The first CD I ever got was REM's Automatic For The People, as I was the 7th caller for a giveaway by 'Power' 106.7 in Midland, TX. This was a good first record to have. It helped make me want to learn guitar and stuff. I can't say this CD led me to have good taste in music in the future, because I promptly went on to listen to more of the crap they would play on a station called 'Power 106.7'. It wasn't until high school that I started listening to 'good' music. I could then go back and listen to 'Automatic' and appreciate it more.

REM is a good band. I got all their CDs cheaply in the BMG music club. Pretty much everything up to and including 'New Adventures in Hi-Fi' I like. Even Monster, which may have sounded contrived at the time it came out, sounds to me like a band being successful in stepping outside of its comfort zone (like Sonic Youth's Dirty)

They aren't a 'ground-breaking', 'creative', or 'indie' band, but the quality of music they made was good enough to be 'not crap'. It's quite possible that they were the Interpol of their day (Mainstream band plugged as 'alternative' and 'ground-breaking', and very devisive to groups of people that normally listen to independent music) but I wasn't around at the time to suffer through that. I don't understand why they are a band that many people become obsessed with, but I do know several people that are.

Looks like they've long since reneged on their promise to break up on the stoke of midnight of December 31, 2000.

Mazec wrote:Looks like they've long since reneged on their promise to break up on the stroke of midnight of December 31, 2000.

This oft-cited "promise" was, of course, a silly joke.

Thank you, R.E.M., for not breaking up.

This would have been a real treat.

Oh man, those lucky, lucky sons of b's!
Wow! "Wolves Lower"?? One of my all-time favs.

I would've paid anything to just be allowed to side in the alley outside.

Highly doubt a reunion though. We can dream, I guess.

This story made me smile big and wide. So many good memories flood back with so many good REM songs of the past.

Thanks!!!

worst fucking band ever.
every single thing this band has ever done is utter bullshit.

i have good memories of them also. i got to see peter buck and mike mills play a bunch of velvet underground songs and driver 8 with robyn hitchcock at the 40 watt a long time ago. really fun show.

I was at a pylon show in the late 80's and someone yelled out "radio freebird!" between songs. i don't know why it was so funny, it even cracked pylon up.

wow, marsupialized. i hope that's not the same mouth you suck 14 year old cock with.

trompuss wrote:wow, marsupialized. i hope that's not the same mouth you suck 14 year old cock with.

zing! you sure got me