Was R.E.M. the greatest Gen X band?

Well, the guy who coined the term was born in '61, so that's how I define the cutoff. If you were born in '61, you were also too young to experience the defining adventures of true boomers (all that late '60s youth culture).

My vote is Nirvana, even though I was a huge REM fan in the '80s. They were all born in the '60s, and their music has that characteristic GenX pessimism.

 

But REM was an American band. I far prefer them over U2.

 

I'm decidedly not an R.E.M. fan because of you wankers who played Murmur non-stop in the dorm 1st year of college, but I gotta say that R.E.M. almost single-handedly created College Radio. I do love "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?," though.

But for pure Douglas Copeland/Richard Linklater Slacker Gen-X, I'm sticking with David Lowery bands (Camper Van Beethoven and Cracker). He's arch, sly, caustic, druggy, and smart as a whip. Still touring and putting out great albums, especially with Cracker. And my 16-year-old daughter wears my old CvB shirts to school.

I'm still trying to get that U2 album off my phone, so they can kiss off.

 

gen x gen y gen z gen p .... who cares

 

Funny thing, lots of people would prefer U2 for the exact same reason...

 

i like U2 and REM (or at least sections of their work) i never really considered either as gen x bands ... I always thought (and i was born in 68, and have no idea what category I fit in) nirvana, beastie boys, sonic youth, nine inch nails, soundgarden, pearl jam etc were gen x(ish) bands .... tons of great bands, but not really a best

 

I used to study generational theory, December 31, 1981 according to Strauss and Howe.
Often, people will describe Gen X as either Atari wave or Nintendo wave since the generation spans about twenty years.

 

Seeing REMs 80s videos on MTV, I could relate to them. U2 talking about Irelands religious war isn't anything I can relate too.

 

R.E.M. are great, but they're no King's X.

 

Think the cut off date for Boomers is around 1962-1964 - these kids would have been 80's kids music wise. But the first Boomers were 60's kids. No real difference between the youngest Boomers and the oldest Xer's except an arbitrary date. Still the vast majority of REM's fan base would be Xer's and some early Gen Y's coming in the 90's

 

lol yep.... people missing the point about "those gens" …. we didn't stay hinged on one genre of music like other gens have. I like the fact that people listing bands up for the crown not all are "rock". hell id nominate NWA just as easily as Metallica on this thread.

 

I think they are one of a few or a handful or a dozen or so if that, plus maybe a handful more? Would be on many 'short lists' I would suppose, deservedly so imho. I feel like they continued on working more than they actually 'needed' to if that makes any sense, I mean, they seemed to me fwiw like they had already done and said everything and more that they could and did when they were still going. I wouldn't be surprised if they did some more work later and the passage of time worked to their advantage in making more music in the future if they wanted to. I feel like they must have made more records than they could have imagined, literally, and perhaps figuratively too. I'm glad they stopped when they wanted to stop. Of course I would like to see and hear them on tour and would be in in a heartbeat. They likely moved at different times between being a boomer band and an x'r band and back again or forward if so defined. They had a real good run for a long time and a great run for a shorter time. All in all what more could they have done. Nothing more imo. Maybe an extensive tour when they were arguably at their most popular and recognizable after Green for and during Out Of Time and Automatic. But that's not they wanted. Then possibly they lost some of the boomers they had and went more X with Monster. Then by the time of Up and Reveal I think the audience had become even a little more diluted. Sad story, lol. If only every band can be as big and do as so much good work as REM.

 

pretty good analogy. using video game consoles to timeline it.... I started on kaliecovision (spelling) then a commodore 128 then Atari....

 

My response from two years back and I still see U2 as the most popular, most significant, maybe the most original and IMO the best Gen X era band.

 

Technically boomers are defined as roughly 1946-1964. The boomers weren’t all optimistic especially post Altamont. You’re missing g the fact that the 70’s (when the late boomers matured) was when there was a strong cynical vibe reflected in films around that time from 1969 to 1979.

Heck, being born in 1960 or even 1959would make sure that you couldn’t participate in those adventures defining “true” boomers. It’s a rather arbitrary cut off date.

 

I'd say this isn't a bad pick unfortunately most of the REM catalog worth listening to is on albums nobody heard sadly.

 

I like REM a lot. I also like U2. Here’s a list of bands from the same era that are all better than either:

The Cure
The Smiths
Duran Duran
Tears For Fears
Depeche Mode
New Order

90’s bands better than REM:

Blur
Suede
Smashing Pumpkins

But, If had to pick the very greatest from 80s or 90s, I’ll say Pet Shop Boys.

 

Don't forget Xennials: The Oregon Trail Generation.

Xennials - Wikipedia

 

You must have been born in the 80's? REM was a great band and important for awhile. They get a bad rap these days. I heard some kids talk about REM in a record store. They said it was like dad rock and not very good.

Life's Rich Pageant, Murmur, Fables, Reckoning... They had a great run of influential records. Look at early clips of them and you can clearly see Pearl Jam and Nirvana were influenced by them. I'm not saying they are the best Gen X band, but they are definitely a top 5 if we are talking mainstream importance. I would also say Nirvana for importance. It's a tough call. I have no answers, but just thought I would say there is no way Nirvana is several thousand times better.

I vote The Cure.

 

I just saw this old post of mine. This song, to me, sums up Gen-X (which I was part of)...



... there were the genuine 'slackers', for whom the 'movement' was a natural reflection of their lack of optimism and drive, and then the hipsters who were weekend 'indie kids' and just knew how to 'hang out right'.

If anyone wants to know exactly what it was like back then, from a US point of view although it was spot on for the UK too, for the average 'slacker' then read Peter Bagge's* comic Hate.

* Who also blessed us with The Murray Wilson Show...The Murry Wilson Show Part 2 by Peter Bagge

 

Just reading through all of this thread. Very entertaining, funny, and lots of good points and disagreements about what is Gen X music. Someone mentioned Sonic Youth. That pretty much sums it up. A great band that totally defines the Gen X term, but Kim Gordon was born in 1953! Now I am confused.

 

This is akin to comparing Miles Davis to Kenny G.

 

The Replacements!

 

love the Young Fresh Fellows, and Scott McCaughey's follow-up project, the Minus 5.