REM (REM in general)

Member Name: davepridd

Product:	REM in general
Date:	04/08/00 (46 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: One of the best groups of the last 20 years

Disadvantages: None

REM have to be one of the most important groups of the last 20 years. They have released 11 studio albums to date, and are still going strong. During their time together they have experimented with an enormous amount of styles of music and instrumentation, giving way to fantastic, innovative albums and a long string of memorable hit singles. The success of REM is quite unusual, especially for an American group as they are not really a rock group or a pop group; they simply produce music which is good enough to transcend the genres of the modern music industry, giving them a much more widespread appeal. All 11 albums sound completely different; even if they continue with familiar ideas, the music will still sound fresh and there will be changes preventing the group from stagnating.

They work very well together as a group, and although Micheal Stipe is officially vocalist, Mike Mills is officially bassist, Peter Buck is officially guitarist and Bill Berry was officially drummer, the range of instruments that they can play is much wider than this, to the point where many tracks do not contain any of these elements. They are very skilled at being able to pass round their instruments so that you are never sure who is playing what, or who wrote what, as all songs are credited to the group. They also provide vocal harmonies for each other and Mike Mills occassionally sings lead vocal which means that the sound is never one dimensional.

The first album 'Murmur' (released in 1983) was probably one of their most experimental, but one year after they released 'Reckoning' which is one of their more pop based records, on this occassion sounding very much like an American version of the Housemartins. Even in these early years they were beginning to build up reputation and sales, and through constant touring they bought their music to more and more people across the globe. However, when it came to recording their third album in England t
his relentless effort had took its toll; homesick and frustrated by the London winter, the group produced 'Reconstruction of the fables/Fables of the reconstruction', which is the most dark album they have produced to date. It is considered by many people, myself included, to be their favorite REM album, probably due to the sheer quality of the songs, and the imagery presented which is incredibly oppressive thanks to the way that music and lyrics work together to build up the overall picture. Images of travel, the deep South with forgotten towns and schizophrenia make up the majority of the tracks. At this stage Micheal Stipe was recording his vocals in a darkened room away from everybody else, giving some idea as to the fear and vunerability being presented.

Despite the wide range of ideas presented, the first three albums were generally quite gentle with a certain folk/pastoral feel to them, and the group they decided they needed a change for their next album. The result was 'Lifes rich paegent' which relied more on electric guitars and had a more powerful vocal sound. They continued on this theme for their fifth album 'No5: Document' which is probably one of my least favorite REM albums, despite several powerful anthems such as 'It's the end of the world as we know it (and I feel fine)', as I find that this sound doesn't really suit REM and some of the material is a little bit bland. This new direction, however, gave them their first major upturn in record sales with 'Document' going top 10 in America.

Having gained a wider audience, REM now faced the decision of whether to join a major label; in the end they decided on Warner Brothers, supposedly because of Bugs Bunny. This was a wise move as their new label allowed them total artistic freedom and so they came back in 1988 with 'Green'. Although the album was not wildly experimental, it did represent a complete turnaround from the
rock music of the past two albums. 'Green' was far more based in pop and folk, and many songs used the mandolin as a lead instrument. This did not lead to a huge commercial breakthrough, but at the same time it did not harm their sales. The album is now regarded as a classic, and is given 5 star reviews wherever you look.

'Green' was to a large extent the last of the 'old' REM albums, as whilst it was released with a major label it did not contain large numbers of guest players and vocalists, and the production was not very glossy. After 'Green' was released there was a world tour which exhausted the group and meant that for the first time in their career there was more than a one year gap between albums. However this bought them extra time to write and recorded one of their most lavishly produced records to date; 'Out of time'. This more polished sound, with less rough edges than previous albums was what REM needed to give them the huge, worldwide recognition which they now achieve; 'Out of time' was a masterpiece, giving the group their two biggest hit singles ('Shiny happy people' and 'Losing my religion'). Although it didn't really fit into what was going on in music at the time, as the music was still quite based in folk, the introduction of string sections, brass, guest vocals, harpsichord and so on gave the music a whole new dimension, which was much more commercial; the album got to number one in many countries including America and the UK, and the sales in Britain now amount to over 5 times platinum.

Less than one year after 'Out of time' came the album which is still regarded as their best 'Automatic for the people'. Whilst there were still several up-tempo pop songs, the album was far more focused on death and decay than what had gone before, but these themes were treated with a sensitive, compasionate edge, best exemplified on the hit single '
;Everybody hurts'. This album is probably far more based in classical music than the rest of REMs material, and this gentleness of touch, with beautiful melodies meant that everybody liked the songs, and REM once again defied the trends and genres of music.

However, Micheal Stipe had promised that 'Out of time' and 'Automatic for the people' were going to be rock records and eventually the group decided to take up this idea to produce a guitar led album. The result was 1995's 'Monster' which is seen as one of the group's most ill-adviced and ultimately worst albums. I still quite like it, as unlike the earlier REM rock albums, there are still strong melodies, and the more gentle tracks such as 'Tongue' are very good. The album was well recieved by the public, again going number one both sides of the Atlantic, and was particularly popular in England as the sound was quite close to the emerging 'brit-pop' movement.

'Monster' was again followed by a huge world tour which again completely exhausted the group, most of whom had survived major illnesses during its duration. The pressure of touring did not exhaust the group's creative spirit however, and hence they wrote the material to 'New Adventures in hi-fi' whilst they were on the road. The sound was probably influenced by the fact that they were promoting a rock record, and this turned into another loud, guitar album. This time the feel was more experimental, creating some of REMs longest songs to date. I think that this combination of experimentation and crunching guitars is a little overpowering, and this album contains for the first time in REMs career, material which is unpleasant to listen to. The group also made the bad move of releasing the slow, miserable 'E-bow the letter' as the first single, which probably put a lot of people of the group, and it is noticable that they have not had so many hit singles
since its release. This is a shame as, despite its faults 'New Adventures in hi-fi' still contains some great music, and songs such as 'Electrolite' or 'New test leper' would have made fantastic singles.

REM suffered a major setback after 'New adventures in hi-fi' when drummer Bill Berry decided to leave the group. They came back even stronger in 1998 with 'Up' which saw them ditching the rock sound in favour for more keyboard-led music. Although still quite experimental 'Up' was more soothing and calm than the last two releases and also contained some of Micheal Stipe's best lyrics to date, notably the top 10 hit 'At my most beautiful'. 'Up' is an optomistic record, and this mood seems to have stayed with the group as they have not overdone the touring this time.

A new album is due in spring 2001, more than 22 years since the group first formed, showing how impressive it is that they have been able to maintain such a high standard of material. Although there are few hints as to how it will sound, it is worth remembering that so far there has been a pattern of three gentle albums then two rock albums, so maybe the new record will continue the themes of 'Up', but knowing REM, anything could happen...

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