R.E.M. fans like R.E.M. songs thanks for the update capt obvious.

Why does it bother you so much that the hardcore fans are *gasp* hardcore fans?

It doesn't bother me, I was just pointing out that despite the way the poll is framed, despite it being a hardcore fan site it's still a surprising number of positive reactions.

Exactly. Love it and "eh" are way too few choices and "overwhelming" is obviously a fair word (why split hairs over that word?--it's not like I said the board "kind of" likes it). The point is they love it and it is in no way surprising.

Actually, I'm surprised the numbers aren't higher. I've lurked on that site for years whenever they are about to release a new record. Safe to say most of the people there have been jonesing for this type of sound every time out for about a decade now.

Don't see how calling hardcore REM fans "deluded" for liking their first new single in 4 years is adding much more to this conversation than saying it reminds you of In Rainbows.

I've added more than that, I said it wasn't very good.

This is a message board where half the people have the word "stipe" in their nickname and the other half are "witty" names drawn from R.E.M. lyrics. They have a thread where they post when they hear an R.E.M. song on the tv or radio. They remixed the 30 second ringtone into a full song ....it's really not a surprising number at all.

WendellGeeDriver89 says yer a fukken faggot, dood.

So is this not an indication that the words deluded and cult weren't unfair? I don't know if I can think of more than a dozen songs that 78% of 'normal' music fans would say they loved.

It's also a surprising number because it's not very good, I would suggest that people are more pleased that it sounds like older records they wanted it to sound like rather than if it's good.

I never said they weren't a deluded cult I just said the poll results weren't in any way surprising.

So when Montana comes into the Radiohead thread and says he doesn't like In Rainbows you go nuts on him, but when you come in here and shit all over REM its ok? At least he usually gives reasons, however off the wall they might be at times, why he doesnt like something.

For the record, I'd give this about a 6/10. As everyone else does, I love the Mills bassline and harmonies. I like the chorus that wasn't part of the song in the Dublin rehearsals, it gives it more lift and the melody has been stuck in my head since yesterday. I like that Stipe's vocals are more forceful than on other recent albums. On the other hand, the bridge is rather pedestrian and has been done in some variation on dozens of their songs. Buck's guitar, especially in the verses, sounds like IRS-REM by numbers mixed in with a slight Monster twist, though I have no problem with the "Louie Louie" crib. Buck's guitar has always been rooted in the Nuggets style.

Better first single than "Leaving New York", maybe not as good as "Imitation of Life". Hints at a promising album that might not rank in the upper echelon of their work, but will beat out the last 2 albums and maybe 1 or 2 others as well.

That's what I was saying, they are deluded and in defence of that statement I said compared to a more measured reaction elsewhere the results are surprising.

Should be obvious what I'm saying now, these aren't Chronic Town lyrics.

Saying it wasn't good doesn't mean I think it's shit. I'd give about a 5/10 personally.

Montana 'reviews' things before they've been releases, before he has listened to them, after one listening and continues to repeat himself in an unfunny way by making the same point over and over. He is impervious to being challenged on his dubious record of stating facts and wouldn't go to the trouble of posting several times trying to clarify his points several times until people get what he is saying as his only point in posting is to troll threads and talk nonsense.

I think it's a catchy little track. Buck's guitar melody sounds kind of like "Near Wild Heaven" -- though it's harder at times -- and the "Wow" at the end is a little like the end of "Stand," though not exactly. Mills' vocals really sound cool behind Stipe's. The contrast seems a lot more pronounced than usual. Stipe's voice seems rougher than it normally is.

As for the whole surprise about the REM board, they are die-hard fans over there and they have been waiting forever for a new album. It's not a shock that they love it--they are fanatics (the term fan comes from that word). A couple friends of mine who aren't fanatics heard the song on XRT yesterday and said they really enjoyed it. If people who haven't heard much they liked from R.E.M. since the mid to late 90s say they like the new single, you know most hard-core fans are probably going to be thrilled by it.

The only thing that bugs me is how bored Stipe sounds.

Considering how old they are, I really think people should be pleased. I mean, really. Combined they're like 500 or something.

For those that want to download it:

this song is not bad, but really it's boring and forgettable. i continue to give up on this band.

nothing will ever approach the insanely great run from Chronic Town to Life's Rich Pageant.



okay, i also like Automatic For The People, but that now feels like a fluke.

what do you mean by that?

AFTP had some of R.E.M.'s most beautifully written music and lyrics to date. Most bands would give anything to write a song as beautiful as "Nightswimming." It's probably the last time Stipe's voice really shined on an album as though it were its own instrument. The way he quivers and trembles on "Find the River" is just so wonderful. You'd be hard-pressed to seriously find an album as consistent and gorgeous as AFTP. Seriously. It's no fluke. The band can craft great songs, largely thanks to Bill Berry I believe, but still.

They are completely capable of it. Berry I think just anchored them and kept them focused. Without him, the band becomes an experimental project for Stipe where he has delved in to electronica (Up), adult contemporary music (Around the Sun), as well as crap (Reveal). It seems Stipe realizes that "trying new things" might be ok and successful a third of the time, but really, in the end people want R.E.M. to be R.E.M., and it seems judging by this new single that that is what they are trying to do. They're trying to be R.E.M. again.

I am ok with that.

i mean that it's a great album made well after their initial brilliant run.

haven't heard the new single yet, but i thought i'd chime in on this AFTP business.

after listening to the album from start to finish for the first time in a long time earlier this week, while early-REM may be the sound/energy/aesthetic/whatever of REMs that I go ga-ga over and really should be what they're remembered for, or whatever their legacy is, there's no doubt that AFTP is REMs strongest album from start to finish (that i've heard at least, which is actually only about 1/2 of their catalog). by a considerable margin actually.

that was a really ineloquent way of saying that AFTP is phenomenal.

AFTP a fluke? I think you prolly should revisit Out of time and Green....

Near Wild Heaven, Belong, Half a world away, Country Feedback to name a few on OOT that are classic. The entire Green album minus hairshirt is fucking amazing. I'd say with those 2 albums as lead ins AFTP is hardly a fluke.

"Hairshirt" is awesome

Sometimes hairshirt makes me want to stab my eyes out with forks, other times i skip it.

you go to Fart Prison

Been going through the discography the last few weeks, listening to an album here and there. Listened to Monster yesterday, which I still think is quite good. I got one more album (New Adventures) before I hit Up and Reveal, two albums I probably have only heard a few times each. I'm hoping to find something I didn't find before, but I'm not hopeful. Still don't have Around The Sun, but the completist in me knows I'll have it eventually. I always thought I'd just find it used, but that hasn't been as easy as I thought lately. Like the new single, it's an R.E.M. song, more by the numbers, but after ATS, this is what was needed at the time. I'm really looking forward to the full album, much more than I have looked forward to R.E.M. in years.

I can't listen to Monster beginning to end, but Strange Currencies, Kenneth, Let Me In are killer. Bang and Blame, though blows and is just awful.

'Up' did not deserve the backlash it got, but it was such a departure that Joe six pack was going to go WTF? I dig the electronic vibe of Up.

Here's what you do...

You take your copy of Monster to the desert and listen to "You" right in the middle of the afternoon.
Ive done it and its perfect.

I'm not really anticipating the new album based on the leak, but in 2008 R.E.M. is getting 9 pages on the SOMB.

Way to go guys.

New Adventures In Hi-Fi is really a solid, solid album that people often overlook just to make a point of how REM is not the REM of old. While it's understandable, given their less-than-stellar efforts as of late, New Adventures shouldn't be put into that same category. I still think it's in my top 5 REM albums from their entire catalogue.

I was always under the impression that New Adventures was considered one of their greatest works. I'd say it's quite easily (ok, Automatic gives it a run) their best post-IRS record.

I don't think anyone around here overlooks NAIHF. If i remember correctly there was some R.E.M. poll on the somb last year and NAIHF rated very high.

I wasn't talking about people here, as much as REM critics in general.

I for one am very much looking forward to Accelerate. I don't believe that REM will ever put out another record like Life's Rich Pageant or Document, and don't look for those records in the new ones. A lot of people still do.

You're kind of hitting on something I was thinking of earlier, when reading gushing praise for REM's new song and talk of "the old REM". It's funny that REM and U2 were originally considered pretty rooted in classic rock but they were indie bands that were forging ahead. Then there came a point where people that U2 wanted to just sound like and be U2 again (2000's All That You Can't Leave Behind). Now the same is happening with REM and this album. People are excited about REM sounding like ol' REM. I don't think it'll make the same splash commercially as the U2 album because early REM is not what sold them millions and made them MTV stars. I just think it's interesting and I guess maybe it's a pretty obvious career trajectory.

i'm confused by this. when these bands came out in the early 80s, they weren't considered rooted in classic rock.

Yeah peter buck pretty openly despised flashy guitar solos and other classic rock guitar wankery back then. I definitly wouldn't call them rooted in classic rock.

Well, take that part out then. The larger point still stands. But I was under the impression that even back then, older dudes appreciated REM because they had jangly guitars and legendary melodies™.

i'd consider the byrds classic rock, and REM has frequently stated how much they were influenced by the byrds. however, they drew easily as much from groups like Go4 and VU too.

back then, both bands sounded so different from what was on the radio. R.E.M. felt so "underground" and U2 made me think "are these guys punk?" looking back, they don't seem so weird or different from classic rock traditions, but back then they just didn't fit in at all.

Amazon has the video for the single:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/mpd/permalink/m8P...3ZD1ETHCFK9Y3F2

What the hell is the matter with REM?
They always seem to like TRY to shoot themselves in the foot with singles.
I like this song but come on.
You guys set out to prove to the world that you can still "rock" right?
So why use a middling single to prove this?
And further, why make a video like this where you look like 3 bored old farts doddling around NYC with ACOUSTIC GUITARS (?!!?) in a video shot with a very 90s look?

I love you guys.
I am a total REM True Believer.
But seriously, you need to do more to reignite people.
Ive heard the Dublin tracks and I know theres other tracks you could have lead with that are capable of doing that.

Sigh.

Video kinda reminds me of the near wild heaven video.

One of the reviews I read for accelerate said that once you hear the full album you'll realize Supernatural Superserious is easily the most commercial track. I woulda pick Living wells the best revenge for a first single based on the dublin shows....but i guess i'll reserve judgment till I hear the studio treatment. And for the love of god why hasn't this leaked yet.

Dude I know.
Stereogum has it in their "Heavy Rotation" so why the fuck hasnt this dripped out into the ether?

Gave up on REM somewhere around Monster.

well that is just plain ol' silly. especially considering they released one of their all time best right after Monster.

and releasing "S.S" as the single makes sense to me. i mean, if half the tracks are barely three-minutes long, those wouldn't really float as singles. "S.S." is a fine single when you boil it down. it's got everything r.e.m. fans have wanted for a while (Mills vocals, crunchier guitar kinda, Stipe's vocals not brought in to the forefront). i consider the single a success in the sense it has people talking about R.E.M. again in a very positive light and not just saying "man, this production is too glossy, where's Mike Mills?" et cetera et cetera.

so really, though, why hasn't this leaked yet?

I like the video. If there's one thing you can't fault REM on, it's their film pedigree. They always look sharp on film. The video's not conceptual or clever, but the whole document(ary) vibe of "just workin' and connecting" makes sense for the big "back to business" pitch of Accelerate.

The song has sunk it's hooks into me. The only structural fault I find is at the middle point ("and you realized your fantasies...) where the song drops in key where I expect and want it to rise to the heights. It slows the momentum down.

**** 1/2 in the new Spin.

The issue which, coincidentally, features Vampire Weekend on the cover, a Malkmus interview, and a Jessica Hopper spread on the new "Chicago, ILL" sound [Cool Kids, Flosstra., Kid Sister]. It's a pretty SOMB issue. Well, except for Paramore. We haven't done that thread. Yet...

Anyway, REM:

"Will be rightfully championed as the defibrillator that shocked a once-great band back to its senses."

why has this not leaked yet? it's out there, somewhere


all this positive press is making me antsy to hear some new tuneskis


yes...tuneskis....

GAH! LEAK ALREADY!
GOD! DAMMIT!

I concur.

Man is this song boring. How don't they know how to mix the drums properly? Do we really need to hear Stipe's vocals so clearly these days? Drown that shit!