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Not a band I've ever really listened too.
I know a couple of tracks to be theirs but I would struggle to name them.
On 6Music last night I heard one of their tracks unplugged and it sounded great.
Sooooo ..... If I were to listen to one of their albums start to finish where should I start?
My favourites:
Automatic For The People
Green
Either of those are great and I'll add Document to the list.
Out of Time and Automatic for the people were the crossover successes, Green and document were probably them at their indie best .
Fabulous band, you'll not be dissapointed
+1 Document.
Eponymous is a great collection of their indie stuff. Good place to start.
I liked that song about pushing an elephant up the stairs... Can't remember the album but it was a long time after the success of Automatic which was an amazing album, but IMO, it hasn't aged very well...
Right, thanks you chaps. I've got Automatic For The People on now.
This is on Document I think
Elephant up the stairs was up.
Second out of time. Green is excellent, automatic for the people also had some great stuff though didn't work for me in quite the same way.
Eponymous is a good starter, monster is rather different to most of their other albums but certainly up there for me.
New adventures in Hifi is probably not a great "starter"
In practice I'd recommend most of their stuff. Personally though I'd probably stay away from dead letter office.
Love Automatic and Out of Time, later ones too, but also Murmur is rather good I think.
REM did a collaborative album with the Troggs - "Athens Andover", jamba will love that
Most of them are decent - If I was going to pick just one it would probably be Green - iirc that was the last one before the mandolins.
Elephant up the stairs is called The Great Beyond and wasn't on any studio albums but was recorded as part of the Man on the Moon soundtrack.
I'd recommend Life's Rich Pagaent from their earlier albums which loses some of the inscrutability (a bad thing for some) and where they started to aim for the big time with a bit more crunch.
New Adventures in Hi-Fi is a fan favourite and actually contains some of their best songs.
That said, most folks will start with Automatic and Out of Time which is how most people think of REM.
Document, even easier stuff I really like (maybe as I first saw them in days of Fables and so on).
one of my all time favourites, unplugged makes me shiver --
No one else liked it much but Fables of the Reconstruction is still a favourite of mine along with Murmur and Reckoning.
hi fives to avdave2 🙂
Funny how the world moves on- it only seems yesterday that REM and U2 were touted as the two biggest bands in the world.. awarded the most expensive recording contract ever at one stage iirc.
Murmur was the first album of theirs I bought, on the back of Radio Free Europe.
They seem a bit like Talking Heads to me, huge in their time, but now rarely mentioned- I still find their music phenomenal, but I don't get out much these days, and I'm not sure what people who didn't grow up with the band think when hearing their music- has it stood the test of time?
Murmur. Radio Free Europe is awesome.
I would still see Talking Heads as one of the most influential bands ever, you can hear their influence in lots of later stuff, still on my playlist
Out of Time for me is just brilliant
I am a bit left field to most I really like Monster
track 10 is my favourite - Let me in. just a fantastic piece of music and lyric combination.
I'd recommend Life's Rich Pagaent from their earlier albums which loses some of the inscrutability (a bad thing for some) and where they started to aim for the big time with a bit more crunch.
Yeah, that's my favourite from the IRS period. Fall On Me and Begin the Begin are the two stand out tracks IMO.
Not REM, but a couple of interesting Stype covers from Youtube:
Can you tell I'm a Maniacs/Merchant fan?
Out Of Time made me discover REM back around A-Levels time, quite a melancholy album, but it was enough for me to hunt down most of their album back-catologue... I had no idea ta the time that they had stuff going back to ~1980! 😯
About the only song I don't really like that much on Out Of Time is Shiny Happy People, far too cheery and it was played to death on MTV! 😆
Shocking how old Michael Stipe looks now! 😯
I wish I hadn't clicked on that link, I didn't know Out Of Time is 25 years old! 😯
Murmur
Lifes Rich Pageant
Document
Would be my pick. They were a superb band at their peak, brilliant live on the Green tour, but started going off the boil after that.
sadtomato - Member
Elephant up the stairs is called The Great Beyond and wasn't on any studio albums but was recorded as part of the Man on the Moon soundtrack.
I'll go to the foot of our stairs, you're right. I'd put two and two together based on my vague recollections of release dates and clearly got 3.
"What's the frequency Kennith" ?
I'm with kcal and avdave2 loved all the early albums, Reckoning in particular, up to Automatic for the people.
Saw them a few times in concert, really good live band almost made enduring The Cranberries as a support act worthwhile!
I like them and all (REM), used to listen to them a lot, but I don't think they were ever that special (in hindsight). Crossover success of an indie band in the 80s was extremely rare, I mean it didn't happen, so they got a huge amount of attention that their music doesn't really stand up to IMHO.They seem a bit like Talking Heads to me, huge in their time, but now rarely mentioned- I still find their music phenomenal, but I don't get out much these days, and I'm not sure what people who didn't grow up with the band think when hearing their music- has it stood the test of time?
Talking Heads just a totally different league. You can put on [i]remain in light[/i] or [i]fear of music[/i] today and it still sounds exceptional.
I'm with (giant_scum) kcal and avdave2 loved all the early albums, Reckoning in particular, up to Automatic for the people.
Saw them on the Fables and Green Tours ('85 & '89) at Barrowlands.
Can't remember the last time I played them though...
They were always fantastic live and all the early stuff, that on record tends to sound rather 'thin', sounds much better live IMHO. I'd therefore maybe track down a live album. I think the only official one might have the 2005 "Live" album.
'Unplugged 1991/2001: The Complete Sessions' is well worth a listen
Saw them several times but the highlight would be at Madison Square Garden in 2003. Absolutely unbelievable.
I think they get a bad press as they hit mainstream success around the same time grunge was big, so they were always seen as being a bit "dad rock" against the Seattle scene.
They opened the MSG gig with this and it's still a favourite
[quote=vinnyeh ]Funny how the world moves on- it only seems yesterday that REM and U2 were touted as the two biggest bands in the world..
Like it or loathe it, U2 are probably still one of the biggest bands in the world. Still selling out massive arena tours.
My favourite..well;one of perhaps 20, R.E.M song.
Massive R.E.M fan. Started to like them based on Out of Time, used to pester my folks to play it. Actually prefer the earlier stuff though. There's a good best of.. covering the early years which I really like, cant rember the name though
[quote=ferrals ]Massive R.E.M fan. Started to like them based on Out of Time, used to pester my folks to play it. Actually prefer the earlier stuff though. There's a good best of.. covering the early years which I really like, cant rember the name though
The IRS Years
One of the most defining songs for R.E.M. In my opinion would be 'World Leader Pretend', in terms of what the band is about.
In terms of sound, though, it's got to be 'Texarkana'. Just make sure you have the volume cranked for that opening bass line!
SaxonRider - I think we are kindred spirits, "World Leader Pretend" spoke to me about myself in my early 20's more that any other song. Still one of my favourites.
Big R.E.M. fan, got into them around Document, then Green and Out Of Time (these are their best albums). Then started working back through Murmur, Fables, Reckoning etc. (all good albums).
Automatic was a bit of a dip but Adventures In Hi-Fi killed my interest off. Monster was good though and some of Up is OK.
giant_scum - Was that at Cardiff Arms Park, summer of '96? God the Cranberries were awful!
@metalheart I was at Barrowlands in '89, man it was hot!
Ha, didn't Mike make a joke about welcome to the REM weight loss programme or something?
I remember the condensation dripping off the roof... mm, thanks for the memory...
'85 was better though 😆
All the IRS albums are essential listening. Warners output; Green-very good, Out Of Time-good, AFTP- pretty good, Monster- good, NAIHF, very good, everything after that is a bit MEH. Should have split after Bill Berry left.
longwayhome I was at the Murrayfield concert! Who were the other support acts?Belly, Micheal Frantis Spearhead, Cranberries was there another group?