Brand Spankin' New R.E.M.

[_Annabelle_]

I've just recently listened to "Leaving To New York" and I think its awesome: absolutely beautiful and certainly one of the best songs of late. Its totally turned me on to R.E.M.

Thanks so much for the recommendation, Scott.

[scott]

Happy to be of service.

If you like the 'ballad style' of "Leaving New York" then you should probably like their albums 'Out of Time' and 'Automatic for The People'

'Monster' though an excellent album, leans toward the side of 'heavy' rock, so it may or may not be your cup of tea.

[_Annabelle_]

"Leaving To New York"

meant "Leaving New York", of course.

And I'll check those albums out, I like ballads but something heavier is good now and then.

Thanks again.

[scott]

Score!!!

I've been searching the net to see if there are any bootleg copies of songs from 'Around The Sun' available yet, and I managed to find a stream of a song 'Make it All OK' and this song is a 10, easily. With this knoweledge, I already knew that 'Leaving New York' was amazing, but I was afraid that it would have a 'one single' complex, so I decided to look for another track, and surely enough, it was excellent.

October is so close, yet so far away(just a couple of weeks more).

I'd post the link, but I found this last night, and the site I found it at seems to have disappeared

but I'll be on the lookout for any more *ahem* 'previews' of the album ::

[scott]

Okay R.E.M. just teamed up with Myspace, and they're previewing the whole album on the site!

I'm listening to it as we speak, I'm buying this album the day it comes out.

I'm really impressed with R.E.M.s handling of the publicity of this album, 'cuz they're really relying on the internet to put out info on this, because everywhere I look there seems to be a mention of 'Around The Sun'

(they were probably counting on freaks like me to help 'em out too :

Anyway, just go here

www.myspace.com

[scott]

Here I'll edit reviews of the album as it goes by

Leaving New York- Excellent tune, good opening single, the 'layered' vocals are what does it for me.

Electron Blue- Kind of 'new wave' but the lyrics are good

The Outsiders- This is really mellow, and it has a rap section in it that sounds really really really cool, which is rare 'cuz I really don't care for rap.

Make it All Okay- The main part is acoustic, but then there's feedback in the background, creating a really neat affect, and very little production, which is great to see on an R.E.M. song (ever since 'Up' they relied a little too much on production IMO(even though there were some great tunes)) The lyrics are amazing too, they have a religous subtext, but there seems to be 'more' to it.

Final Straw- All right! Another one that's pretty low on the production scale, but it has this really cool electric part at the end. The lyrics are great, pure political anger, and it covers a whole crapload of major issues.

I Wanted To Be Wrong- Another great mellow, not heavily produced track, also politically charged lyrics, there are parts that are fairly produced, but they do a good job of not overdoing it, and it creates a real 'mellow' structure

Overall so far, I think this could be a classic for lovers of 'mellow R.E.M.'

Wanderlust- It's another mellow song, very jazzy in the music, but the lyrics are kind of dark, the same sort of irony found in Nirvana's Lithium

Boy In The Well- A little bit produced, but done very well, I love the lyrics, and the vocals are nothing short of the best, especially at the chorus

Aftermath- Good lyrics, good vocals, not so much in instrumental though

High Speed Train- This is an excellent tune, and it has this really cool 'Spanish guitar' part, and they've got some distortion and drums that make the beat sound similar to that of a train, so that's pretty cool.

Worst Joke Ever- Very subtely political in meaning, the chorus sounds awesome, and there are some really cool effects during the verses. It's gota great driving piano part, and I really like this song.

Ascent of Man- Stipe obscure lyrics at their best, there's a pretty good organ part too, I love the chorus as well, it really shows that Stipe has a range.

Around The Sun- It has a pretty good violin part in the background, and I love the lyrics it's basically Stipe saying "I've done a lot of stuff in the past, but don't think that R.E.M. is finished"

It also has a great closing part, excellent way to end an excellent album.

[scott]

Okay overall I'll give this album an A, there weren't any tracks that I hated, they were all good to excellent IMO, the only thing that would've made this album better is a hard rocking song like 'Bad Day' or 'What's The Frequency Kenneth' or 'It's The End Of The World As We Know It(And I Feel Fine)'

This is one of my fave albums of the last decade though, right up there with Nirvana's In Utero, R.E.M.'s Monster and Adventures In Hi-fi and Springsteen's The Rising

[scott]

I just got back from the mall.

Mmmmm, Around The Sun goodness.

This is the best CD I've picked up in a while.

[Danielj]

I listened to the cd a few times on that link. Allmusic was it? It ruled!

[TheCyberdemon]

Yeah! I love REM! Greatest band ever!

[tippy]

Scott,

I liked your analysis. I was looking at some Winter Solstice articles tonight and thinking about around the sun, the song.

Michael Stipe is an Atheist as I am. I do not subscribe to any religion. We have seen how great this is making the country and world, enough said.

I want the sun to shine on me

I want the truth to set me free

(there is no god. christianity and many other religions are based on sun worship and pagan customs, just like xmas dec, 25th)

I wish the followers would lead

(the followers or flock would think and not be told what to think.)

with a voice so strong it could knock me to my knees

(it would make the world a great place, more peaceful)

hold on world 'cause you don't know what's coming

(the truth for the masses)

hold on world 'cause I'm not jumping off

(Michael's not going anywhere and neither are people that belive in critical thought)

hold onto this boy a little longer

(jesus?, himself, religious dogma?)

take another trip around the sun

(another year?)

>Around The Sun- It has a pretty good violin part in the >background, and I love the lyrics it's basically Stipe saying >"I've done a lot of stuff in the past, but don't think that >R.E.M. is finished"

>It also has a great closing part, excellent way to end an >excellent album.

thought I'd put it out there for discussion.