most disappointing third albums

[redbreegull]

ten > vitalogy > yield > vs. > the newest one > the rest

[Raskolnikov]

Originally Posted by opera de nuit

i LOVE 'feeling gravity's pull'--- i used to think that fables was weak at first, but after hearing that song on shuffle it changed everything and now it's a favorite.

Fables took WAY longer than any other REM album (that was worth getting into, of course) to click on me. Had it for years and years before I started to really get some stuff out of it.

What tipped the scale back to me TRYING to get into it was when I saw them at Red Rocks in 2008 - we were walking up towards the venue in the afternoon and came around the bend to start seeing some really majestic red rock, and they were soundchecking that shit, with that echo-y guitar bouncing off the rocks: absolutely wonderful concert memory.

And for "Life and How to Live It' - love the live version that's on the bonus disc of the IRS Years Greatest Hits reissue. Can't find it anywhere on YouTube, but will rip and post here tomorrow. Classic Stipe spoken intro.

[opera de nuit]

man, that sounds awesome. never got to see them, always regretting it.

[Raskolnikov]

It really was, man. Sounds very glamorized, but it really was that majestic, even at that exact moment, I knew it was something I'd never forget. The show that night was unreal - The National (fresh off The Boxer release) then Modest Mouse (with Johnny Marr) then an insane REM set, all from the 3rd row thanks to the REM Fan Club.

Top 5 for sure.

[redbreegull]

Originally Posted by Raskolnikov

It really was, man. Sounds very glamorized, but it really was that majestic, even at that exact moment, I knew it was something I'd never forget. The show that night was unreal - The National (fresh off The Boxer release) then Modest Mouse (with Johnny Marr) then an insane REM set, all from the 3rd row thanks to the REM Fan Club.

Top 5 for sure.

I will always regret not seeing this tour, now I'll never see R.E.M.

[Trotskilicious]

i can't listen to REM because if i do i feel like i'm going to turn into some snooze-rock adult contemporary fan

but you know they covered STRANGE (WIRE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) so i can't hate them even a little

[Order 66]

i never got into them but i listen to Up a couple of times a year. the album after that sounded cool and weird from the few songs i've heard .. i usually prefer a bands' later output to their earlier stuff.. i'm weird like that

[cocksure]

Originally Posted by Trotskilicious

i can't listen to REM because if i do i feel like i'm going to turn into some snooze-rock adult contemporary fan

just stop with them at the point where they and their fans turn into this. ironically imo this begins on the album with strange on it.

[opera de nuit]

as much as i love and prefer the early stuff, new adventures in hi-fi and up were great records...

[redbreegull]

the only one after New Adventures that I thought was any good was Accelerate

[mpp]

Originally Posted by AndySlash

suffice it to say fables of the reconstruction was not the first album i expected to see when i opened this thread. what the fuck.

yeah i think i made an audible gasping sound

[mpp]

Originally Posted by Trotskilicious

i like murmur and document and the rest doesn't really tickle my fancy

well those are two good ones to enjoy

listening to the live concert from the document 25th anniv. release...



HOUSE IN ORDER!!! OOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHH AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH HOUSE IN ORDER!!!

[redbreegull]

I really didn't realize that Fables was widely liked. I never hear it mentioned, ever.

[redbreegull]

I don't know if this is still the case, but allmusic.com used to omit Fables in the REM discography

[Trotskilicious]

Originally Posted by cocksure

just stop with them at the point where they and their fans turn into this. ironically imo this begins on the album with strange on it.

it's not automatic for the people?

[redbreegull]

I don't think you can really draw a dividing line between old R.E.M. being good and new R.E.M. being bad. They were back and forth their whole career. So it seems a lot of people love Fables, so we can say their first four albums were really strong. But after that there's Green and Document and Out of Time and those just are not as powerful. Good songs and crap mixed together. Then there is Automatic, which is like a home run, which was followed by Monster which mostly sucks, which was followed by New Adventures which is mostly awesome. Then their worst three albums, then Accelerate which is really good and the most energetic album they did in their career.

[Trotskilicious]

i couldn't even make it through three tracks of automatic

[Trotskilicious]

i mean they did have something for everyone i suppose

green sucks but orange crush is great

murmur is spectacular, really.

[redbreegull]

I love Automatic but I think Monster is mostly garbage. The whole album is so predicated on the novelty of being a "hard rock" R.E.M. album that the songwriting is virtually nonexistant

[Trotskilicious]

Originally Posted by rugly

What is it that you dislike about Automatic?

snooze-rock adult contemporary

[TuralyonW3]

Monster is the best REM album

No Code is the best Pearl Jam album

[redbreegull]

Turalyon be trollin

[cocksure]

Originally Posted by redbreegull

I don't think you can really draw a dividing line between old R.E.M. being good and new R.E.M. being bad.

uh i think you can. before document everything they touched basically turned to gold, missteps being the exception. from document on missteps become the norm, with positive, singular surprises dispersed over some of their work. of course there are good songs on monster, but they had lost the effortless brilliance that characterised their early work.

and accelerate stinks.

[redbreegull]

four strong albums (I still think fables is bleh), three mediocre albums, a strong album, a weak album, a strong album, three weak albums, two "mediocre" albums (accelerate doesn't suck, it's really good)

I don't see this clear dividing line. If you wanted to argue that their output after New Adventures was mostly bad I could see that, but that drop off in quality is 2/3 through their discography

[Trotskilicious]

that's just like

your opinion, man

[Trotskilicious]

i do think michael stipe is a rad dude and i especially like how he's embarrassed by shiny happy people and is not afraid to admit it

you should be michael, you should be

[cocksure]

i dig that tune

[Trotskilicious]

you would

[redbreegull]

yeah Stipe is pretty self-aware and in touch with the fact that some of his music sucks, which is cool when you are used to billy corgan

[cocksure]

maybe it's because billy corgan never wrote a bad song