine used to be a bit sycophantic to Stipe and crew. Saw them in Huddersfield in 94(?) too?

These days i rarely listen to them. But personal favourites:

Automatic (sweetness follows/nightswimming/find the river)

Out of Time(Belong/Half a world away)

Document (Exhuming McCarthy/End of the world..../One i Love),

Lifes Rich Pageant (Fall on Me/These Days)

Green.(You are the everything/World Leader Pretend/The Wrong Child).

FOTR (maps and legends/can't get there from here)

Don't really listen to the later albums much - my REM phase was dying by then. I think i overdosed on REM generally, as i rarely listen anymore.

I actually tend top prefer many of the tracks which weren't such big commercial successes or released as singles.

MO has sound taste - 'Perfect Circle' is excellent from Murmur - i'm gonna put it on now - haven't listened to it in ages, cheers mate.

Thanks for the nostalgia.

Personally i would start with Automatic, and then work backwards through the catalogue.

cheers

(My REM trivia knowledge used to know no bounds so i'll stop now)

 

Funny you should ask…

Having recently resurrected my turntable, I dug out loads of old records the other night and gave them a spin. Every REM LP was there, up to and including Green. Like Cookiemonster I really used to like this lot, but listening to them again after a long break, I thought they sounded dated. Part of the problem, I feel, is Michael Stipe's studied obtuseness and a grinding predictability.

Maybe they're like olds friends I've outgrown. Still, I'd recommend Murmur and Reckoning – their earliest and, to my ears, most honest records.

 

Well Ron (welcome BTW), i've just stuck Murmur on the spinner after reading this thread, and i must agree with the above. I probably haven't played this for 5+years easy, but it all came flooding back (i was a real hardcore:SLEEP: lyrics/DOB, everything, even Magnus would not have caught me out - i even knew every word to End of the World....:SLEEP: ). Perfect Circle still sounds good, and Pilgrimage is 'nice', with 'catapult' and 'laughing' being other highlights for me, but definitely dated, and something i have probably grown away from (and saturated in the past anyway). This album is 1983 BTW.

Incidentally, the quality was excellent - never listened to it on my current rig and i was pleasantly surprised. Never knew the bass sounded like that


Did you know that they were originally thinking of calling themselves 'Cans of p*ss'! Straight up - REM is also purely abstract as a name. Sorry i've gone into trivia mode.....:SLEEP:

'Nightswimming' is sublime btw IMO and will not date, and there are others.

The 'Monster' 'experiment' was not entirely my cup of tea either.

New Ad in Hi-fi was much better.

Must stop....

cheers:MILD:

 

I thought monster was dire. That was my last REM album.

Robbo

 

My older brother (28 to my 23years) was a big REM fan too. I used to raid his music collection when younger (still do ). REM and, the also mentioned, James were two of the main items to take a visit to my hifi One of the first "proper" bands I listened to! James seemed to have gone very much the way REM have, though obviously on a much smaller scale. Both peaking and then seeming to fade away. Though the newer releases of both have an initial "yeah good stuff! return to form" effect, they tend to fade off quite quick. Definitely worth investigating their back catalogues though!

Cockie`ead. It may well have been yourself, on a REM live thread over on GH I mentioned perfect circle and someone said Peter Buck had wrote it about a girlfriend or something. Think that's what it was anyhooooo???

As for seeing them live, seen the cardiff arms park gig on the MOnster tour. I believe Dom was there, aMOngst others.

MO

 

Robbo - interesting, that, on Monster - that's like Reveal - a polariser.

I've played Reveal 3 times and just don't get the hype... Monster's good in a grungy kind of way (I think I *really* liked it 'cos I thought he sang "She's a scented ladel" on track 2, when he really sings "She's a sad tomato" so that kind of tripped me out!

Green, Document and Murmer (only heard once) are the stand outs for me - Out of time and Automatic are both good, but Green is better.

Roll on Friday night on the Pyramid(?) stage!!!! Aaaah - 8 years since I last saw them live...

 

i thought reveal was rubbish too

 

Reveal was a steaming pile. Imitation of Life was probably the best track off of it, but even that, like the rest of the album, was horribly over-produced. For my money, since Green, the my favourite album is Monster. Out of Time and Automatic For The People are probably as good too, but they have been so over-played that I wouldn't mind not hearing anything of either of them for ten years.

If anyone's going to see them this year, looks like they're going to be mixing the setlist up quite a bit. A story on the NME site here shows the first two sets of the tour.

 

I have just been to my favourite record shop (King Bee's in Chorlton, Manchester) and got Automatic For The People. It plays like brand new, not a single sratch for £4! I am happy, it sounded great, it has a lot of songs I like I never even realised were REM!

I nearly cried when I heared Everybody hurts for the first time in HIFI. Vynil is addicted, but vynil pays off.

I am very

 

you'll probably find yourself playing this album over and over now! And eventually kill it! As with MOst, it's better to ration it.

Ohhhhhhhhh the sweetness follows!

A line to tell ya woman if she's a little reluctant nudge nudge wink wink

 

Eponymous is a good rendition of their earlier stuff if you want a taster. Went to see them a couple of years ago at Earls Court... Thought it was a bit strange when they started playing a few of their older songs, and there were only my mate (of similar age) & myself 'moshing' (as they call it now..?.). Everyone else seemed to be looking at each other saying 'what the hell is this?'.
Then I realised I was old.
Still prefer their earlier stuff.