Like Stipe's voice or not, REM has had a huge influence on alternative rock.
REM show last night... my critique
by dawg 28 Replies latest jw friends
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tijkmo
you're wrong
Didn't you read Dawg's first post? There is no right or wrong in art! Just opinion. Cogjesus wept
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hillbilly
My experience...most bands dont play as well live as they do in a studio. Bonus...we get to hear music played we dont always associate with the band. if a band is not very good players they wont venture too far away from the formula they got a hit out of.
Example..I love the Allman Bros..and Dicky Betts...I saw Betts on a videotaped concert he did at the Rock and Roll Museum in Cleveland. He sucked.
Why... too much improvisation... and not the good kind. Others may have liked it -- I did not. (art is art after all)
We saw Travis Tritt a few years ago.. first set.. stuff you know off the radio and albums... second set all blues and rock played by a band that knows the chops. Show..excellent... James Taylor used to play the same way in his shows... standards...then show his craft and his band off.
A good act will stay with you. I saw Johhny Cash in Lansing MI in 1968. I was 8 years old. I can almost recall the whole show... even weirder, Ronnie Milsap was a very young guy and he was part of the opening act if I remember correctly...
Rambling over..if a guy can play he can play.
Jeff
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tijkmo
Basically, the show was 2.5 hours of Micheal Stipe's wining voice singing songs I've never heard, with a few songs like "Losing my Religion" tossed in here and there that kept me from just wanting to leave.
saw them last weekend at t in the park and......
couldnt agree more.
love rem (since the one i love) but hadnt listened to new album. listened to it now and like it but the show was disappointing. to be fair it was the last act of a 3 day fest so it had its limitations and i had been on my feet for almost 50 hours solid and i dont really care about individual performances so long as the whole thing is good .
thankfully being a fest they only played 90 mins.
been a bigger counting crows fan since 'round here' on letterman..and they were awful...virtually every song was reworked to a state of unrecognizability. adam is a bit twisted that way...i wouldnt mind one or two variations but every song...at a fest...where most folk only know your hits...and u aren't the headline..........way to go - not.
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hamilcarr
De gustibus et coloribus non disputandum.
I like REM.
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undercover
I got their lastest album and after a couple of listens it started to grow on me. I know that they stated that this isn't a return to their past, but to me it reminds me of some of their earlier, rawer material.
I've seen them in concert twice. Once they were opening for someone else and they were really good. The second time they were the headliners and they were playing the big venues. I saw them at the Dean Dome in Chapel Hill. If they had been playing the Cat's Cradle or something else small, it would have been great, but in the big room their energy just didn't carry over. They've always been an intimate setting kind of band to me.
Michael Stipe can be annoying at times and I agree with Dawg...Mike Mills is the real genius behind the band...but it takes all of them and Stipe is a genius as well. Maybe not musically but without him it wouldn't be REM. It also wouldn't be REM without Peter Buck. Peter Buck's guitar style does not lend itself to flashy solo sytle. He has stated that he hates solos and showing off. I think he's a better musician (maybe not guitarist) than most people give him credit for. I think he knows more about music than he lets on in his guitar playing. Bill Berry's departure didn't hurt them as much as I thought it would, though maybe at first it did.
As for Michael Stipe's attitude and opinions...I think a lot of visionary singers/leaders of bands have such huge egos that sooner or later they're gonna piss someone off with an opinion or a comment. Stipe has done it...Bono has done it...Lennon has done it...Dylan has done it.
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Nosferatu
I like that song they did called "Baby Ran"
....no wait, that was 54-40. Nevermind.
I can tolerate REM, but I won't go out and buy any of their music. Pop song is okay, but that's probably because I don't hear it regularly. I remember when "What's the Frequency Kenneth" came out, and I thought it was the stupidest song I'd ever heard, uh huh.
I guess the answer is no, I'm not an REM fan. The singer from 54-40 sounds identical, and their songs are way more catchy. I wouldn't mind going to see them, and I've been thinking about picking up some of their albums. -
AWAKE&WATCHING
I wish I had gotten your front row tickets! What a waste. To each his own, I love REM.
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dawg
Where the hell is this old thread coming from? LOL