From: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org (fegmaniax-digest) To: fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Subject: fegmaniax-digest V13 #283 Reply-To: fegmaniax@smoe.org Sender: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk fegmaniax-digest Thursday, October 7 2004 Volume 13 : Number 283 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Re: Pop Song '89 (not '93) [Miles Goosens ] Re: Pop Song '89 (not '93) [Eb ] Re: What did I miss? [James Dignan ] Re: Pop Song '89 (not '93) [Miles Goosens ] Re: Pop Song '89 (not '93) [Eb ] RE: Green ["Matt Sewell" ] Re: Pop Song '89 (not '93) [2fs ] Re: Pop Song '89 (not '93) [steve ] Re: Green ["Stewart C. Russell" ] Re: Pop Song '89 (not '93) [Sebastian Hagedorn ] Re: Pop Song Spooked Stars ["Brian" ] Re: Pop Song Spooked Stars [Sebastian Hagedorn ] Re: Pop Song Spooked Stars [Aaron Mandel ] PS [Eb ] Re: Pop Song Spooked Stars [Jeff Dwarf ] Re: PS [Jeff Dwarf ] RE: Pop Song '89 (not '93) ["Brian Huddell" ] Re: PS [Steve Talkowski ] Worst. R.E.M. Song. Ever. Ybody. Hurts. (not really; see below) ["Rex Bro] Re: PS ["Matt Sewell" ] Re: Pop-Industrial Song '89 (not '93) ["Rex Broome" ] Re: Pop Song Spooked Stars ["Rex Broome" ] Re: Pop Song Spooked Stars ["Rex Broome" ] Re: Pop Song Spooked Stars ["Rex Broome" ] Re: Pop Song '89 (not '93) [The Great Quail ] Re: Pop Song Spooked Stars [Jeff Dwarf ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 7 Oct 2004 00:01:19 -0500 From: Miles Goosens Subject: Re: Pop Song '89 (not '93) On Wed, 06 Oct 2004 10:50:42 +0100, Matt Sewell wrote: > I think the reason it didn't have a great reaction amongst REM fans was > that it doesn't seem so great stood next to Document (which I think is an > astonishingly great album) and because it was the first REM album > (certainly over here) that managed to have mass appeal. Well, in the U.S., LIFES RICH PAGEANT went gold (500,000 copies) in its time, which pretty much reached the upper limit of what you could sell based almost entirely on saturation play on college radio, critical acclaim, and world of mouth. "Superman" got some minor commercial radio attention, but most human beings still had no idea who the hell they were. DOCUMENT was the first one to go platinum, and not coincidentally, the first one to have a Top 20 single ("The One I Love"). (All the original IRS albums have now gone gold, but the first three hit that mark only via catalog sales in the wake of OUT OF TIME and AFTP.) I tend to like the more DOCUMENT-y parts of GREEN ("Pop Song 89," "I Could Turn You Inside Out," "Orange Crush" - which I actually heard them play live on the DOCUMENT tour) as well as the silly pop pieces ("Get Up," "Stand"). It was the strum-fests that lost my attention, though I love OUT OF TIME, so go figure. In the wake of Eb's ritual denouncement of "Stand," I guess it's time for me to pull out my ritual response: it's *supposed* to be a joke, a response to the "they sold out" bandwagon-jumping-off that went on when DOCUMENT became popular. It's the answer to "if we really *did* make an 'R.E.M. sells out' song, what would it sound like?" Catchy-but-obvious melody, ridiculous and prominent guitar solo, words that actually *do* mean nothing, the "R.E.M. Dancers!" in the video. You're not supposed to be comparing it to "Feeling Gravitys Pull" or "Pilgrimage," but laughing at the song *with* the band. I'm surprised that I have to keep telling people this. I'm paraphrasing, but here's the conversation as I remember it from their Arsenio Hall Show appearance at the time: [band plays "Stand," then after the commercial, Arsenio comes over to chat] ARSENIO, uncomprehendingly: "You just played your big hit single, and that was great, but during the break, you told me... that it's a big dumb pop song? Say what? But that's your big hit!" STIPE: "Yep, it's a Big Dumb Pop Song. And this is another one." [band plays "Get Up"] later, Miles ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 6 Oct 2004 22:22:00 -0700 From: Eb Subject: Re: Pop Song '89 (not '93) > In the wake of Eb's ritual denouncement of "Stand," I guess it's time > for me to pull out my ritual response: it's *supposed* to be a joke, > a response to the "they sold out" bandwagon-jumping-off that went on > when DOCUMENT became popular. It's the answer to "if we really *did* > make an 'R.E.M. sells out' song, what would it sound like?" > Catchy-but-obvious melody, ridiculous and prominent guitar solo, words > that actually *do* mean nothing, the "R.E.M. Dancers!" in the video. > You're not supposed to be comparing it to "Feeling Gravitys Pull" or > "Pilgrimage," but laughing at the song *with* the band. I'm surprised > that I have to keep telling people this. And I'm surprised that you let REM off the hook, based on the above reasoning. Eb ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 7 Oct 2004 18:36:35 +1300 From: James Dignan Subject: Re: What did I miss? >I left for about 3 years (or more, I can't remember now) to do some >work in places where email was impossible. > >So, I've cut my hair and beard each of 3 plus years, and I feel almost >human again. > >The question now is: What did I miss? > email impossible... three years of beard... Have you been hiding in a cave in Afghanistan? If so, I think George was looking for you (until he got fed up and attacked Iraq instead). James - -- James Dignan, Dunedin, New Zealand -.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.- =-.-=-.-=-.- You talk to me as if from a distance .-=-.-=-.-=-. -=-. And I reply with impressions chosen from another time .-=- .-=-.-=-.-=-.-=- (Brian Eno - "By this River") -.-=-.-=-.-=-.-= ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 7 Oct 2004 01:18:31 -0500 From: Miles Goosens Subject: Re: Pop Song '89 (not '93) On Wed, 6 Oct 2004 22:22:00 -0700, Eb wrote: > And I'm surprised that you let REM off the hook, based on the above > reasoning. So I'm supposed to get upset about it? I think the fact that people are still "hrrmph!"ing about it 16 years later pretty much cinches the case for it as not only a joke, but a damn fine one. Listen, I'm way more upset that the last three albums haven't been a deliberate joke... and if they are, ummm, hey guys, yeah, you got me good there, I really thought you'd become an EZ Listening band. You can stop that now, OK? later, Miles ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 6 Oct 2004 23:33:48 -0700 From: Eb Subject: Re: Pop Song '89 (not '93) >> And I'm surprised that you let REM off the hook, based on the above >> reasoning. > > So I'm supposed to get upset about it? I think the fact that people > are still "hrrmph!"ing about it 16 years later pretty much cinches the > case for it as not only a joke, but a damn fine one. > Right. And REM are laughing about it all the way to the...well, pallid irrelevance. Hahaha...they win! This reminds me of a filmed segment from the short-lived Dana Carvey variety show, years ago. Horrible show, but one bit stuck with me. Carvey and some other actor were playing dopey teenage boys in a car, who kept pulling an ingenious "prank." They'd pull up to various drive-thru windows, order food, *pay for the food* and then...hahahah...speed off before the drive-thru guy had a chance to give them their order. Laughing hysterically all the way. Hahahahahaha. Good one, boys! (And did REM say "Shiny Happy People" was a sell-out joke too?) Eb ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 07 Oct 2004 10:17:34 +0100 From: "Matt Sewell" Subject: RE: Green Hunh? Stand? Worst. REM. Song. EVAH? Ladies & gentlemen, I give you: Shiny Happy People. Stand never made me grind my teeth in the way SHP does... Cheers Matt >From: Eb :38 -0700 > >You're obviously forgetting about "Stand." Speaking of worst REM songs >ever.... > >Eb > >Np: eels/Shootenanny > >-----Original Message----- >I think the reason it didn't have a great reaction amongst REM fans was >that it doesn't seem so great stood next to Document (which I think is >an astonishingly great album) and because it was the first REM album >(certainly over here) that managed to have mass appeal. > >Cheers > >Matt ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 7 Oct 2004 06:56:10 -0500 From: 2fs Subject: Re: Pop Song '89 (not '93) On Wed, 6 Oct 2004 22:22:00 -0700, Eb wrote: > > In the wake of Eb's ritual denouncement of "Stand," I guess it's time > > for me to pull out my ritual response: it's *supposed* to be a joke > > And I'm surprised that you let REM off the hook, based on the above > reasoning. What "hook" is that? I mean, R.E.M. already had the reputation of being perhaps overserious - why not let them deflate it a little? I mean, just program the track out of your CD player. It is, as Nietzsche said, only rock'n'roll. - -- ++Jeff++ The Architectural Dance Society http://spanghew.blogspot.com/ ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 7 Oct 2004 08:15:16 -0500 From: steve Subject: Re: Pop Song '89 (not '93) On Oct 7, 2004, at 1:33 AM, Eb wrote: > (And did REM say "Shiny Happy People" was a sell-out joke too?) Jeez, what happens if you admit, without qualifiers, to liking Shiny Happy People? And Stand. - - Steve __________ Break the cursing seal of love, new devil. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 07 Oct 2004 08:16:48 -0400 From: "Stewart C. Russell" Subject: Re: Green Matt Sewell wrote: > > Ladies & gentlemen, I give you: Shiny Happy People. Yeah, those vocals from Kate are really painful. But my candidate for WUST REM SONG -- EVAH would have to be "Losing My Religion". Not that it's entirely bad in itself, but after you've heard it being massacreed on video karaoke for an entire evening by a drunken buncha Scottish wannabe fratboys, you never want to hear it again. Stewart ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 07 Oct 2004 15:51:33 +0200 From: Sebastian Hagedorn Subject: Re: Pop Song '89 (not '93) - --On Donnerstag, 7. Oktober 2004 8:15 Uhr -0500 steve wrote: > Jeez, what happens if you admit, without qualifiers, to liking Shiny > Happy People? And Stand. Nothing, as far as I'm concerned. I'm right there with you. - -- Sebastian Hagedorn PGP key ID: 0x4D105B45 http://www.spinfo.uni-koeln.de/~hgd/ ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 7 Oct 2004 09:34:29 -0500 From: 2fs Subject: Re: Pop Song '89 (not '93) On Thu, 7 Oct 2004 08:15:16 -0500, steve wrote: > On Oct 7, 2004, at 1:33 AM, Eb wrote: > > > (And did REM say "Shiny Happy People" was a sell-out joke too?) > > > Jeez, what happens if you admit, without qualifiers, to liking Shiny > Happy People? And Stand. I'm curious what people's problem is with "Shiny Happy People." I'm guessing it's the lyrical sentiment - because if the lyrics were about, oh I dunno, train trestles streaked with rain in the Carolina night, it would be perfectly typical R.E.M. song musically. Me, I think it's way more annoying (not to mention easier) to wallow in self-inflicted misery like Trent Reznor. I mean, c'mon, get the hell out of the funeral home and stop thinking "dark" is so damned cool. (Same for critics who imagine that, since they can't see much in all that gloom, it must be quite deep.) Yes, mindless chirpiness is annoying - but *one* semi-mindless, somewhat chirpy song, and everyone goes ape? Jeff, grumpy about grumpiness - -- ++Jeff++ The Architectural Dance Society http://spanghew.blogspot.com/ ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 07 Oct 2004 11:10:50 -0400 From: "Brian" Subject: Re: Pop Song Spooked Stars R.E.M.: Damn I used to be the hugest fan. On the bus in highschool that's all my walkman played...until I dicovered Robyn Hitchcock who was way more obscure and far better to my ears and brain. Green was a disappointment to me and ironically the album (my senior year) when all the people who made fun of me for wearing pink bicycle R.E.M. t-shirts the last 3 years, starting coming up to me to ask if I was going to the REM concert. The f-ers. To me the albums get better in reverse order, but I like most of them before Monster. Spooked is getting better with each listen as I suspected. So either I'm falling into Robyn's trap of him making a bad album and me liking it, or it's better than I originally thought. Allmusic says one of the tracks could be a B-side to 1985's Brenda's Iron Sledge. 1981 you bastards! Oh yes...GLTHO I guess. Miles: My Stars Forever (Momus) has not arrived from half.com. I need to get that comp you made! I'll contact you... Rex: I like your stuff better than L. Cohen, but it could've just been my mood. Looking forward to the replacements of the demos. And I should mention Rex sent me the Feelies Crazy Rhythms which is very good. I love the way it sounds or the production, but the vocals need some getting used to. I like both the Rolling Stone's cover and the Beatles cover. - -Nuppy - -- Brian nightshadecat@mailbolt.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 07 Oct 2004 17:34:52 +0200 From: Sebastian Hagedorn Subject: Re: Pop Song Spooked Stars - --On Donnerstag, 7. Oktober 2004 11:10 Uhr -0400 Brian wrote: > And I should > mention Rex sent me the Feelies Crazy Rhythms which is very good. I love > the way it sounds or the production, but the vocals need some getting > used to. I like both the Rolling Stone's cover and the Beatles cover. Note that "Paint It Black" doesn't actually belong there. It was recorded much later ('90 or '91 if memory serves) and added as a bonus track for the A&M re-release. I think that it sticks out like a sore thumb while at the same time wondering along with Buffy (or was it Xander?) if they really do stick out ... anyway, I think it doesn't fit the rest of the album. "Everybody's Got Something To Hide" had to be heard/lived through live to be really appreciated. Alas, if you never heard'em play I guess you won't too soon. - -- Sebastian Hagedorn PGP key ID: 0x4D105B45 http://www.spinfo.uni-koeln.de/~hgd/ ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 7 Oct 2004 08:44:24 -0700 From: Eb Subject: Smile > From Billboard.com: > > The newly completed version of a 1967 Beach Boys project gives Brian > Wilson > his highest Billboard 200 ranking as a solo artist. "Brian Wilson > Presents Smile" > opens at No. 13 on sales of 65,000 copies. The Beach Boys last saw the > upper > reaches of the chart in 1976, when "15 Big Ones" (Capitol), peaked at > No. 8. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 7 Oct 2004 11:53:26 -0400 (EDT) From: Aaron Mandel Subject: Re: Pop Song Spooked Stars On Thu, 7 Oct 2004, Brian wrote: > To me the albums get better in reverse order, but I like most of them > before Monster. I guess we've reach the point where, in any Internet discussion of a band with a long enough discography, one can potentially extend it infinitely as people say, "Hey, but I liked *that* record!" That said, I *like* Monster. I was tremendously let down at first and kind of forgot about it for years. But then when the new DVD of R.E.M. videos came out last year I found myself utterly entranced by the "Tongue" video. Curious whether this was some special television-related magic, I pulled Monster off the shelf and listened to it, and you know what? It's fucking amazing. "What's The Frequency, Kenneth?", in retrospect, doesn't fit the album very well, making it a bad single and a worse lead-off track. The rest of it, I played over and over again for about a week, mildly exuberant to have rediscovered a record I thought was crap. a ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 7 Oct 2004 09:12:27 -0700 From: Eb Subject: PS I'm off for the rest of the day, because I have jury duty. And I don't mean sitting-in-a-room-hoping-not-to-be-called jury duty. I mean I'M SITTING ON A FRIGGIN' JURY. Possibly tomorrow, too. First time for me.... Juror #3 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 7 Oct 2004 09:24:49 -0700 (PDT) From: Jeff Dwarf Subject: Re: Pop Song Spooked Stars Aaron Mandel wrote: > That said, I *like* Monster. I like most of it too. I think it suffers abuse for a reason similar to the "Stand" or "Shiny Happy People" in that it's just a big loud "stupid" album (just as those are big fat "stupid" popsongs) as opposed to some little ornate deep thoughtful piece of art. It doesn't have (or, perhaps seem to have) any deep layers a la Murmur or AFTP. In fact, it almost sounds like R.E.M. may have been having something vaguely resembling fun while making it which I think offends a lot of people's idea of what R.E.M. are supposed to be -- I mean, Natalie Merchant would never sound like she's having fun on an album. Monster sounds like R.E.M. is overtly (and playfully) fucking with you a bit (something all their best work does, albeit a bit more covertly). Reveal or Around the Sun could use a healthy dose of that. ===== "[The Bush administration] deceived us about the weapons of mass destruction, that's true. We were taken for a ride." -- President Aleksander Kwasniewski, Poland "'Bushworld' is sort of an alternate universe where things are the opposite of what they seem. President Bush said the other day, 'It is a ridiculous notion to assert that because the United States is on the offensive, more people want to hurt us. We are on the offensive because people do want to hurt us.' I mean that is a perfect 'Bushworld' quote. It's not true and it's nonsensical. It's the opposite of what is true. His new campaign motto is 'America is safer. Be afraid, be very afraid.' Everything is an oxymoron." -- Maureen Dowd _______________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Declare Yourself - Register online to vote today! http://vote.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 7 Oct 2004 09:26:00 -0700 (PDT) From: Jeff Dwarf Subject: Re: PS Eb wrote: > I'm off for the rest of the day, because I have jury > duty. And I don't mean sitting-in-a-room-hoping-not-to- > be-called jury duty. I mean I'M SITTING ON A FRIGGIN' > JURY. Possibly tomorrow, too. > > First time for me.... > > Juror #3 He's guilty. Give him the chair. Or the Minnie Driver record. ===== "[The Bush administration] deceived us about the weapons of mass destruction, that's true. We were taken for a ride." -- President Aleksander Kwasniewski, Poland "'Bushworld' is sort of an alternate universe where things are the opposite of what they seem. President Bush said the other day, 'It is a ridiculous notion to assert that because the United States is on the offensive, more people want to hurt us. We are on the offensive because people do want to hurt us.' I mean that is a perfect 'Bushworld' quote. It's not true and it's nonsensical. It's the opposite of what is true. His new campaign motto is 'America is safer. Be afraid, be very afraid.' Everything is an oxymoron." -- Maureen Dowd _______________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Declare Yourself - Register online to vote today! http://vote.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 7 Oct 2004 08:30:47 -0500 From: "Brian Huddell" Subject: RE: Pop Song '89 (not '93) > Jeez, what happens if you admit, without qualifiers, to liking Shiny > Happy People? And Stand. I've done it. I'm doing it now. People throw things at you. Ow! +brian ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 7 Oct 2004 12:52:51 -0400 From: Steve Talkowski Subject: Re: PS On Oct 7, 2004, at 12:12 PM, Eb wrote: > I'm off for the rest of the day, because I have jury duty. And I don't > mean sitting-in-a-room-hoping-not-to-be-called jury duty. I mean I'M > SITTING ON A FRIGGIN' JURY. Possibly tomorrow, too. > > First time for me.... > > Juror #3 What a coincidence. I just finished 5 days being on a jury last week for a personal injury trail. Unfortunately, I was one of 2 alternate jurors (you really don't know who the foreman will be or who's an alternate or not until the cop comes to take you into the courtroom and informs everyone what the lawyers chose - unless it's different in your state than here in NYC). I got to sit through everything, including final summations and ballot instructions, and then was thanked for my service and dismissed. I didn't get to participate in deliberations! Though, the judge let us call the next day and I got to personally speak with him and find out the verdict. They found for the defendant in 1/2 an hour (It was pretty clear cut and that's who I had found for myself) It was my second time picked for jury duty, and the first time on a jury. You'll probably get let out early a few times. On our case, the doctors who were witnesses had schedule conflicts and we'd typically hear testimony for 2 hours and then were off the rest of the day because someone couldn't make it in. The five-day trial could've been completed in 2 full days. It was still interesting nonetheless. - -Steve ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 07 Oct 2004 08:56:47 -0800 From: "Rex Broome" Subject: Worst. R.E.M. Song. Ever. Ybody. Hurts. (not really; see below) The debate rages: > Hunh? > > Stand? Worst. REM. Song. EVAH? > > Ladies & gentlemen, I give you: Shiny Happy People. > > Stand never made me grind my teeth in the way SHP does... Dude, said it before and will say it again. "Bang and Fucking Blame". Worst bar none. "Hey, we still have the chords to Losing My Religion lying around, but the kids just love that Nirvana thing where it's quiet then loud. And kids love shitty lyrics, too... Guys, we can DO THIS THING!" Some real contenders on this new thing... - -REx - -- _______________________________________________ Find what you are looking for with the Lycos Yellow Pages http://r.lycos.com/r/yp_emailfooter/http://yellowpages.lycos.com/default.asp?SRC=lycos10 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 07 Oct 2004 17:35:43 +0100 From: "Matt Sewell" Subject: Re: PS Christ - and I thought the *chair* was cruel and unusual punishment..! >From: Jeff Dwarf > > First time for me.... > > > > Juror #3 > >He's guilty. Give him the chair. Or the Minnie Driver >record. > ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 07 Oct 2004 09:08:11 -0800 From: "Rex Broome" Subject: Re: Pop-Industrial Song '89 (not '93) Jeffrey: > Me, I think it's way more annoying (not to mention easier) to wallow > in self-inflicted misery like Trent Reznor. I mean, c'mon, get the > hell out of the funeral home and stop thinking "dark" is so damned > cool. YEEAAAHHHHH! Unprovoked Reznor-bashing! I feel so ALIVE!!!! Hey, I know, let's go dancing on the backs of the bruised! - -Rex Broome (guitar and vocal, Pretty Hate Drum Machine; also, drum machine, The Shiny Crappy Peoples) - -- _______________________________________________ Find what you are looking for with the Lycos Yellow Pages http://r.lycos.com/r/yp_emailfooter/http://yellowpages.lycos.com/default.asp?SRC=lycos10 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 07 Oct 2004 13:16:53 -0400 From: "Stewart C. Russell" Subject: Re: PS Steve Talkowski wrote: > > (you really don't know who the foreman will be or who's an > alternate or not until the cop comes to take you into the courtroom and > informs everyone what the lawyers chose - unless it's different in your > state than here in NYC). Jings -- the lawyers get to choose jurors? In the big Scottish high court case that I was a juror on: * the only possible objection to a juror can be if they know one of the accused * the jurors elect a foreman amongst themselves * we have an odd number of jurors so that you always get a majority decision. > You'll probably get let out early a few times. On our case, the > doctors who were witnesses had schedule conflicts ... One of the witnesses tried that, sending a note about a schedule conflict. The judge issued an arrest warrant for the witness on the spot, and he was brought in the next day. Stewart ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 07 Oct 2004 09:19:17 -0800 From: "Rex Broome" Subject: Re: Pop Song Spooked Stars Brian: > On the bus in highschool that's all my walkman played...until I > dicovered Robyn Hitchcock who was way more obscure and far better to my > ears and brain. > > Green was a disappointment to me and ironically the album (my senior > year) when all the people who made fun of me for wearing pink bicycle > R.E.M. t-shirts the last 3 years, starting coming up to me to ask if I > was going to the REM concert. The f-ers. Man. This describes me exactly. Exactly. Even the t-shirt part. Mail-ordered that fucker from an oufit called Burning Airlines. First piece of musical parephernalia I ever wore on a regular basis. I remember it being a really calculated thing... this is going to redefine my image or something. But not really, my image remained "fag"... just "fag with pink bicycle t-shirt". I wonder if that shirt's still around. > Rex: I like your stuff better than L. Cohen, but it could've just been > my mood. Well, fifteen years from "fag with pink bicycle t-shirt" to "at least one individual likes my songs better than Leonard Cohen's" is not an awful career arc! Thanks! - -Rex - -- _______________________________________________ Find what you are looking for with the Lycos Yellow Pages http://r.lycos.com/r/yp_emailfooter/http://yellowpages.lycos.com/default.asp?SRC=lycos10 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 07 Oct 2004 09:33:28 -0800 From: "Rex Broome" Subject: Re: Pop Song Spooked Stars Sebastian: > Note that "Paint It Black" doesn't actually belong there. It was recorded > much later ('90 or '91 if memory serves) and added as a bonus track for the > A&M re-release. I think that it sticks out like a sore thumb Funnily, I didn't even know this until very, very recently, and I've been listening to that record since my pink bicycle shirt days (1988 or '89, whenever the reissue came out; that's the only form in which I know it). I knew it was a "bonus" track for the reissue, but assumed it was from the same time period, so it must have sounded contemporaneous to me. I looked at the AMG review while I was prepping Brian's CDR... otherwise, Sebastian's mention of this would be news to me! - -Rex - -- _______________________________________________ Find what you are looking for with the Lycos Yellow Pages http://r.lycos.com/r/yp_emailfooter/http://yellowpages.lycos.com/default.asp?SRC=lycos10 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 07 Oct 2004 09:50:08 -0800 From: "Rex Broome" Subject: Re: Pop Song Spooked Stars Aaron: > I guess we've reach the point where, in any Internet discussion of a band > with a long enough discography, one can potentially extend it infinitely > as people say, "Hey, but I liked *that* record!" > > That said, I *like* Monster. My contribution to the potentially infinite discussion: "Monster" has always played, to me, like three EP's glued together, and the middle one is just terrible. The first one is good trashy glam-style fun with an edge of dread; the third one is difficult but rewarding, kinda like Sugar's "Beaster" EP. But man, that stuff in the middle. Perhaps the most concentrated string of padding in music history... - -Rex, who was also always pissed that Pete Buck ripped him off (for a change) when he started using that big amp-vibrato thing... - -- _______________________________________________ Find what you are looking for with the Lycos Yellow Pages http://r.lycos.com/r/yp_emailfooter/http://yellowpages.lycos.com/default.asp?SRC=lycos10 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 07 Oct 2004 14:08:52 -0400 From: The Great Quail Subject: Re: Pop Song '89 (not '93) > Listen, I'm way more upset that the last three albums haven't been a > deliberate joke... and if they are, ummm, hey guys, yeah, you got me > good there, I really thought you'd become an EZ Listening band. You > can stop that now, OK? I kind of agree with this, in a sort of different way -- those earlier "ironic" songs were far better than the bulk of the last few albums. I happen to *like* "Stand" and "Get Up," at least they have an open, breezy, catchiness. The last few REM albums have just sounded so...tired. Though there are a few songs on the new one I dig -- "Wanderlust," especially -- but, boy oh boy. This is the saddest I've been about a group on the decline.... - --Quail ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 7 Oct 2004 11:14:28 -0700 (PDT) From: Jeff Dwarf Subject: Re: Pop Song Spooked Stars Rex Broome wrote: > My contribution to the potentially infinite discussion: > "Monster" has always played, to me, like three EP's glued > together, and the middle one is just terrible. The first > one is good trashy glam-style fun with an edge of dread; > the third one is difficult but rewarding, kinda like > Sugar's "Beaster" EP. But man, that stuff in the middle. > Perhaps the most concentrated string of padding in music > history... For some reason, I remembered this being Drew's theory from the last time this all came up. The only quibble I have with it is that I really like "Tongue" and think "Strange Currencies" is fairly decent (both from the "middle EP"), but am not that fond of "I Don't Sleep, I Dream" (from the "first one"). And I would say that the "3rd EP" is actually some of the best stuff they've ever done, a great little sequence of music. I would also like to "Star 69" for worst R.E.M. song, pre-Reveal. > -Rex, who was also always pissed that Pete Buck ripped > him off (for a change) when he started using that big > amp-vibrato thing... ===== "[The Bush administration] deceived us about the weapons of mass destruction, that's true. We were taken for a ride." -- President Aleksander Kwasniewski, Poland "'Bushworld' is sort of an alternate universe where things are the opposite of what they seem. President Bush said the other day, 'It is a ridiculous notion to assert that because the United States is on the offensive, more people want to hurt us. We are on the offensive because people do want to hurt us.' I mean that is a perfect 'Bushworld' quote. It's not true and it's nonsensical. It's the opposite of what is true. His new campaign motto is 'America is safer. Be afraid, be very afraid.' Everything is an oxymoron." -- Maureen Dowd __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Address AutoComplete - You start. We finish. http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail ------------------------------ End of fegmaniax-digest V13 #283 ********************************