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.

NIRVANA, PEARL JAM AND R.E.M.

There's a lot of nostalgia around '90s music these days. Pearl Jam is celebrating their 20th anniversary via a documentary film directed by Cameron Crowe, the accompanying book and soundtrack and their recent two day festival.  Nirvana, meanwhile, are releasing various versions of the 20th anniversary edition of their breakthrough album, Nevermind.

I always thought that the sort of clash between the bands was silly, and never felt the need to choose between them.  That said, when Kurt Cobain complained about Pearl Jam being "corporate rock" in Rolling Stone (the issue where he wore the "corporate magazines still suck" t-shirt on the cover), I found that a bit annoying. Sure, Ten was slick sounding... but so was Nevermind. (And Geffen had Andy Wallace remix the album after they turned down producer Butch Vig's original mix... which will be available in the super-deluxe version of the reissue).

Nirvana was more abrasive, and Pearl Jam was more inclusive. Nevermind kicked down doors and changed music overnight, Pearl Jam took a bit longer to find their audience (despite the fact that their music is more accessible).  Nirvana was always more credible, Pearl Jam easier to make fun of.  I never cared about any of that.

Nirvana left behind a pretty untouchable -- but small -- body of work. Three albums, lots of singles and B-sides, and great live shows (I never saw them in concert). Kurt Cobain is in the "27" club with Hendrix, Joplin, Morrison and (I guess) Winehouse. We never saw him get old, Nirvana never fell off, it's all perfectly preserved in our memories, and I guess there's something about that that people romanticize.

As a 40-something, I have a much greater appreciation for what Pearl Jam has done. They've stuck it out. They're not pretending to be 20-somethings, they're not pretending to be anything they're not. They're grown men and they write songs from that perspective.  Has everything they've ever done lived up to the promise of Ten, Vs. and Vitalogy?  No. But that's how life is: everything doesn't always come out great, but you keep going. And you hit upon some brilliant moments during the ride.

That's kind of what Rob Sheffield wrote about today on Rolling Stone, when discussing R.E.M.'s breakup.  He said "People love to complain that R.E.M. should have broken up when Bill Berry quit in 1997, to preserve their legacy in a pristine state. Except this misses the fundamental point of R.E.M., which is that rock and roll is something you do, something that's part of your real sloppy life, rather than a fleeting phase. They decided not to be a 'go out in a blaze of glory' band like The Smiths or Husker Du, and they also decided not to be a 'blaze gloriously and then kinda fade out so everybody assumes you broke up even though maybe you officially didn't' kind of band, like Echo and the Bunnymen or The Jesus and Mary Chain. They decided to be a 'run it into the ground' band, plowing ahead whether they had the wind at their backs or not."  I disagree with Mr. Sheffield a bit, as I loved R.E.M.'s 2008 album Accelerate, but generally speaking, the wind has not been at their backs since Bill left.

The wind hasn't always been at Pearl Jam's backs either, and at points, it seemed to be blowing directly at them. I'm glad they stuck it out, and keep sticking it out. It would have been easy to call it a day: none of these guys need the money at this point. And I would admit that not all of their albums seem as inspired as their early ones.  But parts of Backspacer mean as much to me as anything they've ever done. "The Fixer" is like my mantra.  "Unthought Known," "Just Breathe" and "Amongst The Waves" move me as much as anything they've done before.  I'm glad they stuck around long enough to make that album, and I can't wait to hear what the next one is like.

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.

TOMORROW ON OUTQ: ALBUM ANNIVERSARIES: ALICIA KEYS, RYAN ADAMS, NIRVANA, MEGADETH, R.E.M.

Tomorrow morning on SiriusXM OutQ's Morning Jolt with Larry Flick, I'm talking about some albums that are being reissued in special anniversary editions.

First off, Alicia Keys' Songs In A Minor, which celebrates its tenth birthday this year. I wrote about this one the other night, I think it's a great LP.  To me, it heralded the arrival of a major artist who is going to be making important music for decades.  People rip on her for lots of things.  I guess the fact that she was a star pretty much the minute the album hit stores (thanks to both Oprah's endorsement and also an undeniable first single, "Fallin'") made her seem like an overnight star. (In fact, when she signed to J Records, it was her third record deal, she'd been signed and dropped twice previously). And, more recently, people have criticized her for more personal things which I won't get into.  I'll say that she seems to try and have a positive effect on the world with her money and fame, and I think she makes great music. I'm glad she's a star, and I always look forward to hearing what she's going to do next.

Also turning ten this year is Ryan Adams' Gold. I wrote about this one recently also. When Elton John released his 2001 album Songs From The West Coast (one of my favorite Elton albums, and one that is totally underrated), he said it was influenced by Ryan (although I think he was specifically referring to 2000's Heartbreaker). He wanted to take his band into the studio and do an album in two weeks. Around this time, Elton and Ryan were supposed to film an episode of CMT's Crossroads in New York City.  I was fortunate enough to get tickets.  Ryan, for some reason, didn't show up, but his band did, as did Elton. Elton started off with a solo piano set, and then Ryan's band joined him for a set of Ryan's songs. It was amazing. I'll always remember Elton's version of "La Cienega Just Smiled" from Gold. Ryan has put out lots of albums since then, but I think this is his finest moment.

Nirvana's Nevermind turns twenty this year. Wow. I remember hearing "Smells Like Teen Spirit" for the first time.  I was driving my car on the Meadowbrook Parkway in Long Island while I was in college.  I was listening to WDRE and wondering why they were playing a band that was heavy like Metallica, but of course the singer sounded nothing like Metallica or anyone else. I got Nevermind when it first came out. Obviously it is a classic album.  I loved "Lounge Act," I thought it sounded like The Smithereens (I later read that they were, in fact, an influence). At some point, I found Kurt Cobain a bit too precious and annoying (wearing a "corporate magazines still suck" shirt while doing a corporate magazine cover was cute, but complaining about Pearl Jam bugged me), and I stopped listening to them for a bit. That was dumb of me.  They are one of the greatest bands ever, and Nevermind is an incredible album. There's a deluxe version coming out later this year, but for now, Spin magazine has curated a tribute album called Newermind with The Meat Puppets, The Vaselines, Charles Bradley and Butch Walker, among others.  You can get it for free by liking their Facebook page.

R.E.M. has released a 25th anniversary edition of Life's Rich Pageant.  Having listened to it a bit lately, I've concluded that it is probably their best album (although I also love Automatic For The People). I'm going to do a separate post about this album.  The reissue comes with a second disc of demos and some songs that didn't come out on the album (some were re-recorded years later, others are being released for the first time here). Honestly, the bonuses are cool but kind of academic. But you need to have at least the album proper, if you don't already.

Finally, Megadeth's Peace Sells, which also turns 25.  Unlike the R.E.M. album, I remember this one coming out (I wasn't really aware of R.E.M. yet in 1986).  I knew they were led by a guy who used to be in Metallica, and lots of people were talking about it (I think I also knew that frontman Dave Mustaine was actually credited as a co-writer on a number of early Metallica classics). I listened to this album over and over, just as I did with Metallica. I felt Mustaine had the ability to take metal even further than Metallica did. They seemed to be a bit more political, which I was interested in at the time.  To me, this is one of the best speed metal albums ever. The bonus disc is a poorly recorded live concert from the era.

I know U2 will be releasing a Achtung Baby/Zooropa box set later this year, I can't wait to hear what they put on it (I have most of the b-side and remixes from the era though). I look forward to bringing that one onto a later episode of Larry's show.

TOMORROW ON OUTQ: 120 MINUTES, REDUX

I recently posted about the return of the 120 Minutes franchise to MTV.  Tomorrow on The Morning Jolt with Larry Flick, I'll be talking about the return of the show, as well as some of the artists who used to appear on the show who have new music out. Radiohead's King Of Limbs, PJ Harvey's Let England Shake,  R.E.M.'s Collapse Into Now, former Verve frontman Richard Ashcroft's United Nations Of Sound and The Twilight Singers' Dynamite Steps (the band is led by former Afghan Whigs frontman Greg Dulli). I may also get to The Kills, the band featuring Alison Mosshart from The Dead Weather, who weren't around for the 120 Minutes era, but were recently featured on the newly launched 120 Seconds.

R.E.M. "COLLAPSE INTO NOW"

I love R.E.M. I want to love this album.  I'm not one of those guys who doesn't like anything they've done in decades - in fact, I really dug their last album, Accelerate.

I don't have much to say about it, though. It's a bit disappointing, coming after Accelerate. Lots of it reminds me of classic R.E.M., but I don't feel that any of it is actually classic.

I read an interview with Peter Buck where he said it was as good of an album as they could make right now. He's a long time fan of music, and the guy has no tolerance for bullshit. He's saying it's a good album for middle aged guys with lots of money and nothing to prove.

The problem for me is, Accelerate was a great album for middle aged guys with lots of money and nothing to prove.

It actually pains me to write this. I rarely go negative on my blog, and I don't really ever do it with my favorite artists. But I don't really recommend this one, unless you're a completist.  That said, I've read lots of very positive reviews of it, and I'm glad that other people like it.

TOMORROW ON OUTQ: REISSUES AND BOX SETS

Polish your debit cards, ya'll!  Later this morning on SIRIUS XM OutQ's The Morning Jolt With Larry Flick, I'll be talking about great gift ideas: namely reissues and box sets. 

Three of them I wrote about earlier tonight: Bruce Springsteen's Darkness On The Edge Of Town box set, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers' deluxe reissue of Damn The Torpedoes, and David Bowie's deluxe reissue of Station To Station.

Also:

* The new Jimi Hendrix box set, West Coast Seattle Boy. A lot of it seems to be live and alternate versions of stuff. But it also has lots of recordings of Jimi as a sideman, before he went solo.  So you get to hear Jimi with The Isley Brothers, Little Richard and more. That's worth the price right there.

* R.E.M.'s reissue of their classic Fables Of The Reconstruction. Classic album, no question. But the bonus disc contains demo versions of the album.  Nice to have for fanatics, but for everyone else, the regular album should suffice.

* The latest installment of the Bob Dylan Bootleg Series, Volume 9. The Whitmark Demos features imperfect demo recordings from 1962-1964.  Some pretty cool stuff there, but not essential (I much prefer Volume 8, which covers 1989 - 2008).

* An Introduction To Syd Barrett is a single CD collecting Barrett's stuff with Pink Floyd and as a solo artist.  It's a great gift for people who don't know who he is - anyone who likes Floyd should be familar with this stuff, and if they're not, get this and help them out!

* And two Duran Duran dexlue reissues: they've re-releeased their Notorious and Big Thing albums, both with tons of extra stuff.

"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.

TOMORROW ON OUTQ: P!NK, TINA, THE STONES, U2, R.E.M.

Tomorrow on OutQ, I'll be talking about some great reissues and live albums and reissues of live albums and reissues with live tracks. It's that time of year! These are great gift ideas! (for those of you who are new to No Expiration, I do a weekly music news report on Larry Flick's show on the SIRIUSXM channel OutQ every Wednesday morning, as well as occasionally on The Catholic Channel's Busted Halo Show on Thursday nights).


P!nk has a new live album, Funhouse Tour: Live In Australia. It's actually a DVD that comes with a CD I think (I just downloaded a few songs on iTunes). I like P!nk a lot: I interviewed her, and I thought she was really cool. She told me her first two albums were by Mary J. Blige and Bad Religion, and that about tells the story. She's a rocker at heart, and proves it on a pretty powerful cover of Led Zeppelin 's "Babe, I'm Gonna Leave You." I think this may have been recorded around the time that she was splitting with her husband (I think they're back together). It's pretty powerful. I know the OutQ audience digs P!nk, and I get it.

Tina Turner also has a live album out, Tina Live. The woman is seventy - seventy! - and still rocks! That said, I don't really like this album, it's a bit smooth and Vegasy, but I don't want to say much more than that. I feel douchey even getting into those kind of criticisms, Tina can do what she wants. I will say that that sound totally works on "Private Dancer."

I much prefer Tina's performance with Ike & Tina Turner that is included on this deluxe reissue of The Rolling Stones ' Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out. Ya-Ya's is a live album recorded on the 1969 Stones tour - this reissue includes some extra tracks, as well as the opening sets by Ike & Tina Turner and B.B. King. Back then Tina was badass, but I'm glad that she has a much better life now. The Stones were maybe at the peak of their game - Mick Taylor was in the band at that point, they were just awesome. And B.B. also kills it. This is a great example of an awesome reissue - something the Stones have really never done. Their reissues tend to have no extras at all.

I've already written about R.E.M.'s Live At The Olympia In Dublin 39 Songs. It features the band trying out songs from last year's Accelerate, which was one of my favorite albums of the year, and the only album I like by R.E.M. since Bill Berry left. They also played lots of classics, and the deluxe version comes with a DVD documenting the five night stand when this was recorded, during a break in the Accelerate sessions. The album also features notes on all the songs by Peter Buck.

Finally, U2's deluxe reissue of 1985's Unforgettable Fire. It includes a bunch of b-sides and outtakes, as well as the 1985 EP Wide Awake In America. There's also "Disappearing Act," a song that they started during the sessions for the album. and only recently finished this year. It also has a DVD that contains a documentary, the music videos from the album, footage from an Amnesty International concert, and their set from Live Aid.I don't know if I'll get to all of this tomorrow, but I hope I do! It's all good stuff that you need to know about.

R.E.M. TO RELEASE A(NOTHER) LIVE ALBUM

Quite a few years ago, I got to interview R.E.M. and I asked them why they never put out a live album. They had put out live tracks as b-sides, but they just didn't seem into the idea. I'm glad they changed their mind: in 2007, they released Live, which was a really good album: it gave some of the post-Bill Berry songs some punch that I felt the studio versions lacked. They've since released live discs with the Murmur and Reckoning reissues. Now, they've announced that they will be releasing Live At The Olympia In Dublin album, recorded in July 2007: at this show they were trying out some songs that would be released on their excellent Accelerate. I think 4 songs are already available on iTunes as the Reckoning Live At The Olympia EP, and they sound great.

TOMORROW ON OUTQ: R.E.M., THE ROLLING STONES AND THE WHO

This week will be rocking: I'll be talking about the deluxe reissue of R.E.M.'s Reckoning, the deluxe reissue of The Who Sell Out and some of The Rolling Stones' reissues. I'll be on at 9:30 am ET instead of the usual 9 am.

NO OUTQ TODAY

I'm being pre-empted today! But tune in next week, I'll be back talking about some rocking reissues from R.E.M., The Who and The Rolling Stones.

BEST OF '08: R.E.M.'s ACCELERATE

I've written quite a bit about R.E.M.'s Accelerate. I think it is a great "comeback" album by a band I hated admitting I was writing off. I just couldn't get into any of their albums since Bill Berry left the band. Sure, there were songs here and there, but I couldn't get into a full album - not even close. I hope they have more albums like this in them, and I hope U2's No Line On The Horizon is as good. It's been a long time since I've put R.E.M.'s new releases in the same league as U2's (I love all of U2's albums). 

TOMORROW ON OUTQ PART 1: GREAT GIFTS (i.e. box sets)

What's a cooler gift than a box set? I'm a huge fan of the format, and so are lots of other music fans. So I thought that tomorrow, I'd talk about some recently released box sets that I think are pretty cool.

First off is Roy Orbison's The Soul Of Rock and Roll. This is sort of the classic, career-spanning box set, including hits, album tracks and lots of rare stuff. Fans won't feel ripped off by it, but it's also a good starting point for people just getting into Roy (although starting off a new fan of any artist with a box set can be overwhelming - The Essential Roy Orbison might be a better jump on point). It has a nice booklet with comments from Roy's fellow legends.

Then, there's Hank Williams' The Unreleased Recordings. This box set is made up of long-lost recordings of Hank's radio show from the early '50s: he used to do a 15 minute show at 7:15 am, while people were making breakfast, milking cows, etc. The show was sponsored by Mother's Best flour, which he often plugs. This box set includes some of Hank's classics, as well as his covers of other hits of the day. It may not be the best intro, but on the other hand, it's not like it is for super fans only. Personally, my starting point to Hank was 40 Greatest Hits, but that's hard to find, Gold is proably a better choice.

Cheap Trick 's 2 CD/2 DVD Budokan! is the opposite of a career

spanning box set: it is dedicated to a pivotal moment in the band's career: namely April of 1978 when they played Japan. They didn't really realize how huge they were there until they took the stage. But this was the moment that their career changed; the original live album, Cheap Trick at Budokan was the record that made them stars in the U.S. (and helped kick off the trend of live albums).

Finally, the deluxe reissue of R.E.M.'s full-length debut, Murmur. There's really no reason to remaster the sound on such a lo-fi classic, but the reason to pick this up (even if you have the original

- and who doesn't?) is the bonus second disc with a live performance from Toronto from July 9, 1983.

If you've got a music fan in your life, chances are they may not evne have these yet, they are all fairly recent releases, and they'll brighten anyone's day.

LIVE R.E.M. EP

So, I've already raved about how great R.E.M.'s live show was. Now you can hear it for yourself, sort of: they've released a live EP recorded at the Apple store in London. Not your usual concert venue, and not a full set, but it is pretty rocking. It contains a bunch of songs from their awesome new album Accelerate, some hits and two rare tracks: "Auctioneer" and "West Of The Fields." Totally worth checking out. 

This is their second live release in less than a year, which is a bit odd, since they've never released live albums before. Last year, they released Live, which features some of their most recent material, and in many cases, the live versions of the songs improve on the studio versions. But of course none of their recent albums compare to Accelerate. 

R.E.M. - KEW-ELL! ("cool")

I got this photo (of R.E.M. at their recent Toronto show) here. I've got to start bringing a camera to shows.

Anyway, I just got back from R.E.M.'s SOLD OUT concert at Madison Square Garden. As I mentioned the other day on the OutQ show on the radio, I've found it easy to ignore R.E.M. concerts in recent years. Concerts just cost so much, and I haven't been into the last three albums. But the idea of not seeing them perform the awesome songs from Accelerate was really bugging me, so I'm glad my good friend Ben got us tickets. I'm so glad I went.

It was probably the best R.E.M. show I've ever seen. Michael Stipe, Peter Buck and Mike Mills seemed to actually be enjoying playing together -that may be a first since the Monster tour. In the past, I've felt that they've had sort of an attitude about playing older material. But this is the first time I've seen them where they had a new album that holds up to their legacy (actually, they may have felt that way on the Monster tour, since they'd never toured behind the Automatic For The People and Out Of Time albums). I wondered if they'd seen any U2 shows lately, or if they were influenced by opening for Bruce Springsteen on the Vote For Change tour. But they finally seemed OK with using the songs that get an arena to its feet and get 10,000 people singing along. But I really gotta stress that the new songs really held up to the old ones. I gotta give props to their drummer Bill Rieflin, formerly of Ministry, who is great, and brings some muscle to the songs. Multi-instrumentalist Scott McCaughy is great as well - I think Peter likes having him, as they play in two or three other bands togther, obviously they have a bond.

Anyway, great show. Lots of highlights - I'm tired now, but off of the top of my head, "Disturbence At The Heron House," "Fall On Me," "Living Well Is The Best Revenge," "Man Sized Wreath," "Houston," "Horse To Water," "Bad Day," "The One I Love," "Supernatural Superserious," an acoustic "Let Me In," and "Don't Go Back To Rockville," featuring Mike Mills on lead vocals. If you're an R.E.M. fan who has blown off their concerts in recent years, I don't blame you. But catch them this time around, you'll be glad you did.

(Oh yeah, I didn't go in to see the openers The National and Modest Mouse. But Johnny Marr of The Smiths is now in Modest Mouse, and he joined R.E.M. on stage, which was cool).

"I WISH" (I WAS AT THE STEVIE WONDER CONCERT TONIGHT)

It's a bummer that Stevie Wonder is playing a local venue tonight (Jones Beach) and I'm not there. He really is one of the greats, and he's still doing it. I saw him 13 years ago at Radio City Music Hall, and it was just awesome. Back when I worked for Video Hits 1, I got a lot of free tickets, but I suspect even if I was still there, tickets would be hard to come by. Record labels aren't buying tickets for industry people anymore, which probably makes sense. 

Last year, I wrote about Stevie when I missed his Madison Square Garden show. Next time he comes to the area, I'm not going to miss him. Meanwhile tonight, one of his disciples, Alicia Keys, headlined MSG. I've never seen her in concert, but I'd love to. Of course, she will probably play MSG many more times in her career. You just can't go to every show. Tomorrow night, I'm going to see R.E.M. at MSG. The Cure play MSG and Radio City this week, but I'm not going. Next week, though, we're going to see Pearl Jam twice at MSG.  You've got to pace yourself! Although, next month, I'm doing something I'm calling "Seven Nights To Rock" - going to concerts seven nights in a row. I'll write more about that soon. 

R.E.M. VS. IRON MAIDEN

This weekend, I listened to a lot of R.E.M. and a lot of Iron Maiden.  Weird combination, I know. But I was thinking about what each band meant to me throughout my life. More practically, both bands were playing outdoor concerts on Saturday night and I was thinking about going to one. 

While I was deciding what to do with myself that night, I had the cartoon-like experience of one imaginary friend telling me to go to one show, and another imaginary friend telling me to do the opposite thing. Well, they're not imaginary friends, they're guys I know in real life, and both of them have read No Expiration on occasion. One guy is like the quintessential R.E.M. fan, and the other is the most hard core metal dude I've ever met. I guess to over-simplify the issue, the Maiden dude would be the devil, and the R.E.M. fan... well, I don't know if you could call R.E.M. angelic, they did force Around The Sun and Reveal onto their fans. 

Maiden were one of the first bands I ever got into. I got into them around the time of Number Of The Beast, their third album, so they weren't one of these groups where you had to find all of their old stuff and spend tons of money. But they did always release cool singles with b-sides, and they always had the cool Derek Riggs artwork. They had nothing to do with the goofy hair metal of the era, they seemed serious as hell, but with a sense of humor. They seemed like the heaviest band in the world for a few years, and yet they were ambitious. Some of their songs, like "Run To The Hills," "The Trooper" and "2 Minutes To Midnight" showed a sort of social conscience that I could get with. 

R.E.M. I discovered in college, around the time of Document. It took me a while to really get into them, but once I got into them, I really got into them. They always just seemed so unusual, yet they wrote great songs. I remember being surprised whenever I heard them on rock (or pop) radio. And yet, eventually, they became a huge band, and totally on their own terms. And (like Maiden), they often released singles with cool b-sides. (I've always appreciated bands that do b-sides: it's like giving a little bit extra to the hard core fans). After Bill Berry left, I just didn't like the band as much; I wanted to, but their albums didn't really move me. I loved a few songs - notably "The Great Beyond" and "Bad Day" - but their albums left me cold. Until Accelerate. It's easily their best post-Berry album, and one of the best albums of the year. I'm actually moved whenever I listen to it. 

I guess R.E.M. is more like wine, and Maiden like beer. I love both, for different reasons. I run to R.E.M. and lift weights to Maiden. So, which show did I go to? Well, the answer is very un-rock and roll, but as I've mentioned, I haven't been able to buy all the concert tickets I'd like to, and I don't get freebies like I used to. Plus, it was raining that night (I would have hated to be at Jones Beach for R.E.M.'s show) and I'm training for a mini-triathlon, which takes a lot of time and keeps me away from my wife for a few hours a day.

So, I decided to stay home. R.E.M. is playing MSG on Thursday though, so I'll have another shot at catching them. But I'm pretty sure I'll be listening to both for as long as I'm listening to music.  

OH, OK, CALL IT A COMEBACK: R.E.M.'s "ACCELERATE"

Besides being one of the best albums of the year so far, R.E.M.'s Accelerate has the distinction of having the most apt title. It's lean and mean, doesn't drag on too long, doesn't seem like it's trying to impress Phillip Glass, and it has drums (albeit not drums played by Bill Berry, but still).

They sound like a band again, and they have confidence and swagger. I don't think people will nod off, or fight to be polite when they play these songs live.

I compare it to U2's All That You Can't Leave Behind, or Bruce Springsteen's The Rising, or maybe even Bob Dylan's Oh Mercy. It's a tighter, more focued album after a few that suffered from going overboard trying to be experimental, or just a lack of focus.

I don't need to go through the thing song by song, every single magazine is gushing about it anyway (as well they should). But some of the songs really resonate with me: I love the single "Supernatural Superserious." I love how it starts out: "Everybody here, comes from somewhere/that they would just as soon forget/and disguise." It's like putting a friendly arm around the shoulders of, well, lots of people. I also love "Accelerate": "Where is the rip-chord, the trapdoor, the key?/Where is the cartoon escape hatch for me? No time to question the choices I've made/I've got to follow another direction/Accelerate." Probably inspirational words for people in their 30s, 40s 50s. I've always loved Michael Stipe's but I think these are the most approachable.

I actually love every song on the album except one ("Hollow Man," which a friend of mine compared to Counting Crows) and that's something I haven't been able to say since New Adventures In Hi-Fi. That was in 1996 when Bill Berry was still in the band. Michael Stipe famously compared the band to a three-legged dog after Bill left, and said "A three legged dog is still a dog." Congratulations, boys, you've taught your three-legged dog to run again.

RADIOHEAD LET YOU GET "NUDE"

It's interesting to watch the way Radiohead, long one of the most innovative rock groups, have been getting innovative with the way they interact with their fans.  They are selling the individual instrumental tracks (guitar, bass, etc.) to "Nude," one of the songs from In Rainbows, allowing fans to make their own remixes. There's even a part of Radiohead's website where you can upload your version for other fans to hear (and comment on). I love this kind of thing: I know that R.E.M. are inviting fans to sort of "remix" their video for "Supernatural Superserious" (find out more here) and Trent Reznor is asking fans to create their own videos for the songs from the Nine Inch Nails album Ghosts. (Learn more about that here). I give these artists and their respective "teams" a lot of credit for coming up with new ways to engage fans.  Fifteen years ago, the only way fans could reach out to artists would be to send them a letter. The response would usually be an order form, to buy the band's t-shirts or something. Whatever else may have changed in music for better or worse, as far as artist/fan interaction, we've come a long way.