Mendalla
Bye, bye REM
Posted on: 09/21/2011 18:33
REM announced today that they are ending the band after 31 years. I first discovered them via MTV in the eighties and loved their music through the nineties. Kind of lost track on them in the last decade.
The One I Love (the song that first got me into REM)
The End of the World (later beautifully covered by Great Big Sea)
Losing My Religion (Brilliant song)
Everybody Hurts (not embeddable, dang you Warner Records)
And, finally, the band having some fun with their song "Shiny Happy People" on the Muppet Show.
Mendalla
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InannaWhimsey
Posted on: 09/21/2011 18:58
trishcuit
Posted on: 09/21/2011 19:37
Too bad. They had some good tunes. Mandolin sounds great.
Mendalla
Posted on: 09/21/2011 21:02
Actually, the consensus that I'm starting to see on the 'Net is that the band's best years were behind them and it was perhaps a good idea for them to disband before they became another "classic rock" group clinging to past glories.
Mendalla
qwerty
Posted on: 09/21/2011 22:24
Well I guess ...
Once again.
It's the end of the world as we know it.
It seems to happen,
Some way or another,
On almost a daily basis now.
But still ...
I feel fine.
qwerty
Posted on: 09/21/2011 23:35
I've always been partial to "Stand". I like to live life that way. (And yes that smiling longhaired kid in the video below is ... really! ... Michael Stipe ... what a long, strange trip it's been!)
For me "Orange Crush" is majestic, mysterious and poignant. There are few rock songs as good as this.
Mendalla
Posted on: 09/22/2011 08:26
Those are two more of my favorites, too, qwerty. The thing with REM is that, for at least the eighties-nineties part of their career, they were generating a nice, steady, solid string of really, really good songs (even the ones that didn't get released as singles). If I had the time and inclination to list out my top 100 pop songs of my lifetime, there'd easily be half a dozen to a dozen REM tunes on it. I just grabbed the first few that came to mind for my post.
And, yes, it does seem weird to remember a time when Michael not only had hair, but had fairly long hair.
Mendalla
sighsnootles
Posted on: 09/22/2011 11:37
the song 'everybody hurts' has gotten me through many, many depressing and dark days.
trishcuit
Posted on: 09/22/2011 23:56
Mendella, I agree. They are stepping down in a timely manner. That is what I call a class act.
Alternately, nowadays you see Trooper and Loverboy in all their aging glory (HUH?) playing pubs and smaller venues. No packing stadiums anymore. They have become a bit of a joke.
Mendalla
Posted on: 09/23/2011 09:46
Mendella, I agree. They are stepping down in a timely manner. That is what I call a class act.
Alternately, nowadays you see Trooper and Loverboy in all their aging glory (HUH?) playing pubs and smaller venues. No packing stadiums anymore. They have become a bit of a joke.
Of course, the cynics are already joking about how long it will be before the inevitable reunion tour, although I could see REM being one of the bands that might actually resist that tendency.
Old bands reliving past glories has it's place, but I find that some outstay even that limited welcome (the two you mention). Too many seem to stop recording new material and just do greatest hit after greatest hit. The Moody Blues, a longtime favorite of mine, have become guilty of this in recent years. On the other hand, I have no problems with Randy Bachman and Fred Turner's reunion tour because (a) it's been a long time since we've seen them perform together, and (b) they did actually record new material for it instead of just rehashing the BTO catalogue.
Mendalla
Kimmio
Posted on: 09/24/2011 20:54
Good memories! Good luck R.E.M! I guess they have a right to retire too.
Elanorgold
Posted on: 10/02/2011 12:27
Michael Stipe was actually cute before he cut his hair off. I guess he was doing the Midnight Oil thing (can't remember his name), and the Sinead O'Conner thing.
I really like Loosing My Religion too, and as I already mentioned to Mendalla, The One I Love and EveryBody Hurts. They were a big force in my high school.