R.E.M. I.R.S. years vs Warner Bros years

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by The Hud, Mar 25, 2012.

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  1. The Hud

    The Hud Breath of the Kingdom, Tears of the Wild Thread Starter

    Which era do you prefer?
     
  2. kwadguy

    kwadguy Senior Member

    Location:
    Cambridge, MA
    Well, it's hard to argue with the I.R.S. years on a consistent quality basis, so that gets my vote.

    That said, if you cull the best of the Warner years, I think you have a lot stronger group of songs than most people imagine. But that's culling over 20+ years, versus about 5 for IRS.
     
  3. 1970

    1970 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Oregon USA
    Even though Automatic For The People is one of my favorite REM albums, can't beat the I.R.S. catalog.

    .
     
  4. Thurenity

    Thurenity Listening to some tunes

    Didn't even have to think this one over - I.R.S.
     
  5. realgone

    realgone Forum Resident

    Location:
    Singapore
    IRS no contest
     
  6. Tgreg

    Tgreg Forum Resident

    Location:
    Nashville, TN
    They were great during the IRS years and merely good-interesting during the Warner years. I remember when Chronic Town came out when I was in high school and I anxiously awaited each release...actually, to me, the last IRS record, Document, was the begining of the end. To me, the quality really dropped with that one. Though they still had some high points, ...I wouldn't really call them great.
     
  7. captainsolo

    captainsolo Forum Resident

    Location:
    Murfreesboro, TN
    Impossible to choose. Different mindsets, different goals, and different albums.
     
  8. dkmonroe

    dkmonroe A completely self-taught idiot

    Location:
    Atlanta
    I.R.S. years, no doubt.
     
  9. cdice

    cdice New Member

    Location:
    U.S.
    I was managing a music store (chain music store) when "The One I Love" became a "hit". Having been a long-ago-die-hard I.R.S. R.E.M. fan, I remember seeing the video (at our company's yearly convention) for "The One I Love" and thinking to myself, "This is it. They've sold out." Then I read about their $120 million (or whatever it was) contract with Warner Brothers and I thought, "Yeah, they've sold out." Then came their first WB album, "Green" and I'm listening to it in the store with fellow employees--also big R.E.M. fans--and we're just looking at each other, dumbfounded, listening to cuts like "Hairshirt" and thinking, "What the f--k happened to OUR band?" Most people I know gave up on R.E.M. with the "Green" album, but I stuck with them, tried and true, for what it was worth. Looking back on it all, save for four tracks on "Accelerate", four tracks on "Collapse Into Now", and one or two tracks on "Monster" and "Hi-Fi" and "Out of Time" and, basically, the WB Years sucked. Period. The end. End of story. Once the grestest rock'n'roll band in the world since The Beatles, R.E.M. petered-out (no pun intended) into nothingness when they signed to WB. Unlike The Beatles, in my opinion, money--and digital technology--ruined R.E.M. That's my opinion and I'm stickin' to it.
     
  10. Colgin

    Colgin Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York, NY
    You can't find even a single track to like on Automatic For The People. Wow.
     
  11. WolfSpear

    WolfSpear Music Enthusiast

    Location:
    Florida
    The IRS by a long shot but I do like their stuff on the first 3 Warner albums ...
     
  12. captainsolo

    captainsolo Forum Resident

    Location:
    Murfreesboro, TN
    I can understand these kinds of opinions, but am I one of the only people who think they got better over time? I still worship their catalog equally, and trying to pick a favorite album is impossible.
    But the WB era is much deeper. Plain and simple, they grew up. I find Green to be a much deeper listen than Document, and albums like AFTP, Monster and Hi-Fi could never have been the same without all those past years of playing.
    To simply write off the WB era is a major disservice. Now I have a bit of issue when it comes to the Accelerate/Collapse era, but everything through Reveal is nothing short of fantastic, and Around the Sun is nowhere near as bad as people claim.
     
  13. Tgreg

    Tgreg Forum Resident

    Location:
    Nashville, TN
    I pretty much concured, but like I said in my post...I do like some of thier later stuff. "Find the River", from AFTP is a fine as song.
     
  14. vonwegen

    vonwegen Forum Resident

    They put out good stuff on both labels, but their last high-quality album was New Adventures In Hi-Fi, so the IRS years get my nod.
     
  15. cdice

    cdice New Member

    Location:
    U.S.
    Oh, yeah. "Find The River". Forgot all about that one. Okay, say, two tracks on AFTP. Isn't "Nightswimming" on there, too? ;<P
     
  16. BZync

    BZync Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    I remember unsuccessfully trying to find the single "A Million Years" - not knowing who the artist was or what the actual title was. A year or so later I got an import single of So. Central Rain and thinking REM were a British band. Got the Reckoning album & became a fan.

    I've purchased ALMOST all of REMs albums through the present. Missed a few of the later ones. Hard to answer the original question. There was a big change when they went to WB. In fact, they had a second peak with Out Of Time and Automatic For The People - just as good as Murmur & Reckoning - but different.

    If I were to make a single CD of my favorite IRS tracks and a single CD of my favorite WB tracks, which would I play more? Probably the IRS disc but it's a close one.
     
  17. The I.R.S. years contained a number of great albums. The Warner years had a number of great songs surrounded by a lot of filler. That was the key difference. You could probably winnow down the Warner years to match the quality of the early albums, but that would mean ignoring much of that latter output.
     
  18. Pavol Stromcek

    Pavol Stromcek Senior Member

    Location:
    SF Bay Area
    IRS by a million miles. To me, post-IRS REM is like a completely different band; one that I've never warmed to. Whereas IRS-era REM (especially pre-Life's Rich Pageant) remains one of my very favorite bands to this day.
     
  19. mschrist

    mschrist Forum Resident

    Location:
    Madison, WI
    Thankfully we have both, but if I had to choose only one, I'll pick the Warner years over the I.R.S. years, even though I couldn't put an index card between them. I know this is contrary to conventional wisdom, but when I think about what R.E.M. albums I enjoy, more of them are Warner albums than I.R.S. albums.

    R.E.M. were the best band of the '90s, and that was when they were on Warner. There's four great albums in their run on Warner in "Out of Time", "Automatic for the People", "New Adventures in Hi-Fi", and "Up", and not one of those albums is like the other three.

    On I.R.S., "Murmur" and "Reckoning" are still the classics they were when they first came out--I think there's a good argument that "Murmur" was the best rock album of the '80s. But I think "Life's Rich Pageant" and especially "Document" have dated themselves; they're still very good, but sound kind of generic after all these years, and I don't feel the urge to put them on anymore like the others.

    [Edited to add: Holy smoke, I just actually voted and checked the vote totals. This is a rout for I.R.S. I knew preferring Warner was kind of contrarian, but I didn't know it was that contrarian. But I'm not being contrarian--I'm sincere! There's something lively and vibrant to me about R.E.M. on Warner in the '90s.]
     
  20. I.R.S. years
    Without question! Great & brilliant albums, vs. good albums with some very good to great tracks, & also ran re-tread work that wasn't awful, but had me lose interest in them.
     
  21. Cloudbuster

    Cloudbuster Forum Resident

    Location:
    United Kingdom
    Four of my five favourite REM albums are from the WB years.
     
  22. JL6161

    JL6161 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Michigan, USA
    The WB years may be stupendous for all I know, but the 3-4 post-"Losing My Religion" songs I've heard never inspired me to give a s**t.
     
  23. andy75

    andy75 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sweden
    The Warner Bros years gets my vote.
     
  24. Casagrande

    Casagrande Forum Resident

    I.R.S. Of course.
     
  25. 5-String

    5-String μηδὲν ἄγαν

    Location:
    Sunshine State
    This.
     
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