murmur was always my fav of theirs. after that...they were ok, but, to me, nothing like when i first heard murmur. it was special. saw them live at a place called the syria mosque in pittsburgh way back then. gosh, i was young.
I saw them in NY around 1981 - they opened for Gang of Four (of all bands). They used to play quite frequently around Chapel Hill and Carrboro, NC, but that was before I lived here.
Yeah, this was probably '82 or '83. I think they were the headline band. I saw them again a couple years later with Natalie Merchant.
Nope. You must have me confused with someone else. I never said that. (Have you ever known me to tell people what they can and can't like?? ) I'm only saying the expectation for a group to produce the same-sounding stuff over time is unrealistic.
Yea, I was only using your post as a sounding board. Sorry if it sounding like it was to you. BTW, I never disliked U2 and have no problem with them he says sucking up.Now Bono on the other hand.......
Fair enough, but does that mean you are not allowed to dislike it? There is the implication that if you do not like it, you are somehow not progressing with them or allowing change. Bands can do whatever they like and let the free market decide, but I will be damned if anyone is going to tell me what I should or should not like or try to supress my opinion! I have a problem with that
Nope. You must have me confused with someone else. I never said that. (Have you ever known me to tell people what they can and can't like?? ) I'm only saying the expectation for a group to produce the same-sounding stuff over time is unrealistic.
I think that sounding the same would be boring for the musicians and their audiences. Bands are supposed to change with time. Sometimes for the better, sometimes not.
I'm not a big fan of the Rolling Stones' disco period myself. A lot of Stones fans love it as much as their other periods. To each their own.
I saw them a couple times in the early years and they were awesome.
The first time I saw them was one of my most memorable concert experiences. At a converted movie theatre (the Ontario) in DC. My boyfriend and I had a fight right before we left to meet a couple of my friends at the concert. It was a really sketchy venue (I remember that the ladies room was one of the scariest I've ever been in ... dark, broken toilets running water onto the floor, toilet paper all over ...) but the boys rocked the place. My boyfriend was such a jerk; he pretended like he wasn't enjoying the music and left before the concert was over, forcing me to get a ride home with my friends.
I saw them in NY around 1981 - they opened for Gang of Four (of all bands). They used to play quite frequently around Chapel Hill and Carrboro, NC, but that was before I lived here.
As did U2. When people start a band in their late teens/early 20s, how can ANYONE expect them to keep sounding the same for the next 20 to 30 years??
Fair enough, but does that mean you are not allowed to dislike it? There is the implication that if you do not like it, you are somehow not progressing with them or allowing change. Bands can do whatever they like and let the free market decide, but I will be damned if anyone is going to tell me what I should or should not like or try to supress my opinion! I have a problem with that
They lost me after this, they lost me when they that . . . whatever. One of rock's great bands. Wish I'd have seen 'em live.
They are great. And it's a tribute to the band that they shed so many of their original fans to make new sounds rather than pander. I said I was never a huge fan and that's only because I knew a girl who went insane—literally institutionalized—trying to work out the meaning of life via REM lyrics. Her last communication with her roommates was "Listen to Camera then you'll know!" So no, on that scale? I'm not a huge fan.
They lost me after this, they lost me when they that . . . whatever. One of rock's great bands. Wish I'd have seen 'em live.
I saw them a couple times in the early years and they were awesome.
The first time I saw them was one of my most memorable concert experiences. At a converted movie theatre (the Ontario) in DC. My boyfriend and I had a fight right before we left to meet a couple of my friends at the concert. It was a really sketchy venue (I remember that the ladies room was one of the scariest I've ever been in ... dark, broken toilets running water onto the floor, toilet paper all over ...) but the boys rocked the place. My boyfriend was such a jerk; he pretended like he wasn't enjoying the music and left before the concert was over, forcing me to get a ride home with my friends.
They lost me after this, they lost me when they that . . . whatever. One of rock's great bands. Wish I'd have seen 'em live.
Glad I did. Once at the ACL Music Fest and once in a smaller venue—just them. They were one of my all-time favorites, but wasn't moved by their last two endeavors. Their Muses weren't really delivering any longer (IMHO). So—-good choice, boys. It's been a great run.
Ten years from now, I look forward to a brief reunion tour (a la The Eagles), with Bill Berry included.
Anyone who's surprised (talking to you, NBC news: "Shocking news"? No.) hasn't been paying attention. In a CBS Sunday Morning piece that came out when they released Accelerate, they talked about going out with a bang. Their last studio LP had fizzled and they didn't want to be remembered for that... that was the reason they gave for going back into the studio. I'm not sure how Accelerate did, sales-wise, but I thought it was well-received. Then before Collapse Into Now, I heard them saying similar stuff, that they were really putting everything they could into it because they didn't want their last album to be a dog. I think it's fine, by the way.
I've never been a huge REM fan, only saw them in concert once (saw Michael Stipe jump onstage with Hüsker Dü to sing Eight Miles High, though!) so I say this as a sort of cynic: REM headed downhill as soon as Stipe's lyrics began to get a little comprehensible.
Even though REM lost me in about 1992 or so, I must give them their props for being the most influential and important forefather of what is now know as Indie College rock, one of my favorite genres. Here's to you REM!