R.E.M. calling it a career

[ack1961]

Love 'em, hate 'em, whatever...they were a breath of fresh air back in the early '80's.

Mike Mills is a favorite of mine. You have to dig in and listen, but he's got some wonderful lines buried in there.

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

[Nocturnal]

I haven't cared for most of what they have done over the years, but those first few albums were great IMO. Saw them live several times back in the early day and once in the late 90's. I think Mills might be underrated as a bassist.

[Dave W]

I liked them back in the day... they haven't been on my radar for years.

No doubt about their influence.

[OldManC]

I didn't like them much when I first heard them but I had a roommate that was way into them and when I heard Green for the first time there were some songs that grabbed my attention. Over the years since then there have been standout tracks for me. As Dave says, no doubt about their influence. It's nice to see a band end things as adults, friends, and on a good note (no pun...).

[Highlander]

R (eally) E (njoyed the) M (usic)

Thanx

PS you don't find many songs with your name in them if your called Kenneth...

[mc2NY]

REM certainly made their mark and wrote some catchy pop. "Losing My Religion" is still one of the best music videos ever. One of the few times that the video and song were BOTH "AAAA" quality by an artist.

REM put up some cash to help one of their early producers buy a building (an old post office) and open a hi-end recording studio a few doors from my house in New Orleans in the late 1990s. A lot of top acts have recorded there and you run into some of them at the deli on the opposite corner sometimes when they are taking a break.

A LOT of talent in da 'hood!

http://pietystreet.com/

[Barklessdog]

Catchy songs with nice bass work. They will be missed but really have been gone long ago.

[Aussie Mark]

I like them and I'm glad I saw them live in 2004.

[godofthunder]

 I loved early stuff like Reckoning and Murmur. I saw them at the Auditorium Theater in Rochester NY sometime in '83 or '84. Absoluotly no one, I mean no one there!

[uwe]

I thought they were introvert, non-rocking whimps when they came out, but made my peace with them on the last handful of albums, basically AFTER they had peaked commercially. I find Michael Stipe a savior type much like Bono, which grates, but I will forever love him for his Elvis impersonations in Man on the Moon. I played Losing my Religion in a band in a different arrangement - amazing what dual lead lines root/third can do to that song!!!

Their last album wasn't bad either.

[Chris P.]

I love the solo in What's The Frequency Kenneth. Classic!

[ack1961]

I love the solo in What's The Frequency Kenneth. Classic!

I believe they recorded that solo backwards, is that correct?

[Chris P.]

I believe it's reversed yes.

[uwe]

The fact that they did this after their world tour, not cashing in on the "Final Tour!" symdrome with a prior announcement, speaks for them. Must have driven their managers and accountants mad.

Next to Man on the Moon this is probably my favorite tune from them, a latter era reworking of an older era songbit they never quite finished satisfactorily then and resurrected a decade later:

[ack1961]

What amazes me after watching some of their latest videos is that I remember them as kids! (at least it seems that way to me now)
Michael Stipe hiding behind equipment and moppy hair - not wanting to make eye contact with anyone - or so it seemed.
They became comfortable in their own skin. 
The great thing about music is that current events don't mean anything - if you dig the music, it will live on forever.