Music Worth Reminiscing About Vol I: R.E.M.

 

Extra Points for the sheer accuracy of the title.

Hey friends! With the release of this farewell retrospective this week, I can’t help but reminisce about my on-again-off-again love affair with R.E.M. and so here is my first blog trip down my musical memory lane.  Luckily for all of you, I’m not overly nostalgic, so it won’t happen often.

My brother introduced me to R.E.M. in the early 90’s and a couple things blew my mind.  1) These guys were from Georgia? and 2) Wow they have a ton of music (and that was 400 albums ago).  My young and impressionable mind took a big bite out of Automatic For The People and was forever changed.

I also dug into their back catalog (with less consistent success) and all of this prepared me for my first pre-hipster mantra when Monster came out in 1994.  All of my Pearl Jam and Nirvana loving wannabe peers loved Monster, but I could safely say I’d heard them back when they were good (you know, last year). In 1996, I was excited for their follow up album, knowing they wouldn’t return to their previous sound, but confident that they would evolve past the primitive Monster.  I was pleased with New Adventures in Hi-Fi, an electro-grunge-noise-rock album, by the guys who could do all of that and still hit some accurate harmonies.  The critics didn’t agree, and I still think they are wrong.

Up, the next album, had the gritty production of New Adventures in Hi-Fi, but with a stronger emphasis on songwriting, which sometimes comes off as overly poppy, and at others feels very organic and enjoyable.  This also marks the first time I was lucky enough to see the band live, at Neil Young’s Annual Bridge School Benefit (in a lineup that included Neil Young, Phish, Sarah Maclachlan, The Wallflowers, Barenaked Ladies, Jonathan Richman and the Eels…all acoustic) and I was not disappointed.  They invited Neil Young out for a gut-wrenching performance that many consider one of R.E.M.’s finest.

In 2000, the band released another album, and by then I was a freshman in college, being exposed to SO MANY different bands and R.E.M. just wasn’t relevant anymore to me.  I occasionally kept tabs on their career, but nothing stood out in such a way that it was worth an album’s worth of money to me. Someday I will go back and give their latter albums a listen, and I will surely find a gem or two.

Perspective

If you look back at the time when the band started, you would see that their peers were bands like The Police & U2, and like those bands, they found their own sound that fused Rock with other elements, all the while staying away from the hair metal bullshit of the 80s.  They all had a little bit of punk rock influence, even though it doesn’t sound like that to us today.  The Police disbanded by the time R.E.M. had a mainstream hit, so now we have U2 and R.E.M., both heavy on the poetic lyricism and political material  and both on the cusp of hitting their stride.  U2 had arguably their best album in 1987 with The Joshua Tree while R.E.M. hit their pinnacle in 1992 with Automatic For The People.  It was at this point that R.E.M. caught up and they both made their heavy alt-rock albums and subsequent electro-rock releases around the same time.  Both bands evolved and tried to make sense of the changing Alternative Rock landscape, which both had helped create.  Then suddenly U2 jumped straight to mainstream (like Nebraska mainstream) crappy pop-rock.  Meanwhile Michael Stipe and crew were writing a score to the Andy Kaufman biopic Man On The Moon (named for their song about the same man) and pushing themselves to make music in new ways and new styles.  Sure, the albums of this century didn’t compare with their older ones, but they were being made with art in the foreground, unlike the U2 wankers.  So now, as they realize they’ve used up their magic, they make the respectable decision to step away from the whole thing.  No farewell tours. No self-aggrandizing rotating-stage stadium shows.  U2 should look around and take note.

 

I think the biggest distinction between these 2 bands is their sphere of influence.  After a quick look under the “Legacy” heading of their respective Wikipedia pages, it is easy to see who made the bigger impact on music.  U2’s page does not mention a single band that has been influenced by them.  Not that there aren’t any, but none of them are good, you see.  R.E.M. has influenced at least a few bands you’ve heard of, including Nirvana (Cobain was a big fan), Sonic Youth and Pavement. Amazing.

Well, the band released their favorites in the 2 disc set, which would be a good listen if you want to hear their evolution, but I’ve got some suggestions of my own.  So here are some more of the songs which made a long-lasting impression on my life and helped me fall in love with music over and over again.

Man on The Moon

World Leader Pretend

Begin The Begin – w/Eddie Vedder

Find The River

The Apologist

Much like that teddy bear your mom threw away, I will miss R.E.M.