I get quite a bit of stick for being a secret REM fan, it was one of the first 'atlernative' bands I got into ever since I bought a 12" copy of Automatic for the People for 50p ten years ago.
Now they can sell out mega stadiums but nobody seems to like them how can that be?
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I got into them when Andy Kershaw was playing 'Fables of the Reconstruction' on Radio 1 - his show was on before John Peel - and that's my favourite album of theirs; Joe Boyd was the producer. Liked the odd single since, but not a big fan.
Perhaps their image isn't helped by Michael Stipe doing 'The One Show' last night :)
Last edited by: Focus on Fri 11 Mar 11 at 22:06
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>>Now they can sell out mega stadiums but nobody seems to like them how can that be?<<
Take That can sell out a mega stadium. An awful lot of people cant stick em, but enough to fill a tour. The world is a big place with an awful lot of people.
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>>The world is a big place with a lot of awful people.<<
Am I alone in having misread it at the firat pass?
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>> Take That can sell out a mega stadium. An awful lot of people cant stick
>> em, but enough to fill a tour. The world is a big place with an
>> awful lot of people.
Yes, it's amazing how even an obscure band will attract loads of people especially now with the internet, far more than you ever expected. As for REM I never liked Michael Stipes voice - too whiny for me. It doesn't matter how good the instrumentation is, if the lead singers voice doesn't sound right to the ears, you're not gonna like it - a bit like when Bruce Dickinson took over Iron Maiden (for me personally).
I have a metal album by Mastodon that has the instrumental versions of all the tracks - I like the guy's voice, but listening to the instrumentals by themselves gives a whole new perspective on the tracks.
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>> It doesn't matter how good the instrumentation
>> is, if the lead singers voice doesn't sound right to the ears, you're not gonna
>> like it - a bit like when Bruce Dickinson took over Iron Maiden (for me
>> personally).
>>
Me too, preferred the earlier punky sound with Paul Di'Anno.
In terms of REM I got into them when 'Document' came out; really regret not going to see them when they played my local venue, Dunstable Queensway Hall (their first UK gig!). Nowadays I think they're just part of the wallpaper, no big change in style, lots of so-so albums (IMHO).
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>> UK gig!). Nowadays I think they're just part of the wallpaper, no big change in
>> style, lots of so-so albums (IMHO).
A lot of fans don't like it when bands change their style, but for the musicians it inspires them from an artistic point of view - a lot of them couldn't carry on without changing - David Bowie, RadioHead, PJ Harvey e.t.c. Sometimes they end up with the odd dud, but that's needed to keep the experimentation going, and they attract many different fans as a result of that.
Theres a guy at work who goes to see AC DC and continues to listen to all the old classics - which is fine, but he'll sneer at anything new - I can't think of anything more boring than listening to the same old tracks year after year. Dig out the odd classic to listen to yes, but not all the time.
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>>
>> Theres a guy at work who goes to see AC DC and continues to listen
>> to all the old classics - which is fine, but he'll sneer at anything new
>> - I can't think of anything more boring than listening to the same old tracks
>> year after year. Dig out the odd classic to listen to yes, but not all
>> the time.
>>
He'll be the target demographic for Planet Rock then, and Absolute Classic Rock. Mind you I listen to both of them - I rely on BBC 6Music for new stuff; Planet Rock seem to consider Within Temptation 'new', and they've been around 15 years!
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>> Me too, preferred the earlier punky sound with Paul Di'Anno.
Hope you haven't got tickets for one of his upcoming gigs:
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-12717590
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I like the new album. Wasn't a big fan of the last one, though.
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I've always liked this song - (shiny happy people) www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCQ0vDAbF7s inc. the video.
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Is REM not one of these bands where the singer has came out as being gay, then they have threatened to split up, then back again, then "change" direction etc etc to an extent that some of the followers have given up on them?
A bit like Oasis in that many folk didn't buy their concert tickets because even on the night, there was still no certainty that the gig would go ahead!
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FWIW caught a bit of Stipe chatting with Dermot O'Leary on Radio 2 this afternoon, and he claimed that the band are all getting on well at the moment. Seems like a genuine guy.
However, when I first started listening to them (Fables of the Reconstruction was 1985 apparently), I think part of the band's appeal to at least some of its followers was Stipe's mumbled lyrics and aura of weirdness. That seems to have evaporated with their rise to ranks of stadium band, inevitably I guess.
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REM - why do they have an image problem? - Focusless
