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

[stip]

I'd settle for a cup of coffee, stip. But you know what I really need...

[Lament]

Cast the REM biopic using only RMers.

[stip]

I looked a bit like Mike Mills when I was in high school.

[Rangi Guy]

Chronic Town: Gardening at Night - Carnival of Sorts (Box Cars)
Murmur: Pilgrimage - Talk About The Passion
Reckoning: Pretty Persuasion - So. Central Rain
Fables: Maps and Legends - Life and how to Live It
Pagent: Fall on Me - I believe
Document: End of the World - Disturbance at the Heron House
Green: Turn you Inside Out - You Are the Everything
Out of Time: Country Feedback - Belong
Automatic: Man on the Moon - Drive
Monster: Tounge - Let Me In
New Adventures: Undertow - Leave
Up: Diminished - Walk Unafraid
Reveal: I'll Take The Rain - The Lifting
Around the Sun: Final Straw - The Outsiders
Accelerate: Until The Day is Done - Supernatural Superserious
Collapse: It Happened Today - Discoverer (Oh My Heart could take out Discoverer)

[stip]

interesting list. Diminished and I'll Take the rain are two of the very few REM songs I just don't like. And I'm surprised with I'll Take the Rain, since you have The Lifting which is one of my very favorites.

[Rangi Guy]

interesting list. Diminished and I'll Take the rain are two of the very few REM songs I just don't like. And I'm surprised with I'll Take the Rain, since you have The Lifting which is one of my very favorites.

I'll Take the Rain would possibly scrape into top 10 territory for me

[stip]

Wow. Do you have any associations with the song, or it's just that good?

[Rangi Guy]

Wow. Do you have any associations with the song, or it's just that good?

I just love the emotion of the song. They tried playing this when I saw them in New Plymouth (when it started puring down), but they couldn't pull it off so after a couple of failed attempts at the first verse they went into Have You Ever Seen the Rain?

[Kevin Davis]

Wrong thread. Here, I will go ahead and do that two songs from each album thing instead.

Laughing, Perfect Circle
Harborcoat, So. Central Rain
Maps and Legends, Green Grow the Rushes
Begin the Begin, Fall on Me
Welcome to the Occupation, Disturbance at the Heron House
You Are the Everything, Turn You Inside Out
Near Wild Heaven, Half a World Away
Try Not to Breathe, Nightswimming
Strange Currencies, Tongue
E-Bow the Letter, Electrolite
Daysleeper, Falls to Climb
The Lifting, Imitation of Life
The Outsiders, I Wanted to Be Wrong
Living Well is the Best Revenge, Supernatural Superserious
Uberlin, Oh My Heart

[PryTo]

Pilgrimage, Shaking Through
Pretty Persuasion, Harborcoat
Good Advices, Green Grow The Rushes
Swan Swan H, Begin the Begin
Welcome to the Occupation, King of Birds
Turn You Inside-Out, I Remember California
Country Feedback, Me In Honey
Nightswimming, Find the River
Star 69, Let Me In
New Test Leper, Electrolite
At My Most Beautiful, Sad Professor
She Just Wants to Be, All the Way to Reno
Leaving New York, Electron Blue
Living Well is the Best Revenge, Houston
It Happened Today, Uberlin

[stip]

I was so excited the day I discovered the internet could tell me the lyrics to star 69

Heady times

[southp]

For a band that isn't very sexy, Monster has some pretty sexy moments.

Monster is sexy as all hell.

Monster is absolutely stunning. I had it on in the car yesterday while stuck in some traffic.
First 8 tracks are near-perfection...but more specifically, one of my favourite 4-song runs are I don't Sleep I Dream, Star 69, Strange Currencies and Tongue... sexy as all hell indeed.

[philpritchard]

Murmur: Moral Kiosk, Perfect Circle
Reckoning: So. Central Rain, Letter Never Sent
Fables of the Reconstruction: Maps & Legends, Wendell Gee
Lifes Rich Pageant: Begin the Begin, Cuyahoga
Document: Finest Worksong, Exhuming McCarthy
Green: Untitled, You Are the Everything
Out of Time: Me In Honey, Country Feedback
Automatic for the People: Sweetness Follows, Ignoreland
Monster: Bang and Blame, Let Me In
New Adventures in Hi-Fi: Be Mine, Leave
Up: Walk Unafraid, At My Most Beautiful
Reveal: The Lifting, She Just Wants to Be
Around the Sun: Leaving New York, Final Straw
Accelerate: Until the Day Is Done, Accelerate
Collapse Into Now: Blue, Uberlin

This is really, really hard. Because I'm relatively new to REM, I find my favourites are still constantly changing as I continue to discover songs that had never really stood out to me before. That's recently happened with songs like Ignoreland, Wendell Gee and Let Me In, which were all kind of "just another song" until something clicked and I became obsessed with them. Picking the top two just doesn't feel like enough because there are so many unbelievably good songs that get left off.

[vedder316]

Murmur: Perfect Circle, Laughing
Reckoning: Harborcoat, So. Central Rain
Fables: Maps and Legends, Wendell Gee
LRP: Begin the Begin, Fall On Me
Document: The One I Love, End of the World...
Green: You Are The Everything, Orange Crush
Out of Time: Country Feedback, Texarkana
Automatic: Drive, Try Not To Breathe
Monster: Bang and Blame, Strange Currencies
Hi-Fi: E-Bow the Letter, Leave
Up: Lotus, Daysleeper
Reveal: The Lifting, Imitation of Life
ATS: Leaving New York, I Wanted to be Wrong
Accelerate: Living Well..., Supernatural Superserious
CIN: Uberlin, It Happened Today

[matt reeder]

Murmur: Sitting Still, Talk About the Passion
Reckoning: So. Central Rain, Pretty Persuasion
Fables of the Reconstruction: Driver 8, Maps and Legends
Life's Rich Pageant: Begin the Begin, Cuyahoga
Document: Finest Worksong, Welcome to the Occupation
Green: World Leader Pretend, Orange Crush
Out of Time: Country Feedback, Me in Honey
Automatic for the People: Sweetness Follows, Man on the Moon
Monster: What's the Frequency Kenneth?, Strange Currencies
New Adventures in Hi-Fi: E-Bow the Letter, Leave
Up: Sad Professor, Lotus
Reveal: Imitation of Life, She Just Wants to Be
Around the Sun: this is the only R.E.M. album I don't own
Accelerate: Supernatural Superserious, Mr. Richards
Collapse Into Now: Uberlin, Discoverer

This is reminding me why I need to go back and listen to the post-Up albums.

[VinylGuy]

E bow the letter came to my head the other day....what a song.

[ridleybradout]

New Adventures is one of my favourite REM albums but E-Bow has never really clicked with me. Can't believe I'm the first one to include Bittersweet Me on these lists, I guess that speaks to the strength of the album.


Murmur: Perfect Circle, Radio Free Europe
Reckoning: So. Central Rain, Pretty Persuasion
Fables of the Reconstruction: Maps & Legends, Life And How To Live It
Life's Rich Pageant: Begin the Begin, Fall On Me
Document: The One I Love, Finest Worksong
Green: Orange Crush, I Remember California
Out of Time: Country Feedback, Losing My Religion
Automatic for the People: Drive, Find The River
Monster: Bang and Blame, What's The Hz Kenneth?
New Adventures in Hi-Fi: Bittersweet Me, Wake-Up Bomb
Up: Daysleeper, At My Most Beautiful
Reveal: Imitation Of Life, She Just Wants to Be
Around the Sun: Leaving New York, Final Straw
Accelerate: Living Well, Man-Sized Wreath
Collapse Into Now: It Happened Today, Uberlin
Non-album: The Great Beyond, All The Right Friends

[stip]

I listened to up, reveal, and around the sun in a row on a late night drive to DC. A few random thoughts

Up: I owe airportman an apology. It's a much better mood piece then I remembered. On the other hand the apologist is probably at the very bottom of my rem list. Also not a fan of diminished or you're in the air. Too much of this album is lacking in organic warmth. Songs like you're in the air and suspicion (which I do like) in particular suffer for it. I also like the non album versions of sad professor and why not smile more because they have it. I also wish lotus didn't have those trippy vocals because the core song is so good, this is also probably my overall least favorite set of stipe vocals and the sequencing is terrible. Hope and Daysleeper are still tremendous songs. I wish parakeet was on reveal

Reveal: I forget how enjoyable a listen this is from start to finish. The lifting is one of their best songs period, and Saturn returns and chorus and the ring are also great. The rest of the album works really really well as a warm, wet, lush set of songs that hang together really well. All three of these records are trying to replace bill berry with a more electronic aesthetic and this is easily the album where it works the best. I also am a huge fan of beach all. I think I've been high and I'll take the rain are the songs I like the least. They have the same coldness that holds back the similar songs on up.

Around the sun: a better album than I sometimes give it credit for. There are no truly great songs, but there are a few really good ones, and only two that bring nothing to the table (high speed train and worst joke ever, which is their second worst song ever). I like electron blue more every time I hear it, and songs like aftermath and make it all okay are pretty pleasant listens. I have no idea why mike mills never sings on this record, but he would have really elevated a few of these songs.


I didn't get to accelerate or collapse, but I think I like them both more than any of these. I might put reveal over collapse

[tattooedeverything]

MURMUR: Perfect Circle / Radio Free Europe
RECKONING: Harborcoat / 7 Chinese Bros.
FOTR: Feeling Gravitys Pull / Life And How To Live It
LRP: Begin The Begin / The Flowers of Guatemala
DOCUMENT: Finest Worksong / Exhuming McCarthy
GREEN: You Are The Everything / Turn You Inside-Out
OOT: Low / Country Feedback
AFTP: Drive / Nightswimming
MONSTER: What's The Frequency, Kenneth? / I Don't Sleep, I Dream
NAIHF: How The West Was Won And Where It Got Us / Bittersweet Me
UP: Sad Professor / Lotus
REVEAL: She Just Wants To Be / Disappear
ATS: Leaving New York / The Ascent of Man
ACCELERATE: Living Well Is The Best Revenge / Horse To Water
CIN: Walk It Back / Blue

I clearly have a thing for the opening tracks. R.E.M. were truly one of the absolute masters of the opening track.

[Kaius]

MURMUR
Talk About the Passion (I love all of these )
Sitting Still
9-9
Shaking Through
We Walk

West of the Fields (both catchy tunes)
Catapult

Radio Free Europe (decent songs, might skip)
Moral Kiosk

Pilgrimage (don't do anything for me)
Laughing