R.E.M. Band • Page 9

okay I hadn't listened to the remastered version cause I assumed it wasn't a substantial difference as far as those things typically go, but I'm down to revisit if it'll change my mind/ boost my perception of the album. my main thing before was less the songs themselves and more that it just stands out irt the rest of their work and is not really what I look for from R.E.M.

 

Interested to hear you think! It is definitely what I have found to be the exception to the norm for remasters, as typically they don't re-invent the album, but I feel in this instance they did. The album was rough and cryptic socially originally, and I totally get what they were going for, this new version just works for me.

Also, Mark Kermode dropped a more-obscure REM reference in his Cats review. I don't know where else to post this so here ya go.

 

listening to the remaster right now and I feel like I have to throw the old version on to compare cause I'm enjoying this immensely

 

I love it. His voice and music brings me peace

 

great song! I feel like you can hear him shake off the rust in the beginning but it works so well for contrasting it with the end where his vocals are as powerful as they've ever been

 

wow this song rules

 

Glad he feels like making music again!

 

man. yeah. dude still has it

 

im sorryyyyyy

 

"Perfect Circle" is an incredible goddamn work of art

 

Featuring Aaron Dessner!

 

that sounds amazing :') despite it being on the R.E.M. fb page i assume this is a Michael solo song right?


also good timing on the thread bump, i was just coming in to say that automatic for the people moved me to near tears like three times just now lol

 

Holy shit this is beautiful .

 

Yep!



Honestly, same. Extra emotional lately

 

40th anniversary of the first REM gig

 

^ that makes my head spin, what

 

Tonight!

 

Compare R.E.M.’s new remix of ‘Monster’ to the original with this nifty A/B player

this is oldish but i just wanted to direct you all to the interview w mike mills (that weirdly is more about automatic for the people than monster) that i thought was p interesting, a good conversation. more than anything i enjoy the way he elaborates on his answers and how specific the band was with what they were doing and why that he can recall or formulate answers to things p confidently. I just think it's cool that, despite how dysfunctional "rock" bands often are, they still present a united front as people and actually get along. makes me really happy

 

goddamn country feedback is THAT song the video with neil young is p cool too, like you can tell he's on it but he's not overshadowing the song or anything. but this?? peter buck nails the fucking solo in this one it just sounds perfect. i could die to this song and be satisfied

out of time is kind of a weird record for me because i think it's kind of uneven compared to almost any record in their 80s run and most of the records in their 90s run. super high highs but the lows are pretty low. that being said, whole record flies by and there are really only a few lows so i can't really hold any of that against it, and it's got some of the best songs in their whole discog

why yes this IS how i've been spending my nights for the last week, why do you ask

 

agreed on Out of Time, and what's wild is if you cut "Radio Song" and "Shiny Happy People" for the two songs that went on soundtracks from that era - "It's a Free World Baby" and "Fretless" - it solves almost every problem I have with that record lmao

"Near Wild Heaven" and "Country Feedback" are two of their greatest songs though

 

yeah, def the worst offenders, though on kinder days i sometimes feel like im judging "radio song" too harshly. but the thing that infuriates me about "shiny happy people" is that pretty much every time i can convince myself "oh this is pretty good actually," because i enjoy the guitar hook, but they really beat it into the ground and im sick of it by the end lol. "stand" is a similar song for me because i think it mostly rules, simplicity of the lyrics aside, but the whole step key change at the end drives me fucking crazy

 

"Radio Song" is probably the worst R.E.M. song imo, I mean it sounds like they dropped in that nice Stipe hook from another (better) song, but the rap and the verses are all absolutely dreadful. "Shiny Happy People" is at the least catchy and instrumentally nice enough, but you can only go so far in making a vapid song to mock vapid people before it just becomes a bad song lol

 

i dunno if i can follow you down the "radio song is their worst song" rabbit hole tbh! even on my meanest days, the worst sin that song has committed is that it's not quite up to par to the other stuff on the record. but im with you on "shiny happy people", i have no idea what their intentions were with that one, but im not sure it'd change anything for me if they did it on purpose bc it's just not fun to listen to. that being said, if it was like half as long? could've been a banger in another universe. probably not, but it's fun to imagine lol