How The West Was Won And Where It Got Us: An REM Thread

Other than Pearl Jam, who else is there?
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tragabigzanda
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Re: How The West Was Won And Where It Got Us: An REM Thread

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Re: How The West Was Won And Where It Got Us: An REM Thread

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They botched this one twice?

Not a good sign.
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Re: How The West Was Won And Where It Got Us: An REM Thread

Post by kreng »

VinylGuy wrote:They botched this one twice?

Not a good sign.
wut
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Re: How The West Was Won And Where It Got Us: An REM Thread

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kreng wrote:
VinylGuy wrote:They botched this one twice?

Not a good sign.
wut
It was a song they made for Reveal, and then it was supposed to came out with Around The Sun.
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Re: How The West Was Won And Where It Got Us: An REM Thread

Post by verb_to_trust »

If it didn't fit on either of those two albums it's probably a pretty decent song.
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Re: How The West Was Won And Where It Got Us: An REM Thread

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It also didnt make it with Accelerate and Collapse.
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Re: How The West Was Won And Where It Got Us: An REM Thread

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I like it! Honestly I think it sounds more like "Up" than like "Reveal" or "Around the Sun," though it's not like it would have been interrupting some impeccable flow by displacing one of the clunkers on those records. I wonder what else they've got tucked away...
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Re: How The West Was Won And Where It Got Us: An REM Thread

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Kevin Davis wrote:I like it! Honestly I think it sounds more like "Up" than like "Reveal" or "Around the Sun," though it's not like it would have been interrupting some impeccable flow by displacing one of the clunkers on those records. I wonder what else they've got tucked away...
yeah it definitely sounds more Up, i like it
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Re: How The West Was Won And Where It Got Us: An REM Thread

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Wow. Curious to hear it.
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Re: How The West Was Won And Where It Got Us: An REM Thread

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Re: How The West Was Won And Where It Got Us: An REM Thread

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The next album journey is in full swing. Through Chronic Town, Murmur, Reckoning, Fables of the Reconstruction, and partially through Life’s Rich Pageant. All of these are great. I always thought Document was their first turn toward a tighter and less jangly sound (I mean, that could be due to advances in recording technology?), but I think that turn really started with Life’s Rich Pageant.
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Re: How The West Was Won And Where It Got Us: An REM Thread

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LRP is so good.
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Re: How The West Was Won And Where It Got Us: An REM Thread

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it really is
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Re: How The West Was Won And Where It Got Us: An REM Thread

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Quick thoughts: I listened to Monster non-stop in ‘95, put it away, and never picked it back up. It’s better than I remember.

Automatic For the People is still one of their best and there are so many great songs.

Out of Time is very up and down but always enjoyed it.

Green is awesome and I always think among the most underrated of their albums.

Document is amazing. It used to be on my list of all time favorites, faded over the years, but now it’s back!
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Re: How The West Was Won And Where It Got Us: An REM Thread

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I was surprised on how good and experimental Monster is when i came back to it this year. It turned into one of my favorites from this band, top 3 album.
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Re: How The West Was Won And Where It Got Us: An REM Thread

Post by raven2001 »

VinylGuy wrote:I was surprised on how good and experimental Monster is when i came back to it this year. It turned into one of my favorites from this band, top 3 album.
And with "Circus Envy" they even did a "grunge" song. I was flabbergasted when I heard that one for the first time. That being said, I think it's great!
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Re: How The West Was Won And Where It Got Us: An REM Thread

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I read something maybe in Consequence of Sound, about them being 25 years ahead of their time, what with the whole non-binary themes going on. They were wrong, however, that the album represented the begin of their decline.
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Re: How The West Was Won And Where It Got Us: An REM Thread

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begin of their decline? weird.

I think what i love the most about the album is their guitar approach. They sound so trippy, so loud and weird...they are not afraid of doing a song like King Of Comedy. Its so fucking bold.
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Re: How The West Was Won And Where It Got Us: An REM Thread

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VinylGuy wrote:begin of their decline? weird.

I think what i love the most about the album is their guitar approach. They sound so trippy, so loud and weird...they are not afraid of doing a song like King Of Comedy. Its so fucking bold.
I was really enjoying King of Comedy this go round. I think time has actually aided rather than dated Monster. The ideas still are bold years later, and it feels more connected as an album than I remember. I heard this album maybe 30-40 times in 1995 or so. It was good then but it went on the shelf and was taken over by frankly other R.E.M. albums I am more passionate about but it sits more front and center hearing them all in a row.

Edit: i’ll add that the justification, I am sure, for what appeared to be the decline comment are the large swaths of R.E.M. fans that live on the IRS years and discount what they did after that. I am honestly a bigger fan of the post-IRS years. There’s just so much more tinkering with the sound and variety from album to album.

Next up is going to be New Adventures in HiFi, which, if I haven’t mentioned already, is a top 10 all time album for me.
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Re: How The West Was Won And Where It Got Us: An REM Thread

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yeah, im a bigger fan of the post IRS years too.

In other news!! new solo Stipe song out!

Its good.
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