# R.E.M. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 2, 2015, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-e-m/719074 "2015-05-02T05:19:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![oliversarmy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/eb8c5e/32.png) [@oliversarmy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oliversarmy)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2015, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-e-m/719074/1 "2015-05-02T05:19:03Z")
Since Micheal Stipe is two years younger than me and everything repeats I have a question: When will the youngsters rediscover the band? They were big and important in the '90s. Do they stand the test of time? Do the kids today hear them sing? Maybe they just had the right frequency in the day. ---
**Author:** ![Robert163](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4af34b/32.png) [@Robert163](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robert163)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2015, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-e-m/719074/2 "2015-05-02T05:25:59Z")
I don’t think so. I think a large part of their appeal was at that time there was nothing but Pop music and big hair heavy metal. ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2015, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-e-m/719074/3 "2015-05-02T05:26:17Z")
I saw them in a tiny bar and also in a barn in the 80’s. The early part of the “Alternative” music movement was the best ever. Great, great music but almost no fan following. ---
**Author:** ![MyFootsZZZ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/myfootszzz/32/12580_2.png) [@MyFootsZZZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFootsZZZ)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2015, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-e-m/719074/4 "2015-05-02T05:30:07Z")
I still love R.E.M. From ‘Shiny Happy People’ to ‘Everbody Hurts’. I hope that they ‘Stand’ the test of time. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2015, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-e-m/719074/5 "2015-05-02T05:42:56Z")
I have a Michael Stipe story. I was in a record store in Athens, Georgia (the home town of the band; I was hanging out with a friend for a few months who was still at UGA) in 1993, and this friend (actually, still my best friend!) says, “Hey, that’s Michael Stipe.” I did _not_ turn to look at him but still kept going about my shopping fun. That’s my general attitude toward celebs. I owned one REM album: “Tales of the Reconstruction.” It had the song “Driver 8” on it, which got radio play (I guess it was a hit of some level) and motivated me to buy. I still think that’s a pretty good song, but I got rid of the album long ago. “Don’t Go Back to Rockville” is still a pretty good song to me. I don’t really think their stuff holds up all that well. I think they face the curse of most bands: a lot of their stuff sounds the same, and the lead singer is good but you only need so much of his voice to feel it’s enough. I don’t think youth are going to rediscover REM. All in all, they are kindof a boring band. ---
**Author:** ![Robert163](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4af34b/32.png) [@Robert163](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robert163)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2015, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-e-m/719074/6 "2015-05-02T06:01:24Z")
> [@Aeschines](#): > > I have a Michael Stipe story. I was in a record store in Athens, Georgia (the home town of the band; I was hanging out with a friend for a few months who was still at UGA) in 1993, and this friend (actually, still my best friend!) says, “Hey, that’s Michael Stipe.” I did _not_ turn to look at him but still kept going about my shopping fun. That’s my general attitude toward celebs. > > I owned one REM album: “Tales of the Reconstruction.” It had the song “Driver 8” on it, which got radio play (I guess it was a hit of some level) and motivated me to buy. I still think that’s a pretty good song, but I got rid of the album long ago. “Don’t Go Back to Rockville” is still a pretty good song to me. > > I don’t really think their stuff holds up all that well. I think they face the curse of most bands: a lot of their stuff sounds the same, and the lead singer is good but you only need so much of his voice to feel it’s enough. I don’t think youth are going to rediscover REM. All in all, they are kindof a boring band. I agree/disagree. Songs like Everybody Hurts and Loosing My Religion will probably stand the test of time. IDK about the rest of their work however. ---
**Author:** ![MyFootsZZZ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/myfootszzz/32/12580_2.png) [@MyFootsZZZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFootsZZZ)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2015, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-e-m/719074/7 "2015-05-02T06:04:25Z")
‘It’s End of The World As We Know It’ should stand the test of time. I hear it all the time. ---
**Author:** ![Purd\_Werfect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e47c2d/32.png) [@Purd\_Werfect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Purd_Werfect)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2015, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-e-m/719074/8 "2015-05-02T06:25:03Z")
All the songs mentioned here are after they jumped the shark, IMHO. _Murmur, Reckoning, Fables of the Reconstruction and Life’s Rich Pageant_ were masterpieces of Americana. ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2015, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-e-m/719074/9 "2015-05-02T06:31:04Z")
> [@Robert163](#): > > I agree/disagree. Songs like Everybody Hurts and Loosing My Religion will probably stand the test of time. IDK about the rest of their work however. Right, they will have… 1. A handful of songs that are remembered as the “songs of the time” (I’m not really into their major hits, but they were big and helped define the music of the age). 2. A few more songs that deserve attention but will be forgotten. 3. Lots and lots of songs that will just be forgotten (as they made lots and lots and LOTS of songs…). Will they appear to the future as a “major band” worth digging into like the Beatles or Stones or P-Funk or whoever? I really doubt that. I actually am not sure how they managed to put out so much material. Perhaps they delivered just enough hits as they went to keep things in motion… ---
**Author:** ![Robert163](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4af34b/32.png) [@Robert163](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robert163)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2015, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-e-m/719074/10 "2015-05-02T06:41:59Z")
> [@Aeschines](#): > > I actually am not sure how they managed to put out so much material. Perhaps they delivered just enough hits as they went to keep things in motion… I think a lot of it has to do with them being an alternative band when the vast majority of music was very very commercialized. ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2015, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-e-m/719074/11 "2015-05-02T06:44:35Z")
> [@Aeschines](#): > > I owned one REM album: “Tales of the Reconstruction.” _Fables of the Reconstruction_. 😉 R.E.M. was always one of my favorite bands. I still remember where I was the first time I heard “Radio Free Europe” when I was 14 in 1983. i grew up in a tiny town in rural Alabama and music was a big part of my identity, especially in high school. I went to a small school (70 people in my high school class) and I was the only person who was into any sort of “alternative” music at the time. Being an R.E.M. fan back them almost felt like being a part of an exclusive club, something other people didn’t know about. There was also something distinctly “southern” about the band and that also was part of the attraction for a kid from rural Alabama. I saw them 4 times (1986, 1989, 1995 and 2003.) I didn’t really keep up with them during the later years but they will always be one of my favorite bands and an important part of my life. I was saddened when they announced their retirement because it really felt like the end of something that had given me a lot of enjoyment over the years. As far as younger generations “re-discovering” the band, I really don’t know. I think several of their songs will continue to be well known. For me, though, to really appreciate the band and what they did and meant is kind of a “you had to be there” type of thing. This is a good documentary about the history of the band, > **[See R.E.M. Grow Up in 'R.E.M. by MTV' Documentary Trailer](https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/see-r-e-m-grow-up-in-r-e-m-by-mtv-documentary-trailer-169196/)** > > R.E.M. grow up in the trailer for the feature-length documentary, 'R.E.M. by MTV.' ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2015, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-e-m/719074/12 "2015-05-02T06:57:33Z")
> [@Robert163](#): > > I think a lot of it has to do with them being an alternative band when the vast majority of music was very very commercialized. That makes a lot of sense to me. ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2015, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-e-m/719074/13 "2015-05-02T07:01:42Z")
> [@Accidental\_Martyr](#): > > _Fables of the Reconstruction_. 😉 Ja. 🙂 > [@](#): > > R.E.M. was always one of my favorite bands. I still remember where I was the first time I heard “Radio Free Europe” when I was 14 in 1983. i grew up in a tiny town in rural Alabama and music was a big part of my identity, especially in high school. I know that feeling. I was into punk and alternative, but some bands had a big impact, and REM wasn’t one of them, although I did by “Fables” when it came out. I do remember first hearing about REM, and they did indeed seem special, whispered about as one of that different kind of band (before we, or at least I and my friends, had the concept of “alternative”–that really didn’t seem a “thing” to me until the early 90s). ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2015, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-e-m/719074/14 "2015-05-02T08:17:02Z")
R.E.M weren’t actually that much good, but in the wasteland that was popular music in the 80s, if you didn’t want synth-pop or hair-metal, it was them or The Violent Femmes. Basically they died out once music started getting good again and they weren’t needed. And “Everybody Hurts” should be punched in the throat. ---
**Author:** ![Lochdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/edb3f5/32.png) [@Lochdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lochdale)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2015, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-e-m/719074/15 "2015-05-02T08:39:57Z")
Not a huge fan but how exactly did they die out? They had a few massive albums/hits well into the 90’s and beyond. ---
**Author:** ![Busy\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d78d45/32.png) [@Busy\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Busy_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2015, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-e-m/719074/16 "2015-05-02T08:40:37Z")
Have to agree that in hindsight, there stuff is a bit ordinary overall. Plenty of good songs - their greatest hits album ‘in time’ is really solid, can listen to that no problem - but in relation to their elevated status their music is extremely over-rated. As people have said, the context of the time. Actually feels a bit heretical to say they weren’t all that, as they were lauded over here as the absolute dons of US alternative rock in the late 80s - not just music journalist nonsense, either, a lot of affection and respect for them in general amongst music fans. A point of comparison from a similar time would be _The Smiths_. Quite different music, but in terms of quality The Smiths will last forever and be constantly re-discovered by new generations. Don’t see this happening with REM. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2015, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-e-m/719074/17 "2015-05-02T09:20:30Z")
> [@Accidental\_Martyr](#): > > _Fables of the Reconstruction_. 😉 _Reconstruction of the Fables_ ---
**Author:** ![scoots](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b77776/32.png) [@scoots](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scoots)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2015, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-e-m/719074/18 "2015-05-02T09:39:20Z")
With regard to Everybody Hurts, I used to have a friend who had manic depressive episodes and he told me he can’t listen to that song because it makes him want to kill himself. Which is kind of ironic given that presumably the whole point of the song was to cheer depressed people up. I think all the songs were well crafted at least. They were good at the craft of songwriting - songcraft? Good craftsmen. Hmm ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2015, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-e-m/719074/19 "2015-05-02T12:33:07Z")
> [@Busy\_Scissors](#): > > A point of comparison from a similar time would be _The Smiths_. Quite different music, but in terms of quality The Smiths will last forever and be constantly re-discovered by new generations. Don’t see this happening with REM. I’m rather amazed to see this dismissive attitude at work here, by multiple posters. A lot of REM’s best stuff does indeed seem timeless to me. Not much more for me to say… ---
**Author:** ![sparky\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/77aa72/32.png) [@sparky\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sparky_1)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2015, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-e-m/719074/20 "2015-05-02T12:48:51Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > I’m rather amazed to see this dismissive attitude at work here, by multiple posters. A lot of REM’s best stuff does indeed seem timeless to me. Not much more for me to say… I agree. I’m a bit surprised by this thread. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-e-m/719074.md?page=2)