Throwback Thursday: I.R.S. Era R.E.M.
If someone were to ask me to name my favorite band of all time, I would probably just stand there and stare at them blankly. If someone were to ask Mike the same question, they would have their answer in the time that it took him to mutter 3 letters, R.E.M. In honor of I.R.S. finally giving them a proper best of collection this week, we felt that the time was right to do this.
R.E.M. is a band that stormed out of the college town of Athens, GA in the early 80's. In a lot of ways, they ushered in college radio and alt-country. Many believe that they were the best live band of this era. One thing you can't argue, is that they were quite prolific. In 1981, they released an E.P. and followed that with 5 studio albums and a rarities collection between '83 and '87. They remained viable through the mid 90's and have since become a touring carnival featuring a makeup wearing and bald Michael Stipe who either reads the lyrics or lip synchs. While I do not feel anywhere near as passionately about this band as Mike does, I have to respect what they did in the 80's. Many of the indie bands that we listen to today had their path paved for them by these guys.
Since there is a new collection out, we wanted to delve a little deeper in to these albums and avoid duplicating what they did. I hope that you enjoy what we came up with. These were all handpicked by Mike as the best songs that did not make the disc. He feels that in some instances, these are actually better selections.
Chronic Town (1981)
1,000,000
Wolves, Lower
Murmur (1983)
Laughing
Catapult
Reckoning (1984)
Letter Never Sent
Camera
Fables Of The Reconstruction (1985)
Maps and Legends
Green Grow The Rushes
Lifes Rich Pageant (1986)
These Days
The Flowers of Guatemala
Document (1987)
Exhuming McCarthy
Disturbance At The Heron House
In addition, we have a couple of surprises for you. I found this complete concert recorded at the Werchter Festival in Belgium on July 7, 1985. Other bands that performed that day included Depeche Mode, The Ramones and U2. Considering its age, the quality is excellent.
Feeling Gravity's Pull
Driver 8
(Don't Go Back To) Rockville
So. Central Rain
Have You Ever Seen The Rain? (CCR Cover)
Can't Get There From Here
Finally, here is a video of a live performance of Harbour Coat from 1985. Look at how young they are and check out Michael Stipe's hair. Also, this is your opportunity to see how good of a live band they once were. They had a lot of energy and Peter Buck was all over the place. Plus at this point their career, they actually were indie.
REM Harbour Coat (Live, 1985)
R.E.M. is a band that stormed out of the college town of Athens, GA in the early 80's. In a lot of ways, they ushered in college radio and alt-country. Many believe that they were the best live band of this era. One thing you can't argue, is that they were quite prolific. In 1981, they released an E.P. and followed that with 5 studio albums and a rarities collection between '83 and '87. They remained viable through the mid 90's and have since become a touring carnival featuring a makeup wearing and bald Michael Stipe who either reads the lyrics or lip synchs. While I do not feel anywhere near as passionately about this band as Mike does, I have to respect what they did in the 80's. Many of the indie bands that we listen to today had their path paved for them by these guys.
Since there is a new collection out, we wanted to delve a little deeper in to these albums and avoid duplicating what they did. I hope that you enjoy what we came up with. These were all handpicked by Mike as the best songs that did not make the disc. He feels that in some instances, these are actually better selections.
Chronic Town (1981)
1,000,000
Wolves, Lower
Murmur (1983)
Laughing
Catapult
Reckoning (1984)
Letter Never Sent
Camera
Fables Of The Reconstruction (1985)
Maps and Legends
Green Grow The Rushes
Lifes Rich Pageant (1986)
These Days
The Flowers of Guatemala
Document (1987)
Exhuming McCarthy
Disturbance At The Heron House
In addition, we have a couple of surprises for you. I found this complete concert recorded at the Werchter Festival in Belgium on July 7, 1985. Other bands that performed that day included Depeche Mode, The Ramones and U2. Considering its age, the quality is excellent.
Feeling Gravity's Pull
Driver 8
(Don't Go Back To) Rockville
So. Central Rain
Have You Ever Seen The Rain? (CCR Cover)
Can't Get There From Here
Finally, here is a video of a live performance of Harbour Coat from 1985. Look at how young they are and check out Michael Stipe's hair. Also, this is your opportunity to see how good of a live band they once were. They had a lot of energy and Peter Buck was all over the place. Plus at this point their career, they actually were indie.
REM Harbour Coat (Live, 1985)
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Analyzed by Joe on Thursday, September 14, 2006
2 Comments:
Howdy. Thanks for all the classic REM tracks. Awesome. Do you happen to have a track from Eponymous called Romance??
Thanks!
where's everybody hurts, end of the world, losing my religion, to the one I love, shiny happy people, what's the frequency Kenneth? or is this post ONLY about their pre-major label material?
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