The REM Ten-Part Lies, Part Truth, Part Heart and Part Bullshit

The Top Ten Of The Week deals with 10 songs from REM, the band that decided to call it a day.  But first a couple passings to tell you about.

Taz DiGregorio one of the best keyboard players in country rock and roll and was part of the Charlie Daniels Band was killed in a auto accident last Thursday while trying to catch up with CDB to a show.  Charlie Daniels paid a tribute to him but that link is now a 404 not found. But Bronson Hermmuth still has his link up 5 years later and you can read it here: http://www.bronsonsmusic.com/taz_digregorio_tribute.html


Also last week, Nicole's grandpa passed away in his sleep. He was 86.  I got to meet him one time up in Michigan and even though he was in frail health he did remember me enough to ask about me when her family made it up there for Christmas last year.  He was a wonderful man.  I heard that they did send him off on a 21 gun salute Saturday.  Fitting tribute no doubt.

And now the REM Ten Of The Month

1.  Can't Get There From Here (Fables Of The Reconstruction 1985)  The first REM brought was not an album but rather the 45 single that I got at the old Camelot store out in Westdale Mall now known as the mall of death since there's hardly any stores out there.  Mostly serves as a walking area for folks trying to lose weight.  Which means I didn't join the REM bandwagon (B Side To Can't There From Here, talk about the irony here) till I bought the album later and took forever to get into that.  The greatest fun was trying to figure out what the hell Mike Stripe was trying to sing about in his lyrics.  Produced by Joe Boyd (of Nick Drake, Fairport Convention fame).

2.  Strange (Document 1987)  REM didn't do very many cover versions at that time but when they did they knew how to pick them although if you want to hear Draggin The Line, you have to buy the Austin Powers Spy Who Shagged Me Soundtrack.  Document isn't one of my favorite REM albums, in fact it's kinda low on the list there but somewhere on side 1, they managed to cover Wire and make it a more country sounding pop tune rather than the drool and doom of the version that's on Pink Flag.  I think the more fun Wire version of Strange can be found on the Live At The Roxy Volume 2 that Castle/Sanctuary reissued a few years ago.  Could have been a hit for both bands, however MCA/IRS decided on The One I Love.

3.  Ignoreland (Automatic For The People 1993)  The thing about REM's best albums from the critics and fans is that what they find classic, I find somewhat okay at best.  This sold a ton back in the 90s but like every other REM album that came out in the early 90s most have been unloaded to the dollar bins or Goodwill.  Everybody Hurts seems to be the go to song for the soft hearted but then again you're not like me that prefers this uptempo rocker that echos a bit like It's The End Of The World As We Know It (Bla bla) but I do dig the yeah yeah yeah that goes into the chorus that is Ignoreland but it's no Everybody Hurts.  Which is why I play this one more.

4.  Living Well Is The Best Revenge (Accelerate 2008)  After Adventures In Hi Fi, I didn't pay much attention to the REM wilderness years, the years after Bill Berry left and before Bill Rieflin joined that the albums in question was boring and new agey although I did get the Best Of REM The WB Years.  Accelerate was their hardest rocking album since Monster and somehow the band caught fire with at least better songs (although Sing For The Submarine sucks).  At least the first three rocking songs did keep my attention span on this album.  It also helped that Gareth (Jack Knife) Lee produced too.  Mucho kudos to him.

5.  Pretty Persuasion  (reckoning 1984)  REM was a great singles band if you think about it or kept close attention to the 45 section.  This got played a lot on the student run KRUI FM in IC and 120 Minutes showed the video a few times.  I think even KRNA played it once in the late late hours too.

6.  It Happened Today (Collapse Into Now 2011)  For ballads, I'm not much into them but perhaps one of my favorite cuts came off the final goodbye album with an coda that I could listen to forever.  Strange in an era that albums don't get played much on the radio, Collapse would have sounded more at home twenty years ago rather than the Cumulus Controlled Playlist that makes radio seem like torture anymore.

7.  Star 69 (Monster 1994)  And then there's Monster, an album that debuted at number 1 and then went sound and people were unloading copies of it left and right but I still think it holds up very well over the years. Automatic For The People may have been too morbid for REM's liking so they decided to up the guitars and drums and bury Stripe's vocals in the back just like the old days.  Can't get much better with this ode to call screening.  Or can you?

8.  Texarkana (Out Of Time 1991)   The rare occasion to hear Mike Mills sing lead, much less on two songs off Out Of Time.  This got plenty of airplay on the Arizona Alternative station at that time and remains my favorite off that album.  Although I don't mind Shiny Happy People.

9.  West Of The Fields (Murmur 1983)  A dark album from start to finish although that may have more to do with Mitch Easler and Don Dixon producing and mixing it that way.  Many consider this to be their finest album, though I think it's number two on my all time REM fave albums.  Great point/counterpoint on the chorus between Mills and Stripe I think.

10.  Superman-(Life's Rich Pagent 1986)  In truth this album remains their best to these eyes and ears (Mark Prindle likes this one too judging by his review of it).  Getting John Mellencamp's producer seemed to be them going for the top forty airplay and they did get some with Fall On Me and Superman, which was a cover version sung by Mike Mills.  Even though this was a minor hit, REM has never saw fit to put this on any of their greatest hits packages.  Which really is a shame.  Perhaps someday, Warner or IRS/EMI or whoever owns the IRS stuff might take the liberty of having Superman on a best of.  Or do a REM does covers album.  I'm sure they can stick about 12 covers on it and make a few bucks on the side too.

Certainly, I left off many of the hits and fan favorites but you can create your own top ten with your ten favorites.