Great little find this, thanks for posting. I think what makes REM one of the greatest bands of all time was their absolute steadfastness in just being themselves. That’s why I love them, and I respect that they knew when to call it a day. Murmur is probably the best album of the 80’s.
For people of a certain vintage, there's something about watching a VHS recording again in this HD age... especially when it's about music you remember fondly from that period.
VHS was great wasn't it ? Remember having to return the tapes to the video shop , there was always a bastard that didn't rewind it back and you'd get it and think "ugh", it's just an unwritten rule you rewind it back when you were done ha
I remember listening to REM, seriously, for the first time in my dorm room at the Univ. of Georgia in 1986. Those first records mesmerized me. It blew me away when they became so big globally. I always thought they were our band down in the south. Freaking love them, always will.
That Mr. Stipe pulls out the word 'nascent' then asks, "Is that a word." and that word be precisely what he is pointing to, is poetry in notion... 05:30
25:14 those are some of the wisest words I've heard a successful musician say. 100% true. It takes a big person to not just know it, but actually live by it.
Cannot imagine what my teenage years would have been like without REM. Got to see them on the Green tour, amazing live. I long for those days. That's the problem with nostalgia, it's not what it used to be
Jangly arpeggios; no guitar solos; not blues music; great baselines; excellent background vocals; riffs; and of course interesting lyrics and lead singing.
Great points you make. The use of the Rickenbacker adds that jangle pop micro infusion into their compositions. It's part of their signature sound, that a Strat or a Les Paul could not bring to the table, with REMs music. Couple that with 4 phenomenally gifted musicians, an unwillingness to compromise their music, by going along to get along, and you have a band that is forever one of the best to ever take the stage.
The music business ain't for the weak, nor is it built for longevity in some cases....REMs body of work is complete, it is an essential and vital body of work, that is a cornerstone of Alternative rock, and arguably unsurmountable by those who attempt to parallel, or surpass what these 4 men have created. To me, it won't ever happen, not the way it did with 4 dudes from Athens Ga......
I won't disagree with anyone, that Mike Stipes voice, is the signature sound of REM, without his voice, they are just another band. But I also know that each and every member of REM, is part of the complex puzzle that makes REM who they are, I feel minus anyone in the band, it's not the same, including especially the man on the kit
I really like the comment (13:46) from Micheal about using the voice as emotion, and as an instrument, as that chimes with how I look at vocals. When you have a 3 minute pop song, the lyrics are written, and sometimes repeated and often rhymed in a verse / chorus / verse and seem somewhat fake simply to fit into the thread of the song. Many times I've listened to pop songs and changed the words to fit into how I feel, but I've kept the same tone and harmony. The lyrics the band used, to me, simply did not fit into my emotional experience, so I use my own words as I'm singing.. There are songs out there that are meaningful and hit the right note, words and poetry that seem to speaking directly to me ( my experience of this was the band James, when I was in my 20's. Tim Booth seemed to speak directly to me, and that band will always be in my heart). But, realistically, who needs to hear the lyrics of a singer, who's experience of life is different to mine? I don't need to know about his failed life with women, his poverty strewn small town - but I need to hear his emotion about it. Through his voice, and how he sings, I can understand - because we all have those same emotions. I listen to a lot of foreign music - at the moment I'm listening to: Japanese 60's funk, Chinese 80's pop songs, and my ultimate favourite; 1940's Thai music. I don't need to know these languages to understand the emotion of the singer. The tone, that is all I need to hear - fear, sadness, heartbreak, it's all there in the singer's voice.
The mixing board in the studio is enormous. I find it amazing, that each and every button and knob, has a purpose. It looks like overkill, but I can only suppose that an engineer understands how to operate the board
Finally someone (Bono) figured out who Peter Buck is by his comments in this documentary - he plays like he's saying f-off! He's not into the publicity of it all but loves music. I always had a tough time figuring out his disdain for recognition - now I get it
Well check out Hindu Love Gods there is some superb raw blues. The difference between REM and the Sex Pistols was that REM could actually play their instruments and sing. You would need to explain the other comparison.
@@alsacrime4806 Steve Jones is a highly rated rythm guitarist and Paul Cook is very solid on the drums, likewise Glen Matlock is a very competent bassist...to say the 'Pistols' can't play their instruments is ridiculous...check out their performance on 'Dave Letterman' several years ago, they brought the house down.
terrythekittie Talk is cheap. Check the tracking notes. The Sex Pistols were straight out of Tavistock, bad actors in a social engineering project called punk rock.
They were a brilliant band but I think Michael Stipe started to take himself too seriously. Much like Bono, Sting, Roger Waters and many other rock musicians did.
actually for me, Mike Mills was even worse. After Monster it went straight to their heads and Mike Mills in particular just became so holier-than-thou, Stipe just came out of shell a little bit more, but not quite in the best way.
@@kierstenh9225 They wrote great stuff until they got famous ..... they went from Southern Everyman to Hollywood Nobodies ..... left their roots and expected the woods to follow..... didn't happen .....
He's a close friend of Stipe and U2 and R.E.M. were close during the nineties. Stipe himself said Beautiful Day was a perfect song and one that he wished he'd written himself.
The Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby are both phenomenal albums. It's unfair to compare the two bands ad they're from totally different genres and musical backgrounds. Both are amazing with incredible bodies of albums/songs.
Melvyn Bragg, he's very high brow, he does intellectual/art programmes (that are excellent), but the dude is like, 80 years old now, so he probably would've been in his 60s here, the circles he moves in probably don't discuss Bono very often. But ask him about baroque post-modernism or some 12th century Arabic mathematician, and he'll be all over it.
@@elijaprice But it’s a basic part of a presenter’s job to pronounce things / names correctly. Plus the show has a staff of producers, so someone should have caught it even if he didn’t know better - ugh 🙄
Uh, Bono, it's nice that you're so supportive of R.E.M. & Michael Stipe, but Michael Stipe's writing has absolutely nothing to do with Jack Kerouac's writing.
Bullshit! Especially early R.E.M. was basically- get in the van and find the heartbeat of America. They had the same tender folkiness. Like the Byrds played by the Ramones with a collegiate Walt Whitman in the front. Let alone the stream of consciousness lyrics .
@@georgesandchopin299 Yes, Jack Kerouac got in a van, and he and Neal Cassady signed an $80 million contract with Warner Brothers. Kerouac's writing was not "tender folkiness" nor was he a tender folkie, Auld Swodge. All of Kerouac's books were written on amphetamines. Jack Kerouac's writing is most certainly not "stream of consciousness." Perhaps you're thinking of James Joyce's Ulysses or Finnegan's Wake. But that is the illusion of "stream of consciousness". Like James Joyce, Jack Kerouac was a meticulously disciplined writer. His first novel was a 1,069 page, four years in the making, studious imitation of Thomas Wolfe. All of that discipline went into the single teletype scroll of On The Road. Kerouac's greatest work is Visions of Cody, which is also a very far cry from "stream of consciousness." The bullshit is not mine, Auld Podge. You don't know what you're talking about. The notion of a "collegiate Walt Whitman" is absolutely hilarious! And poor Johnny Ramone couldn't tune a twelve string guitar, nevermind play one! Now get back to the salt mines, Sonny!
@@ericmalone3213 on William F Buckley's talkshow (also with Abbie Hoffman) Kerouac summarised the entirety of the beat movement as a 'call for tenderness in attitude toward life' *sic* and your presumption of him as a barbed wire hardcore writer has shown me you have entirely missed the point he was trying to make. Yes, ofc he was on benzedrine, writing On The Road in a 'speed-fuelled stream of consciousness,' the original manuscript clearly indicates a lack of editing in it's creation. Infact, REM were speed freaks also in the early days, Stipe has mentioned this many times. His best work is in his letters to Allen Ginsberg, or the Dharma Bums in my humble opinion. Johnny Ramone is a wonderful guitar player and also Peter Buck has mentioned his own lack of technical ability, ESPECIALLY mentioning that he finds playing 12 strings challenging in his recent live interview with the REM podcast in a Portland theatre. I will go back to bed, you should go back to the library.
Kind of apples and oranges. Marr was a better guitarist. I think over all the Buck/ Mills collaboration was a little better overall in the song composition department. Maybe not better. Just longer lasting and more allowed to evolve. The 2 strengths of REM were the harmonies between Stipe and Mills AND their GREAT decision to split everything 4 ways. That plus Stipe wasn't a controlling antisocial ass like Morrissey. Like why the hell did they still have Marr doing managerial day to day stuff?
Does anybody understand what any REM song is about? No because all Stipe can write is a bunch of random lyrics that sound good but are ultimately meaningless. They are not great songwriters.
@Joe Martin Actually U2, Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, The Boss and Elvis Costello are my favourite rock songwriters and they all have a good sense of humour (well except Van the man) unlike Michael Stipe and a small number of his fans. Don't take other peoples opinions so seriously, nerd.
you're only playing with a half a deck aren't you Nigel. There are examples of as you say random words and phrases to create a collage rather than a linear narrative but there are many, many examples of a well crafted thematic work. They are superior songwriters, I doubt you'll find anyone with any understanding of the craft, fans or not, who would argue that point
@@nigelbridgewater4866 I've never understood the whole Boss thing with a very straight pedestal attitude, it is alien to me , very rock'n'roll whereas I love the outsiders who were different, Rem's Michael Stipe, Lou Reed, Bowie, Siouxsie, Morrissey and different straight singers like Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan,
Editing is terrible on this. They play songs throughout that have no correlation to what period of music or song is being talked about at the moment. Some editor got payed for slapping footage and interviews together randomly. Go back to editing college whomever you are that did this waste of time years ago. Horrible.
