R.E.M. Sigh.

camf

The beauty of some of the right notes in some of the right places. Reassuringly brilliant.

camf

Watching this next...

dindude

Love Country Feedback, such an awesome song.

Octahedron

R.E.M. = the original emo. 
I think I'd rather stick my head in an oven than endure an entire R.E.M. record.

camf

Funny thing is... plenty people think R.E.M. were one of the best bands ever.

BahHumbug

They were great in the eighties, pretty good in the nineties.  Really lost it in the noughties. IMHO.

camf

But GREAT in the eighties... and still pretty good in the nineties... and I don't think they ever sunk too low since... and had moments of greatness even then. 

gusman2x

Probably the best band of all time.

Gassage

Stipe= charisma personified.

stickyfiddle

I miss REM a great deal. I was front row for them at Glastonbury in 2003 (right in front of Buck) and it was astonishing.  I really like a lot of their later output. Still haven't got myself a Ricky 360 but it's still on the list...

I've never quite "got" most of their work pre-Document if I'm honest.

ICBM

I'm also a bit unusual in that I actually like a lot of the late-period stuff more than some in the middle - in fact (despite Country Feedback) Out Of Time is probably my least favourite album, for me it's the closest they came to 'commercial sell-out' and I have to admit to losing interest a bit in them at the time - but it's all good really.

Peter Buck is one of my favourite players and one of the main reasons I play a Rickenbacker, although I'm not a gear-follower as such… I just have his sounds imprinted in my head.

And 'The One I Love' is still the greatest single rock guitar tone ever recorded. (Even though it's actually a Les Paul!)

DarnWeight

They were my first ever gig ('89 Green tour), and seeing them play changed my life.  Totally.

The run of IRS albums from Murmur through to Document is untouchable, and I stayed with them all the way through til New Adventures in Hi-Fi.  They definitely lost something when Bill Berry left.

Cirrus

New Adventures in Hi-Fi and Up are my favourites, for totally different reasons. Very creative band.

camf

So top five favourite R.E.M. albums in order?

JezWynd

They passed me by except for the singles until I heard 'Up' which is a great piece of work. Stipe's (?) lyrics are especially evocative on this record, lots of cinematic imagery. He's a charismatic man with one of those ugly/beautiful faces born to front a RnR band.

fnpt

Love them:

freakboy1610

Life's Rich Pageant was the first CD I ever bought. I loved the early stuff up to Green and went to see them at the Hammersmith Odeon on the Green tour. I wasn't so keen on the mega successful middle era but I thought the last two LPs were really great. I last saw them at the Albert Hall when Accelerate came out and they were on fire live. Peter Buck is a great guitarist. I stood a few feet in front of him at the Waterfront in Norwich when he was in Robyn Hitchcock and The Venus 3.

DarnWeight

camf said:

So top five favourite R.E.M. albums in order?

1 Fables Of The Reconstruction
2 Murmur
3 Life's Rich Pageant
4 Reckoning
5 =Green
5 =Document

Folks always flag up Automatic For The People as their creative and commercial highpoint, but I find it a bit cloying.  I can't separate Green and Document even though they're both a bit lopsided...brilliant side one, patchier side two.  There's some amazing stuff on Fables that takes a few listens to bed in, but some of the album cuts on it are amongst the best things they ever recorded...Maps And Legends, Life And How To Live It, Kohoutek...all brilliant.

lasermonkey

I was introduced to REM quite early: it would have been 1984 when I popped 'round to visit a friend and he had Murmur on the turntable. He must have just put the album on, so I arrived mid-way through Radio Free Europe. By the time Pilgrimage was over, I was a fan!

I think they were one of those few bands where something truly magical happened as a result of the right people coming together at the right time. Apart from Mike Mills, none of them were "technically great", yet they're all amongst my favourite musicians. I probably learnt more about playing guitar from listening to Peter Buck than anyone else. And yes, he's the reason I have a Rickenbacker.

My top four REM albums:
Murmur
Reckoning
Fables Of The Reconstruction
Life's Rich Pageant

For me, they became increasingly patchy after that, so I'll throw in the Chronic Town EP/mini LP, which is flawless.

stickyfiddle

I'm going to go ahead and be the "later period guy"

Automatic for the People
Document
Out of Time
Accelerate
Perfect Square (yeah, i know it's a live dvd, but it's everything I love about REM in a single disc)

dindude

camf said:

So top five favourite R.E.M. albums in order?

Oooh, that's a tough one. I honestly can't think of a band with such a big back catalogue who have been so consistent in quality, yes even the later stuff has a lot of merit. They were a hugely important band for me when I was younger, I discovered them at Out of Time (but agree with @ICBM, probably one of my least favourite albums overall), worked backwards from there to discover their earlier stuff, and then kept up with them to the end.

I'd go:

Automatic for the People

Document

Life's Rich Pageant

New Adventures in Hi Fi

Green