I completely agree with you on Mills, he was flawless from the get-go, and clearly a trained musician. His harmonic bass playing, and high-harmony singing, have been a huge contribution to the band's sound.
I personally think this is a better version than the ‘official’ one that was re-recorded for Chronic Town. The story goes that it was Miles Copeland who demanded that they do a slower version, and had them re-record it after they had completely finished mixing down Chronic Town. Apparently Copeland was a bit obsessed with the song. However it was Mitch Easter who demanded that it opened the EP, instead of “Ages Of You”.
Man, do I love Peter Buck's arpeggio playing in this. He really created the classic REM sound. Though he was not into wailing guitar like Jimmy Page, he really was instrumental in the REM sound, such as The Edge with U2.
Odd to realise how obvious R.E.M.'s post-punk influences were early on, even though they still sound very much like themselves. It's especially upfront on this version of this song, with the treblier guitar lines, bouncier bass and sharper drum mixing.
Well, at the time this just *WAS* basically considered post punk, albeit a very Southern-fried version of it. Whatever influences REM had were culminating in a sound that fit right in alongside other new bands of the time like The Cure, The Sound, and yes… in the context of 1982… U2. The big difference (from those bands) being that REM were from the Deep South of America, while most of their peers were from the British Isles. This definitely didn’t sound like any of the American bands being played on FM radio at the time. In ‘82 the FM airwaves were dominated by (American) stuff like Billy Squier, Journey, Toto, 38 Special, and Pat Benatar. REM was a very far cry from all that.
@@preziosestelle7368 different vocals, etc. I thought so at first too but then immediately started to hear all of the small differences once they became obvious, and if nothing else, the breakdown is 100% obvious.
@@Shikta-poobah67 I mean this might have fit in with The Cure's Seventeen Seconds or perhaps Primary, but certainly not Pornography. But I get the drift of the comparison, trust me, I do. And anyone who says that 1980, 81, 82 U2 isn't post punk is out of... control.
I feel like the mix of the faster version and the slower version would create the best version of the song. However, both versions of the song are beautiful and are fun to listen to depending on the mood.
Too fu*king awesome!!! You can take your hip-hop and divas and any other act today, combine 'em and they still can't touch the coolness REM had in the early days. Just a fantastic band!
I wouldn’t call Fables Of The Reconstruction “genius”. That one was a pretty big drop-off from everything that preceded it. Some really great songs on it, but as a whole it was a bit of a disjointed mess.
@@MsSirAndyAgreed. This is the superior version, and it’s the way the band intended it to sound. I absolutely love the slower ‘official’ version, and for many years it was the only version I knew, but after hearing this one and learning the story behind it, it won me over. It wasn’t the band’s idea to re-record it at a slower tempo. That was all at the insistence of Miles Copeland (head of IRS Records). They were actually completely done mixing the EP when Copeland insisted that they re-record it.
I think that Bill Berry 32 beat drumming on this track demonstrates more than a "little musical expertise". I agree with the last part of what you said though :P
I don’t know about that. It’s definitely one of them, at least. They were very consistent with their songwriting in the early days (‘81-‘84). Every song they recorded during that period was “blow your hair back” amazing. The Chronic Town EP, Murmur, and Reckoning are pure magic. Flawless in my opinion. It’s impossible for me to choose just one song as being my favorite.
I think Mike Mills was pretty proficient as a bassist from the start having played various instruments since grade school. Peter Buck was the one initially a little rough around the edges. Stipe, even though primarily a singer has learned to play a little over the years.
i always wondered about this fast version - its pretty much the same - thx for putting it up. very cool video clip too. forever i really like yr rankings, but i would put chronic town at #1 and move the rest down a notch. rem invented college music with that ep. otherwise obvs i agree with you n i think most early and long time older rem fans would as well.
That’s because it’s timeless music. It ages gracefully because it’s not written or recorded within the context of the times it was created in. There’s no fancy studio gimmickry going on here. Mitch Easter did try a few experiments on the recording of Chronic Town, like incorporating tape loops and recording some of Stipe’s vocals outdoors, but what little experimentation he did was only done to enhance the raw tracks. The result is an EP that sounded perfect upon it’s release, and still sounds perfect today in 2023.
Because of Miles Copeland being obsessed with the song is why. Originally they were going to have “Ages Of You” be the lead-off song on Chronic Town, but Copeland insisted that they not only use Wolves Lower, but re-record it entirely at a slower tempo. When this decision was made they had already finished mixing down the EP. They recorded the ‘official’ version only 2 months before Chronic Town’s release. I personally like both versions, and I agree that it was the right choice for opening the EP, but I definitely prefer this faster version.
This is a great song and it's cool to hear a different version. I can see why they redid it, though. They slow down quite a bit, more than once. It's hard to keep that kind of pace up for so long. Where did the video come from?
When you’re as young and hungry as REM were at the time, keeping up that kind of pace just comes naturally. It was only at the insistence of the head of their record label (Miles Copeland - a then middle aged man) that they re-recorded it and slowed the tempo.
Some say the 'chorus' is 'house in order', but I prefer to think it's: "I won't say it in order...aaahaahaaha" because the song is wolves, lower, but he says lower wolves in song
does anyone know how to get the MP3 of this? I lost my original Chronic Town tape I bought in the 80s :-((((((((( Amazon has the Dead Letter Office version which is clearly the wrong one for any purest from back in the day
murmur or chronic town? lrs ? I believe chronic town was released in 1983 shortly after reckoningbut chronic town was recorded in 1982 and actually released on ep before reckoning or murmur
+Antony Bates I think Chronic town was recorded in 1982, not released until 1983 but reckoning also came out in late 1983, early 1984, 1983 was the copyright I think. chronic town and the following murmur both released before reckoning did not sell until REM gained popularity in the mid-1980s. I had chronic town and murmur well before I knew reckoning had been released. REM,s earlier work is probably the best.
It’s commonly labeled as such today, and for roughly the last 25 years or so, but back in the early 80’s no one was calling it that. Come to think of it, I don’t think I ever heard anyone utter the words “college rock” until the very end of the 80’s. Occasionally the term “alternative” got thrown in, but as funny as it sounds today, most people were just calling this stuff “new wave” at the time.
@DTOM, ¿eStamos? It's different. The backing vocals are different as well as some of Stipes. The music sounds the same but just sped up. Somehow it works.
It’s a completely different recording. This was how they originally intended it to sound. They only re-recorded it because the head of their record label insisted that they had to.
