R.E.M.'s LAST GIFT

Allow me to add some personal context to this post. I had a bad day, to quote the R.E.M. song.  I heard that a dear friend of mine passed away after a long battle with cancer.  I was leaving the office early anyway, to go to yet another follow up appointment with a doctor (some readers know that I barely posted in September due to a hospital stay - I'm better now).

The CD playing in my car was Neil Young & Crazy Horse's classic Ragged Glory. It blew my mind when it came out in 1990, I love it to this day, but it wasn't hitting the spot. And my late friend hated to curse, so I wasn't in the mood for "Fuckin' Up." This is rare for me, but I just shut off the stereo and listened to the sounds of my car. Most of what I had on me - Fugazi, Bad Brains, Soundgarden, the I'm Not There soundtrack, Raekwon - wasn't appealing to me at that moment.

I started humming something, and I realized it was one of the new R.E.M. songs.  One of their final ones, "We All Go Back To Where We Belong." I couldn't really remember the words, other than the chorus.  I wanted R.E.M.   So, I stopped at a big box retailer and picked up the new R.E.M. best of, Part Lies, Part Heart, Part Truth, Part Garbage: 1982-2011,  because I needed that music NOW.  It was a pretty old school moment. Go to the (record) store to pick up the music you need to hear at that moment.

Most fans would prefer disc 1, as the collection is in chronological order and disc 1 features their earliest material from their I.R.S. Records era.  But I needed disc 2, the Automatic For The People/ New Adventures In Hi-Fi stuff. However, I started right with track 18, "We All Go Back To Where We Belong."  The horns that sound like they were arranged by Bacharach. Michael Stipe's lyrics, unusually clear.  The song sounds like it is about the end of a relationship with a lover, but you can't help but to feel that it's about the band. Looked at from a wider point of view, it's about something that's ending.  Sometimes you can fight it. Sometimes you just have to accept it. It doesn't exactly fit the situation, but it comes close enough.

The other two new songs are pretty good, and of course the rest of the two CD is filled with classics (mostly). But I'm glad they were able to add one last classic to their long list of them. I'm grateful that they gave me the experience of hearing the right song at the right time and making me feel just a little bit better.

LIFE AND HOW TO LIVE IT: R.E.M. CALL IT A DAY

By now, everyone has heard the news that R.E.M. have decided to split up.  They announced it on their website, with comments from all three members, Michael Stipe, Peter Buck and Mike Mills.

Of course, lots of people are bummed out. So am I, but I think they did the right thing, it felt like it was time.  I think the band has been off-balance ever since drummer Bill Berry after New Adventures In Hi-Fi in 1997.  They've had some great moments, notably "The Great Beyond" from the Man In The Moon soundtrack, "Bad Day" from their In Time best of.  I loved their 2008 album, Accelerate, which I felt showed more focus than anything they'd done since Berry was in the band. I think that would have been a good way to bow out.  Unfortunately, I was so ambivalent about this year's Collapse Into Now, I could barely review it.

I've had the opportunity to interview the trio of Stipe, Buck and Mills twice.  My take is that they are still friends, but the relationship is strained, mainly by the divergent paths that their lives have taken. Mind you, each interview was a a half hour, I didn't spend time with the guys.  But that's my take - and also, I've read tons of interviews with them also.  Buck always struck me at being annoyed at having to "promote" music, and Stipe seemed like he wasn't as into guitar-based rock music (albeit some of the strangest guitar based rock music) as he was in the '80s and early '90s.  And that's fine.  You've changed, I've changed, and so have these guys.  Actually, I think Mike Mills would be happy making records and touring forever.

I recently wrote about a very different band, Black Sabbath, and why I didn't mind that the rumors that they were getting back together weren't true. Because, as George Harrison said, "All things must pass."  The idea that three or four guys who got together in their teens or twenties could keep something like a rock band going for decades is kind of weird, when you think about it.  And when you consider that R.E.M. have always been pretty forward thinking, cynical of the status quo, it is surprising that they've been together as long as they have.

Part of Stipe's statement on the website was quoting "a wise man" who said "the skill in attending a party is knowing when it's time to leave." He's right. So I'm happy to thank them for the music and wave goodbye.  Thanks for making the party WAY more interesting than it would have been without you.

"THIS IS NOT A SHOW" - R.E.M. LIVE AT THE OLYMPIA IN DUBLIN 39 SONGS

I wrote about the new R.E.M. release, Live At The Olympia In Dublin: 39 Songs when it was announced, and also the night before I talked about it on The Morning Jolt With Larry Flick on OutQ. What I haven't really written about is how much I enjoy the album, I've been listening to it all the time. Singer Michael Stipe starts the concert by announcing "This is not a show!" Call it what you want, it is a great performance and a worthly live album.

The context of the album is that, while they were recording 2008's Accelerate -- the best album they've done since drummer Bill Berry left the band -- they took a few days off to play a couple of shows at The Olympia in Dublin, Ireland. They were trying out many of the songs from Accelerate, but also really exploring their deep catalog. Sometimes band -- particularly R.E.M. (in my opinion) -- get cranky when they're on tour for a long time, and it can sometimes show on stage. But in this case, they weren't on tour, they were playing five shows as a break from the studio, and they were really enjoying it (despite being admittedly nervous about all the new songs). It results in a show that you just wish you were at. There's nothing like a band with a two-decades-plus career playing new music when they know it's great. At R.E.M. shows, you tend to feel that new songs are being shoved down your throat. This time, the new songs were great, and much catchier than most of their recent output. They knew they were onto something good, and that made them more comfortable -- and also more comfortable playing more of thier classic material. So what you get is powerful new songs like "Living Well Is The Best Revenge," "Horse To Water," "Man-Sized Wreath" and "Until The Day Is Done" plus classics like "Disturbance At The Heron House," "Cuyahoga," "Maps And Legends," "So. Central Rain," "Welcome To The Occupation" and even "1,000,000."

Drummer Bill Rieflin has a more Bonham-esque approach to the drums compared to Bill Berry's Ringo-ish style (Rieflin's past credits include Ministry, The Revolting Cocks, Lard, KMFDM and Pigface), but somehow he fits in well despite his heavier sound. This version of the band really gells: I would argue that the testosterone infusion isn't such a bad thing in R.E.M.'s case. I would imagine that most R.E.M. fans (and most R.E.M. members) would love to see Bill Berry return to the band, but since that probably won't happen, lets hope Bill Rieflin stays for a long time, he deserves props for doing a great job.

I know lots of people who wrote off R.E.M. after Bill Berry left -- and in some cases, long before he left. I have to admit, I sort of agreed, I liked a few things since he left, but I couldn't really sit through any of their albums. Accelerate made a great argument to re-consider them as a band who still have something to say, and 39 Songs is further arguement that they are still awesome. And that they are worth paying to see in concert (which has not always one of their strengths). You would have to hope they'd be as good as they are on this live album.