File Under Water

It's the end of the show as we know it (and we feel fine). This has been a great deal of fun, revisiting one of our favorite bands and thinking long and hard about what makes them special. We found new favorite songs and learned about the lives and stories of some truly great artists.

This finale is a variety episode. We answer a few letters, name our favorite songs from R.E.M.'s catalog, and even bring you a special surprise... but you have to listen to find out what it is.

R.E.M. goes out on a high note with Collapse Into Now, an album that takes a bit of a tour through the band's various styles over the years. It's impossible to say that the upward trend in the quality of their records would continue, but it's fitting that the group busted their ass to make their last effort their best in years.

R.E.M. pulls out of its nosedive with an album whose title also serves as its mission statement. It was lauded as a return to form for the band, compared to Lifes Rich Pageant, and talked up as the album that Monster was supposed to be. But does it stand up on its own merits, or does it only succeed because it follows Around the Sun?

Well, this is it. The nadir. If you're thinking R.E.M. couldn't release an album as bad as Around the Sun's reputation would indicate, then we're sorry to tell you that they can. Up might have had a daysleeper, but this one's a sleepwalker. It's hard to recommend listening to this album, but maybe dip into a few songs to get a feel for what we're talking about. The good news is that this album stunk so bad that the band got their shit together and made two good and fun albums after it.

R.E.M. set out to make an idyllic album about summer, but instead made a product that showed the world just how comfortable they'd gotten. The highs are still high, but the search for what R.E.M.'s voice would be would continue.

Links:

• r.e.m.IX - Wikipedia
• The Lifting (Original Version) - YouTube
• (1) Beat A Drum (Dalkey Demo) - YouTube
• (1) 2JN - YouTube
• (1) REM / Yellow River - YouTube
• (1) 165 Hillcrest (R.E.M) - YouTube
• (1) Summer Turns To High (32 Chord Song Demo) - YouTube
• (1) R.E.M. - Fascinating - YouTube
• (1) R.E.M. Reveal February 2001 Advance Master - YouTube
• (1) REM - Favorite writer - YouTube

After the Bill Berry left the band, R.E.M. had to make the biggest adjustment of their 18 year career. Previous reinventions happened on their own time, and at their own discretion. The shifts into clearer lyrics, into softer instrumentation, and into cocky rock were nothing compared to losing 1/4 of their band. The album that resulted from this labor, Up, nearly broke them up. But it shifted their sound into something more electronic and more produced. Does it stick the landing, or is it twisting in the wind?

Links:

• Radiohead W/ Michael Stipe - Lucky - YouTube
• R.E.M. - E-Bow the Letter (with Thom Yorke) - YouTube
• Country Feedback (with guest Neil Young) - YouTube
• Neil Young & REM - Ambulance Blues - Bridge Benefit, 1998 - YouTube
• R.E.M. - Falls To Climb (1999 Documentary) - YouTube
• REM Why Not Smile Oxford American version - YouTube
• Emphysema - YouTube
• Surfing The Ganges - YouTube
• REM Lotus (Weird Mix) - YouTube
• Leonard Cohen - Suzanne (Audio) - YouTube
• Draggin' the line by R.E.M. - YouTube
• R.E.M. - Lotus (Official Music Video) - YouTube
• R.E.M - Suspicion - YouTube
• R.E.M. - At My Most Beautiful (Official Music Video) - YouTube
• R.E.M. - Daysleeper (Official Music Video) - YouTube

Our second letters episode also looks at two MTV Unplugged performances, separated by a decade.

One last hurrah for the boys as we knew them.

Hot off the Monster tour with some recordings in hand, R.E.M. was ready to make their best album in years. New Adventures in Hi-Fi meanders in all the right ways, keeping you on your toes with new ideas and unconventional choices. "E-bow the Letter" as the lead single? Great. "How the West Was Won and Where it Got Us" as the opening track? Hell yeah.

But it's not all happy... stick around to the end to hear the sad tale of Bill Berry's departure from the band.

Links:

• R E M Only in America - YouTube
• R.E.M. - I will survive - YouTube
• REM - Live For Today - YouTube
• Revolution - YouTube
• Tricycle (Instrumental) - YouTube
• Wichita Lineman by R.E.M. (Live in Houston, 1996) - YouTube
• R.E.M. - Be mine (Mike on bus version) - YouTube
• Love is all around by R.E.M. (1991) - YouTube
• R.E.M. New Adventures In Hi-Fi interview 1996 (The New Music) - YouTube
• REM - The Passenger @ Stockholm - 1998 - YouTube
• R.E.M. - How The West Was Won And Where It Got Us (Official Music Video) - YouTube
• R.E.M. - E-Bow The Letter (Official Music Video) feat. Patti Smith - YouTube
• R.E.M. - Electrolite (Official Music Video) - YouTube
• R.E.M. - Bittersweet Me (Official Music Video) - YouTube

Bigger, dumber, more inconsistent.

Hot off the heels of their biggest success ever, R.E.M. was ready to tour again. And concurrently, Bill Berry gave the band an ultimatum: no more soft acoustic jams. The result was an album that reveled in its confidence, and changed the band into an act that would fill arenas. Problem is, the risks they took didn't always pay off, leaving us with our most inconsistent outing yet.

Two cars in every garage, and a copy of "Automatic for the People" on every media shelf.

The R.E.M. rocket is about to reach its apex, as our boys from Athens are riding high after "Out of Time" and about to release their most successful album ever. What kind of album does a touring band make when they don't tour anymore? A softer, weirder, more morbid album that landed with a bang in its time but lands with a thud now.