Or so you'd think. I remember reading an interview in 2004 with Bertis Downs that said the Athens office was getting packages of CDs from angry right wing fans who wanted nothing to do with the group after they went on Vote For Change.

likely aren't REM fans. and those that are fans probably appreciate the sentiment

anyway, i love how in the article the band claims to have almost broken up yet again. hard to take them seriously at this point

Point is, though, they already wrote a bunch of anti-war stuff on Around the Sun. They didn't have to do it this time.

And Dice, it isn't necessarily true that these guys weren't R.E.M. fans. On the Around the Sun tour, Stipe had shouting matches more than once with people who wanted him to shut up and play music instead of talking about the upcoming election. At one point in the show I saw, Stipe said the election in '04 was the most important in his lifetime and someone shouted, Shut up and sing. Stipe said, "I'll do whatever the fuck I want! If you don't like it, go out to the lobby until you hear music!" All he said after that was, "I just want everybody to vote in November." So, yes, there are Republicans who like R.E.M. and wish they would stay away from politics.

Screw R.E.M. fans that are republicans. Seriously. Politics have been a recurring theme in their music since at least Lifes Rich Pageant. If you're still buying into Bush at this point, you deserve to listen to Nashville country music and Nascar rock, because you're obviously not getting it.

Accelerate is a great album too. For a band that has made so many stellar albums, for a new album 25+ years into their career to even be compared to their best albums is a tremendous achievement. And how could you not write about politics in 2008? We're a nation of idiots spoon fed on reality TV and celebrity culture. We need intelligent bands like this to interject their take on the world any way they can.

I agree. I don't know if you have to address politics, which is why I'm glad R.E.M. does. I only heard U2's last album a few times, but was there anything political on it?

This debate on politics in rock isn't anything new and has similar divisions.
Springsteen always gets political on stage and some taunt him.
There's the famous "fuck you" Streisand came back with to a NYC show fan a couple years back.

Being a liberal...and probably so because my rock idols molded my politics...I have no problem. The right is bummed because the vast majority of musicians are liberal.

At this point I'd rather see Michael Stipe as politician than musician.

The point is if you make music and you don't make a political point because of 'fans' like that then you plain suck.

The point is, there are detractors, including those who don't go to the shows because they don't like R.E.M.'s politics. R.E.M. is sometimes accused of wanting to be huge again. While it may be true, it's not like they are just avoiding topics they care about so as to not offend anyone. I'm not saying writing about the war means they are trailblazers; I'm saying I'm glad they are addressing topics they care about, and they don't care if that hurts them commercially. They could have just written rock songs with non-political subjects and no one would have asked why they didn't write about politics on this album.

Fuck republicans anyway.
I dont mean old school true conservatives either. We just happen to see things differently.
No, I mean neo-cons, NeuCountry republicans etc.
Those slope-foreheaded, knuckle-dragging cunts have fucked this country pretty royally.
They should be forced to spend the rest of their lives cleaning up the messes theyve helped create these last 7 years.
Let em go see fucking Fuel if they want that shit.
Fuck em all in the ear, and that goes double for Toby Keith.

post of the month

Speaking of Toby Keith, does anyone remember seeing the halftime showthat cock knoblet did Thanksgiving Day 2003?
Shit was so Leni Reifenstahl that I almost fell out of my chair doing a fucking doubletake.
Naturally the shithead yokels ate it up, climactically ascending giant iron eagle and all.
Christ that was a dark period.
Im an Obama guy and I know we need "healing" or whatever, but part of me still wants to visit extreme fucking physical violence on a third of the dipshits in this country for that time.
Incurious, anti-intellectual, xenophobic, moronic, dickless, buttfucking sonsofbitches.

Senor Cardgage - SENOR? is that MEXICAN!?!? - sounds like you need to LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT, BUB

A lot of very fit, but slightly butchy Aryan women skiing?

Amen.

so i just looked at the ticket prices to the united center show and shit, the cheap (crap) seats ain't too bad for a tour of this size and a band of this caliber/prestiege. i guarentee that's the cheapest tour to hit the united center in a while.

These Blogotechue clips up at SG are awesome.

http://stereogum.com/archives/video/rem-br...ens_008652.html

Man I wish "On the Fly" had made the record. It sounds incredible here.

79 on Metacritic currently from 22 reviews. I was expecting it to be be more like 73 or 74 puts it at about 22 for the year (US releases) #104 on RYM for 2008.

so i just totally splurged on two floor seats for the Chicago show

section two, row 24

no complaints from me (except for the price, but hey, you only live once, M I RITE?)

hahahahaha we are in the same row. I am in seats 1 & 2. What are yours? Would be hilarious if you had 3 & 4.

I also picked up a pair for the opening night in Vancouver.

Sweet. Those are excellent seats (prays your friend bails).

By chance is your buddy inclined to treat you to dinner at the restaurant of your choice.

Awesome! I think I am seats 11 and 12 or something like that. We will be row buddies.


You shall certainly be updated ASAP once I talk to said friend and also check with my dad if he might be interested. There's a chance of that happening, too. Updates coming soon my good sir.

link to the Today Show appearance

Did Losing My Religion, Supernatural Superserious, Hollow Man

Aw..if your Pop is a fan you gotta make a memory. If not much a fan, then I'm still praying.

Anyone know if the e-mail fan club pre-sale(which goes on sale tomorrow) would give me better seats then if I were first in line at a ticketmaster location on the day of the public sale?

My dad is sort of a fan. He's in to their radio hits for sure, but never really got in to R.E.M. albums as a whole. He's a singles man.

But I would ask if he'd like to go simply because he took me to my first concert ever, and it so happened to be an R.E.M. show years back.

So that's the nostalgia of that. But he may not want to go, as he's traveling more this summer and also isn't a big "city commuter." So getting to the UC from work on a Friday might not be something he's too keen on. But we'll see.

As for the presale tickets that are up tomorrow, I think you can get a pretty sweet set through that, as well. But I think usually those presales aren't much better than the general "on sale' date. At least that has been my experience with show's past.

That's kind of what I thought. I got great seats through the public sale on the Up tour so I'll probably wait on your verdict then try my luck Saturday.

I thought I read that your first show was at The World. Was that the one with Wilco opening? If so, at least you saw the tour where they played the most NAIHF songs. I had great seats for that, also bought through general public sale.

i have a question


i usually don't like most of the stuff REM does. there's always a song or two i like, but i've never heard a full album of them that i enjoyed, untill accelerate.

so, my question is, considering what i've just said, is there another REM album i should check and will possibly like?

You aren't the first person i have heard who doesn't/didn't like R.E.M. outside of a few songs but heard Accelerate and loved that disc. Weird.

Anyway, let's see. If you are to try and get in to a full R.E.M. disc based on your appreciation for the new one, I think the ones you should hear are (in no particular order), Life's Rich Pageant or Document. I think a few tracks from Accelerate bare a resemblance to some LRP tracks. And I've heard people say that they feel that the new disc would be a suitable follow-up to Document. I don't totally agree with that, but I could hear some progression from disc to disc.

So yea, those are my picks.

oh, also I got this last night on vinyl

While costly, I don't regret a thing because it sounds nice

Derek, I feel I have to inform you that LRP has not got an apostrophe. I know as a big fan of the band you'll thank me.

thanks... i've heard document before, but i'll try it again, and Life's Rich Pageant too.

motherfuck

I do appreciate the tip/information

REM on Colbert last night:

http://www.comedycentral.com/colbertreport/index.jhtml

It's pretty funny, especially when he asks Stipe if he supports the president, and why he doesn't write more songs about girls.

love that Colbert interview.

also big thumbs up to Cardgage's avatar!!!

and finally, my review is up on my blog. see link in sig.

Good review, Hickman.

Just got two tickets to the United Center show. If anybody is looking for pre-sale tickets, the password is accelerate.

The cokemachineglow review of this record is pretty good.

i'll just have one of your tixs. thanks

allmusic has review up too. i'd say it hits the nail on the head. and i haven't even heard the record

Heh. These things matter. Like the battle over the comma/non-comma in Rum Sodomy & The Lash

Picked up 2 tickets to the MSG show....i gotta say these are some farking expensive tickets. 89 bucks for the band that was once involved in the lawsuit against ticketmaster?

so they just announced 2 more shows for the R.E.M. / Modest Mouse / The National tour...

6/4 in Council Bluffs, IA (aka: Omaha) at Westfair Amphitheatre

and

6/5 in St. Paul, MN at Xcel Energy Center (apparently a theater setup)

tix for St. Paul go onsale next Saturday at 11am and are $45/65/75



i so did not want to go to Chicago for United Center show, so i'm pretty amped

quick question

Did anyone here do the presale through the fan club at the beginning of the month? If so, did anyone receive their tickets yet? I know they said they'd be sent via UPS. So I am sort of nervous that maybe they were sent and I never got 'em. Just curious because when I think about that possibility, I get sad.

Was just wondering this myself today. I ordered tix through the fan club presale, but haven't received them yet, either.

Thank you Bob. Your being in the same boat as I makes me feel a little more reassured.

the REM fan club costs how much again?

I think it's like ten bucks a year

And you get a sticker for signing up

not bad at all, thanks

Yes, it's 10 bucks. You get updates on stuff (much of it though is common knowledge by the time it arrives, though at least you get photos of the boys in the studio or onstage or wherever) I think four times a year, stickers, a calendar, a Christmas single with a b-side with cool packaging in December (though I got a single/DVD one year), and fan-club pre-sales for shows. For a fan, it's worth it.

Same.

Anybody interested in my pair of tickets for the United Center show? Now that a St. Paul show was added, I don't want to make the trek down. Got them during the fanclub presale. They're a good seat. Not looking to make a dime, just to sell them for face value.

PM me and we'll set something up.