6
   

Goodbye, REM. : (

 
 
msolga
 
Reply Wed 21 Sep, 2011 06:25 pm
Aw, I'm so sad to hear this!

Just about my favourite band, for years now...


Quote:

It's the end of the world: REM split

September 22, 2011 - 7:32AM

http://images.theage.com.au/2011/09/22/2641055/lead_rem-420x0.jpg

Rock & Roll Hall of Fame group REM announces on its website that it's disbanding after almost three decades of making music together.

REM, the alternative rock group that shook up the music world with its experimental, edgy sound and then earned multiplatinum success and a place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, announced on its website that it has "decided to call it a day as a band."

"A wise man once said — 'the skill in attending a party is knowing when it's time to leave.' We built something extraordinary together. We did this thing. And now we're going to walk away from it," frontman Michael Stipe said in a statement on the website.

"I hope our fans realise this wasn't an easy decision; but all things must end, and we wanted to do it right, to do it our way."

The Grammy-winning group, now composed of Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck and bassist Mike Mills, released its debut album Murmur in 1983; at the time it was a quartet, with drummer Bill Berry. He left the group in 1997, two years after he suffered symptoms of an aneurysm onstage.

The group got its start in Athens, Georgia, coming out of the region's flourishing indie-rock scene. The band was credited for helping launch college radio with songs such as Radio Free Europe.

Later, the mainstream caught on, and REM became chart-topping rockers, selling millions of albums with hits like It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine), Losing My Religion and Everybody Hurts.

Stipe, the band's chief songwriter, crafted songs that were atypical of the standard rock fare. Man on the Moon was about the late comic Andy Kaufman. Losing My Religion was not about religion at all, but about trying to relay the feelings of a crush.

The band's videos also became staples on MTV in the 1990s, including the eye-catching Losing My Religion and the stark Everybody Hurts, which had Stipe walking through a highway traffic jam.

REM became one of the more forceful voices of 1990s rock, and came along around the same time as another rock quartet — U2. But whereas U2 managed to maintain (and even increase) its popularity over the years, REM stumbled commercially in recent years, and their hits dwindled.

The band continued to create music that resonated with critics and their core group of fans; the group's last album, Collapse into Now, was released in March and a greatest hits retrospective is in the works.

But Mills said the band was running out of ideas.

"During our last tour, and while making Collapse Into Now and putting together this greatest hits retrospective, we started asking ourselves, 'What next?'" he said. "Working through our music and memories from over three decades was a hell of a journey. We realised that these songs seemed to draw a natural line under the last 31 years of our working together."

Buck said the band parts as "great friends" and thanked fans for their support.

"One of the things that was always so great about being in REM was the fact that the records and the songs we wrote meant as much to our fans as they did to us," said Buck. "It was, and still is, important to us to do right by you. Being a part of your lives has been an unbelievable gift. Thank you."

Warner Bros Records chairman and producer Rob Cavallo said, "To call REM one of the greatest bands in contemporary music is an understatement. They leave behind a body of work whose breadth, honesty, creativity and power has not only inspired millions of fans around the world, but also has influenced — and will continue to influence — generations of songwriters and performers for years to come."

AP


http://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/music/its-the-end-of-the-world-rem-split-20110922-1klui.html
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Type: Discussion • Score: 6 • Views: 3,882 • Replies: 48
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msolga
 
  1  
Reply Wed 21 Sep, 2011 06:29 pm
@msolga,
0 Replies
 
msolga
 
  1  
Reply Wed 21 Sep, 2011 07:06 pm
I guess that's as good a reason to stop as any.
When you've run out of ideas.
Better than carrying on & producing crappy music you're not happy with.

But, wow, 31 years together! Surprised
Hadn't realized they'd been together for that long!

Quote:
REM became one of the more forceful voices of 1990s rock, and came along around the same time as another rock quartet — U2. But whereas U2 managed to maintain (and even increase) its popularity over the years, REM stumbled commercially in recent years, and their hits dwindled.

The band continued to create music that resonated with critics and their core group of fans; the group's last album, Collapse into Now, was released in March and a greatest hits retrospective is in the works.

But Mills said the band was running out of ideas.

"During our last tour, and while making Collapse Into Now and putting together this greatest hits retrospective, we started asking ourselves, 'What next?'" he said. "Working through our music and memories from over three decades was a hell of a journey. We realised that these songs seemed to draw a natural line under the last 31 years of our working together."

Buck said the band parts as "great friends" and thanked fans for their support.
0 Replies
 
boomerang
 
  2  
Reply Wed 21 Sep, 2011 07:40 pm
They were my go-to band for happy music. Whenever I was dragging around but had so much stuff to do I could put on one of their records and it would help me find some energy.
msolga
 
  1  
Reply Wed 21 Sep, 2011 07:48 pm
@boomerang,
I liked all their music, especially that from the early/middle years.
It's interesting that you mention happy music, boomer.
I don't suppose you've ever listened to the UP album?
Trust me, it isn't. Razz

I/we played that one a lot during the excruciating dying days of a long, convoluted relationship. Perfectly suited the situation! Ha.
Grim, grim, grim!
I couldn't listen to that again for years after! Wink
boomerang
 
  2  
Reply Wed 21 Sep, 2011 08:20 pm
@msolga,
Now don't go and ruin it for me! I'll have to switch to the B-52s exclusively for my morning pep rally.

I hate it when great bands or albums become associated with bad times. For me it's ELO. I can't listen to "A New World Record" without getting weepy.
msolga
 
  2  
Reply Wed 21 Sep, 2011 08:23 pm
@boomerang,
I understand, boomer, I really do!

I won't play that one then. Wink

Here ya go!:

0 Replies
 
boomerang
 
  2  
Reply Wed 21 Sep, 2011 08:32 pm
My get happy REM song:



Right now my feet need to be on the ground and my head needs to move me around to the kitchen to finish cooking dinner!

I feel happier about that just now.
msolga
 
  1  
Reply Wed 21 Sep, 2011 08:40 pm
@boomerang,
I agree.
Lovely, boppy stuff.
And Michael S still had hair! Smile

But, before you go, check this one out.
You will love it, I'm certain.
All those beautiful high school kids!
I confess, I got a serious lump in my throat the first time I saw this. Smile :

0 Replies
 
Ticomaya
 
  2  
Reply Wed 21 Sep, 2011 08:52 pm


msolga
 
  1  
Reply Wed 21 Sep, 2011 09:05 pm
@Ticomaya,
Oh, they look so young!
Babies. Smile

Here's one of my favourites (of around 131 of them! Wink )

Ragman
 
  2  
Reply Wed 21 Sep, 2011 09:08 pm
@msolga,
I had posted here Everybody Hurts but then deleted it. It's too pensive and a bit sad for the mood expressed earlier.
msolga
 
  1  
Reply Wed 21 Sep, 2011 09:15 pm
@Ragman,
Nah.
Not to worry, Ragman.
Post it, if you still want to.
It's a great song.
Melancholy, sure.
But quite bit of their work is melancholy, isn't it?
Ragman
 
  2  
Reply Wed 21 Sep, 2011 09:18 pm
@msolga,
Yeah, I wanted to avoid that and be sensitive to the mood..sensing it was nice to keep it upbeat. We all know the power of that song.
msolga
 
  1  
Reply Wed 21 Sep, 2011 09:21 pm
@Ragman,
It's beautiful.
Go on, post it! Smile


Another one of my multiple REM favourites.
Night Swimming :

Ragman
 
  2  
Reply Wed 21 Sep, 2011 09:35 pm
@msolga,
R.E.M. 2010 live Remix
0 Replies
 
msolga
 
  1  
Reply Wed 21 Sep, 2011 09:36 pm
One last post before I go ....

This isn't a "REM song ", as such, usually you'd associate it with Glenn Campbell, of course.

But I love the REM treatment!

Ticomaya
 
  1  
Reply Wed 21 Sep, 2011 09:38 pm
@msolga,
I've always been partial to that song ... not so much because I think it's a great song, but because I'm from Wichita. I really like the REM version.
msolga
 
  1  
Reply Wed 21 Sep, 2011 09:48 pm
@Ticomaya,
But there's something about that song, Tico ... I can't quite put my finger on it.
Something about the mood of it, that stays with you. Or with me, anyway. Smile

Here's another not-REM song receiving the REM treatment.

I feel much the same about this one, too.

0 Replies
 
msolga
 
  1  
Reply Wed 21 Sep, 2011 10:00 pm
OK, in case any of you not that familiar with REM think all their music is gentle & sensitive ...

This is not necessarily the case! Wink

Love this stuff, too! Smile

 

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