I think it's generally the most-loved of the post-Berry albums. I wish it had a few brisker tempos and was maybe 2 songs shorter, but I think it's a great album.
Yeah, I just looked up the sales and they were around 8 million worldwide, 4 million in the US alone. It's an atypical R.E.M. album but still sold incredibly well. Just because a bunch of people decided it wasn't for them later doesn't decrease it's actual popularity. It also got pretty decent reviews. They weren't all great and maybe they weren't quite as good as their previous albums but they weren't given a bunch of bad reviews as some have suggested. I don't love the album but I still really like it and I don't think it deserves the slagging it often gets.
Monster was released before the time that you could preview all of the tracks on an album and then decide. So, coming off of Out Of Time and Automatic, it is no surprise that it sold a ton. It is also no surprise that a ton of them got ditched by listeners who were only interested in hearing an album similar to what came before.
Sounds like Accelerate, which is easily my favorite of the post-Berry albums. Short and rocking, with no filler.
Yeah. It's definitely the one I play most, although artistically I don't think it's a "better" album than Reveal, just a more fun (and shorter) listen.
Monster is a monster of an album! I love it in its' entirety. To those who think it doesn't rock, "I Took Your Name", "Star 69" & "What's The Frequency" prove otherwise. The album has great depth: "Strange Currencies", "Let Me In" & "Circus Envy". It has the typical R.E.M. quirk: "Crush With Eyeliner", "Tongue" & "You". In other words, Monster has all of the hallmarks of an R.E.M. album, with a twist. The songs from this album sounded even better on the Monster tour. I will gladly go to bat for this album every time.
This is silly. Certain album become "fashionable" for moment then things get traded in. 15-20 years ago I used to be tripping over used vinyl copies of Rumours/Bat out of Hell/Thriller. Same with Tears For Fears Songs from Big Chair - and now I have trouble finding that deluxe box set for any price. My local used CD store used to have 30 copies of Nevermind/Utero/RHCP-BSSM/Ok Computer and now the supply on each on title has virtually dried up. There's been great albums with so-so deluxe offerings that get price slashed. Monster deluxe discounted or not will fully depend on it's bonus content and how it's priced/marketed.
Previewing the entire album on radio specials.... Listening stations at stores..... Friends/mix tapes.....
Huh? Not even close. Have you even listened to them lol. SC is about a stalker and unrequited love and really creepy. Don't get how you even compare them, even sonically and musically.
This thread is a reminder that my R.E.M. opinions are some of my most against the grain. While I love Reveal and really like Monster, I find Accelerate really uninspiring. Easily my least favorite of theirs except for the mostly dreadful Around the Sun. And while we're at it, Lifes Rich Pageant is nowhere near as good as Murmur and Reckoning. And Out of Time is half brilliant, half awful.
I think Let Me In is an excellent song. I hope that the new vinyl sounds as good as Automatic For The People reissue, which sounds great.
I’m not A fan of the production on a couple of those later tracks. IMHO they went for a bit too much murk on songs like Let Me In, Circus Envy and You. Similar to what they did on Be Mine from New Adventures. They went out of their way to make those songs sound abrasive, which is a shame when they had such a gift for melody. Much prefer the live version of Circus Envy on Live at the Olympia. Would love to hear “cleaner” versions of those songs.
Yeah, I wonder what's in the vault as far as alternate/early versions from this album, although that hasn't (unfortunately) been the focus of this series (I count "demos" as something different, recorded before the band enters the studio proper). It'll be interesting to see what they do with both Monster and Hi-Fi as far as finding bonus material that will get fans excited enough to pay attention.
I've always liked the song, but never really cared for how it was recorded. I get it was a tribute to Cobain, so giving it a Nevermind-like grunge-guitar-wash sound made sense at the time, but I'd have loved to hear a less 1994-sounding version of it. It's a beautiful song.
I'm surprised no-one has mentioned 'King of Comedy' yet. One of my favourite tracks from the album.. yeah, it's a bit of a throwaway but it's got a a decent groove to it & pretty much encapsulates that "80s college-rock band does their slant on grunge" feel. (Edit: Oh, and the female backing vocals certainly add something to it. A different shade to their palatte, so to speak)
If anything needs cleaner song presentations it's Reveal which has certain tracks too overproduced and then hit with loudness to a big degree which was their first release to have this issue majorly. If you aren't a fan of this album or haven't heard it in years-check out the 2001 Unplugged show. Then again I like the overproduction on some tracks. I like the album version of The Lifting and the demo version. The vinyl helps a bit in the loudness department but not much. The DVD-A is also very good. With Monster I adore every single freaking second even if not all the songs are full on great. Part of the sound is baked in because IIRC it was an analog recording but on limited equipment in mostly an Atlanta warehouse. I think this kinda shows where they were heading with the mostly soundcheck recording on New Adventures later. I love the fuzz and distortion and ave never felt it was an attempt to cash in on grunge and also that it has always been unfairly criticized. Sure they wanted more of a rock record and wanted to go down avenues they hadn't yet explored: but this being these guys, they weren't about to do the expected and typical thing. On top of this Michael's continued writer's block led to the album becoming a sort of study in and dissection of fame and celebrity. I'll admit it's my favorite album, and that I really appreciate having a place here to discuss it honestly without the usual snide remarks of close minded folks that happens elsewhere. I've bought many bin copies to give to people to make them reevaluate it. Here's the old blog with some recollections of a assistant to the recording sessions: The Making of R.E.M.'s Monster
I agree with you about Accelerate. I don't dislike it but "uninspiring" is probably the best word for it, IMO.
KOC is my favorite song on the album. The band dropped the song from the setlist fairly quickly so they must not like it.
I lost the band with this one. Other than What's the Frequency I found all the other tracks boring. Not sure if it was the norm at the time, but my copy's jewel case had orange plastic. I dumped it in a local used CD store. Hopefully a die-hard fan bought it.
Same, it was a massive letdown after Automatic (which was their best album IMO). Stipe's Monster tour makeup was cool though! The follow-up New Adventures In HiFi was much better. I really like that one.
This sounds irrational, bordering on vindictive. Opinions change over time. Releases like this provide an opportunity for reassessment (for longtime fans) and reintroduction (for younger generations).
You and many, many others. I can recall shops being littered with used copies of this CD in the years following its release.
