Monday, October 31, 2011

Album 11: UP

R.E.M.'s 11 album, and first without drummer Bill Berry, marked a departure from their earlier works. It was released in 1998 and has been cited as inspiration by the likes of Radiohead, even if it wasn't met with much critical success.

5 comments:

  1. Up is a tad darker version of Automatic for the People with electronics. Many people, myself included, have given Up hate for being to slow or to depressing or just plain different, but after listening to both albums recently I think they aren't as different as they first seem. The themes are definitely darker as it seems Stipe says he is either "lost" or "sorry" in every song. If you become too depressed while listening yo can easily tune out the words and focus on the instruments and the sound of the voice and still have a pretty enjoyable listening experience. After listening to Up on sound systems besides mini van speakers, my opinion has definitely change in a positive direction. You can really see that they were ahead of their time and how Radiohead could have easily got all of their inspiration from this one album. After all of this I'm just hoping I'm not sitting here in a month defending Around the Sun.

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  2. The Apologist: To me this song is for Bill Berry.

    "we use to joke about these things"

    I believe they named the last tour he was on aneurysm '95 or at least referred to it as that during shows.

    "Thank you for being there for me Thank you for listening goodbye I can forfeit selfishness I hope for you that you apply This happiness, this peacefulness This peacefulness"

    To me he is saying thanks for being in the band I was selfish and wanted you to stay in the band instead of being happy. Now that you're out I hope you take your happiness and enjoy your life.

    "get down on my knees and pray"

    This line adds to out discussion of the mixed religious signals he sends throughout his songs.

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  3. Hope: One of my favorite songs but after i read that Stipe wrote it about a guy that is trying to strengthen himself by becoming part reptile I picture a man with an alligator head when I hear it.

    Why not Smile: Maybe the most depressing song lyrically they ever wrote, which doesn't mean it's bad as the music picks it up to the perfect level. When Stipe says that he feels like a cartoon brick wall you almost can't help feeling bad for him. To me he is saying that he is there, as in existence, be he has no impact on the world. Just like a cartoon brick wall is visibly there but physically has no presence. It's a really good line and I wonder if Stipe thought it himself or found it somewhere.

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  4. When I first heard that Bill Berry had left REM I did not think much would change. I thought it was a bit strange that he had bailed out right as they were starting to record their next album but once the rest of the group decided to carry on, I thought it would be pretty much business as usual. Since all the songs had been credited to Berry,Buck, Mills and Stipe it was not obvious who had been writing all the songs, so for all I knew Berry was just the drummer. Based on the studio songs on NAIHF such as How the west was Won and E-bow,it seemed there would be a change in direction, the question was how much of a change.

    I had trouble getting into Up at first. I kept waiting for the songs to take off and shift into a higher gear. Where was the driving, jangly guitar and the crisp drums that had finally been featured on Monster and NAIHF? But even though it was a little frustrating, for some reason I kept listening to it over and over. Eventually the layers of music and the characters in the songs sunk in and I was hooked. Whether intentionally or not, REM came up with a sound that was very unlike their previous sound and was ahead of its time. Radiohead did not come out with Kid A or Amnesiac until later, and Wilco did not release Yankee Hotel Foxtrot until 2001. Those were all heralded as cutting edge albums, but they all owed a debt in my opinion to Up.

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  5. I would not say that there were obvious standout songs, just a lot of solid interesting ones. I never was a huge fan of At My Most Beautiful or Daysleeper, but the rest, particularly Hope, Sad Professor and Diminished along with the unnamed track have a fine blend of interesting music and lyrics. REM always seemed to take care in picking closing songs, and Falls To Climb is one of their best.

    At first glance Up would seem to be an ironic title. The music and many of the lyrics are not exactly uplifting or optimistic. Many of the characters seem to be at a crossroads just like the band was after the loss of Berry. In the end though REM came up with a very inventive, interesting album. Listening to it recently proved that it aged very well, it struck me that some of the songs would have been at home on the latest Radiohead album. Overall it definitely would rank in the top third of their releases. I never did understand why some critics and fans disliked it so; it certainly was not another AFTP but did they really expect this band to remake their previous hits over and over? They should have known better.

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