REM say that their latest album is going to be totally different from their other albums. They are currently recording zillion of records at the moment and their new material is going to be primative.

Cool! They've ventured off into some interesting territory in their career, I can't wait to hear what they do next!

The good thing about R.E.M. is tht all their albums stand alone as separate works, yet still fit in with the overall R.E.M. sound. They're always moving forward without sounding like they're trying to.

after they signed that Big Contract with Warners in the Early 90's they kinda fell off IMHO.they were alright in the 80's but have been kinda just hanging on since the mid 90's overall IMHO.it's Scary when Lenny Kravitz says you don't have much Soul&that is what He said about them.I Like a few of there Songs but overall they are long done.they could always do a Project with Dakota Moon&keep the SoulLess Streak Alive.

I'm probably one of the rare people who find REM in the 90s better than in the 80s (or I am one of the few who dares to say it).
Their early output sounds very muddy, there are plenty of great songs from that period (I love Perfect Circle), but from the late 80s/early 90s they got this much clearer sound, which I prefer.
There were some crappy songs (shiny happy people, blegh..), but most of the WB period resulted in good album. Automatic for the People is fantastic, monster is very different, but is a very good listen, the one after monster is very mixed, but Up is my favorite REM record ever... Reveal is very nice too, but I prefer Up.

I'm very curious what their new album will be like.

dennisversteeg said:

I also really like the 90s R.E.M. Up is my favorite album of their's, and I feel was very underrated and overlooked when it came out.

I really like their early stuff, Perfect Circle and Pilgrimage are particualr stand-outs for me. but, I feel the maturity they gained along the way helped them to become a top-notch band. Their recent lack of commercial success if cool for one reason, when they tour now, they play somewhat smaller venues and the crowd that goes is mainly big, longterm R.E.M. fans...

My fave is actually Monster, & I realize I'm pretty much alone on that one.

mediadarling said:

I love that one too! Star 69 and Crush With Eyeliner rock my world, and Tongue is in my R.E.M. top 10...
[This message was edited Mon Sep 16 20:11:19 PDT 2002 by endorphin74]

They've only gottne better. I have all their albms save Reckoning, most of the older ones on vinyl, and I like the '90s stuff more. It's actually weirder. Most bands mellow out, but Stipe kept making less and less sense, at least until Reveal.