Night Garden: Berry, Buck, Mills, Stipe [R.E.M.]1981-1996 Song-by-song*

Yep.

My Sandinista 2 cents: love every second of it, no skips. Many days it’s my favorite album.

 

There was no “coulda/woulda/shoulda”. There was “wanted but was persuaded not to.” This is markedly different from Peter Buck saying idly in an interview to promote Out Of Time or whatever—and it is just idle talk IMO— that he thinks they should have done this or that.

It is a fine point of distinction but it is an important one.when you are basically calling a person a liar with no evidence.

The idea that the demos and outtakes that have been released don’t add up to enough material is irrelevant. The verb is “wanted”. Not “could have, should have or even would have.

I want to spend a thousand dollars on music tomorrow. The fact that I can’t afford it does not mean I don’t want to. And it sure doesn’t mean I’m lying when I say I want to.

It gets more bizarre when you state that not only is Don Gehman lying but that he is lying because he is adhering to some party line given by Buck to the media when Buck as far as I know did not tell the media this.

It’s just been mentioned, as far as I know in one print-only book, published pre-Internet; and it was Don Gehman’s quote not Peter Buck’s.

The idea that somehow these two busy men would collude six years after the month they spent together in Indiana in order that one could tell one author —and as far as I know no others— something not only false but really relatively trivial is absurdly implausible.

 

You had me until this point… more on that tomorrow!

 

It’s not too late….

 

"Fall on Me" is one of the tracks where you can hear the work they put into the recording, in the best way possible. The electric and acoustic guitar parts works so well with/against each other, the vocal arrangements are so clever, and the organ adds and extra bit of texture in the background. There's not a wasted moment or note. 5/5.

 

Ha! No offence taken. I feel sorry for someone who's so parochial he closes his mind to music because of where they come from. (And disliking someone because of where they come from. Isn't that some sort of -ism? ;-) )

 

Wow...did not know that was the only show featuring both R.E.M. and RT. I understand that the '86 Cleveland Show was also the only time they opened with Cuyahoga (tomorrow's song). My hazy sense is that the set list was pretty interesting as well...here it is...not sure how this compares with others from the era:
R.E.M. Setlist at Public Auditorium, Cleveland
Confession time...I have a vague memory that RT joined R.E.M. on stage but cannot recall the song (or songs). But it was nearly 35 years ago...

 

Slightly off topic, but I've decided (after taking the pizz out of it here quite a bit) to give Around the Sun another listen. Right now. It's the OCD, 'cos I've listened to all the three legged dog albums in the past week, so...meh. But it's been SEVERAL years and I won't be alone...I'm taking my friend Jim Beam with me.

 

Reading all the Smiths/Cure comparisons. (I love them both) To me, the true R.E.M. parallel is U2. Both bands came out of non-music hubs, gradually grew their fan base, had lengthy careers and became mega stars. Both bands are also criticized on a fairly wide scale, by their own fan bases, for what they eventually became.

The comparison has always existed for me. I was introduced to both bands at the same time - 1985. (Fables on one side of a cassette, War on the other) Both bands have been my #1 and #2 bands for decades, even though I've struggled some with both bands most recent releases.

 

I don't see much connection between REM, The Smiths or The Cure. REM and The Smiths had really great guitar players so there's that I guess. I was a fan of The Smiths quite awhile before I ever heard of REM

 

I see the parallel up until the late 90s but then I think their trajectories split pretty hard. Both bands sprawled out in new directions, but U2 went back to their safe signature sound after rhe experiments didn’t quite work out. REM kept just doing what they felt like. That’s why I like REM more

 

Yes, I always put REM and U2 together for the same and other reasons. Those are the two "alternative" bands that truly broke into the mainstream. In fact, I read something somewhere that REM flew out to Dublin (maybe?) and had dinner with U2 and basically Bono made a toast saying that of all the great 80s alt bands, they were the only two who really made it, could call it a career, etc, and that they were blessed. U2 certainly outstripped REM in terms of popularity (Lord, they've not had a decent album in 30 years, I don't care what Eno has to do with it), but if anyone was ever a sell out...geez. I love you, the Edge, but you killed it for me trying to sell "Pop Mart" and "K-mart." Poor K-mart, they had enough problems without getting mixed up in that mess. LOL

Having said that, one of my "Really, Michael??" moments was him seeing U2 with one of those celebrity chef guys...dang, I know nothing about TV, etc, but the big guy with the red hair...what a strange pairing...anyway, they were watching U2 from some celebrity box and they played Beautiful Day and Stipe was jumping around all excited and said he wished he'd written it. I could have flown through the TV to strangle him. LOL I'm getting worked up right now just thinking about it. I guess that's the passion of a music nerd.

 

Fall on Me:

This song really marks a new pinnacle in the band’s songwriting skills. I can’t think of a more sophisticated melody and vocal arrangement from them before this song. It felt like their breakthrough at the time. In fact, I thought it was overplayed at the time. So I’m shocked that it didn’t place higher on the charts, but there’s no accounting for taste. It’s success on mainstream rock radio paved the way for the breakthroughs to come.
5/5

 

One of my first music conversations/debates with my (soon to be) wife was on the merits of R.E.M. vs U2. I was on the R.E.M. side of course. This goes back about 33 years -- but I recall making the case that R.E.M. wins on the basis of musical variety, great harmonies, complex yet catchy songs, lyrical mystery, quantity of consistently great (or really good) albums, and a less "pompous" attitude (or, rather, more of a sense of humor). I'm not sure that I fully convinced my wife...but she knows she can never convince me...!!

 

Fall On Me
Hard to believe this song barely scraped the top 100. It is a great song musically and lyrically and had a memorable enough chorus that it should have been able to make it into the top 40. One of REM's best songs and singles.
(5/5)

 

The first time I heard “Fall On Me” I was driving my car to go see a friend. When the DJ introduced it as the new R.E.M. single I found a safe spot to pull over so I could really listen. And it’s a good thing I found that safe space to park my car because I was completely spellbound by the song. As soon as the song finished I knew in my heart that my “little indie band” was going to break through to the masses. I was so overjoyed that I wept. It was a wonderful feeling knowing that one of my favorite bands would finally receive the attention they truly deserved.

I’ve heard “Fall On Me” more times than I can remember since that magical day in 1986. Yet I never tire of it. Everything about the song is absolutely perfect.

5/5.

 

In my mind, you just won the "Fall On Me Story Award" for today. Awesome!!

 

Really great set list...a bit spare on LRP material (I'm guessing before it was released?) but Oddfellows in the encore...that is very interesting placement. Lots of great covers, too. I've heard all of those on various bootlegs and they always do them justice.

 

They played a lot of next album songs on the tour for the newer one - can't remember all of them, but Hyena and Fall on Me were played in the last tour. Strange, The One I Love on this tour, Pop Song 89 and Orange Crush before that LP's tour

 

Fall on Me , another 5/5 , another masterpiece , perfection
i remember buying LRP when it was released , not sure why but i got it as a US import , and paid quite a lot for it which was tough cause i was a student . No reviews had been out over here yet . The cryptic cover made me think that i was in for another marvelous "murky , can't hear the vocals , southern folk jangle pop chef d'oeuvre " . i did not even know who Don Gehman was .
i was very surprised how the sound had changed somehow but i embraced this album , still my favourite REM album .
There were hooks everywhere , briges and choruses , those lead and backing vocals , Peter's guitars , attractive ( to me ) weirdness bits ( Bunker ) , stunning melancholia ( Swan ) etc
Superman was the only song that i was not so keen on and it was a cover

 

I guess I approach REM differently than many here (and there seem to be quite a few of you) that hold REM up with The Smiths/The Cure/New Order/U2, etc, but I've always considered their peers to be The Replacements, Husker Du and Meat Puppets, etc. These bands all took different paths to different places, but their roles in the movement of underground/college/alternative/whatever rock and roll toward, but maybe not quite into, mainstream/popular rock and roll music, has them forever intertwined in my mind.

To each our own!

 

Lifes Rich Pageant is 35 years old today!

 

It just mystified and amused me. It was the last thing I expected to hear. It was my first encounter with this kind of thinking.

 

Our votes for "Fall On Me"

1--0
2-0
3-0
4-1
5-35
Average: 4.9444

 

Today's song is "Cuyahoga", written by Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Mike Mills, and Michael Stipe; produced, recorded and mixed by Don Gehman.

Lyric.

Background notes:

• The bassline the song is built on was written by Bill Berry, according to Mike Mills in an interview on MTV in the early '00s,.
• In the 1998 Guitar World interview, Peter said the music for song was written mainly by Mike and Bill together.
• The Cuyahoga river is in Ohio; it is famous for being polluted and for having caught fire at one point.

Line-Up
Michael Stipe: vocals
Peter Buck: guitars
Mike Mills: bass, keyboards, vocals
Bill Berry: drums, percussion

"Cuyahoga" has also been released on And I Feel Fine....The Best of the IRS Years 1982-1987.

Live versions have been released on

• Live in Greensboro, 1989 (part of Green Deluxe, 2013)
• R.E.M. Live (2007, recorded 2005)
• Live At The Olympia (2009)
• R.E.M. TV (2014, recorded in 2001)
• R.E.M. At The BBC (2018, recorded in 1999)