REM Broke Up!!!

[Sweden]

Any personal details I posted about Bill are well known through out REM circles - You should know some of it, since you post on Murmurs. There's not one thing that I posted that a Google search won't turn up for you.

And the purpose of them here was what, apart from boosting an image of you as something of an "insider"?

I think you're reading my use of "bad blood" as much more negative than intended, sir. You're also stating things that I did not say. I never said he wanted to quit playing drums, and I never said he didn't play with REM after retirement.

Then what was the intention behind comments about "bad blood" other than painting an insinuant, and as far as I know incorrect, picture of animosity between Bill and the others?

What was the intention with the comment about "Plus, considering the same year he left REM he was already drumming with other people like Rick Fowler" other than to imply that it was badly seen by the others that Bill drummed with your best pal Rick Fowler (now mentioned eleven times!) so soon after leaving R.E.M.

What suspicious "looks" did you imply were agressively thrown by Peter in the 1994 SNL clip?

I do think you were widely out of line in all these aspects, and I reserve the right both to say that and to ask you to not continue in the same fashion, thank you. You may of course choose to declare the end of the conversation, even though that will of course leave you looking like nothing much but an attention-seeking gossip monger.

/David

[Sweden]

When "Live at the Olympia in Dublin" came out, it alerted me to the fact that the band had been returning to their early catalog at their shows (although this change may have occured as early as 2005, when they played "Gardening at Night" as the last song at their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction).

Actually, the HoF induction took place in March of 2007, just four months prior to the Olympia shows. The shift to picking up early IRS material mainly came in 2003 when they toured with "fan-focused" setlists containing quite a bit or IRS material (Driver 8, Maps and Legends, Gravity, Rockville, Pretty Persuasion, Cuyahoga, etc.)

One of the things I most admire about R.E.M. is that with each album they struck out into new territory. Sometimes the results were less than inspiring ("Green" stands out as probably their least compelling record), but they had the courage never to repeat themselves. I'll always return to their early catalog for inspiration, but there's a whole generation of listeners who grew up with "Automatic for the People" and "Monster" and are just becoming familiar with the 1982-1986 material. I envy them, because they're probably experiencing the same exhilarating sense of discovery that I felt in 1986 when I first listened to "Murmur." For sheer creative energy, R.E.M. ranks with the greatest bands in rock history.

Agreed. Well worded!

/David

[Folkie]

David,

Thanks so much for the correction. There are several reasons I got my dates mixed up. I haven't attended any of their shows since the "Green" tour in 1989, and I only saw the RRHF induction ceremony once on YouTube. I got to talking R.E.M. with someone at a Roger McGuinn show in 2007, and he told me that the band was playing more early material at their shows, but since I hadn't been to any of the shows, I had no idea that they had shifted to "fan-focused sets" in 2003. I think it was a wise move, but, as you know, I'm inclined toward the early material.

Robert

[Ain'tGotNoPokemon]

David,

Thanks so much for the correction. There are several reasons I got my dates mixed up. I haven't attended any of their shows since the "Green" tour in 1989, and I only saw the RRHF induction ceremony once on YouTube. I got to talking R.E.M. with someone at a Roger McGuinn show in 2007, and he told me that the band was playing more early material at their shows, but since I hadn't been to any of the shows, I had no idea that they shifted to "fan-focused sets" in 2003. I think it was a wise move, but, as you know, I'm inclined toward the early material.

Robert

They did start playing a lot of older material after 2007. In 2003, when In Time came out, they were kind of doing the Greatest Hits type shows. When I saw them in on the Accelerate tour, they played almost the full new album, with mostly really old stuff. Mitch Easter and Don Dixon came on stage to play "Sitting Still," and Johnny Marr came out to play "Fall on Me." Barely anything from the nineties was played, and I think one song was played from ATS (I don't recall anything from Reveal, either). It was a killer show.

[Sweden]

They did start playing a lot of older material after 2007. In 2003, when In Time came out, they were kind of doing the Greatest Hits type shows.

Depends on your definition of "Greatest Hits", I guess. They were indeed somehow gearing up the release of In Time, and also had no new record promote. Accordingly, the setlists indeed contained their "greatest hits" from, say, '87 and forward (ITEOTWAKI, One I Love, LMR, Drive, Everybody Hurts, Man on the Moon, Kenneth?, Daysleeper, Great Beyond, Imitation of Life). However, they but also regularly numerous included "fan favourites" into the sets each night, going all the way back to '82 (3 out of 5 Chronic Town songs were performed). That set this tour apart from the previous three tours ('89, '95, '99) and marked a shift in setlist structure. We have to remember that at most '95 shows, nothing from before '87 was played.

/David

[rkbsound]

The perfect REM setlist would be too big to do in 1, 2 or 3 shows! What would be cool is one DVD (a set of DVDs) of every song they've performed live. Their live versions were consistently better than what appeared on the records. I also loved their SNL appearances.

[Ain'tGotNoPokemon]

The perfect REM setlist would be too big to do in 1, 2 or 3 shows! What would be cool is one DVD (a set of DVDs) of every song they've performed live. Their live versions were consistently better than what appeared on the records. I also loved their SNL appearances.

Not always better than the studio, but usually. There have been many shows I have heard where Michael's vocals were not mixed right, and some songs he would sing better than others.

[Sweden]

Ah, NOW I figured out that AintGotNoPokemon and Bucksstudent is the same person!
Explains the tone and the recognisable slightly-better-than-thou approach. Nice to see you again, Patrick...

Anyway, it's way sad to never get to see those guys on a stage again (at least apart from some sort of impromptu 40 Watt appearance). These guys and their music changed my life, and was a part of it for nearly two decades.

/D

[Clifton]

I wish they'd gone out on a higher note than "Collapse." Maybe record one last album with Mitch Easter and Don Dixon, maybe even with the original lineup. Like the way The Beatles recorded "Abbey Road" as their last album together--go out on top!

[shamustwin]

Man, this thread harshed my mellow.

[Ain'tGotNoPokemon]

I wish they'd gone out on a higher note than "Collapse." Maybe record one last album with Mitch Easter and Don Dixon, maybe even with the original lineup. Like the way The Beatles recorded "Abbey Road" as their last album together--go out on top!

But then Let It Be came out. If REM has an unfinished album in them, lets hope it's that good.

[rkbsound]

I'm gonna guess there's boatloads of great material for many albums. I wonder if any will ever surface.

[electrofaro]

As long as we get "Cushy Tush" in good quality I'll be happy

[Ain'tGotNoPokemon]

As long as we get "Cushy Tush" in good quality I'll be happy

We already have "Sex Bomb"...

[electrofaro]

For those who never heard it: https://www.yousendit.com/download/T2dk ... UkhMYnRVag 1.33 MB, will expire after a bunch of downloads, or 6 October if nobody downloads it. It's a demo, unreleased, no copyright violations. If it's against forums rules please delete post!