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New R.E.M.

post #1 of 48
7/2/07 at 11:11pm
Thread Starter 
Here you go, from the shows in Dublin this week. Hard to really get a full sense of the songs, but I'm already feeling better about these than what we got on Around the Sun.

Click here.
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post #2 of 48
7/3/07 at 12:16am
i'm not holding my breath for the new CD. i'll buy it, but i won't expect to be thrilled. around the sun had a few nice moments. but overall, i haven't been blown away since UP (and yes, i realize most people think UP stinks. but i love it because it was different from their other work.).

maybe the new CD will get all political and angry?

"living well" has lots of energy. in fact, other than the first clip, the songs have a driving beat that's been lacking on their last few CDs. interesting.

EDITED: to reduce the use of "blown away" from 3 to 1.
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post #3 of 48
7/3/07 at 12:28am
I'll agree with Lurgee on all counts, including that Up is great album. They may have passed their creative prime, but I'm always gonna hold out hope that REM can get back up there.

Thanks for the heads-up on the clips, Misfit. They show some promise. Is there an release date set for this album?
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post #4 of 48
7/3/07 at 2:56am
Yeah, it already sounds better than Around the Sun. Then again, remember Peter Buck describing the new material a few years ago as "primal and howling" and then we got... Around the Sun. So, yeah, fingers crossed.

Edit:

Ok, Horse to Water is pretty cool. Please God, I've been pretty good, can r.e.m. not fuck up this record? Please?
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post #5 of 48
7/3/07 at 3:08am
Seriously. I'm starting to feel like a goddamn (FILL IN SPORTS TEAM THAT SUCKS EVERY YEAR, WHICH I'D PUT HERE IF I FOLLOWED ANY SPORTS) fan.
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post #6 of 48
7/3/07 at 9:37am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Beageal
Is there an release date set for this album?
Not yet. They're doing more recording in Athens after these shows. I'm thinking spring of next year, but that's just a guess.
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post #7 of 48
7/5/07 at 12:40pm
I haven't heard these, but don't expect anything you hear to be final. I love R.E.M. more than any other band, but Bill Berry is sorely missed.
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post #8 of 48
7/5/07 at 12:43pm
Take away the drummer and the band falls apart. Who knew.
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post #9 of 48
7/5/07 at 9:06pm
I'm pysched. It seems R.E.M. realized their last effort sucked by firing their producer and hiring a new drummer. Plus with these last five shows, they've played songs from their 80's albums that haven't made an appearance at a concert in over 20 years, and supposedly, last Saturday's show was the first time since its debut that "Losing My Religion" wasn't played. I'm hoping that all this points to a return to the early Murmur/Reckoning sound.

And yes, "Horse to Water" sounds great.
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post #10 of 48
7/5/07 at 10:42pm
I liked Up well enough, considering they were reeling from Berry's departure, but it's still a precipitous drop in quality from New Adventures in Hi-Fi, which is seriously underrated. It could have been one of their best if they had made a proper studio album out of it. (It's a little long, too.)

I have never, ever made it all the way through Reveal, and I listened to Around the Sun once on a free stream and that was enough for me. I figure they're just old and done. But I always hope.
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post #11 of 48
7/6/07 at 12:43pm
R.E.M. haven't done a good record since Automatic. Never underestimate the value of being young and hungry.
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post #12 of 48
7/6/07 at 12:59pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Count Floyd
New Adventures in Hi-Fi, which is seriously underrated.
This is truth, people.
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post #13 of 48
7/6/07 at 1:14pm
There's some weird ripping off of Brian Wilson in Reveal, but I appreciated them experimenting with a new sound, and there's a single or two from the album I still enjoy. Around The Sun hasn't been played since the week I bought it, but "Leaving New York" was aurally pleasing enough.

They've mellowed into 40-something millionaires (when they're not throwing drunken tantrums at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fam), and they sound it. So I don't expect some return to their roots anytime soon. Yes, I'll pick up the album anyway.
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post #14 of 48
7/6/07 at 1:18pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Devildoubt
R.E.M. haven't done a good record since Automatic. Never underestimate the value of being young and hungry.
Please see the comments in this thread re: New Adventures in Hi-Fi.
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post #15 of 48
7/6/07 at 2:15pm
ACROSS THE SUN grew on me, if I pretend it's not R.E.M. doing it. Bill Berry kept them seriously focused as a band, that much is certain.
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post #16 of 48
7/6/07 at 2:32pm
Thread Starter 
I'm on board with Around the Sun through the first three songs, then it goes off the rails for me. For the most part, I like Up and Reveal, though they're my least played R.E.M. albums. Losing Berry has taken them much, much longer to get past than I think anyone would have predicted.
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post #17 of 48
7/6/07 at 5:17pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by misfit
Please see the comments in this thread re: New Adventures in Hi-Fi.
I have listened to New Adventures in Hi-Fi, and with the exceptions of two songs (How the West Was Won, and So Fast, So Numb) I found it dull.

EDIT:
Oh, and E-Bow the Letter.
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post #18 of 48
7/19/07 at 3:06pm
So has anyone downloaded the torrents that are floating around of the Dublin shows? I've listened to the 3rd and 4th nights so far and I'm really liking the new material. It's apparent that the band feels the same way judging by the energy they put into the performances (and the boredom that seems to be present in their run throughs of older material). Most of the songs have a real Lifes Rich Pagaent/Document-era sound, including the dual vocal lines that have been absent from their recent material (someone remembered that Mike Mills and Michael Stipe sound really good together, I guess).

That being said, I wish they'd just cut the damn record now. I think REM's biggest problem is a lack of confidence in their own work, and the more time they spend working things in the studio, the more likely they are to screw up what is, right now, a great collection of REM songs.
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post #19 of 48
7/19/07 at 3:54pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Devildoubt
I have listened to New Adventures in Hi-Fi, and with the exceptions of two songs (How the West Was Won, and So Fast, So Numb) I found it dull.

EDIT:
Oh, and E-Bow the Letter.
Re-listen to it.

"Leave" is almost as good as anything they've ever written.
If you don't like the noise in the background listen to the piano remix on the A Life Less Ordinary soundtrack.


(and yes, they totally suck as a band since this album)
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post #20 of 48
7/19/07 at 8:48pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by MrMushnik
So has anyone downloaded the torrents that are floating around of the Dublin shows? I've listened to the 3rd and 4th nights so far and I'm really liking the new material. It's apparent that the band feels the same way judging by the energy they put into the performances (and the boredom that seems to be present in their run throughs of older material). Most of the songs have a real Lifes Rich Pagaent/Document-era sound, including the dual vocal lines that have been absent from their recent material (someone remembered that Mike Mills and Michael Stipe sound really good together, I guess).

That being said, I wish they'd just cut the damn record now. I think REM's biggest problem is a lack of confidence in their own work, and the more time they spend working things in the studio, the more likely they are to screw up what is, right now, a great collection of REM songs.

I've got the first and fourth nights. Both excellent. You're right to say that the band often lacks confidence. (At least since they signed with Warners; their first six releases made for one of the strongest winning streaks in rock.) What's great about these shows, however, is that you can hear the band regain their footing between the two nights. By all accounts, these five concerts succeeded far beyond anyone's expectations--the band's included. Hopefully, the confidence heard on the bootlegs will carry over into the studio. It better, frankly, since I'm getting the feeling that the new album will be make or break for the band.

That said, I'm surprised you found the performances of the older IRS songs boring. It sounds to me like they're rediscovering their strengths playing classics from Chronic Town and Reckoning instead of, say, Man on the Moon. If you watch the You Tube videos, you can see the band getting into it, especially Peter Buck. And that is a very good thing. No Buck guitar = the last three albums. Buck into it = Document.
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post #21 of 48
7/19/07 at 11:59pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Highway 61
That said, I'm surprised you found the performances of the older IRS songs boring. It sounds to me like they're rediscovering their strengths playing classics from Chronic Town and Reckoning instead of, say, Man on the Moon. If you watch the You Tube videos, you can see the band getting into it, especially Peter Buck. And that is a very good thing. No Buck guitar = the last three albums. Buck into it = Document.
I think my feeling about the IRS material was probably influenced by the nature of the recordings, probably more than the actual performance. Had I been there, I'm sure I would have been more impressed. Still, some of the older stuff, (Driver 8 springs to mind) seemed like it lacked the energy of the newer material. 1,000,000 and Kohoutek were pretty amazing though--and yeah, I was glad to see the absence of the seemingly-ubiquitous performances of Man on the Moon, Losing My Religion, and End of the World. I'll check out the YouTube videos, though (I've only seen the one clip of Horse to Water).

Oh, and regarding the band's confidence problem, I meant recently; it seems post-Bill Berry that they haven't really had faith in their ability to crank out quality music and have a tendency to bury otherwise good songs under loads of production.

(Oddly enough, I'm listening to Highway 61 Revisited as I type this.)
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post #22 of 48
7/20/07 at 9:41pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Devildoubt
I have listened to New Adventures in Hi-Fi, and with the exceptions of two songs (How the West Was Won, and So Fast, So Numb) I found it dull.

EDIT:
Oh, and E-Bow the Letter.

Your CD must be defective. It seems to lack a few songs, namely New Test Leper and , especially,Leave.
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post #23 of 48
7/20/07 at 10:12pm
Quote:
"Leave" is almost as good as anything they've ever written.
A fuckin' men! God, I wish Bill Berry would come back (full-time!)
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post #24 of 48
8/22/07 at 10:03am
Thread Starter 
And now there's this...

Quote:
On October 16th, R.E.M. will release its first ever live CD/DVD in a career that has spanned 27 remarkable years. The dual package, titled R.E.M. Live, features 22 songs from the group's memorable performance at the Point Theatre in Dublin on February 27th, 2005. R.E.M. Live was filmed by acclaimed director Blue Leach (Depeche Mode, Snow Patrol) who accompanied R.E.M. on their 116-date tour into 33 countries in support of Around The Sun. Just two years earlier, Leach's deft camera work and artistic video mix during R.E.M.'s Manchester Move Festival performance made a strong impression on the band. Here, Leach skillfully brings together his signature techniques to capture R.E.M. doing what they do best at one of the most celebrated venues on their 2005 worldwide tour.

R.E.M. Live features songs spanning the band’s many studio albums, including rare performances of "I Took Your Name" from 1994's Monster and "Ascent of Man" from the band's most recent studio album Around The Sun as well as the singles “(Don’t Go Back To) Rockville,” (featuring bassist Mike Mills on lead vocals) from 1984’s Reckoning, "The Great Beyond" from the Man on the Moon soundtrack, "Imitation of Life" from 2001's Reveal, and the previously unreleased crowd-pleaser and set closer "I'm Gonna DJ."

R.E.M. Live is not to be confused with R.E.M.'s recent "non-shows" at the Olympia Theatre in Dublin (June 30th-July 5th 2007). The actual show with actual songs actually did happen in February 2005, and it is sheer coincidence that it took place in Dublin other than the fact that when R.E.M. is in Dublin, great things seem to happen.

The track-listing for R.E.M. Live is as follows:

"I Took Your Name"
"So Fast, So Numb"
"Boy In The Well"
"Cuyahoga"
"Everybody Hurts"
"Electron Blue"
"Bad Day"
"Ascent Of Man"
"Great Beyond"
"Leaving New York"
"Orange Crush"
"I Wanted To Be Wrong"
"Final Straw"
"Imitation Of Life"
"The One I Love"
"Walk Unafraid"
"Losing My Religion"
"What's The Frequency, Kenneth?"
"Drive"
"(Don't Go Back To) Rockville"
"I'm Gonna DJ" [previously unreleased]
"Man On The Moon"
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post #25 of 48
8/22/07 at 10:45am
Quote:
Originally Posted by misfit
And now there's this...
Yeah, I saw that this morning. I wonder if there's something especially great about that show; it seems like an odd choice for their very first live album. I would have rather seen something from the Work Tour, I guess. They should just do a live box set like Bjork did.
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post #26 of 48
8/22/07 at 11:01am
Six - SIX! - songs from Around the Sun? Thanks, guys.
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post #27 of 48
8/22/07 at 11:05am
Thread Starter 
Yeah, I would have liked a little better mix for the track listing. Still, there's enough there I like for me to pick this up.

They really need to hit it out of the park with the next record, though.
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post #28 of 48
8/22/07 at 11:07am
Also, Mike Mills doing Rockville is available already on iTunes as a b-side or something (there was some rehearsal EP made available). Not stellar.
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post #29 of 48
8/22/07 at 12:11pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Phil!
Also, Mike Mills doing Rockville is available already on iTunes as a b-side or something (there was some rehearsal EP made available). Not stellar.
When I saw them on the pre-Around the Sun tour (what was that, the greatest hits tour or whatever) the Mills-lead Rockville sounded really good. They played it like the original, faster and rockier version rather than the country version from Reckoning.
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post #30 of 48
8/22/07 at 12:35pm
Yeah, it's fine, and it's great to sing along to in the car because it makes me sound better. But its existing availability makes it less of a draw here.

Y'know...unless the one on iTunes ISN'T Mills. It's not Stipe, and to my ears it didn't sound a lot like Mills, but after reading the news item above, I figured it was. Someone go check and tell me if I'm off.
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post #31 of 48
8/22/07 at 1:09pm
Thread Starter 
I can't access iTunes right now, but could it be the Bain Mattox version from the Finest Worksongs compilation? I think you can hear a snippet here.
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post #32 of 48
8/22/07 at 1:17pm
It's not, but thanks for the link!
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post #33 of 48
8/22/07 at 1:36pm
Thread Starter 
Sure thing. That album's pretty fun, especially the Patterson Hood and Five Eight tracks.
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post #34 of 48
8/22/07 at 7:51pm
This seems more like a quick way to fulfill a contract obligation than anything else. Plus the abundance of Around the Sun material is an obvious plea for an "it sounds better live"-vindication. But what the hell, I'm still buying it.
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post #35 of 48
8/31/07 at 12:23pm
Thread Starter 
From Billboard. Not a lot of new information, but it sounds like they've learned their lesson from when Stipe described the new record as "howling and primitive" before the release of "Around the Sun."

Quote:
R.E.M. is "two-thirds to three-quarters of the way through" its next album, according to the group's Mike Mills, which means it's on target for a 2008 release, most likely some time in the spring.

"We've got another three weeks of recording and singing and what little overdubbing we're gonna do," Mills tells Billboard.com. "Michael's got a bunch of singing and I've got some backgrounds to do, and we've got a couple songs we hope Michael will finish. And then after the next three weeks or so is the mixing phase."

Mills' comment that "there isn't a whole lot of overdubbing on this record" supports reports -- as well as aural evidence from recent "working rehearsal" shows at Dublin's Olympia theater -- that it will be a guitar-dominated, hard-rocking record. For now, however, Mills says that he, Stipe and Peter Buck "made an agreement we weren't going to say what it is or not because we don't want to have expectations out there in any direction. But, of course, you can go on YouTube and listen to some of the Dublin shows and get a pretty good idea of where we're going."

Those concerts, he adds, did have a positive impact on the new material. "They did all the things we wanted in terms of not only generating excitement for the record but also helped us, I think, to make a better record," Mills says. "It just really kicked us into a higher gear."

Mills says working with producer Garret "Jacknife" Lee has been "fantastic. He's just what we needed at this stage of our career. He's very willing to experiment. He keeps things loose. It's a fun process; he just realizes this is something we're all lucky to be able to do, and we're all enjoying it as much as possible." R.E.M. has been recording with touring members Bill Rieflin and Scott McCaughey, but Ken Stringfellow hasn't been involved, Mills says, because "we're not using very many keyboards, and what we're using I do."


R.E.M. is hoping that its next release, the CD/DVD concert package "R.E.M. Live" from a 2005 show at Dublin's Point Theatre, will also provide "a springboard" for the new album. Mills says of the Oct. 16 Warner Bros. release, "it's actually so good that it's gonna whet people's appetite. It's nice to show people that we're still out here doing great work.
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post #36 of 48
8/31/07 at 3:28pm
Yeah, I remember reading an interview with Peter Buck saying that ACROSS THE SUN was reminiscient of DOCUMENT. That was a little misleading, I think. I'm glad they're keeping it closer to the vest this time out. Whenever they talk about their forthcoming album, it ends up sounding nothing like they described.
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post #37 of 48
8/31/07 at 7:04pm
They said "Reveal" was supposed to be "rocking" before it came out as well.

Man, the tone of that whole interview sounded unpleasant.
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post #38 of 48
10/19/07 at 9:49am
Thread Starter 
Well, the live record's out and I bought it because I'm a sheep. But, it's pretty damned good. The "Around the Sun" stuff is better live, but still not great. I haven't had a chance to watch the DVD yet, but I've read a couple of reviews that say it's better than the "Perfect Square" DVD from a couple of years ago.

Now, if they will please please please carry the energy from the stage into the studio this time.
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post #39 of 48
10/19/07 at 10:11am
If anything, makes me wonder where R.E.M. will end up after their $90 contract from '95 expires.
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post #40 of 48
10/19/07 at 10:12am
Somehow I think the problem (or one of the problems) with REM is indicated by Michael Stipe's mug taking up the entire cover of the album.

Still, I hope the next album works. The material debuted in Dublin sounded great.
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post #41 of 48
10/19/07 at 12:06pm
I listened to the live CD, and I gotta say, it's not mixed as well as I'd like. Stipe's voice is at the forefront and everything else sounds like it's playing off a tape recorder.
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post #42 of 48
10/19/07 at 12:19pm
Thread Starter 
I would like to have heard a little more improvisation. They sound a kind of locked into the arrangements, without much room for the performance to breathe. Still, it works for me for the most part.
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post #43 of 48
10/19/07 at 1:04pm
A few years back I would have been all over this CD. But I just can't talk myself into buying this right now. I hope the Dublin music doesn't get all the bite taken out of them in production.
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post #44 of 48
10/20/07 at 12:42am
It's okay. The live versions of over-played songs like Everybody Hurts and Man on the Moon are a welcomed refresher, but otherwise, the tracklist is pretty lackluster. I can't understand why they cut a good four or five songs from the show--including one of my favs, Sweetness Follows--when disc two only has five tracks. And yes, I aqree with everyone hear that the record is too Stipe-centric, just like everything the band has done since Automatic, maybe even since signing with Warners. This is why the album's stand-out is Mike Mills singing lead on Rockville.
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post #45 of 48
10/22/07 at 4:37pm
http://blog.myspace.com/nordling - the story of how I fell out of love with R.E.M.
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post #46 of 48
10/22/07 at 4:50pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Alan "Nordling" Cerny
http://blog.myspace.com/nordling - the story of how I fell out of love with R.E.M.
I can't access Myspace from work, but I'll check this out tonight. I get the feeling we're going to have similar stories, only for me, R.E.M. is that girl that constantly cheats on you but you still can't bring yourself to break up with her.

YOU HEAR ME DARLENE?!
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post #47 of 48
10/22/07 at 4:51pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Alan "Nordling" Cerny
http://blog.myspace.com/nordling - the story of how I fell out of love with R.E.M.
Well done. I was going to leave you a comment there, but that seemed creepy.

I share your pain in that I didn't get to see them live until so very late in the game. I guess that while I'd love a return to form, I'm okay with their tapering off. The band I love is still available to me in a variety of formats.

For some reason, when bands go south, folks react as if it's like a breakup, a betrayal. I look at it more like a filmmaker's body of work. Scorsese's best shit is behind him, but man, aren't we lucky we have that body of work? I don't hate him for mellowing in his later years.
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post #48 of 48
10/23/07 at 12:04am
There's a nice write-up/preview of the new album in the latest Rolling Stone by David Fricke. He describes it as more rockin' and focused. It sounds like the band wants to recapture their live energy in the studio again, which is the smartest path they could go in. The last time they did that, my fave R.E.M. album was recorded: NEW ADVENTURES IN HI-FI. To be honest, I dunno if they have it in them anymore to record stuff of that caliber, but I'm still listening.

EDITED TO ADD: Actually, MURMUR might be my fave R.E.M. disc. But NEW ADVENTURES is right behind it.
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