Where does R.E.M. rank in the pantheon of musical greats?

They have 5 (6?) classics under their belt and a vast/stellar body of work to get lost in. Also known as one of the pioneering bands of Alternative Rock.
They're consistent,versatile and had a longer heyday than any other American band. In terms of influence and output, no one else can touch them.
Other than U2, Nirvana and Radiohead, no band in the last 30 years was more successful than R.E.M at balancing commercial success with critical acclaim. Despite all of this, it still seems like they're an underrated band.


Now listening to...

 

With The Byrds. IMO of course.

 

Right up there.

I consider most of the albums up to and including Green absolutely essential.

 

Better than the Beatles and Stones, not as good as the Replacements.

 

Near the top of the B-squad.

Heheheheh….cute.

 

Right there with Grand Funk Railroad.

 

117

 

The best band of the 80s and one of the best of all time.

 

Exactly what I was thinking. On par with bands like Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, The Ramones and Elvis Costello, in my opinion.

Go ahead, flame away!

 

Right under U2 and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

If it wasn't for their post 1992 material, they'd probably rank up there with other two.

 

Important for their era, but not terribly important in the overall history of rock. The Byrds pioneered the jangle sound years earlier. R.E.M. gets credit for being the first college/alternative rock band to hit it big.

 

Under Radiohead and above Nirvana.

 

I think pretty high up there.

 

Fantastic run through Document, imo. Love nearly every minute of every one of those records.

 

7th

 

I was seriously going to post that exact same number earlier but didnt for fear of angering the REMheads.

Yeah...117th.....got to be.

 

Never much of a fan of REM--too tame and too circumscribed for me.

But to rank them anywhere near the Byrds seems to me way off. REM adopted elements of the Byrds sound, admittedly, but then went way, way beyond them--more textures, more lyrically expansive, much more mature.

The Byrds seem childish by comparison. The songwriting (with the exception of Parsons on one record) just isn't there. A lot of not-very-good Dylan covers and some plonking singles like "Rock and Roll Star" and "Turn! Turn! Turn!"

A good sound, but can you compare the songs to the best ones written by Stipe? I just can 't see it.

 

R.E.M. became a middle of the road pop band and rank as such.

 

Agree on a fantastic run through Document IMO as well...

Still a contender up through and including the very impressive Automatic For The People . Lost their groove noticeably on Monster despite a killer opening track. Successive albums after Monster all suffered from various degrees of diminishing returns until their 180 with Accelerate and the big goodbye of Collapse Into Now.

Still one of the all time greatest American bands ...

 

Absolutely!

 

We'll have to disagree here. The Byrds are the greatest American band. They pioneered folk rock, psychedelic rock and country rock. They're top tier. R.E.M. is a very good band, but they're in the second tier.

 

Really? Because I bet some of us feel like the overwhelming majority of RHCP and (especially) U2's post 1992 material isn't exactly their best work either.

 

In terms of sustained quality of albums I think they are the greatest American band of all time.My personal golden period goes all the way to Reveal.New Adventures and Up are close to my 2 personal favourites.
Although they could be great live they would not be at the top of those rankings.
Overall I would place them number 1.

 

Aside from the Byrds, who else is in top tier?

 

Pretty high, on the strength of Murmur alone