R.E.M. Listening Club

Listen as a free user? I’m sure it’s on youtube

course it is, silly manches

I guess first thing I’ll say (cause I’ll probably just reiterate loads of above points) but isn’t it strange how early REM still has this sense of mystery about it? Like, when bands become absolutely massive (like REM did) there’s usually a kind of demystification and it’s hard to hear them in the way they may have once been heard. But listening to something Murmur, there’s still a part of my mind that thinks of the band who made that as some ghostly oddity that disappeared off the face of the earth… a band that became stratospherically huge still manage to sound kind of like a buncha cult weirdoes who made a couple of albums and then were never heard from again

I dunno what I’m on about, do I

In summary, I wish I was a member of REM circa their formation

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omg Gardening at Night is so good

and fits with the bollocks I was saying above; has that weird quality that is the sort of thing that early Ariel Pink kind of constructed around himself (and that, let’s face it, REM were probably also constructing around themselves too at the time)

I’m up for this. My REM is from Life’s Rich Pageant to Monster. So there’s loads I’m not familiar with.

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I have a coupla those Dead Letter Office tracks on the Fables CD reissue; I agree that ‘Crazy’ is an absolute cracker. I have a soft spot for ‘Burning Hell’ for how funny it is both to hear and to imagine Michael Stipe doing some weird metaller impression

I have a number of gaps in my REM collection that I might finally take up the opportunity to fill, and a few albums I do own that I might finally give some proper time to (Life’s Rich Pageant for some reason remains relatively unlistened to).

They’re one of those bands like Mogwai, where I’ll get an album of their’s but not be in the mood to properly listen and fall in love with it till way later

problem with listening to it on YouTube is that there was a Bohemian Rhapsody trailer before one of the tracks and I thought REM had gone through a very brief Queen-influenced phase I hadn’t known anything about

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I like the idea of a record listening club with weekly homework. That Murmur album I’ve had since the 90s, but never listened to? Now I will.

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Murmur is amazing and perfect for Autumn

I heard someone compare it to Spiderland which kind of makes a sort of sense even though I have almost no clue how anyone would ever actually reach that conclusion

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Chronic Town. That was a revelation. Fuck me. Other than that meandering middle in Stumble, it’s perfect. All choppy, angular guitar with some jangling lurking in the background. I was expecting a 60s sound, but it’s post punk and new wave.

Carnival of Sorts (Box Cars) made me think of Andy Summers on De do do do de da da da.

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i’m not sure there’s location restrictions for people outside the US, but check out YouTube Music (not YouTube)

https://music.youtube.com

it has all their records and you can listen to each one just like on Spotify.

I never really considered any of the tracks on Chronic to be weaker. I’ve always loved the whole thing. I like Stumble as it is, although a few of you seem to dislike it a bit. Maybe the rest is just so strong…

I listened to Chronic Town and Dead Letter Office twice each today.

I don’t think I’d ever listened to Chronic Town before - I’d heard each track, except I think Stumble, before and I was trying to put myself in a place where I’d somehow just chanced upon Chronic Town as the gateway into REM. To produce that EP is a heck of a way to introduce yourself to the world.

It’s all there - the catchy melodies, the sumptuous jangly chord changes, Mills’ bass-line dancing between your ears, all underpinned by Berry’s drums and then the harmonies on Wolves Lower, especially. Classic early years REM - the opening trio of tracks as a collection is arguably unsurpassed in their entire catalogue.

Dead Letter Office didn’t do it for me as much this time around - perhaps understandably for a collection of B-Sides and whatnot. There’s still some absolute zingers in there. I think Crazy would stand up to scrutiny on any of the IRS era albums, I’ve always had a bit of a fondness for Bandwagon and the fucked up mess that is King of the Road has a charm to it. Voice of Harold as well, I really enjoy Stipe’s vocals on that - affecting the accent of a preacher from the deep south.

Really think Chronic Town is going to be on pretty heavy repeat until we start on Murmur.

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So after a good few listens over the last couple of days, Chronic is well worth its reputation isn’t it.

What a great opening statement those first three tracks in particular are. Love the rawness and the energy - Mills bass lines are just so good from the off - they just bounce out the speakers.

Agree with others that Crazy is the standout from the mixed bag of DLO. I don’t know the Pylon original to compare though?

oh wow, I didn’t know it was a cover

it’s very similar tbh

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By the way, the version of Gardening at Night on the Spotify Dead Letter Office is not the version that is on the RSD blue vinyl I got a few years ago.

The one I got is this one

It has a different vocal take. I’d say I like it more but it’s the one I know I guess…

Question is, which is the one off the original pressing?

Also seems the Chronic Town I had saved in my Spotify library was actually a playlist someone has made where they swapped out the version of Gardening for the other vocal take. They did use the DLO cover as the playlist cover though, which has obviously misled me a bit over the years!

They do “get drunk and sing along to Queen” on “Wake-Up Bomb”…

Echoing most comments already… Chronic Town, just wow, absolutely stunning. Had never listened to it before and it’s genius. Highlight being the 1-2 punch of Gardeing At Night and Carnival Of Sorts. Will have this on rotation for the next few days for sure.
Revisited Dead Letter Office for the first time in many years. Hadn’t realized before that Voice Of Harold was rewritten later on as Seven Chinese Brothers. It’s okay for an odds and sods collection, but can’t imagine going back to it again.
Looking forward to Murmur (presumably) next week.

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