When the bass rises just before the last chorus too. Immediate boner.
I may the only persona alive who prefers mid-period (Out of Time - Reveal) to early (chronic town - document) REM. Have tried with murmur multiple times - nice in a jangly sort-of-way if thatās your bag, but I really struggle to see why itās held in such high regard.
Not going for hot-take - actually hoping someone can explain what Iām missing.
I think theyāre stronger albums, but a lot of my favourite songs are on earlier albums
interestingly Murmur got a bit of a remaster that made the production cleaner, iām not sure what version you heard or whether it would make that much difference to a casual ear, but a big part of Murmurās appeal was the mysterious, murky production where you could barely make out vocal phrases. ānice in a jangly-sort of wayā makes me think more of Reckoning, but yeah it still describes Murmur pretty well. Chronic Town is sublime. another thing i guess is that jangly sound has been imitated so much in the years since, whereas Out of Time, New Adventures etc have this really unique anthemic-but-weird major label band sound.
New Adventures is my absolute undisputed favourite, closely followed by Automatic and Murmur.
I was ever so slightly annoyed that, the one time I saw them, they only played one song from New Adventures. But that song was Electrolite, and they opened with Orange Crush, and Imitation of Life was beautiful, so I canāt really complain.
I was probably about 15 in the early 90s when I heard Carnival Of Sorts for the first time. Blew me away. Iād never heard anything like that before.
Youāre not alone. As much as I love the early albums, Out of Time and Automatic are always going to mean the most to me.
This is how I go about new (to me) artists with large back catalogs, About every six months, randomly pick an album, usually based on what cover I like the look of. Itās kind nice, as it gives each album time to sink in , like when they came out but you donāt have to wait 3 years for a new one. Takes some restraint when itās someone good not to just listen through the whole lot though.
A good plan. I need to do this with the Fall. After ignoring them for my whole life I have really got into a lot of their stuff since he died but I need to go through the actual records.
Inspired by this thread I stuck on the early years best of And I Feel Fine, which is very good. Donāt Go Back to Rockville is a total tune, never noticed before for some reason.
Also, listening to The One I Love I heard the chorus (ie FIIIIRE) as the fire emoji , which is possibly an indication that Iāve been spending too much time on the internet
Ah, Reckoningā¦ definitely my top REM record. Pretty much perfect from start to finish.
I listened to Lifes Rich Pageant all the way through on the train home last night, for the first time in yonks. What a record. Forgotten how much I love The Flowers of Guatemala.
I ārediscoveredā that song myself yesterday! Amazed itās passed me by for so long.
I sometimes think thatās the perfect guitar solo. Itās just so simple and tasteful and yet really elevates the song. Love Peter Buckās playing so much.
Iām looking forward to the āMonsterā re-issue. Hopefully, there will be a 1995 show on the bonus disc.
Live at The BBC boxset coming
https://www.amazon.co.uk/R-M-At-BBC/dp/B07G21YF12/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&linkCode=sl1&tag=sliupeyethele-21&linkId=d840f65dd067aaf5d67a9913318a3795&language=en_GB
Iāve a spare ticket for Michael Stipeās Q&A thing at The ICA on Saturday. A friend of mine canāt make it. The ticket is a freebie.
The same. Was massively disappointed by it at the time but I now seem to play it more than any of the others.
Have love for all of the albums, perhaps bar Around The Sun, although even that has āLeaving New Yorkā.
Fav is Green. Would often walk across the common near my home listening to it, ā¢I built the walls and I will be the one to knock them down ".
The sweet melancholy of youth.