REM Split

TankGuy · 22-09-2011 09:45AM

I'm delighted with the news for the reason that i think they were past there best. REM changed the way i listened to music or mybe i should say changed what i listened to music for. Got into REM after a friend played me Lifes Rich Pagent in 1989 just after the Green World Tour.

I have been a high fan since, i thought when they released Monster it was the start of the end, but then they released New Adventures and UP and both albums knocked me out.

They have released some "not to form" albums but i do think these albums would be albums any other band could only hope to release, REM just raised the bar so high for themselves. I also think that as four people they have created a better body of amazing songs than any other band ive ever heard.

I`m gonna go home and have an REM evening.

run_Forrest_run · 22-09-2011 11:59AM

TankGuy wrote: »

I`m gonna go home and have an REM evening.

I'm having a little REM day in work (headphones)..Automatic for the People...stunning.

Beanstalk · 22-09-2011 12:21PM

I'm really saddened by the news. They can split with their heads held high though, they always stuck to their own principals and done their own thing and that deserves a huge amount of respect.

For me, R.E.M were always a seasonal band. I could only listen to automatic for the people in the deepest depths of winter and I always love it, and i'd listen to green and out of time in the summer and so on. Lots of memories of periods of my life associated with listening to R.E.M. You will be sadly missed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qx9br5ISRpo

loyatemu · 22-09-2011 12:24PM

lordgoat wrote: »

Monster is their best album and New adventures a close second. Christ that list of yours is so arseways! Automatic? poppy crap all imo of course.

They were my absolute favourite band in the early-90s - everything up to Automatic is superb.

Never liked Monster though - it seems like they deliberately wrote a "rock" album so they could go back on the road after not touring the 2 previous albums, it sounds forced as a result. Ditto the "live" half of New Adventures. I actually thought Up was surprisingly good but since then I've lost interest - right time for them to go IMO.

These days I find myself mostly going back to Murmur:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STKVCwP486I

nxbyveromdwjpg · 22-09-2011 12:50PM

Great that they recognised the end of the road ended it with dignity

Android 666 · 22-09-2011 01:00PM

nm wrote: »

Great that they recognised the end of the road ended it with dignity

Agreed. Apart from brief flashes here and there nothing they made recently matched their 80s and 90s output. It's kind of nice to see a band bow out with grace.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9eb4AONfsk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lf6vCjtaV1k

maupat · 22-09-2011 01:15PM

'New Adventures in Hi-Fi' one of my all time favourite albums. Saw them a few years ago in Ardgillen Castle. Great gig, fantastic weather and spectacular views with the sea as the backdrop to the stage. Anyone else remember it?!

Their last album (Collapse Into Now) saw a return to the their late 80's/early 90's sound. Once the album was finished apparently there was a feeling of 'what next' in the camp. Although I will miss them on the music scene I'm glad to see them bow out with grace (as a previous poster said).

P.S., 'Electrolite' - my fave REM song

kc66 · 22-09-2011 01:35PM

Android 666 wrote: »

One of my favourite songs ever, never actually saw the vid though.
Saw them at Slane and at Oxegen a few years ago. Great band but havent really been into them in years now.

ned rierson · 22-09-2011 01:51PM

saw some great gigs ( sfx, rds, marlay park, olympia ) some ****e ones ( landsdowne, point, slane ) . they were my favourite band from 84 - 95 and leave behind some great albums. at least peter will be able to concentrate on the minus 5 / baseball project

stinkle · 22-09-2011 02:22PM

sad to see the back of such a great band. I first got into them around '99 when I was watching Glastonbury on TV. Was about 14 then. Was aware of them before that but the performance blew me away and I became a bit of an REM nerd after that! Their music has been important in all aspects of my life ever since, and I feel a little sad that from now on they wont be a "current" band. Yesterday was a bit milestone in my life actually and it's seems weird now that it happened to be the day they announced the break up, as their songs have become inextricably linked with other events in my life.

One of the things I love about REM was discovering gems from their back catalogue that id either never heard before or disregarded when I was younger. I was still finding "new" fave songs until recently, no doubt that'll continue, but it's a great thing to say about their rich musical legacy. I was lucky enough to see them live 3 times, and each time they were fantastic (Marlay Park '03, The Point '05 and Twickenham '08). I always thought their live reputation wasn't as appreciated as it should be, especially when thier recent albums weren't as (critically) well received as the older stuff. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a reunion at some point in the future

Technocentral · 22-09-2011 02:56PM

Seen them a few times but the best was at the Olympia in 2007 for one of the nights of their "live rehearsal" of Accelerate, fantastic night, the atmosphere was electric.

quaalude · 22-09-2011 04:25PM

REM were the first band I ever saw live - saw them in the RDS, the Green tour, 1989, when I was 13. I was so excited I nearly fainted and had to go the St. John Ambulance - morto!

mosstin · 22-09-2011 05:54PM

lordgoat wrote: »

Monster is their best album and New adventures a close second. Christ that list of yours is so arseways! Automatic? poppy crap all imo of course.

Ooof, so wrong.....Drive, Try Not To Breathe, Nightswimming, Find The River, Star Me Kitten. I'm struggling in fact - Sidewinder apart - to find any poppy crap on it. Way off the mark.

indiewindy · 22-09-2011 06:59PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CTav-2lCYs

My favourite rem song

InTheTrees · 22-09-2011 07:05PM

Why does any band that old have to "break up" at all?

I'm sure they all live separate lives at this point.

Come together every five years or so to do a nostalgia tour and who cares if they're "together" or "broken up"?

Did led zeppelin ever break up and who cares anyway?

G.K. · 22-09-2011 07:08PM

Lifes Rich Pageant's my favourite album.

lordgoat · 22-09-2011 07:53PM

mosstin wrote: »

Ooof, so wrong.....Drive, Try Not To Breathe, Nightswimming, Find The River, Star Me Kitten. I'm struggling in fact - Sidewinder apart - to find any poppy crap on it. Way off the mark.

I think it's an amazing pop album, and i don't mean that in a disparaging way (poppy crap was menat tongue in cheek that REM are can and have done much better). Nothing wrong with good pop and I can appreciate alot of people like it, hence why half of the album were singles i suppose but it would be one of my least fav REM albums. I think If you take REM from Murmur to HiFi that album sticks out like a sore thumb.

Miguel_Sanchez · 22-09-2011 09:28PM

It's funny - I don't really mind that they've broken up because I haven't really cared for their stuff for a while.

But Find the River, Country Feedback and So. Central Rain are all amongst my favourite songs ever written.

JerryHandbag · 22-09-2011 10:00PM

Jeff_Lebowski wrote: »

It's funny - I don't really mind that they've broken up because I haven't really cared for their stuff for a while.

But Find the River, Country Feedback and So. Central Rain are all amongst my favourite songs ever written.

The live version of that as a bonus track on Document is amazing. One of my faves too.

Android 666 · 22-09-2011 10:14PM

lordgoat wrote: »

I think it's an amazing pop album, and i don't mean that in a disparaging way (poppy crap was menat tongue in cheek that REM are can and have done much better). Nothing wrong with good pop and I can appreciate alot of people like it, hence why half of the album were singles i suppose but it would be one of my least fav REM albums. I think If you take REM from Murmur to HiFi that album sticks out like a sore thumb.

I think it's a fantastic album and one of the defining albums of their career. Out of Time is the one that hasn't aged well for me and is the bridge between Green and Automatic. Out of Time has definitely more pop in it than Automatic and one of the things that was said at the time of Automatic's release was that it was Out of Time without any singles. Which is bizarre when you consider how big those songs became.

Mind you Out of Time still has Near Wild Heaven, Country Feedback and other great songs. Just the likes of Radio Song and Shiny Happy People really drag it down in my opinion.

For me the best albums are Murmur, Automatic for the People, Life's Rich Pageant, Document and Green. All the others up to HiFi have great songs but don't just match up to the quality of those 5. Of the albums after HiFi I only have Reveal and Accelerate and neither of them are great shakes tbh.

lordgoat · 22-09-2011 10:22PM

Android 666 wrote: »

I think it's a fantastic album and one of the defining albums of their career. Out of Time is the one that hasn't aged well for me and is the bridge between Green and Automatic. Out of Time has definitely more pop in it than Automatic and one of the things that was said at the time of Automatic's release was that it was Out of Time without any singles. Which is bizarre when you consider how big those songs became.

Mind you Out of Time still has Near Wild Heaven, Country Feedback and other great songs. Just the likes of Radio Song and Shiny Happy People really drag it down in my opinion.

For me the best albums are Murmur, Automatic for the People, Life's Rich Pageant, Document and Green. All the others up to HiFi have great songs but don't just match up to the quality of those 5. Of the albums after HiFi I only have Reveal and Accelerate and neither of them are great shakes tbh.

Post HiFi, Up has some really under rated lyrically great songs.

It'll always be Monster for me.

Josey Wales · 23-09-2011 09:31AM

The funny thing is that I only renewed my subscription to the fanclub on Monday. I'm guessing they will still do a Christmas package.

I had Be Mine from New Adventures in Hi-Fi as the song for the first dance at my wedding. I think my wife is still a little upset over that fact.

homerun_homer · 23-09-2011 10:22AM

I'm surprised they didn't do one last world tour to say farewell.

Android 666 · 23-09-2011 10:26AM

homerun_homer wrote: »

I'm surprised they didn't do one last world tour to say farewell.

It must have been the thought of touring for the album that provoked the split. I'd say the options were weighed up before they decided not to do it. All just my opinion of course.

JerryHandbag · 23-09-2011 10:47AM

I'm guessing Peter Bucks side project Tired Pony (great album btw) will now become his main project.

Miguel_Sanchez · 23-09-2011 10:55AM

JerryHandbag wrote: »

I'm guessing Peter Bucks side project Tired Pony (great album btw) will now become his main project.

I thought he just guested on that album? Thought it was more a Lightbody/Colburn project.

I didn't hear any of it myself so don't know.

DublinWriter · 23-09-2011 10:59AM

bullpost wrote: »

Saw them in SFX in '84. Very fresh and different to anything else at the time.

Wasn't that 83? My Dad drove their bus at the time and I got in free to see the SFX show and travel around with them. They couldn't get over how posh the Gresham Hotel was.

JerryHandbag · 23-09-2011 11:34AM

Jeff_Lebowski wrote: »

I thought he just guested on that album? Thought it was more a Lightbody/Colburn project.

I didn't hear any of it myself so don't know.

Not actually 100% sure but I remember reading at the time they formed that it was a Lightbody/Buck collaberation. The sticker on the front of the CD says he's part of the band, not sure what their future plans are but I'd love to hear another album from them.

Wendell Gee · 23-09-2011 11:35AM

SFX was 84. Still remember seeing Radio Free Europe on MTUSA on the sunday before.
They played in Croke Park with U2 in 85. Played most of Fables, and were truly strange, all in black, Stipe looking like some deranged hilllbilly preacher.
Stayed with me and I bought Fables that Christmas.
For younger readers, or Dublin ones, you can't imagine how different it was to be a teenager in rural ireland back then. Just rte , Fanning was music.
I got a cousin who went to the states on a J1 to buy murmur and Chronic town for me on cassette of course. I bought reckoning the day after self-aid.
Life's Rich Pageant came out in Sept 86. I had taped fall on me, Cuyahoga, and Panic from fanning, played all three in sequence befoe release one night. Sweet Jesus
I wrote this in memory of the Green tour concert in the rds. Soundwas shight, but it didn't matter to us, cos we were in the front row. The go-betweens played support, and broke up a month later.
For the encore, a flip chart was on stage. Stipe wrote seachto haon on it, and said they would play a song that was only brought out on special nights for the seventy first time. Classic mythmaking nonsense. (the opening credits on the backdrop were a hoot - welcome to _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Insert name of your town here. ) A lot of people never got that bands like REM, the Smiths, and even U2 did not take themselves seriously, just the music.
The Dark Light
I'm here looking down on you
You can feel 12,000 eyes
Probing, photographing you
With open love, there's no disguise
You sing your song, your voice is clear
Your 71st time, the first time here
Strong shoulders grant a perfect view
There's no need to hold back ther tears

Walkman, working in the shed
Good Advices fills my head
The reaper's stalking near and dear
It's cold outside, but warm in here
A thousand plays, the names erased
The tape's worn out, the words unclear
Yet you've dragged me past my final fear
There's no need to hold back the tears

It's awful when the passion dies
The pain of love lost in her eyes
But should I care that I'm alone
I've nerves of steel and a heart of stone
Careering home with Driver 8
I stop outside the School Field gate
The mountain's moonlit misty gown
The pale glow of some distant town
The night air quietly calms me down
you've got to help me, Auctioneer
Cos I can't get from there from here
My soul slips slowly into gear
There's no need to hold back the tears

REM 1980-2001
They owe us nothing
To my friends. it's been pleasure listening to them together
I believe my youth is wearing thin, but I feel fine

yogicolly · 23-09-2011 11:55AM

I think its unreal the amount of debate going on over the last couple of days as to which era is their best, 3 different eras (IRS, Warners, Post Berry) with 5 albums in each era.

People seem so passionate about their particular favoured era and the 5 albums made in that era seem to be some of their favourite albums ever made by any band..this is very unique for a band so much so that you would swear they are talking about 3 different bands...

I think this is an incredible acheivement that they managed to make an amazing body of work..15 albums in 30 years, the first 10 were flawless progression with some of the greatest albums ever made in there...the last 5 were still better than alot of bands could produce, the last two particulary good, these 5 will always remain the forgotten albums for most people but think about it, 30 years making music as a band...really what did people think or expect from them.

R.E.M. found themselves in a position that very few bands have every found themselves in terms of a 30 year recording career, for a time they were the best band in the world, the biggest band in the world and now can sit back an enjoy the iconic status their body of work as built for them.

REM Split

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