The Out Of Time 25th anniversary is clearly louder than the original CD. The best way to listen to the Warner Bros. albums on digital disc is either the original CDs, which are cheap and plentiful, or the CD/DVD-A reissues with no bonus track content that came out years ago, although some of those are getting a little hard to find. I buy the 25th anniversary reissues for the bonus content, not as a means of listening to the original albums.
I haven't noticed any copies of Monster in the used bins around here in Atlanta for a while now, at least none of the stores that I frequent.
I was at the record store today, and my friend who owns it had a distributor’s catalog showing single LP and two-LP reissues of Monster coming this fall. No tracklisting, and no CD/Blu-Ray box info yet. That there’s a two-LP reissue coming suggests to me that the bonus content is demos, not a live show, but Out of Time received a 3-LP reissue with two LPs of demos, and, as discussed above, we know for a fact that there was more material considered for Monster than for Out Of Time, so I find it slightly puzzling and concerning that there’s only one bonus LP for Monster. Unless Concord Music found that the 3-LP Out of Time didn’t sell well, and they’re saving more bonus content for the CD/Blu-Ray super deluxe box.
that’s promising that they’re even offering a 2xLP version. I was afraid they wouldn’t do any more bonus material on vinyl when AFTP didn’t get an expanded vinyl reissue.
Fair point. This is total speculation on my part, but maybe the second LP is a sort of Let It Be Naked stripped/raw alternate version of the album from the Kingsway and Crossover live rehearsal/soundstage sessions.
I’m really excited now to find out what it might be. They’d have to really throw something silly out there for me NOT to buy it.
That’s just my fantasy more than anything. Although Buck complained, as he did about every album from this point onwards, that the original live in the studio concept was lost and the final album was overproduced.
My great hope is that the New Adventures reissue comes with some kind of alternate version using different soundcheck/live takes. Probably also a huge fantasy but how cool would that be?
They taped every show and all the soundchecks. The material is there if they want to put it out. The “live” songs on New Adventures are heavily edited and all the vocals were redone in the studio, so putting out the actual raw live takes would definitely be interesting.
I think that's due to it being out of print for so long. Plus, since they disbanded, they've done a good job of keeping themselves in the public eye with reissues and compilations. And as a result, an entire new generation has discovered the band, buying up everything they can find from them. Also, this generation doesn't have the bias against Monster that Gen X did. For Gen X'ers (my generation), this album had the impossible burden of following their acknowledged masterpiece Automatic. But for the new generation, it's merely another R.E.M. album. And without that unfair comparison hanging over it, it can be appreciated on its own merits. And surprise. Many people find it to be a great album. So, it's slowly started disappearing from resale shops, as more people come around to what an underrated work it is.
I'm not really sure about this, I have a feeling new generations are not really interested in REM. For some reason, their legacy seem to be very frail.
I disagree. But really, it's far too early to tell for sure, either way. I'm basing my conclusion on anecdotal evidence that may or may not bear a direct correlation. And you are basing your conclusion on, what? A hunch? Neither method is exactly scientific. Time will tell.
I kind of agree and I think I like it that way. REM are my favourite band and I like the fact that they don't seem to be cool. There's no hipsters going round in REM T-Shirts (not yet anyway).
It can happen in the future. I remember a time when a band like Fleetwood Mac were virtually radioactive and look how cool they are now.
As a long time fan, I think R.E.M.’s legacy among musicians is quite secure. With the general public, I would say that Nirvana and other bands whom I don’t personally like as much as R.E.M. are more popular with kids today.
R.E.M. updated their Facebook cover photo to MONSTER images a few days ago.. so this should be announced soon.
I think R.E.M. is going to be one of those bands like Joy Division, The Buzzcocks, or New York Dolls. They won't be on posters sold at Hot Topic. But they're securely established as one of the great cult bands for people who know music. And I think their legacy will bear that out.
It's on the immediate horizon since HQ keeps making references to it. I expect something like the AFTP and OOT releases where everything is several notches louder and the EQ feels slightly different. But since Monster is already of a certain sonic signature this will be very dicey. Fingers crossed we get all the studio outtakes and demos. Road Movie is a good enough live release to document what the tour was like. This is one where I would LOVE for a big box to appear stuffed with extras but I don't know if they'll do it. The though of unreleased NAIHF material and stuff from the live soundchecks untouched in a few years....WE NEED IT NOOOOOOW!
Not much longer than AFTP but louder. It would be a little long for opimal vinyl however I do hope it's bonus material. I am not a fan of 12min record sides.
The original Monster LP is a single disc and sounds very good-a tad warmer and more open than the CD. So the remaster could easily be a single LP.
