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What rock music are you listening to? Non-Jazz, Non-Classical.


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42 minutes ago, BFrank said:

Never a huge fan of the album, but I did get the 2-disk version of this. Nice contrast to the original and new mastering.

'Monster' was the death of REM for me (though they resurrected on 'Accelerate' and 'Collapse Into Now').  Just my taste/opion.  That being said, I do like "What's the Frequency, Kenneth".

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1 hour ago, BFrank said:

Never a huge fan of the album, but I did get the 2-disk version of this. Nice contrast to the original and new mastering.

Yeah, I listened to Scott Litt's 2019 remix today and thought it worked quite well for most of the songs--some, like "King Of Comedy," "Star 69," and "Let Me In" were more effective in their original versions, methinks.  The disc of demos is quite interesting if you're an R.E.M. head--they are *not* sketches for the songs that ended up on the album, but rather material that sounds much closer to 1980s R.E.M.  Currently listening to the second disc of the Chicago concert, and it's also quite enjoyable.  I saw them on this tour, with Radiohead opening.  (I'd also seen them on the Fables, Pageant, Document, and Green tours.)  I've always liked Monster in spite of its reputation as "world's most traded-back CD" and am glad to see it getting a re-evaluation all these years on.  

17 minutes ago, felser said:

'Monster' was the death of REM for me (though they resurrected on 'Accelerate' and 'Collapse Into Now').  Just my taste/opion.  That being said, I do like "What's the Frequency, Kenneth".

It definitely was the beginning of their commercial downfall (well, defining that as going from a multi-platinum band to one that sold a few hundred thousand units instead).  Much as I also like the follow-up, Adventures In Hi-Fi, releasing "E-Bow The Letter" as the first single from that album really helped seal their downward marketplace trajectory.  Also just a natural part of the pop-music-world cycle, which is difficult for any band or artist to stay atop of for more than several years, IMO.  And in spite of "Kenneth" reaching #21 and getting a good reception, Monster didn't spawn any mega-hits on the scale of "Losing My Religion," "Stand," or "The One I Love."  

I'm also still highly partisan to the I.R.S. years, having latched onto the band a few months after Murmur came out (good Lord, I was only 17 then!).  Even though Automatic For The People is a classic, to me their most interesting and compelling era is that 1982-87 run, from Chronic Town to Document. They made the jump to stadium-sized popularity about as well as any band could hope to do, though.  

I've previously posted this article that I wrote about the band's time in Bloomington recording Lifes Rich Pageant while I was living here as a student, but here it is again for any who might be interested.  It includes some comments from Mike Mills, who was gracious enough to give me a half-hour phone interview for it, even though it was originally only slated for publication in a local magazine:

Talk About The Pageant: When R.E.M. Came To Bloomington In 1986

Edited by ghost of miles
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1 hour ago, ghost of miles said:

I'm also still highly partisan to the I.R.S. years, having latched onto the band a few months after Murmur came out (good Lord, I was only 17 then!).  Even though Automatic For The People is a classic, to me their most interesting and compelling era is that 1982-87 run, from Chronic Town to Document.

Totally agree with your sentiments.  I also consider two mega-albums of the 80's, Springsteen's "Born in the USA" and Dire Straits "Brothers in Arms" to musically be huge steps backwards from what they had done previously.  So I am not a fan of arena-sized works, I guess.

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2 hours ago, ghost of miles said:

Yeah, I listened to Scott Litt's 2019 remix today and thought it worked quite well for most of the songs--some, like "King Of Comedy," "Star 69," and "Let Me In" were more effective in their original versions, methinks.  The disc of demos is quite interesting if you're an R.E.M. head--they are *not* sketches for the songs that ended up on the album, but rather material that sounds much closer to 1980s R.E.M.  Currently listening to the second disc of the Chicago concert, and it's also quite enjoyable.  I saw them on this tour, with Radiohead opening.  (I'd also seen them on the Fables, Pageant, Document, and Green tours.)  I've always liked Monster in spite of its reputation as "world's most traded-back CD" and am glad to see it getting a re-evaluation all these years on.  

It definitely was the beginning of their commercial downfall (well, defining that as going from a multi-platinum band to one that sold a few hundred thousand units instead).  Much as I also like the follow-up, Adventures In Hi-Fi, releasing "E-Bow The Letter" as the first single from that album really helped seal their downward marketplace trajectory.  Also just a natural part of the pop-music-world cycle, which is difficult for any band or artist to stay atop of for more than several years, IMO.  And in spite of "Kenneth" reaching #21 and getting a good reception, Monster didn't spawn any mega-hits on the scale of "Losing My Religion," "Stand," or "The One I Love."  

I'm also still highly partisan to the I.R.S. years, having latched onto the band a few months after Murmur came out (good Lord, I was only 17 then!).  Even though Automatic For The People is a classic, to me their most interesting and compelling era is that 1982-87 run, from Chronic Town to Document. They made the jump to stadium-sized popularity about as well as any band could hope to do, though.  

I've previously posted this article that I wrote about the band's time in Bloomington recording Lifes Rich Pageant while I was living here as a student, but here it is again for any who might be interested.  It includes some comments from Mike Mills, who was gracious enough to give me a half-hour phone interview for it, even though it was originally only slated for publication in a local magazine:

Talk About The Pageant: When R.E.M. Came To Bloomington In 1986

Pretty much agree with everything here. I saw them 4 times in the 80s: 83, 85, 86, 87. And then a couple of times in 2008 at the end of their run. Like their albums or not, they always seemed to rise to the occasion Live. The Live at the Olympia (Dublin) set is especially good and covers most of their career. 

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2 hours ago, BFrank said:

Pretty much agree with everything here. I saw them 4 times in the 80s: 83, 85, 86, 87. And then a couple of times in 2008 at the end of their run. Like their albums or not, they always seemed to rise to the occasion Live. The Live at the Olympia (Dublin) set is especially good and covers most of their career. 

Oh man, I love Live At The Olympia. Great one to listen to during extended car trips.  I wish I'd seen them on the Accelerate tour (big fan of that album as well--it and Automatic For The People are probably my favorite post-IRS records).  

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8 hours ago, ghost of miles said:

Oh man, I love Live At The Olympia. Great one to listen to during extended car trips.  I wish I'd seen them on the Accelerate tour (big fan of that album as well--it and Automatic For The People are probably my favorite post-IRS records).  

I like Accelerate, too. But you could sort of tell they were running out of gas.

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