REM-Best Alternative/Indie Band of All Time?

CollectingVinyl

R.E.M.-Arguably the band that founded Alt rock in the 80's. At the very least the band that brought it into the mainstream. The band that paved the way for the likes of ravis, Razorlight,Wilco,etc.

But, are they the BEST indie/alt band of all time?

Dudess

Good God, certainly not in my opinion. While I like some of their stuff, I find loads of it boring beyond belief.

Creamy Goodness

as with everything involving the word "best" it ultimately comes down to "personal taste".

Dudess

CollectingVinyl wrote:

R.E.M.-Arguably the band that founded Alt rock in the 80's.

What do you mean by "Alt rock"? If you mean indie/alternative then come on! That statement is slightly flawed, being polite about it!

Amazotheamazing

Hard to call, not a huge fan myself but they do have great stuff. Had they called a halt after Bill Berry left their reputation would probably be unquestioned.

sweetie

CollectingVinyl wrote:

R.E.M.-Arguably the band that founded Alt rock in the 80's. At the very least the band that brought it into the mainstream. The band that paved the way for the likes of ravis, Razorlight,Wilco,etc.

But, are they the BEST indie/alt band of all time?

I would have thought the stones or the replacements would have been better influences on Wilco. REM were a great band but not really indie.
The fall would qualify as indie, not REM.

SprostonGreen

I would say no, definitely not. I find must of their stuff dull, but the odd song ok. Whats the frequency kenneth is good.

Smurfpiss

eh no. quite a good band for sure, but paving the way for the likes of razorlight (where did ya get that??) is not something to be proud of.

Radiohead ftw!

but as cremo says it all comes down to personal taste.

PiE

My da's garage band in the 1960's are the best indie band of all time.

FACT.

Earthhorse

Depends on what you mean by indie, which is usually a label I associate with bands I hate.

REM were pioneers of Alt Rock, or Alt Country Rock if you want, no doubt, and I think some people on this thread are understimating their huge influence on the shape of modern music. Basically there were two huge rock bands to emerge in the eighties and conquer the world and their names were REM and U2. Sure there were others on the fringes, like Simple Minds and Crowded House, but these two were the main players and, along with those bands, REM helped shape the sound of modern rock.

Is this a good or a bad thing? Well, as with all musical influences the sounds they pioneered eventually become so subsumed as to be common place and unremarkable. You can put mandolin or strings on your rock record now and nobody will blink an eye, but it doesn't mean you're going to right a song as seminal as Losing My Religion or stunningly beautiful as Nightswimming.

Of course, many of the bands that imititate them lack the songwriting chops to do them justice and the band's own descent into mediocrity hasn't helped strengthen their legacy, but the fact remains that they were an important band in rock's development and if, as Amazotheamazing said, they'd quit after Berry absconded they'd have left behind them an almost flawless body of work.

Bodhidharma

I would say they were one of the greatest rock bands of all time. All this alternative/indie talk is just splitting hairs. They are a rock band, in my opinion one of the top ten ever. You cant argue with their legacy.

melekalikimaka

REM are the greatest ALt Indie Band EVER...to my parents

Rich_Why

I've always loved REM and definitely agree with the statement that they where one of the greatest Alternative Rock bands ever. I definitely wouldnt refer to them as Indie though. Wouldn't consider them the number 1 best either but they're definitely contenders, (in my opinion that award is to hard to call) people shouldn't just blankly say no just because they personally have found them boring at times, there has to be respect where its due guys:D. Also their influence should be given far more respect than refering to some **** band like razorlight.

aidan24326

CollectingVinyl wrote:

R.E.M.-Arguably the band that founded Alt rock in the 80's. At the very least the band that brought it into the mainstream. The band that paved the way for the likes of ravis, Razorlight,Wilco,etc.

But, are they the BEST indie/alt band of all time?

Who are ravis?

If you mean Travis then good god, surely paving the way for them is hardly a compliment to any band??! REM, while I was never really a big fan, deserve better than to be compared with such bland junk.

Dudess

Have to say, even though I'm very much an active part of the anti bland music lobby, I quite like some of Travis's stuff. Turn and Driftwood are beautiful.

Nehpets

I agree with Cremo.. it's up to personal taste.

I also would say no. They have a few good songs, most of their stuff is boring imo.

aidan24326

Dudess wrote:

Have to say, even though I'm very much an active part of the anti bland music lobby, I quite like some of Travis's stuff. Turn and Driftwood are beautiful.

I quite like driftwood myself. But alot of Travis' music is really safe bland middle of the road crap. They wouldn't do alot for me. Take that song 'flowers in the window' for example, mild tasteless cheese.

EDIT: and REM deserve better than to be compared with the likes of them and Razorlight. As inconsistent as REM were, they were capable of hitting heights that those bands could never reach.

Huggles

CollectingVinyl wrote:

R.E.M.-Arguably the band that founded Alt rock in the 80's. At the very least the band that brought it into the mainstream. The band that paved the way for the likes of ravis, Razorlight,Wilco,etc.

But, are they the BEST indie/alt band of all time?

Don't agree at all, personally I think they lost whatever it was they had after Automatic for The People.

Granted, Monster had a couple of nostalgic moments but other than that, no.

deaddonkey

REM are the greatest band of all time.

It's not a matter of taste either, it's a matter of me being completely right.

So yes, I agree. Influential and seminal beyond compare, and with some amazing songs to boot.

And if they can still pull off songs like Animal and Bad Day then I don't think they're about to fade into nothingness yet.

though the albums since Up have been less than convincing.

But still, they're a wonderful band. Not liking REM is like not liking indie.
Disputing their influence is the same as admitting you're a fool.

deaddonkey

Also, Indie doesn't mean distorted guitars, drunkenness, not shaving and lots of screaming. It means "independant" - music that originates from small labels and the underground, whatever that means, as opposed to bands who sign straight to Epic or whatever and sound super slicked up and compressed and great on the radio.

as far as i'm concerned, if it's music that is written to appeal to the masses and sound good on the radio, then it's not indie.

if it's written to sound good in "alternative circles" and the mainstream end up liking it, then I guess it's indie. Franz Ferdinand, anyone?

Who decides the difference? Me, I guess.

as far as what most stuff that is labelled "indie" goes, i don't like it at all.

ChuckProphet

REM are farily bland imo especially in the last 15 years. I'd file them alongside U2, chilli peppers, manics i.e fairly harmless afternoon radio rock

coffee_cake

TheGooner wrote:

Don't agree at all, personally I think they lost whatever it was they had after Automatic for The People.

Granted, Monster had a couple of nostalgic moments but other than that, no.

Not a fan of HiFi?

Doomspell

CollectingVinyl wrote:

But, are they the BEST indie/alt band of all time?

They were...5-10 years ago. Some stuff is good ,but I don't really like their style

Dudess

ChuckProphet wrote:

REM are farily bland imo especially in the last 15 years. I'd file them alongside U2, chilli peppers, manics i.e fairly harmless afternoon radio rock

Agreed (in relation to most of their stuff). That said, Patti Smith teamed up with them. And Michael Stipe teamed up with Kristin Hersh. Nobody out of U2 or the Chillis (the Manics I don't know) would achieve either.

Earthhorse

I think, if you look at REM's catalogue from Monster onward then it's easy to call them bland. Hits like Daysleeper and that one about pushing an elephant up a stairs didn't do them any favours in that regard. But I'd find it hard to described anything they did, up to and including Automatic, as such.

Songs like Star Me Kitten, Endgame, Belong, Country Feedback, New Orleans Instrumental No. 1 are different and daring enough that I would say there's nothing, or very little, in modern music that sounds anything like them.

Even their hits pre Monster were different from what was going on everywhere else. Losing My Religion was a number one hit pretty much everywhere and the main riff of it is played on a Mandolin! A Mandolin! The One I Love, perhaps REM's only song with love in the title, is a catchy song with great vocals. Pity it isn't about love. The frenetic pop of songs like The End of the World may have become a template for others to imitate but few, if any, have come close to matching its urgent tempo and throwaway attitude.

Really, I think it's easy to describe them as bland if you're talking about their recent efforts but the evidence, across their entire catalogue, is that they are anything but.

oxegen06

personally i love them.have been a fan since i was about 8 and was blown away by everbody hurts, which i now realise is nothing near to their best material.
ok so their recent albums havent been up to scrach but their old stuff (80's) was amazing. remember they were releasin about 1 album a year for about 5 years *me thinks*wen they begun which is pretty impressive takin account the quality of those albums. something which many highly rated artists today are unable to achieve.....cough the killers cough damien rice cough cough.
also they almost invented college radio.
that is my opinion and that is all for now...