Time Travel Tuesday: R.E.M. - the 80's
No foolishness today, as R.E.M. releases Accelerate, which Rolling Stone says is their first studio album since 1997, when Bill Berry left the band. I'm listening to it, but I'm not ready to write my review yet, so let's take a Time Travel trip through R.E.M.'s rich back catalogue. Look how much hair Michael Stipe used to have!
Although I've never liked every single thing they've ever recorded, I did like R.E.M.'s earlier albums that featured Michael Stipe's lyrics buried in muddy lo-fi. From 1983 to 1988 they put out an album every year.
"Driver 8" is one of my very favorite tracks. Here R.E.M. are not trying to deliver any message; they are simply describing images that flash by, both from the perspective of being on a train and from those watching it pass.
I saw a treehouse on the outskirts of the farm.
The power lines have floaters so the airplanes won’t get snagged.
Bells are ringing through the town again,
Children look up, all they hear is sky-blue bells ringin'.
And the train conductor says, Take a break, Driver 8,
Driver 8, take a break.
We can reach our destination, but it's still a ways away.
I can remember Indie Mom and I pressing our ears to the stereo speakers, trying to figure out all the lyrics. Thank goodness, there are now Internet sites where I can simply look them up! I posted a link to a good one below.
I saw them in 1995 after the release of Monster at Arrowhead Pond, which is a tremendous stadium, and of course I was nowhere near the stage. I really hate huge shows, and I think this contributed to my lack of interest in the band since then. Also, about that time alternative rock was in its peak years, and I was discovering so many other artists that I liked that more. But you can hardly discount a band that has consistently turned out quality music for 25 years and nurtured and inspired so many other bands.
I have chosen some of the songs that I like the best that are perhaps not as well known as the big hits.
COPYRIGHTED CONTENT HAS BEEN REMOVED
Gardening At Night, live from Murmur (1983)
Maps and Legends from Fables of the Reconstruction (1985)
Cuyahoga from Life's Rich Pageant (1986)
Oddfellows Local 15 from Document (1987)
Driver 8 from Eponymous (1988, originally on Fables of the Reconstruction)
World Leader Pretend from Green (1988)
MySpace | Website | Label: Warner Bros. | Lyrics
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5 comments:
In a bio of the band Peter Buck spoke about Driver 8 as being the kind of simple tune that the band could write in their sleep. They were already over this kind of music by 88. It would take a while for the exacting esoteric experimentation to take hold, though. Incidetally, you chose songs you referenced as obscure and yet, World Leader was the only song in Green to have the lyrics included in the liner notes, Driver 8 was the second single from Fables and Cuyahoga was one of the most popular songs from Pageant.
Not that there's anything wrong with your choices. The new album isn't great. It's just that fans have been begging for a "rock" album since before Monster and they finally got one that isn't steeped in pretentia.
Too little Too late.
Hey Allen,
Thanks for your comments. Yeah, I looked at World Leader Pretend and thought, 'That wasn't really obscure.' And Cuyahoga isn't either. But I don't see many people going after Oddfellows Local.
I am fond of Driver 8 because I grew up in the South. My street was not far from a train track. Maybe the song means more to me than it does to R.E.M., and that is a function of art.
I am tempted to say something here about the new album, but I'll save it for the review. One point of this post was to help put the new material in perspective with what I have liked in the past, but R.E.M. have so much that I narrowed the scope to just the 80's.
I look forward to your review. I have to wonder if REM has jumped the shark, as it were. Too much chaff and not enough wheat. Up? AtS? These were god-awful. And the fact that Bad Day was the best song of the last 10 years and THAT was from their past says a lot.
I think REM should have just kept their word and broken up when Berry left.
That said, I do love the Athens boys. They have been a part of MY life for longer than they weren't. So I have high hopes for the album.
Rolling Stone gave Accelerate 4 stars in the latest issue. Like you, I'm not sure I can agree with that.
I saw them on the green tour too--in Portland, ME. I certainly have to say that Wendel Gee is one of my all time favs!
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