Many others will have commented elsewhere far more eloquently than I'm capable of. Others will have dissected the career in a critical way and analysed them record-by-record arguing why the break-up has come a few years too late. Me? Well, I was just a fan who liked an awful lot of what they did, who enjoyed seeing them play live on stage and even on the so-called duff albums found one or two tracks worth holding onto. And yet, for the first time in maybe 20 years , 2011 was the first time I never bought their latest LP within days of it being released. It wasn't that I didn't like what little I heard of it on radio or music video stations just more I never quite got round to making the necessary effort. And now that they've gone, I feel as if I maybe let the side down a bit. But I'll make sure Collapse Into Now is on the list of stuff to come my way at Xmas.
One of the things I most liked about being a fan of R.E.M. was that they were the sort of band who got written about a lot and there's been some excellent books about their career - most notably It Crawled From The South by Marcus Gray as well as Adventures In Hi Fi by Rob Jovanovic and Tim Abbott (I don't know if I've mentioned it before but in addition to the vinyl and CD I've a reasonable sized collection of music biographies - I keep meaning to review some of them). The books were a great way to learn so much more about probably the least American band to be so massive in their home country at the end of the 20th Century with their views on ecology, the economy and human rights seemingly at odds with the the political beliefs of those who governed for so long.
But of course it was the music that mattered most. There are those who say they were never the same after leaving IRS after six critically acclaimed years and going to Warner Bros in 1988. There are others who say the move to the major was essential to take them to the next level without which we wouldn't have gotten the smash-hit era of Out Of Time and Automatic For The People. I'm happy to be counted in that camp....without embracing the majors it's more than likely that they would have stayed a cult act with moderate success (akin to the likes of The Go-Betweens with whom their sound had a lot in common). The price to pay might have been arena and stadium tours and folk turning up just to hear Man On The Moon, Everybody Hurts and Losing My Religion and to hell with the rest of the set....but for a short while, R.E.M. were the most important and influential band on the planet and made indie-guitar music very important again.
I reckon we owe them a big thanks. You might not like the fact that bands like Coldplay came along later on to refine the stadium rock element and mostly turn our stomachs, but that's the music business. And besides when someone else came along to satisfy the bosses's demands for arena shows, tunes to clap along and sing to (or even worse, hold up the lighters), then R.E.M. could move on to something new.
They have left with dignity and with their reputation unsullied by a drop in standards in the live arena. And by the sounds of things, they're not prepared to go out there one last time and milk the applause one last time, not to mention grabbing the filthy lucre. More credit to them. But then again, they were always a class act in so many ways.
mp3 : R.E.M. - Talk About The Passion
mp3 : R.E.M. - World Leader Pretend
mp3 : R.E.M. (featuring Chris Martin) - Man On The Moon (live)
mp3 : R.E.M. - Imitation Of Life
Enjoy the retirement chaps.
7 comments:
I agree with all you say but do think (more than you) that latterly they ran short of creative juice. I reckon Stipe at least will go on to do some more interesting things though.
Surely you must expect the DMCA polis after today's post....
I could never get into the later stuff, but still get chills sometimes when I listen to the early albums. I'll never forget seeing them back in 1983. Michael Stipe is mesmerizing in concert.
Well I regreted the WB move from IRS as, being the same age as you, I had seen them play live in venues from a small bar with 50 people (right after the EP) to opening for the Police on the Synchronicity tour. They were in no way ready for arena shows back in 84/5 when I they opened for the Police. Funny I don't think of them at all as an stadium/arena band as the more intimate shows were always their best.
One item which deserves a mention from the POV of a yank is that they were instrumental in the rise and popularity of non-mainstream music college radio stations in the early 80's. Commercial radio with a huge assist from MTV was already limiting what was being played on-air. Unless you lived in NYC or another major metro area, access to acts as diverse as PiL, the Jam, REM, Violent Femmes, Crass, Dead Kennedys, Joy Division, This Mortal Coil etc was limited to being heard at a local vinyl shop (yes, think High Fidelity). Likely college radio would have taken the same route without REM, but REM happened along at the right time and was 'listenable' enough to attract a wider audience to the station.
I've written about REM and what they mean to me on my blog, along with post a tribute podcast of REM covers (plug, plug...). Like you, I followed them into the latter years of their career, but couldn't get nearly as excited as I did when they were churning out 'Document', 'Green', 'OOT' and 'Monster'. Glad they called it a day when they did. They ran out of steam and, as you say, they have their integrity intact.
Great piece JC - and tremendous thought-provoking comments too.
What blogging is all about. Of course, I'd expect nothing less from 'round here - but I still don't take it for granted. ;)
And I don't know my aberfeldy from my elbow.
Collapse Into Now was their best album in years, so I'm happy they stopped right now. Still, I wouldn't be upset to see a summer tour 5 years from now with Bill Berry at the drums and a Who-ish price tag for tickets. As long as they play "Wendell Gee."
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