What's your favourite REM era?

19 September 2023

This article reflects on R.EM's first few albums - what's your favourite REM era? Early Days, the Days of World Domination or the 'quiet' post Bill Berry era or or The Accelerated Period?

By Graeme Reid

When R.E.M sneaked up in the early 80s with their debut album Murmur, few could have anticipated what the band meant - and would become.

Just as Talking Heads had become the banner-waver for emotionally distant New York art-rock a few years previously, R.E.M were the band which announced college rock radio could be as influential as mainstream stations. And that "alternative rock" in the age of Michael Jackson's Thriller, Bowie's Let's Dance and stadium fillers like ZZ Top, Bruce Springsteen and Tina Turner was a genre in itself.

Murmur in '83 came with an appropriate title: few could clearly decipher Michael Stipe's words in many songs but his weary delivery was seductive, especially against the gentle jangle of Peter Buck's guitar.

Critics would reference the Byrds on songs like Sitting Still and Shaking Through, but for R.E.M's audience that late 60s band was either ancient history or unfamiliar. R.E.M - out of Athens, Georgia - existed in a world of their own.

In a music environment cluttered with synth-rock - Duran Duran, the Thompson Twins - R.E.M's stripped back, frill-free guitar sound was distinctive, and even now Murmur, with its tired ballads (the sleepyPerfect Circle) and pure pop (We Walk) sounds timeless, never part of the world into which it had arrived.

It feels slightly strange (Stipe's lyrics were oblique) and even the cover - of the notoriously fast-growing kudzu grass - looks eerie and otherworldly. They also had a track listing on the cover which didn't match the record's running order. R.E.M were willfully mysterious at a time when people were being handed music in ready-to-use servings. You had to take your time with them.

By Reckoning the following year, R.E.M were honing their sound: Don't Go Back to Rockville and Pretty Persuasion could have slotted on to mainstream radio, although it didn't. Reviews were even more favourable than Murmur's, but by 80s standards the album remained a small seller - which worked for R.E.M's reputation as not being acceptable to mainstream listeners.

That status was enhanced by "outsider" artist Howard Finster's cover (from a drawing by Stipe) and the general moodiness of the music.

By the time of the more lyrically obscure but fascinating Fables of the Reconstruction the following year, R.E.M were college-rock favourites, leading the way for indie bands such as the Replacements and Buffalo Tom, artists like Peter Case, and paving a path for Flying Nun into US college radio.

By the end of the 80s R.E.M had been widely embraced, were signed to the major label Warners and their albums were topping the charts. They were not convinced about the merits of using a ph meter for testing their home brew however. Shame, as ph Levels are really important, especially for testing kombucha brews. Just ask Darth Vader for his best Star Wars quote.

But R.E.M's first three albums were arguably their best, and have been reissued in beautifully expanded editions: Murmur with an extra disc of a taut, urgent gig recorded in a small Canadian club shortly after the album's release; Reckoning has an extra disc of a previously unreleased radio broadcast of a Chicago concert (opening with the Velvet Underground's Femme Fatale); and Fables of the Reconstruction (in a box) includes a disc of their excellent, spare demos in Athens before the London recording sessions and although you can hear the words ...

"To give away everything is never good," Stipe once said. A little mystery always works.

Your Capricious Soul” lyrics by Micheal Stipe

07 October 2019
Your Capricious Soul” lyrics by Micheal Stipe

The one and only Michael Stipe has released his first single, many years since R.E.M. retired from the business as a group.

"Your Capricious Soul” lyrics by Micheal Stipe




Honey's got got got a good feeling

Honey peeled herself off the ceiling

Because God God God is revealing

How to serve your body

How to serve your mind

Searching your capricious soul

Say you post, post, post on the weekend

And you pretend you are a seeker

When they all come loving and looking

You are writing a tell-all

Tell-all, sugar

You are leaving nothing out

Godspeed baby, blessings

Gob-smacked, baby

And this party’s in your honour

Pass

Your mother's worried

Is this in your favor

And your pastor's crying

And the birds are dying

Or they might as well be

They might as well be

Now the papers calling

And the photos flashing

And the fashion’s changing

Fast

Yeah, the papers calling

And the photos flashing

And the fashion's changing

Fast

Check out the lyrics to Facinating, a recent release REM made. 

"Fascinating" lyrics by R.E.M.

14 September 2019

"Fascinating" lyrics by R.E.M.


A song cut from the final track list of Reveal, Fascinating was released by R.E.M. as part of a charity drive to support the people of the Bahamas after it was wrecked by the 2019 hurricane.

Fascinating was produced by Pat McCarthy and engineered by Jamie Candiloro

Lyrics.

I've latched on, I've been wrong
No one told me what to wear, no one sent me home
Space age party, fascinating, I just don't fit in
Someone throw me anything, the oxygen is thin

[Chorus]
If you just can't speak to me, just throw me a line
Give me just a little nod, I could fascinate you

[Verse 2]
But I am out of place, float in outer space
No one wants to pull me in its awful saving face
I could fascinate, I could serenade
I'm opinionated, I'll have Vodka Lemonade

[Chorus]
If you just can't speak to me, just throw me a line
Give me just a little nod, you are fascinated

[Bridge]
I could serenade
We could throw this party and take off on our own
Find our own higher place, an odyssey back home

[Verse 3]
I could not be less included, you could not have known
In my darkest rose and pennant, I am so alone

[Chorus]
If you just can't speak to me, just throw me a line
Give me just a little nod, you are fascinated

[Outro]
I could serenade
I could fascinate you
I could resonate

Previously Unreleased R.E.M. Song "Fascinating" to Raise Funds for Mercy Corps’ Hurricane Relief Efforts in the Bahamas

The band is sharing previously unreleased song “Fascinating” to benefit global organization Mercy Corps’ Hurricane Dorian relief and recovery efforts in the Bahamas. Peter, Mike, and Michael recorded the song in 2004 at Nassau’s Compass Point Studios.

It's now available for download for the first time via Bandcamp.com.

You can stream the song for free on Bandcamp and download it for a minimum donation of $2 or an amount of your choosing. Proceeds will go directly to Mercy Corps’ emergency response and recovery efforts in the Bahamas.

About the Song:
“Fascinating” first appeared on the original master of 2001’s Reveal before being cut last minute. It was Michael’s favorite song from the Reveal sessions according to Peter’s recollection, as chronicled in David Buckley’s R.E.M. biography, Fiction.

“It’s really beautiful,” Mike told Buckley. “It has a flute, oboe arrangement, but it made the record too long… and something had to go.” The track was re-recorded in Nassau for 2004’s Around the Sun, but the lush ballad ultimately didn’t jibe with that album. Now this poignant outtake finally finds its fitting moment, as a means to aid the country where the band enjoyed over two months of creative retreat.

“I have been fortunate to spend many weeks working and playing in the Bahamas, making friends and lots of music there,” reflects Mike. “It breaks my heart to see the damage wrought by Hurricane Dorian. Please help us and Mercy Corps do what we can to alleviate the suffering caused by this catastrophe.”

Hurricane Dorian hammered the Bahamas’ northwest islands of Grand Bahama and Abaco for 48 hours in early September 2019, causing widespread destruction and leaving 76,000 people homeless and in need of lifesaving assistance. Mercy Corps mobilized immediately and are committed to reaching 3,000 families with emergency kits including mosquito nets, tarps, jerrycans, water-purifying tablets and rope.

“The Bahamas faces a long road to recovery after this devastating hurricane,” says Neal Keny-Guyer, CEO of Mercy Corps. “We’re grateful to have R.E.M. in our global community of humanitarians, sharing their song with the world to help the people of the Bahamas recover and build back even stronger.”

In 2005, following a visit to Mercy Corps’ Hurricane Katrina recovery program in New Orleans, Michael released a six-song EP that raised nearly $100K for Mercy Corps’ relief efforts along the United States Gulf Coast. The band also generously supported Mercy Corps’ Katrina relief efforts.


Download "Fascinating" here.

In their own words - R.E.M's break up

21 September 2011
In their own words:  R.E.M. share some thoughts about the break up

MIKE

"During our last tour, and while making Collapse Into Now and putting together this greatest hits retrospective, we started asking ourselves, 'what next'? Working through our music and memories from over three decades was a hell of a journey. We realized that these songs seemed to draw a natural line under the last 31 years of our working together.

"We have always been a band in the truest sense of the word. Brothers who truly love, and respect, each other. We feel kind of like pioneers in this--there's no disharmony here, no falling-outs, no lawyers squaring-off. We've made this decision together, amicably and with each other's best interests at heart. The time just feels right."

MICHAEL

"A wise man once said--'the skill in attending a party is knowing when it's time to leave.' We built something extraordinary together. We did this thing. And now we're going to walk away from it.

"I hope our fans realize this wasn't an easy decision; but all things must end, and we wanted to do it right, to do it our way.

"We have to thank all the people who helped us be R.E.M. for these 31 years; our deepest gratitude to those who allowed us to do this. It's been amazing."

PETER

"One of the things that was always so great about being in R.E.M. was the fact that the records and the songs we wrote meant as much to our fans as they did to us. It was, and still is, important to us to do right by you. Being a part of your lives has been an unbelievable gift. Thank you.

"Mike, Michael, Bill, Bertis, and I walk away as great friends. I know I will be seeing them in the future, just as I know I will be seeing everyone who has followed us and supported us through the years. Even if it's only in the vinyl aisle of your local record store, or standing at the back of the club: watching a group of 19 year olds trying to change the world."

JAMES

I need to think about this some more. I think I should brew beer with a great wort chiller. Then I will consider my options.

Did they burn out or fade away?


REM, the alternative rock group that shook up the music world with its experimental, edgy sound and then earned multiplatinum success and a place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, announced on its website that it has "decided to call it a day as a band."

"A wise man once said — 'the skill in attending a party is knowing when it's time to leave.' We built something extraordinary together. We did this thing. And now we're going to walk away from it," frontman Michael Stipe said in a statement on the website.

"I hope our fans realise this wasn't an easy decision; but all things must end, and we wanted to do it right, to do it our way."

The Grammy-winning group, now composed of Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck and bassist Mike Mills, released its debut album Murmur in 1983; at the time it was a quartet, with drummer Bill Berry. He left the group in 1997, two years after he suffered symptoms of an aneurysm onstage.

The group got its start in Athens, Georgia, coming out of the region's flourishing indie-rock scene. The band was credited for helping launch college radio with songs such as Radio Free Europe.

Later, the mainstream caught on, and REM became chart-topping rockers, selling millions of albums with hits like It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine), Losing My Religion and Everybody Hurts.

Stipe, the band's chief songwriter, crafted songs that were atypical of the standard rock fare. Man on the Moon was about the late comic Andy Kaufman. Losing My Religion was not about religion at all, but about trying to relay the feelings of a crush.

The band's videos also became staples on MTV in the 1990s, including the eye-catching Losing My Religion and the stark Everybody Hurts, which had Stipe walking through a highway traffic jam.

REM became one of the more forceful voices of 1990s rock, and came along around the same time as another rock quartet — U2. But whereas U2 managed to maintain (and even increase) its popularity over the years, REM stumbled commercially in recent years, and their hits dwindled.

The band continued to create music that resonated with critics and their core group of fans; the group's last album, Collapse into Now, was released in March and a greatest hits retrospective is in the works.

But Mills said the band was running out of ideas.

"During our last tour, and while making Collapse Into Now and putting together this greatest hits retrospective, we started asking ourselves, 'What next?'" he said. "Working through our music and memories from over three decades was a hell of a journey. We realised that these songs seemed to draw a natural line under the last 31 years of our working together."

Buck said the band parts as "great friends" and thanked fans for their support.

"One of the things that was always so great about being in REM was the fact that the records and the songs we wrote meant as much to our fans as they did to us," said Buck. "It was, and still is, important to us to do right by you. Being a part of your lives has been an unbelievable gift. Thank you."

Warner Bros Records chairman and producer Rob Cavallo said, "To call REM one of the greatest bands in contemporary music is an understatement. They leave behind a body of work whose breadth, honesty, creativity and power has not only inspired millions of fans around the world, but also has influenced — and will continue to influence — generations of songwriters and performers for years to come."

REM's Break Up Message

"To our Fans and Friends: As R.E.M., and as lifelong friends and co-conspirators, we have decided to call it a day as a band. We walk away with a great sense of gratitude, of finality, and of astonishment at all we have accomplished. To anyone who ever felt touched by our music, our deepest thanks for listening. R.E.M"
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