OFF: Re: R. E. M.

[John Majka]

R.E.M.,  like so many bands, has become rather boring in recent years... 
well the recent decade, I suppose.  The early material was spectacular, 
strange fare.  My favorite R.E.M. albums remain "Fables of the 
Reconstruction" and "Reckoning" though "Green" is also incredibly strong. 
As the years went by, the band become increasingly "by-the-numbers" 
sounding.  I would say that "Green" was the last great album, and there were 
tracks on individual albums after that which were fantastic, but the good 
songs were becoming fewer and fewer.  Their declining course isn't unlike 
that of Rush, who is also in the business these days of producing rather 
uninspired and uninspiring, though competent, albums.

John Majka


>> As a R.E.M. semi-aficionado I feel the urge to add a few
>> corrections... ;-)
>
> I should have known there'd be one out there :-)
>
>> That's either Peter Buck or Bill Berry, but neither one's the bass
>> player *g*. That would be Mike Mills.
>> Buck is the guitarist, while Berry was the drummer.
>
> Yeah, on consideration I'm pretty sure the interview was with
> Berry.
>
>> Broken back? Don't know about that, but Berry suffered a brain
>> aneurysm on stage during the 1995-tour (which ironically was later
>> renamed as "Brain Aneurysm-Tour").
>
> Okay, so I'm not doing so badly given that I'm recalling a bad
> article from more than a decade ago :-)
>
>> "Up!" isn't that bad IMO, but I have to admit, that the last couple
>> of albums are a bit lackluster. The best R.E.M. album is still "New
>> Adventures in Hi-Fi" for me, followed closely by "Lifes Rich Pageant".
>
> I'd agree that those two are my top ones, but I'd reverse the
> order: LRP is one of those gem albums where there's no flab to be
> trimmed, which _New Adventures_ doesn't quite manage. Those are
> certainly the two I play the most though, with _Murmur_ and _Document_
> close behind. I never did work out what the point of _Out of Time_ was.
> One gloomy radio hit and a load of nothing. I've never actually bought
> my own copy, after listening to others' and realising that I'd just
> missed most of the album when it stopped.
>
> Erm, anyway. I'm currently listening to Beefheart's _Lick My
> Decals Off_[1] so I can get away with conversation about chart music
> from when I was still at school, right? Er. Yours,
>            Jon
>
> [1] On 180g repro vinyl because it's *cheaper* that way. But hey, I like
> 180g vinyl.
> -- 
> "When fortune wanes, of what assistance are quantities of elephants?"
>     (Juvaini, Afghan Muslim chronicler, c. 1206)
> Jon Jarrett, Fitzwilliam Museum, jjarrett at chiark.greenend.org.uk