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

[stip]

The studio version is terrible. There are some really great live versions

[AndySlash]

am i the only one that likes revolution?

The studio version is really a letdown compared to the Road Movie version, isn't it?

i never thought so, but i can't say i've ever really purposefully compared them.

[stip]

this is a bold claim that I may want to walk back at a future date, but Accelerate might be better than any of the IRS records. They're all immensely satisfying listens from start to finish but Accelerate feels like an IRS album with the benefit of decades of experience and confidence (although the somewhat hesitant feel on most of those records is one of their strengths).

[Lament]

Yeah, there's no way I can get on board with that claim. But more power to you. I probably prefer every single IRS album to Accelerate.

[Jorge]

Yeah, fuck that, Stip.

[epilogue]

This REM tournament experience has me 100% convinced that Collapse Into Now is my second favorite REM album, behind Hi-Fi.

I'm still trying to figure out Accelerate.

[Norah]

The most stip post of all time.

[epilogue]

I'm going through Accelerate again. This is the third time this week and I'm starting to really dig it.

[stip]

It's pretty great. It's highs can match the IRS highs and from start to finish it's all really really good.

[epilogue]

I definitely should take back what I said a couple of weeks ago about it being a mediocre record. It's definitely really good.

[AndySlash]

r.e.m. email blast today noted the release on cd and digital of the unplugged sessions. for those that missed the vinyl issue on rsd, there was also this bit of info:

Due to popular demand...
Well, the Limited Edition Record Store Day release of R.E.M. Unplugged 1991/2001, The Complete Sessions, was quite a hit for those who were able to get one. So as a result, we are working on details for two separate vinyl releases: MTV Unplugged 1991 and MTV Unplugged 2001. Each vinyl release will feature the entire performance, including the additional songs not aired on the original broadcast. Further details to be a announced as soon as we have them.

[kreng]

Awesome

[epilogue]

r.e.m. email blast today noted the release on cd and digital of the unplugged sessions. for those that missed the vinyl issue on rsd, there was also this bit of info:

Due to popular demand...
Well, the Limited Edition Record Store Day release of R.E.M. Unplugged 1991/2001, The Complete Sessions, was quite a hit for those who were able to get one. So as a result, we are working on details for two separate vinyl releases: MTV Unplugged 1991 and MTV Unplugged 2001. Each vinyl release will feature the entire performance, including the additional songs not aired on the original broadcast. Further details to be a announced as soon as we have them.

Well, that's what I'm buying.

[darth_vedder]

So what are the general thoughts on the post Berry albums around here? I think I like Up, Reveal, and Accelerate the best, but I still have a lot of listening and re-visiting to do. A bunch is still pretty new to me. Curious as to how y'all would rank them. Or if you don't feel like ranking, if you were putting together a best of REM: 1998 to 2011, what would you include?

[Lament]

Honestly, Collapse Into Now is my favorite post-Berry record. Followed probably by Up, Accelerate, Reveal, and Around the Sun in that order.

[kreng]

It’s good to be an R.E.M. fan this week. In addition to the release of their 1991 and 2001 MTV Unplugged sets, and 50 rarities from their I.R.S. Records era, the band has let loose a whopping 131-track collection of B-sides, covers, live tracks, and non-album goodies. As the material’s culled from R.E.M.’s time at Warner Bros., the anthology’s aptly titled Complete Rarities: Warner Bros. 1988-2011.

http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Warner-B ... 1400566634

tracklist:

Spoiler: show

Complete Rarities: Warner Bros. 1988-2011 Tracklist:
01. “Funtime” (Live) (Iggy Pop Cover)
02. “Ghost Rider” (Suicide Cover)
03. “Dark Globe” (Syd Barrett Cover)
04. “Pop Song 89” (Acoustic Version)
05. “Memphis Train Blues” (Non-Album Track)
06. “Skin Tight” (Live Orlando, FL April 30, 1989) (Ohio Players cover)
07. “Losing My Religion” (Acoustic) (Live At KFOG)
08. “Losing My Religion” (Live In Dublin 2005)
09. “Rotary Eleven” (Non-Album Track)
10. “You Are The Everything” (Live – Greensboro Coliseum, NC 11/10/1989)
11. “Love Is All Around” (Live)
12. “Shiny Happy People” (Dance To The Music Mix)
13. “Shiny Happy People” (Pop Mix)
14. “Shiny Happy People” (Hip Mix)
15. “It’s a Free World Baby” (Non-Album Track)
16. “Winged Mammal Theme” (Non-Album Track)
17. “First We Take Manhattan” (Leonard Cohen Cover)
18. “Everybody Hurts” (Album Fade)
19. “Mandolin Strum” (Non-Album Track)
20. “Orange Crush” (Live Version)
21. “Man On The Moon” (Album Edit)
22. “Arms Of Love” (Non-Album Track)
23. “World Leader Pretend” (Live) (Charleston WV 4/28/91)
24. “Belong” (Live) (Charleston WV 4/28/91)
25. “Low” (Live) (Charleston WV 4/28/91)
26. “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” (Non-Album Track)
27. “Fretless” (Non-Album Track)
28. “Everybody Hurts” (Live) (9/2/93-Los Angeles for the MTV Video Awards)
29. “Orange Crush” (Instrumental)
30. “Fall On Me” (Live)
31. “Me In Honey” (Live)
32. “Finest Worksong” (Live)
33. “Drive” (Live) (1992)
34. “Funtime” (Live) (1992)
35. “Radio Free Europe” (Live) (1992)
36. “What’s The Frequency, Kenneth?” (Live at SNL-11/12/94)
37. “Bang And Blame” (Live at SNL-11/12/94)
38. “I Don’t Sleep, I Dream” (Live at SNL-11/12/94)
39. “What’s The Frequency, Kenneth?” (Radio Version)
40. “Monty Got A Raw Deal” (Live)
41. “Everybody Hurts” (Live) (Athens, GA ’92)
42. “Man On The Moon” (Live) (Athens, GA ’92)
43. “Bang And Blame” (Album Version w/o Between Track Noise)
44. “Losing My Religion” (Live) (Athens 1992) (Applause Faded)
45. “Country Feedback” (Live) (Athens 1992) (Applause Faded)
46. “Begin The Begin” (Live) (Athens 1992)
47. “Undertow” (Live)
48. “Wichita Lineman” (Live) (Non-Album Track)
49. “New Test Leper” (Live Acoustic)
50. “Tricycle” (Instrumental) (Non-Album Track)
51. “Departure” (Live) (Rome Soundcheck)
52. “Wall Of Death” (From “Beat The Retreat”-Richard Thompson Tribute Album)
53. “The Wake Up Bomb” (Live Version) (Atlanta)
54. “Binky The Doormat” (Live Version) (Atlanta)
55. “King Of Comedy” (808 State Remix)
56. “Be Mine” (Mike On Bus Version)
57. “Love is All Around” (The Troggs Cover)
58. “Sponge” (Vic Chesnutt Cover)
59. “Emphysema” (Non-Album Track)
60. “Sad Professor” (Live In Studio Version)
61. “Why Not Smile” (Oxford American Version)
62. “Surfing The Ganges” (LP Version)
63. “Suspicion” (Live In Studio Version)
64. “Lotus” (Weird Mix)
65. “Electrolite” (Live From Jools Holland)
66. “Man On The Moon” (Live From Jools Holland)
67. “Suspicion” (Live At Ealing Studios)
68. “At My Most Beautiful” (Radio Remix)
69. “Passenger” (Recorded From “Later” With Jools Holland)
70. “Country Feedback” (Recorded From “Later” With Jools Holland)
71. “So. Central Rain” (Live From “Later”)
72. “The Great Beyond” (Non-Album Track)
73. “The One I Love” (Live From Glastonbury Festival)
74. “Everybody Hurts” (Live From Glastonbury Festival)
75. “Man On The Moon” (Live From Glastonbury Festival)
76. “Yellow River” (Non-Album Track)
77. “165 Hillcrest” (Non-Album Track)
78. “Imitation Of Life” (Live From Trafalgar Square)
79. “Summer Turns To High” (32 Chord Song Demo)
80. “I’ve Been High” (Live Video Version) (Channel V, Sydney)
81. “The Lifting” (Original Version)
82. “Beat A Drum” (Dalkey Demo)
83. “2JN” (Non-Album Track)
84. “Favorite Writer” (Non-Album Track)
85. “Out in the Country” (Non-Album Track)
86. “Adagio” (Unused Tune)
87. “Turn You Inside-Out” (Live Version)
88. “Chance” (Dub)
89. “Drive” (Live Version) (1994)
90. “Star Me Kitten” (Featuring W.S. Burroughs)
91. “Revolution” (Non-Album Track)
92. “Leave” (Alternate Version)
93. “The Lifting” (Demo)
94. “The One I Love” (Live Version) (MMM Sydney)
95. “Maps & Legends” (Live Rehearsal Version)
96. “Tongue” (Live Rehearsal Version)
97. “Little America” (Live Rehearsal Version)
98. “South Central Rain” (Live Rehearsal Version)
99. “Imitation Of Life” (Live Rehearsal Version)
100. “So Fast, So Numb” (Live) (Athens Rehearsal Sessions, 2004)
101. “All The Right Friends” (Live) (Athens Rehearsal Sessions, 2004)
102. “Animal” (New Mix)
103. “Pretty Persuasion” (Live) (NYC 2003)
104. “Welcome To The Occupation” (Live) (NYC 2003)
105. “You Are The Everything” (Live) (Raleigh, NC-Oct. 10, 2003)
106. “These Days” (Live) (Toronto-Sept. 30, 2003)
107. “(Don’t Go Back To) Rockville” (Live) (Oslo NRK P1 National Radio-Oct. 25, 2003)
108. “Wanderlust” (Live-Santa Barbara, CA 2004)
109. “Sweetness Follows” (Live) (Recorded in Cincinnati-Oct. 27, 2004)
110. “Horse To Water” (Live In Vancouver)
111. “Indian Summer” (Non-Album Track)
112. “Living Well Is The Best Revenge” (Live In London)
113. “Auctioneer” (Live In London)
114. “Hollow Man” (Live In London)
115. “Supernatural Superserious” (Live In London)
116. “Fall On Me” (Live In London)
117. “West Of The Fields” (Live In London)
118. “Horse To Water” (Live In London)
119. “Man-Sized Wreath” (Live In London)
120. “Man On The Moon” (Live In London)
121. “Mr. Richards” (Vancouver)
122. “Living Well Jesus Dog” (Non-Album Track)
123. “Airliner” (Non-Album Track)
124. “Redhead Walking” (Non-Album Track)
125. “Houston” (iTunes Live From London)
126. “Harborcoat” (Live At The Olympia)
127. “Letter Never Sent” (Live At The Olympia)
128. “Second Guessing” (Live At The Olympia)
129. “Pretty Persuasion” (Live At The Olympia)
130. “NOLA-4/26/10” (Non-Album Track)
131. “That Someone Is You” (Live In The Studio)

[kreng]

So what are the general thoughts on the post Berry albums around here? I think I like Up, Reveal, and Accelerate the best, but I still have a lot of listening and re-visiting to do. A bunch is still pretty new to me. Curious as to how y'all would rank them. Or if you don't feel like ranking, if you were putting together a best of REM: 1998 to 2011, what would you include?

i hate ranking, but this is actually pretty easy

Up
Collapse
Accelerate
Around The Sun
Reveal

[epilogue]

So what are the general thoughts on the post Berry albums around here? I think I like Up, Reveal, and Accelerate the best, but I still have a lot of listening and re-visiting to do. A bunch is still pretty new to me. Curious as to how y'all would rank them. Or if you don't feel like ranking, if you were putting together a best of REM: 1998 to 2011, what would you include?

i hate ranking, but this is actually pretty easy

Up
Collapse
Accelerate
Around The Sun
Reveal

I'd switch Up and Collapse. But, yeah. Basically, this.

[stip]

So what are the general thoughts on the post Berry albums around here? I think I like Up, Reveal, and Accelerate the best, but I still have a lot of listening and re-visiting to do. A bunch is still pretty new to me. Curious as to how y'all would rank them. Or if you don't feel like ranking, if you were putting together a best of REM: 1998 to 2011, what would you include?

Accelerate
Collapse

then a bit of a drop off. I think those two are definitely the best--Accelerate for being excellent from top to bottom. Collapse is a bit more inconsistent (3-4 songs that don't do anything for me) but it also feels the most like a classical REM record in a good way.

Then Up or Reveal. I go back and forth. Up has the stronger songs, and more of them, but it's also something of an overlong and frustratingly inconsistent listen--with some amazing songs and some of their worst. Reveal is just the perfect warm summer day/night record and is a great listen from start to finish--an album that builds momentum from being heard as an album. I can't say that about Up.

Around the Sun is clearly the weakest. it has its gentle charms but it reaches for little and so doesn't reward much. It's a nice listen when you haven't heard it in a while or you want some songs that don't ask for much but sort of remind you of bigger things. Aftermath on Around the Sun (a song I like) maybe embodies the feel of the record more than any of the other songs. So it has its place in the catalog, but it's definitely the weakest of all the REM records.


If I was going to make a greatest hits from this era it would look something like this (in chronological order)

The Great Beyond
Lotus
Hope
At My Most Beautiful
Daysleeper
Bad Day
The Lifting
Saturn Returns
Final Straw
I Wanted to Be Wrong
Living Well is the Best Revenge
Man Sized Wreath
Houston
Until the Day is Done
Uberlin
Oh My Heart
It Happened Today
We All Go Back to Where We Belong

[stip]

Give reveal a listen on a warm peaceful summer night. It'll click