R.E.M. calls it quits.

[its phillip]

http://remhq.com/news_story.php?id=1446

"To our Fans and Friends: As R.E.M., and as lifelong friends and co-conspirators, we have decided to call it a day as a band. We walk away with a great sense of gratitude, of finality, and of astonishment at all we have accomplished. To anyone who ever felt touched by our music, our deepest thanks for listening." R.E.M.

In their own words: The guys share their thoughts on why now.

MIKE

"During our last tour, and while making Collapse Into Now and putting together this greatest hits retrospective, we started asking ourselves, 'what next'? Working through our music and memories from over three decades was a hell of a journey. We realized that these songs seemed to draw a natural line under the last 31 years of our working together.

"We have always been a band in the truest sense of the word. Brothers who truly love, and respect, each other. We feel kind of like pioneers in this--there's no disharmony here, no falling-outs, no lawyers squaring-off. We've made this decision together, amicably and with each other's best interests at heart. The time just feels right."

MICHAEL

"A wise man once said--'the skill in attending a party is knowing when it's time to leave.' We built something extraordinary together. We did this thing. And now we're going to walk away from it.

"I hope our fans realize this wasn't an easy decision; but all things must end, and we wanted to do it right, to do it our way.

"We have to thank all the people who helped us be R.E.M. for these 31 years; our deepest gratitude to those who allowed us to do this. It's been amazing."

PETER

"One of the things that was always so great about being in R.E.M. was the fact that the records and the songs we wrote meant as much to our fans as they did to us. It was, and still is, important to us to do right by you. Being a part of your lives has been an unbelievable gift. Thank you.

"Mike, Michael, Bill, Bertis, and I walk away as great friends. I know I will be seeing them in the future, just as I know I will be seeing everyone who has followed us and supported us through the years. Even if it's only in the vinyl aisle of your local record store, or standing at the back of the club: watching a group of 19 year olds trying to change the world."

 

[j_garcia]

I liked them at one point, but got tired of them really fast. The early stuff was great.

 

[highfigh]

I like REM Speedwagon- good band.

 

[GO-NAD!]

I like REM Speedwagon- good band.

 

[GO-NAD!]

They were a great band in their time. More bands should take the hint and not overstay their welcome...(cough)...Stones...(cough)...

 

[Alex2507]

REO Speed Wagon

"I was that close." ~Maxwell Smart

 

[sawzalot]

Well now they can rest, all of that rapid eye movement those poor guys must be exhausted
I do believe, they put a man on the mooon' yeahh _ yeahh.

 

[sawzalot]

REO Speed Wagon

"I was that close." ~Maxwell Smart

You can tune a piano but you cant tuna fish
I still have that album floating around ..

 

[zhimbo]

A hella important band, but nothing they've done post-Automatic For The People (1992) is essential (or, in some cases, very good at all). Still, that's one hell of a career. Their debut full-length Murmur is possibly the best debut album for a rock band ever.

 

[farscaper]

A hella important band, but nothing they've done post-Automatic For The People (1992) is essential (or, in some cases, very good at all). Still, that's one hell of a career. Their debut full-length Murmur is possibly the best debut album for a rock band ever.

I agree. There were only a few hits after "Automatic for the People", but they were few & far between. My favorite has to be "Lifes Rich Pageant".

 

[GO-NAD!]

REO Speed Wagon

"I was that close." ~Maxwell Smart

I figured that "REM Speedwagon" was just a joke that I didn't get, because how would stating that you like REO Speedwagon be relevant to a thread about REM?

Maybe Highfigh was a little, um, "high" when he posted...

 

[jeffsg4mac]

Their debut full-length Murmur is possibly the best debut album for a rock band ever.

I am going to cal bull puckey on that. I just listened to all the previews of that album and others on itunes thinking maybe I was missing some good music; I could not find one song I liked. Not one! In my opinion not a great album or band at all.

I can not say the same for R.E.O. I just saw them live last year and it was terrific.

 

[Alex2507]

I like REM Speedwagon- good band.

There best song was Losing My Political Affiliation.

 

[Midwesthonky]

"It's the end of REM as we know it...
"It's the end of REM as we know it...

It's the only song that I can think of off the top of my limited cranium capacity this morning. Shouldn't have had that bowl of Frankenberry for breakfast.

My favorite REM memory is stopping at an Applebees with my wife and my daughter who was 2 at the time. REM's "It's the end of the world..." was playing loudly in the restaurant. My 2 year old was just jumoing and dancing away to the song to the amusement of the restaurant patrons.

 

[zhimbo]

I can not say the same for R.E.O. I just saw them live last year and it was terrific.

Take your pick!

REM:

REO:

There's room for all tastes....*cough, cough*.

 

[jeffsg4mac]

Take your pick!

REM:

REO:

There's room for all tastes....*cough, cough*.

Ughhh, that REM song was terrible. Cheesy video on the REO song for sure but it's not really a bad song. They have much better ones though. Live they were actually not a soft rock band at all. They were quite a bit harder than I thought they would be. I actually took my Mom to it thinking she would enjoy it and while she did like some of it the majority was much harder rock than she likes.

Listen to what you like. There won't be any R E M stuff in my collection anytime soon. Not unless they do a remake of a bunch of old REO songs

Darn it all; now Alex has got me all riled up again. I am going to have to sell him something

 

[zhimbo]

Cheesy video on the REO song for sure but it's not really a bad song.

See, I was TRYING to be a d*** by choosing the most gawdawful piece of trash I could find by REO! You were supposed to get worked up that I was being unfair!

Usually I'm more successful at being a d***.

I do know that REO Speedwagon has much, much better music than that, but some of their early '80s pop stuff I just can't stomach (also cringe-worthy: "One Lonely Night").

 

[Alex2507]

Darn it all; now Alex has got me all riled up again. I am going to have to sell him something

I got called in to work for tomorrow so I'm gonna have some cash again pretty soon. I could use a nice 2 channel amp for the living room ... like the Adcom ... right after I buy some tires for the fofo that is.

I was never a huge fan but they did have some very likeable hits. I have their Monster album and like about 4 tracks on it. That's pretty good. I don't have any REO though. I know they were something else before the 80's but I learned to dislike them then and I can't fight that feeling anymore.

 

[jeffsg4mac]

I got called in to work for tomorrow so I'm gonna have some cash again pretty soon. I could use a nice 2 channel amp for the living room ... like the Adcom ... right after I buy some tires for the fofo that is.

I was never a huge fan but they did have some very likeable hits. I have their Monster album and like about 4 tracks on it. That's pretty good. I don't have any REO though. I know they were something else before the 80's but I learned to dislike them then and I can't fight that feeling anymore.

Oh no that 535II is a classic now and I will never part with that. I do still have two A-500's though and you could get those real cheap.

 

[Alex2507]

Oh no that 535II is a classic now and I will never part with that.

You are dead to me.