REM (1980-2011)

After a three-decade career and fifteen studio albums (some as transcendental as “Out Of Time” and “Automatic For The People“), the fathers of alt rock have decided to disband for good.

Today, the following message was posted on the band’s website:

“To our Fans and Friends: As R.E.M., and as lifelong friends and co-conspirators, we have decided to call it a day as a band. We walk away with a great sense of gratitude, of finality, and of astonishment at all we have accomplished. To anyone who ever felt touched by our music, our deepest thanks for listening.” R.E.M.

Michael Stipe later elaborated:

“A wise man once said–’the skill in attending a party is knowing when it’s time to leave.’ We built something extraordinary together. We did this thing. And now we’re going to walk away from it.

I hope our fans realize this wasn’t an easy decision; but all things must end, and we wanted to do it right, to do it our way.

We have to thank all the people who helped us be R.E.M. for these 31 years; our deepest gratitude to those who allowed us to do this. It’s been amazing.”

Some insiders have remarked that REM’s difficult relationship with Warner (to which the band signed for a record-setting $80 million back in 1996) was what precipitated the end of it all. For its part, all band members have emphasized that there are no hard feelings or bitterness of any kind. As Mike Mills put it:

“We have always been a band in the truest sense of the word. Brothers who truly love, and respect, each other. We feel kind of like pioneers in this–there’s no disharmony here, no falling-outs, no lawyers squaring-off. We’ve made this decision together, amicably and with each other’s best interests at heart. The time just feels right.”   

REM is now reportedly working on a compilation that will include some new studio tracks, recorded after “Collapse Into Now” (their final studio album, issued in March of this year).

Below you’ll find a live  rendition of “It’s The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)”.

In Spite Of Some Omissions Like "Shiny Happy People" & "Drive" This Compliation Portrays The Band At The Peak Of Their Hit-making Powers

R.E.M. became an unstoppable force during their stay at Warner. This single disc compiles most of their ineluctable hits along with some rarities and previously unreleased tracks to keep collectors entertained.

All of their Warner albums are featured; “Automatic For The People” is the one that has more tracks in (4 in total), whereas the least represented discs are “Out Of Time” and “Monster” (only one track each – “Losing My Religion” and “What’s The Frequency, Kenneth?” respectively). And the remaining discs (“Green”, “Up”, “Reveal” and “New Adventures in Hi Fi”) are summarized in two songs per album.

Even someone who isn’t that well-versed on their catalog will spot some omissions that are bitter to swallow. Both “Shiny Happy People” (“Out Of Time”) and “Drive” (“Automatic For The People”) have been excluded. “Shiny Happy People” might be one of the stupidest songs since the dawn of time, but it was their one and only Top 5 hit both in America and in Europe. The band has professed its deep abhorrence for the song. Fair enough. But Radiohead does not omit “Creep” on anthologies, no matter how much they grew to detest it.  

And “Drive” was their biggest European hit. I would gladly take “All The Way To Reno” (one of the songs from “Reveal”, and one of the superfluous compositions here) off the compilation and add either.

Still, the fact that all the rarities that are included are good does tip the scales favorably. “Bad Day” was an old song (while Berry was still their drummer) which was revamped for release here. You can listen to the original version on the bonus disc of the best of the IRS years compilation, incidentally.

Then, you have two songs from soundtrack albums: “The Great Beyond” (from the biopic about Andy Kaufmann starring Jim Carrey – the song became the band’s biggest UK hit) and “All The Right Friends”, from the Vanilla Sky soundtrack. The song was also a new take on an old demo, again with Bill Berry sitting behind the skins.

Many will always lament that this was not a 2 CD set. However, I beg to disagree. Were it not for the two major omissions, this would have been pristine in every sense. The finished disc is excellent as it is. Not perfect, but it is one of the most encouraging compilations I have ever set my hands on. I am even partial to the non-chronological sequencing, because the disc would have lost a little oomph once two thirds were in otherwise. As it stands, the late-period phase of the band (when their sound became far more selective) blends in with their commercial pinnacle, and you get an absorbing overview of the fathers of Alt Rock as they somehow outgrew the genre. Others would tell you that the genre outgrew them. But we’ll save that for the “Comments” below.

Would I recommend purchase of this compilation: Yes
Do I feel like digging deeper into their catalog after listening to it: Yes

The cover of “Green” (R.E.M’s major label debut) is meant to be stared at for a while. Then, if you close your eyes the negative image you will see will be all green. I must admit it never worked out like that for me. Who knows, maybe you need the assistance of a Mr. Tambourine Man for the trick to be done!

Transition albums necessarily fall into any of two categories. They either capture an artist in a completely unsure frame, or they convey a graceful broadening of horizons that results in a mixture of old and new sounds in a way seeming entirely natural.

I seem to believe that most transition albums fall in the former category, whereas I can count on one hand those who do deliver something as enticing as what the artist always has to offer. One of the few examples of “successful” transition albums to me is XTC’s “English Settlement”, an album that I find so intoxicating that I have listened to it a trillion times, and will have to do so a trillion times more before feeling I am capable of expressing its every nuance.

And right besides that album by the unique British art rockers I have to place “Green”, the first album R.E.M was to release for Warner. The year was 1988, and the band had signed with the major record label looking for broader promotion. By that point they had the right qualifications, of course – hits like “The One I Love” and “It’s the End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)” were just the tip of the iceberg.

“Green” was to mark a series of firsts for the band. To begin with, three songs were to feature Buck’s mandolin prominently on the mix, and they all three worked more than fine, with the first of them (“You Are The Everything”) announcing a change of tack that was to led to an artistic renaissance for the Athens’ band. Secondly, Stipe changed his MO – he began writing songs in situ, as the others were throwing musical ideas around. Many songs’ lyrics were to have a cumulative effect such as the biting “I Remember California” in which Michael sings “I recall it wasn’t fair, recollect it wasn’t fair, remembering it wasn’t fair” in order to express bottled feeling with an unparalleled precision. The same approach was employed on “World Leader Pretend” (“I demand a rematch, decree a stalemate, I divine my deeper motives” – note the alliterations in both examples), and that is not counting the many enumerations are mirrored structures like the first line of every verse in “Pop Song 89”, an aptly-named tune that presaged some (far more radical) poppier moments that were to come such as “Shiny Happy People”.

That will always be the most endearing aspect of the disc – how the transition could be so balanced, and the melding of pop and folkier elements could sit besides harder rocking offerings like “Turn You Inside-Out”. The album is characterized by the fact that it goes to no extreme, and that songs which are dissimilar end up making an equilibrated whole.

Maybe the change was motivated by the instrumentalists rotating their roles along with Michael’s willingness to sing more clearly. In fact, “World Leader Pretend” (a song that announced a more politically-conscientious message alongside “Orange Crush”) was to become R.E.M’s first song whose lyrics were printed as part of the package. That was something Stipe had opposed to for a long time, and such a fact simply showed he was opening up for good.

The other hit of the album (it topped the modern charts, just like “Orange Crush”) was to be “Stand”, a song carried by a rhythm that was every bit as playful as the lyric. The band were to eventually disown the song, but they remained aware enough of its quality so as to include it as part of the “In Time” anthology along with the megaphone-powered “Orange Crush” (and yes, that was the first time Stipe sang like that – he was to reuse the trick several times over the discs that ensued).

As I said above, the record holds its own because it is all so well-proportioned. It recalls some of their previous fire while hinting at their pop potential and more serene compositions. It even had a track signaling their embrace of a grungier sound much farther down the line – the song “Turn You Inside-Out” preceded “Monster” by more than six years. Not many bands have albums that so effectively encapsulate every past, present and future facet of their sound. Ultimately, that simply makes R.E.M.’s debut for Warner stand even more precious after all these years.

Rating: 8.5/10

REM's Fourth Album For Warner. The Record Was Named "Monster". It Came Out In 1994.

After the somehow pastoral textures of “Out Of Time” and “Automatic For The People” (with mandolins and orchestras taking center stage), nobody could have blamed the band if they wanted to rock out a little once more. And that is what they did on their 1994 release. Named “Monster”, it was a return to their basic sound, and one that elicited strong reactions both in the buying public and in critics. One thing is for sure: the album did leave no one indifferent.

Personally, I find the sound a little unimaginative, with the guitar always going “wahh, wahhhh, wahhhhh” and Michael’s voice left intentionally low on the mix and /or completely distorted (“I Took Your Name”). When the record kicks in (with the successful single “What’s The Frequency, Kenneth?”) I am momentarily thrilled, but I quickly become a bit bored until a couple of more subdued performances do roll in. These include the beautiful single “Strange Currencies” and the organ-pumped “Tongue”. The voice is crisp there, and it is easier to focus on the actual message.

Because the lyrics are quite interesting as “Monster” was the one time that Stipe admittedly wrote in different characters, all of them rock musicians or stars. By this point, the band had already sampled a degree of success that was simply beyond anybody’s belief. They had also sampled the lunacy and madness that goes with that, and they surely had had enough of yes-men and hangers-on. There is a very palpable sense of disgust that gives way to paranoia in songs like “Star 69”, whereas “King Of Comedy” deals with adulation in one of the most vitriolic ways I have ever seen. Well, the working title was actually “Yes, I Am Fucking With You”.

And just look at some lyrics snippets: “We all invent ourselves” (Crush With Eyeliner), “I don’t want to tell you how much I hate this” (Tongue) and “What I want to feel, I want to feel it now” (Strange Currencies). You might think that nit-picking is a bad idea, but in this case it is viable since the record has a true thematic uniformity, and the songs on the whole are like a single lyric that deals with fame and artists under every light

For example, there is a song written and recorded as a tribute to Kurt Cobain, “Let Me In”. Stipe and the legendary frontman of Nirvana were very good friends, and so was actor River Phoenix – he also died at the time of the recording sessions, and “Monster” was to be dedicated to him. Natalie Merchant also penned a composition about Phoenix, incidentally. It was included on her first disc, “Tigerlily”.

“Monster” was clearly a vehicle for live performances – it was even recorded live in the studio, and the band was to launch its first tour in more than half a decade to promote the record.

In hindsight, the shift was a little too abrupt even if it was completely justified from the point of view of what they wanted to do artistically. It is important to note that (on paper) “Automatic For The People” was going to be a rock record, not a disc dominated by ballads as it turned out to be. Maybe if that had materialized the return to their rockier roots would not have been so sudden and/or disconcerting to many. But that would also have meant that a record universally adored (“Automatic For The People”) would have not existed as we know it. I think the trade off is something we can all live with. And (in any case) “Monster” has its moments. “Strange Currencies”, “Let Me In” and “Crush With Eyeliner” certainly qualify. And the closing number, “You” is somehow hypnotic and it says in 3 minutes what was ultimately eluded all through the record: “I hate this fame game but by now I need it”. The band needed a record to tour after and to continue developing the relationship with their fans. To try and see where it could be taken after the monumental successes that had preceded it. “Monster” was that album. And if the records that followed showed an increasing disconnection with what the public wanted, it was maybe because the audience was already satisfied by that point, and what the band had to say was not that interesting to listen to any longer.

Rating: 6/10

"Automatic For The People" By R.E.M. Year Of Release: 1992.

The follow-up to the critically-acclaimed “Out Of Time” (1991), “Automatic For The People” (1992) feels like the perfect successor to the previous offering to me. Now a broader scope of themes is broached, and personal compositions such as “Nightswimming” are turned into wider statements about youth and the passing of time. Mortality is also another recurrent topic, with the songs “Try Not To Breathe” and “Sweetness Follows” treading heavy territory. “Try Not To Breathe” deals with an old man’s resolution to die, based on his will not to be a burden to his family any longer. And “Sweetness Follows” is a song that makes you realize that you don’t have to wait for the end to come in order to bury the hatchet and make peace with any member of your family.

The album also has the highly successful “Everybody Hurts”, with one of the best orchestrated fades of the record. The title is explicit enough, and the song on the whole is just that bit too slow for my liking. But it has “hit” written all over it. The accompanying video was also a clever one, using subtitles that matched and then moved away from the actual lyrics to drive the point home: harming others is human nature in itself. It is not a matter of superiority. Nietzsche used to say that only he who does wrong can do right. I guess he had a point. And so does R.E.M. here.

The set opener is “Drive”. To me, it deals with the relationship between stars and fans (“Maybe I drive/Maybe you walk”) and how (young) fans start aping their idols, right to their most decadent habits (heroin is mentioned explicitly on the lyrics). Let’s admit it, we all have gone through an “I’m Liam Gallagher!” or “I’m Johnny Rotten!” phase when we were younger. The song seems to be saying that something is as real as we want it to be, right until a tragical event comes along. “Nobody tells you what to do, baby” – we end up learning that the hard way. That is just my interpretation.

The disc also has the beloved “Man On The Moon”, a great song about comedian Andy Kaufmann which (along with a later number named “The Great Beyond”) was to be featured on his biopic. It was aptly-named “Man On The Moon”, and R.E.M.’s songs are now deemed as the best part of it.

Moving on, there is the political rant “Ignoreland” with Mike singing through a megaphone (as he had done on “Orange Crush” off the album “Green”), and the record closer is the settling “Find The River”. I read it as the will to find something bigger than yourself, and something that can go forward and carry you when you feel like stopping and giving up.

I really don’t think a lot of “Monty Got A Raw Deal”, “Star Me Kitten” and the instrumental cut. I must say that “Star Me Kitten” has a somehow paranoid feeling that makes me think a lot of the “Monster” songs. And “The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite” was a song added to bring a lighter number around. It is quite infectious, but a little glaring in the overall scheme of the disc. (It worked very well as a single, though.)

This was to be as hot as R.E.M. would get both critically and commercially. The next record (“Monster”) was to come in two year’s time, and it was a “back to the roots” affair that divided fans and critics alike. In the meantime, things never looked so rosier for the Athens band. I like “Out Of Time” best, but this is also an indispensable work in the annals of the band. I am giving both records the same rating, but maybe this deserved an 8 instead of a 7.5. I think I am going to sleep on it…

Rating: 7.5/10

R.E.M.'s "Out Of Time" Was Issued In 1991 To Strong Reviews And Sales. It Included The Hits "Losing My Religion" & "Shiny Happy People".

“Out Of Time” (1991) was to be R.E.M.’s second release for Warner, and it was also the record that led the band to levels of popularity that surpassed all their expectations. Of course, that also means that (as any band with a serious cult following that makes it to the big time) they were faced with the odious “what-have-you-done-to-us-your-true-fans”.  It didn’t certainly help that the disc included “Shiny Happy People”, a song considered one of the stupidest ever by a major band, and that the song was a transatlantic hit.

Leaving aside that composition (and how sickly catchy it is, I must add) the album is characterized by a tremendous world-weariness in terms of lyrics and motifs. Two songs use the expression “the world is collapsing”, and the adjective “hollow” is also featured in different compositions, and repeated as part of choruses. Besides, the one instrumental cut of the album goes by the name of “Endgame”.

Another common lyrical maneuver here is the inclusion of lists, you can see it clearly in the songs “Texarkana” and “Country Feedback”. The first increases the amounts that are mentioned gradually, and according to the poignancy of what is being described culminating in “40, 000 reasons for living” and “40, 000 tears in your eyes”. The second is nothing but a concatenation of images and objects that symbolize the hollowness mentioned elsewhere.

And I don’t need to tell you that this album includes the smash hit “Losing My Religion”. It was to split the band’s career in two, and become their signature tune. While “Shiny Happy People” is also one of the songs most people start humming when the band is mentioned, “Losing My Religion” is actually a composition Stipe and Co. are proud of – “Shiny Happy People” was left off “In Time” (a retrospective issued in 2003), even when it was the one and only song of their career to hit the top five in both sides of the Atlantic.

Coming back to the world-weariness that was mentioned above, note the sarcastic undertone that “Shiny Happy People” has, and how a “love” song like “Losing My Religion” focuses on the fact that something is being lost, not that something might be being gained.

It was with this album that mid-paced and orchestrated cuts started gaining true prevalence, and the coexistence of different styles (as seen on “Green“) was to become eventually lost.

This time around, the formula works – a quick glance at how the actual singles performed in the charts just proves it. The next record (“Automatic For The People”, 1992) also yielded its fair share of hits, but some complained it was far too removed from the band’s roots. The 90s were to be times of great commercial successes and critical backlashes for the band. “Out Of Time” was not a start on the bad foot, it was simply a start on the right foot in a ballpark that not every fan of the band cherished or even cared about.

Rating: 7.5/10

A 90s Picture Of R.E.M. Featuring Michael Stipe, Peter Buck, Mike Mills & Bill Berry

We all know how pointless it is, but still we take part of conversations along the lines of “The best band ever was…” or “The best guitarist in history will always be…”. It is pointless, because there is not a parameter that we could agree upon to base the judgment on. Is the best guitarist the one with the best technique? The one with the fastest fingers? The one who plays the best solos? I recall the uproar caused by a list published in Rolling Stone detailing the “100 Best Guitar Players Ever” in which Johnny Ramone was in the Top 20. Some were enraged, and some defended the placement.

Still, I think that we take part of such discussions if only because we feel that championing our best-loved band is a way of bringing new converts in. And if you are over 30, I know that you have taken part of the “What’s the best band of the 80s?” discussion. And chances are, if you didn’t go for U2 you actually went for R.E.M.

Hailing from Athens (Georgia), the band fronted by Michael Stipe has had a career of note. It can be split in three sections. The first was the underground one. It started in 1982 with the release of the “Chronic Town” EP (on Hib-Tone), and the subsequent releases for I.R.S. This stage ended when they signed up with Warner in pursuit of broader international outreach in 1988.

The Earliest Picture Of R.E.M. I Have Ever Come Across

With Warner, they were to get that and become international superstars. The albums “Out Of Time” (1991) and “Automatic For The People” (1992) are indisputably the high points of their tenure at Warner, and the guys were to eventually renew their contract for about 80 million dollars (a record-breaking amount at the time). The year was 1996, and the next year they were to lose their long-standing drummer owing to health complications.

This incident marked a downward spiral that is more perceptible to some bystanders than to others, since the band continued being acclaimed and landing hit singles, specially in the UK. But their records became more and more softer in sound, with both “New Adventures In Hi-Fi” (with Berry still around) and “Up” (already without him) standing a little lethargic not only for my liking but for most people I know. “Reveal” (1999) was to yield the successful “Imitation Of Life” (a big hit in Europe), but the band was sliding not necessarily into obscurity, but more into cult status, as if they were coming full circle. Their most recent release (“Accelerate”) does reinforce that point of view, as it is the closest they have issued to their I.R.S. records in terms of vigorousness in a long time.

I don’t necessarily think that the band has played out its role, but I do feel (and they do as well) that their main contributions have already materialized. Now it looks like they are aiming to provide some smaller ones, and that is also entirely reputable. Everybody knows they are not coming up with another “Losing My Religion”, but they are going to come up with pieces like “I’ll Take The Rain” time and again – reflexive cuts in which we learn that the way things are in itself might be unimportant. We are the ones that attribute a value to them. Leaving aside actual record sales, the band has never really released an album that was redundant. And that is not going to change anytime soon for sure. “Life sometimes/it washes over me”, Michael sings in “I’ve Been High” (“Reveal”, 1999). But the tide recedes sooner or later. What matters is to remain where you were, and then go forwards one step at a time. Sweetness will follow indeed.