« previous next »
Pages: [1] 2   Go Down

Author Topic: R.E.M. breakup  (Read 925 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline WC

  • Frequent Poster
  • ******
  • Posts: 2302
  • inflammable means flammable?
R.E.M. breakup
« on: Sep 21, 2011, 02:48:02 PM »
Damn. This just hit me like a ton of bricks. Like the death of a loved one. Overwhelming waves of nostalgia and heartbreak. These guys have been the soundtrack of my life since before I could walk. Their saddest songs and their bleak albums in the late 90s and early 00s saw me through the darkest times in those years. Everything they did before Bill Berry's departure is the music in my head. Every wonderful moment, every beautiful memory, every happy place that I've ever had in my life, R.E.M. was (is) playing. I know I'm a sap, but this news is making me tear up. This isn't hyperbole when I say their music saved me from suicide and self destruction when I was a kid. "Everybody Hurts" hit when I was 13, when I was in a psychiatric hospital after a suicide attempt.
« Last Edit: Sep 22, 2011, 03:23:14 AM by Wicked Combover »
Logged

Offline WC

  • Frequent Poster
  • ******
  • Posts: 2302
  • inflammable means flammable?
Re: R.E.M. breakup
« Reply #1 on: Sep 22, 2011, 12:03:33 AM »
All right, I'm over it. Really caught me off guard today. 31 years, that's amazing. What a band.
Logged

Offline chionactis

  • moonlit leaves rustling, empty parking lot, tiny astronaut above the mountainside
  • Frequent Poster
  • ******
  • Posts: 2290
Re: R.E.M. breakup
« Reply #2 on: Sep 22, 2011, 03:36:11 AM »
It's too bad. I wish they would at least continue to put out EPs here and there. And I don't think they called it quits because of any kind of creative dead end. It bugs me when people imply that a band has run out of things to write, as if a band is allotted a certain amount of "good" music when they start and must mine out that one specific vein - "They had nowhere else to go." That is total BS. I would love it if all of my favorite artists continued writing music into their 80s, as long as it's what they want to do.
Logged
"Sometimes I think it's all one big affectation. The forty jars, each holding its thief, draw closer to me, trying to eavesdrop." John Ashbery

"And beware the casual assumption of moral superiority, or that everyone who disagrees with you is evil. That is the path to fanaticism." Dr. Steven Novella

Online Ah.hell

  • Too Much Spare Time
  • ********
  • Posts: 7808
Re: R.E.M. breakup
« Reply #3 on: Sep 22, 2011, 10:42:21 AM »
Meh, they've been making mediocre music for the last 20 of their 31 years. 

ETA, a little harsh but everything up to green was great and everything after green was meh.
« Last Edit: Sep 22, 2011, 10:48:40 AM by Ah.hell »
Logged

Offline Bunsen

  • Too Much Spare Time
  • ********
  • Posts: 7983
  • Big Pharma wants you to think cooked milk is safe!
Re: R.E.M. breakup
« Reply #4 on: Sep 22, 2011, 02:10:59 PM »
Quote from: Ah.hell on Sep 22, 2011, 10:42:21 AM
Meh, they've been making mediocre music for the last 20 of their 31 years. 


I agree.  The horse has been limping around the paddock for some time now - the farmer just hadn't gotten up the courage to get his gun and do the right thing.
Logged

Offline WC

  • Frequent Poster
  • ******
  • Posts: 2302
  • inflammable means flammable?
Re: R.E.M. breakup
« Reply #5 on: Sep 22, 2011, 02:40:57 PM »
Quote from: Bunsen on Sep 22, 2011, 02:10:59 PM
Quote from: Ah.hell on Sep 22, 2011, 10:42:21 AM
Meh, they've been making mediocre music for the last 20 of their 31 years. 


I agree.  The horse has been limping around the paddock for some time now - the farmer just hadn't gotten up the courage to get his gun and do the right thing.

Agreed. They should have called it quits after Berry left. 3 albums of bleh and suck after they lost him, until Accelerate, which I liked a bunch, but that's cause they went back to what they do so well, and cut the crap. Anyways... I'm glad they kept touring even though their albums got dreadful. REM live is something else.

Looking forward to the reunion shows.
Logged

Offline chionactis

  • moonlit leaves rustling, empty parking lot, tiny astronaut above the mountainside
  • Frequent Poster
  • ******
  • Posts: 2290
Re: R.E.M. breakup
« Reply #6 on: Sep 22, 2011, 03:36:17 PM »
I don't like their last three albums very much, and I thought Accelerate was very mediocre. I don't see what all the hype was about there, tbh. But there are 2 or 3 songs on each of those albums that I think are really good. I don't care if a band continues making mediocre albums, because I am always interested in hearing the good songs that come out of it. But when a band stops writing altogether, then you don't even have those good songs.

I think a person's desire to see one of their favorite bands quit while they are still popular and getting good reviews is partly due to sentimentality; they feel that mediocre albums will somehow tarnish or taint the band and their memories of them. Another reason might be "I just don't want more crappy music out there hitting my ear drums." But of course you can simply choose to not listen to it, so I don't see it as a valid reason. Don't get me wrong; I can understand how a person wouldn't want to see a band they've respected so much start to put out mostly mediocre music on a few albums in a row, but now there's nothing, which is why I think an occasional EP would be nice.
Logged
"Sometimes I think it's all one big affectation. The forty jars, each holding its thief, draw closer to me, trying to eavesdrop." John Ashbery

"And beware the casual assumption of moral superiority, or that everyone who disagrees with you is evil. That is the path to fanaticism." Dr. Steven Novella

Offline Bunsen

  • Too Much Spare Time
  • ********
  • Posts: 7983
  • Big Pharma wants you to think cooked milk is safe!
Re: R.E.M. breakup
« Reply #7 on: Sep 22, 2011, 03:41:44 PM »
Quote from: chionactis on Sep 22, 2011, 03:36:17 PM
But of course you can simply choose to not listen to it, so I don't see it as a valid reason.

If you think you can just "not listen" to crappy music, you obviously don't live in the same United States I do.  Go to the mall, crappy music.  Go to the store, crappy music.  Go to your mechanic, crappy music.  Go to a restaurant, crappy music.  Accidentally turn on your car with the radio still on from last time?  Crappy music.  Sit at a red light when somebody pulls up next to you, crappy music.  Accidentally leave your speakers on your laptop turned up when going to a new website?  Crappy music.

It doesn't matter where you go in this world, crappy music haunts and tortures you from the moment you wake till the second you fall asleep.  The only way to fight it is to prevent it from existing in the first place.
Logged

Offline chionactis

  • moonlit leaves rustling, empty parking lot, tiny astronaut above the mountainside
  • Frequent Poster
  • ******
  • Posts: 2290
Re: R.E.M. breakup
« Reply #8 on: Sep 22, 2011, 03:50:36 PM »
You are right. We often hear crappy music in our lives. I almost entirely stopped listening to the radio years ago for this reason. I can go online to pick and choose what I want to hear. But, imo, R.E.M. isn't making enough crappy music regularly enough to make that a good reason for wanting them to quit. The songs from the latest R.E.M. albums that do end up getting played are often the ones that I think are pretty good.
Logged
"Sometimes I think it's all one big affectation. The forty jars, each holding its thief, draw closer to me, trying to eavesdrop." John Ashbery

"And beware the casual assumption of moral superiority, or that everyone who disagrees with you is evil. That is the path to fanaticism." Dr. Steven Novella

Offline WC

  • Frequent Poster
  • ******
  • Posts: 2302
  • inflammable means flammable?
Re: R.E.M. breakup
« Reply #9 on: Sep 22, 2011, 03:56:55 PM »
They want to quit while they're ahead. And I respect that. I'm sad, but I get it. And 31 years of music, wow, right? They're all still musicians, they'll keep doing it, and, the stuff they've been doing on the side forever now is good too. They're will be more REM down the road too.
Logged

Offline chionactis

  • moonlit leaves rustling, empty parking lot, tiny astronaut above the mountainside
  • Frequent Poster
  • ******
  • Posts: 2290
Re: R.E.M. breakup
« Reply #10 on: Sep 22, 2011, 04:06:15 PM »
Quote from: Wicked Combover on Sep 22, 2011, 03:56:55 PM
They want to quit while they're ahead. And I respect that. I'm sad, but I get it. And 31 years of music, wow, right? They're all still musicians, they'll keep doing it, and, the stuff they've been doing on the side forever now is good too. They're will be more REM down the road too.

Yeah, if they feel it's time, then it's time. It's their decision.

I honestly hadn't looked into their side projects. And maybe they will do a song here and there for movies like they did with "The Great Beyond".
Logged
"Sometimes I think it's all one big affectation. The forty jars, each holding its thief, draw closer to me, trying to eavesdrop." John Ashbery

"And beware the casual assumption of moral superiority, or that everyone who disagrees with you is evil. That is the path to fanaticism." Dr. Steven Novella

Offline Mateo808

  • Not Enough Spare Time
  • **
  • Posts: 185
Re: R.E.M. breakup
« Reply #11 on: Sep 22, 2011, 09:53:00 PM »
New Adventures in High-fi was the peak IMHO, they just couldn't muster enough to put together a really good album after that.  "UP" was good, but not the best.  Fade into now is good, but kind of hard to listen to at times.  The height of their popularity was Monster, and then they just kind of slid in the public eye from there.  I'm fond of the first three LP's as well, but I hardly ever listen to Green or Out of Time, those seemed cheesy to me.  AFTP was a great LP and really marked their come back from those "dark" days of crappy sappy of Green and OOT.  They will be missed, and I'm surprised they lasted as long as they did. 
Logged
Recent years were unsung I light 'em up burning my horoscope - Recent fears I've undone I give 'em up sick of my bogus ghost.

- Robert Dickinson, Catherine Wheel

Offline WC

  • Frequent Poster
  • ******
  • Posts: 2302
  • inflammable means flammable?
Re: R.E.M. breakup
« Reply #12 on: Sep 23, 2011, 01:45:10 AM »
New Adventures in HiFi was (is) amazing. I think it is their best. That tour, the Monster/Aneurism tour they recorded it on, was unbelievable. If you can get a copy of Road Movie, the tour film, GET IT... Soak in it. The mind boggles at how massively brilliant their live shows were on that tour. I'm sure it's all on YouTube, but watch the set list in order.

These guys were the best live band EVER.

Up was good, but I was getting over a breakup and had things like UP and Radiohead's Amnesiac playing all the time. Dire times. A lot of wrenching and hard to listen to stuff on UP, unless of course you're all broken up to begin with.
« Last Edit: Sep 23, 2011, 01:52:18 AM by Wicked Combover »
Logged

Offline chionactis

  • moonlit leaves rustling, empty parking lot, tiny astronaut above the mountainside
  • Frequent Poster
  • ******
  • Posts: 2290
Re: R.E.M. breakup
« Reply #13 on: Sep 23, 2011, 04:18:16 AM »
I never saw R.E.M. live.  :(   But then I haven't seen very many live shows period.

I love New Adventures in HiFi, and I also happen to think Reveal is fantastic. There is some beautiful stuff on there.

I'm also a fan of Radiohead, and I think Amnesiac is kind of glorious. My favorite song on that album is probably "I Might Be Wrong." Btw, I have never heard a live version of that song in which Thom sings in falsetto all the way through like he does on the album. If anybody knows of such a live recording, please let me know.
Logged
"Sometimes I think it's all one big affectation. The forty jars, each holding its thief, draw closer to me, trying to eavesdrop." John Ashbery

"And beware the casual assumption of moral superiority, or that everyone who disagrees with you is evil. That is the path to fanaticism." Dr. Steven Novella

Offline WC

  • Frequent Poster
  • ******
  • Posts: 2302
  • inflammable means flammable?
Re: R.E.M. breakup
« Reply #14 on: Nov 14, 2011, 02:43:59 AM »
Logged
Pages: [1] 2   Go Up
« previous next »
 

personate-rain