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Random album discussion - R.E.M.'s "New Adventures in Hi-Fi"

oSuJeff97

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oSuJeff97

oSuJeff97 3435

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So yeah this is pretty random. I loved this R.E.M. album in college, but it's really one of those that really fell off my radar over the years. I've listened to it some here and there, but it's not something I've listened to a ton. When I want my R.E.M. fix, I've found myself going back to their earlier work; in particular "Lifes Rich Pageant" has always been my favorite.

But recently I was in my local record store and saw a copy of the re-mastered "New Adventures in Hi-Fi" and decided to pick it up on a whim. I've been listening to it like crazy the past few weeks, and man... I forgot just how damn good this record is. Listening to it with almost "new ears" at this point, I feel like this album had a real influence/impact on 2000s alt-rock, with it's noisy weirdness and sprawl. It's kind of all of the place, which maybe turned people off originally, but I really enjoy.

The album has probably two of their best pure pop songs ("Bittersweet Me" and "Electrolite"), as well as one of their best avant-garde efforts ("E-Bow the Letter") and then just a wild back-and-forth mix of sort-of-poppy but weird and disjointed numbers from "Undertow" to "Leave" to "Low Desert" and so on. Then there are several deep cut gems like "Wake-Up Bomb", "So Fast, So Numb", and "New Test Leper."

Anyway - just a few thoughts... I really think this is a GREAT record... almost definitely their last great one. It's really my favorite record of theirs outside of the 80s. I really prefer it to "Automatic for the People" and certainly "Green."

 

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oSuJeff97

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1 hour ago, CooterBrown said:

I revisit this one and Monster the most often.

I feel like long time fans don’t like them as much as their earlier albums. I didn’t get into REM until a bit before Monster came out so I didn’t have much baggage/history beyond their earlier singles.

Yeah agreed about long-term fans.

I always liked R.E.M. and I had a buddy in high school who was super-fan who always talked about how much better their early stuff was and got me listening to Murmer, Lifes Rich Pageant, etc., which I did like more than the late 80s/early 90s stuff.

I also did really dig "Monster" when it came out and then "New Adventures."

I still do really like Monster, but I just think "New Adventures" is next level.

I also just went down the rabbit hole of reading about the album and came across an old Grantland interview with Michael Stipe where he said that he thought "New Adventures" was their best album, which I thought was interesting, given that you can never get a straight answer on that from most artists.

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oSuJeff97

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45 minutes ago, nolongerU2horn said:

olds like that will ALWAYS say they like their later stuff better. Happens all the time. Bono did it recently too

LOL I get that, but it's not like New Adventures is their most recent. It was released in 1996 and they put out 6 more albums after it.

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mr. sunshine

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3 hours ago, CooterBrown said:

I revisit this one and Monster the most often.

I feel like long time fans don’t like them as much as their earlier albums. I didn’t get into REM until a bit before Monster came out so I didn’t have much baggage/history beyond their earlier singles.

A buddy turned me onto Murmur in high school which was weird because the only radio stations we could get were country, pop or, if the weather was right, metal. 

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oSuJeff97

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On 2/19/2022 at 8:33 AM, nedtugent said:

great road album - written on the road and rehearsed and recorded at sound checks. gives it a nice feel. and the last run w/ the compete band.

definitely a keeper.

 

 

Yeah and I’l say this - the remastered vinyl that I bought sounds FANTASTIC. It’s a great pressing.  

I love to turn it up to 11 on “So Fast, So Numb.” 

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oSuJeff97

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21 hours ago, Red Five said:

Hot take: Automatic for the People isn't aging that great. I used to think it was their best album but I'd probably slot it 4th or so now. 

I've felt that way for a while. It was never my favorite. I will admit to bias in that a large part of this is that I've never liked "Everybody Hurts." I thought it was sappy and too on-the-nose when I was in high school, and it hasn't aged well, IMO. I just can't stand that song.

There are other songs on the album I really like, but that one song just killed that album for me.

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oSuJeff97

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On 2/19/2022 at 8:23 AM, TornACL said:

One of my great regrets of college was not going to see the REM show in Austin with Radiohead as the opener.

I feel you.

I had a chance to see Nirvana in OKC my sophomore year on the back end of the In Utero tour. Like a guy literally had a ticket and asked if I wanted to go. It was on a Tuesday or Wednesday night and I had a test the next day in some class so declined.  My theory was I would catch them on their next tour.  Nice move, young dipshit oSuJeff.

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C-Man

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My first real concert was seeing R.E.M. on the Green tour in San Antonio my freshman or sophomore year in HS. I loved that band at the time. R.E.M. was probably my #1 band when I graduated HS along with The Smiths/Morrissey.

As far as I'm concerned, the band's last album was Automatic for the People. Monster came out when I was at UT and I gave it a fair amount of spins. I just don't like it at the end of the day and have never really consumed anything of theirs that came after. The last few years I have been returning to the first five albums quite a bit, Reckoning in particular. 

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Red Five

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2 hours ago, oSuJeff97 said:

I've felt that way for a while. It was never my favorite. I will admit to bias in that a large part of this is that I've never liked "Everybody Hurts." I thought it was sappy and too on-the-nose when I was in high school, and it hasn't aged well, IMO. I just can't stand that song.

There are other songs on the album I really like, but that one song just killed that album for me.

There are a few songs, in addition to Everybody Hurts, that I used to enjoy that I do not anymore. I'm looking at you, Nightswimming. 

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bizzle

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i feel like r.e.m. fandom - more than most bands based on length of career and genre cul de sacs explored - highly depends on where in their catalog the listener entered. monster was my first real exposure to the band, and i fucking loved it as a middle schooler, and although it took me awhile to get into new adventures, i eventually thought it was incredible as well. 

it took me probably a decade to revisit murmur and the rest of the catalog, which may as well be a different band on a lot of levels. 

100% agree on new adventures, i've always randomly loved undertow (amazing mike mills harmonies as always) - and new test leper, realizing the shit he was probably going through at the time as a gay man in america hits harder the older i get.

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Al_4_ISU

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17 hours ago, bizzle said:

i feel like r.e.m. fandom - more than most bands based on length of career and genre cul de sacs explored - highly depends on where in their catalog the listener entered. monster was my first real exposure to the band, and i fucking loved it as a middle schooler, and although it took me awhile to get into new adventures, i eventually thought it was incredible as well. 

it took me probably a decade to revisit murmur and the rest of the catalog, which may as well be a different band on a lot of levels. 

100% agree on new adventures, i've always randomly loved undertow (amazing mike mills harmonies as always) - and new test leper, realizing the shit he was probably going through at the time as a gay man in america hits harder the older i get.

Yeah, the lyrics on that one are pretty fucking pointed and spot on.

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NTVTXN

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22 hours ago, Red Five said:

There are a few songs, in addition to Everybody Hurts, that I used to enjoy that I do not anymore. I'm looking at you, Nightswimming. 

Noooo. Say it ain’t so. I like “Nightswimming”, a lot. I like “Find the River” even more. 

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NTVTXN

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19 hours ago, bizzle said:

which may as well be a different band on a lot of levels. 

Completely agree, here.  To me, the band that put out Document and Reveal  are miles apart.

One of my favorite concerts I ever attended was seeing these guys at Ratama Park in SA, back in ‘99. Wilco opened.  Just a great, great concert. 

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yoladu

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On 2/21/2022 at 12:38 PM, Al_4_ISU said:

My old man was a huge R.E.M. fan when I was growing up.  I remember him getting this right when it came out, and I've always really liked it, despite never really getting that into the rest of their catalog.  I should give it a spin.  It's been a minute.

I Feel Old GIFs | Tenor

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NTVTXN

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19 hours ago, Al_4_ISU said:

He's 63 so I'm thinking he was listening down a generation, maybe.  He kept with new rock well into his 40's.  He still sorta does.

Your Dad is ten years older than me. I’d say he’s “listening down a generation”, but that’s great! 
Our oldest daughter (NO PICS!) is in her freshman year at UT. I was “in-line/online” before her to get her ACL Tix! I was probably more excited than she was😂.  There were a lot of bands I would’ve loved to see..talk about “listening down” a generation.  Damn near TWO generations…🙄

Kids & music~ they can keep you young, and that’s a good thing.

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BehoId, The Underminer!

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I was a kid when my older brother bought document when it came out and I was hooked then.  It was my first band to be in to.  So I was convinced they were the greatest ever with green, out of time, and automatic for the people following it.  just four unbelievable records in a row that i got to experience the release, while at the same time listening to the stuff that came out before i knew of them that i ended up loving.

 

monster and new adventures sort of ended that for me.  i liked the same songs that OP is mentioning, but i just 'liked' them.  they didn't feel like they meant anything special to me like all the stuff up until then, in the way music is super meaningful to teenagers.

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oSuJeff97

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On 2/24/2022 at 9:27 PM, Delta Charlie said:

Loved this record. Played it non stop and still gets an occasional spin.  I think it was pretty cool that several of the tracks were recorded live at sound checks during the Monster tour.  

Yes very cool. According to the sleeve on my recent vinyl purchase, it broke down like this:

Recorded in-studio in Seattle:

  • How the West was Won
  • New Test Leper
  • E-Bow the Letter
  • Be Mine

Recorded during various soundchecks on the Monster tour:

  • The Wake-up Bomb (Charleston)
  • Undertow (Boston)
  • Leave (Atlanta)
  • Departure (Detroit)
  • Bittersweet Me (Memphis)
  • Blinky the Doormat (Phoenix)
  • So Fast, So Numb (Orlando)
  • Low Desert (Atlanta)
  • Electrolite (Phoenix)

And finally "Zither" was recorded in their dressing room in Philly.

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James Knox Polk

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It is almost a double album length.  There are, IMO, only two mediocre tracks, Low Desert and Zither.

My favorites are:

So Fast, So Numb

Leave

The New Test Leper

E-Bow the Letter

These rank with their very best work.  Great thread, about an unjustly forgotten superb album.  I would rank it my 3rd favorite album behind Life's Rich Pageant & Automatic for the People.

Incidentally, I am one of about 10 people who really enjoyed their next album, UP.  

 

And it is "Binky" the doormat, not "Blinky".  I wonder what that's about.  Thanks for the recording background.

 

 

 

 

 

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oSuJeff97

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11 hours ago, James Knox Polk said:

It is almost a double album length.  There are, IMO, only two mediocre tracks, Low Desert and Zither.

My favorites are:

So Fast, So Numb

Leave

The New Test Leper

E-Bow the Letter

These rank with their very best work.  Great thread, about an unjustly forgotten superb album.  I would rank it my 3rd favorite album behind Life's Rich Pageant & Automatic for the People.

Incidentally, I am one of about 10 people who really enjoyed their next album, UP.  

 

I almost don't count Zither as a song.. it's more like an instrumental interlude.  "Low Desert" sounds like R.E.M.'s attempt to make a great grunge song. 

I freaking love "So Fast, So Numb." 

Yeah Lifes Rich Pageant is also my favorite... I love most of Automatic for the People, but like I said upthread, "Everybody Hurts" just kills that album for me. I can't stand that song... it's a good song in a vacuum, but man did it ever get driven into the ground by MTV and FM radio back in the day. Then it became sort of a parody of itself... so much so that I still can't stand it to this day.

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Judge Roybeanbag

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but man did it ever get driven into the ground by MTV and FM radio back in the day

To me though, that's the thing most people miss.  To appreciate a band you have to delve into the guts of them, aside from what gets fed to you on the radio/TV whatever.  Yeah it gets old listening to the hits, but what made REM the band they are was truly some awesome music.   Same with any band, like Soundgarden or the like.   

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oSuJeff97

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2 hours ago, Judge Roybeanbag said:

To me though, that's the thing most people miss.  To appreciate a band you have to delve into the guts of them, aside from what gets fed to you on the radio/TV whatever.  Yeah it gets old listening to the hits, but what made REM the band they are was truly some awesome music.   Same with any band, like Soundgarden or the like.   

Oh I agree.

My thing with that song is that it was just inescapable for several years... MTV, radio, TV shows, movies....you couldn't avoid it if you tried... so much so that it went from being a song that didn't care for to one that I actively loathed.  And so now if I play Automatic for the People I still just cringe when that song comes on.

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Judge Roybeanbag

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2 hours ago, oSuJeff97 said:

Oh I agree.

My thing with that song is that it was just inescapable for several years... MTV, radio, TV shows, movies....you couldn't avoid it if you tried... so much so that it went from being a song that didn't care for to one that I actively loathed.  And so now if I play Automatic for the People I still just cringe when that song comes on.

Oh yeah I completely get it.  Back when I used to work on a farm and only had a radio in my tractor, I HATED certain bands because I'd hear their songs 100 times a day.  Like with REM, I always remember this one, when they were just a bunch of kids having fun:

 

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Red Five

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20 hours ago, oSuJeff97 said:

My thing with that song is that it was just inescapable for several years... MTV, radio, TV shows, movies....you couldn't avoid it if you tried... so much so that it went from being a song that didn't care for to one that I actively loathed.  And so now if I play Automatic for the People I still just cringe when that song comes on.

I feel the same about One on Achtung Baby. 

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oSuJeff97

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9 hours ago, NTVTXN said:

👋🏻I’m one of the 10. 😅

I like both UP and Reveal OK. I don't listen to the two full albums that often, but they do have two of my favorite late-career R.E.M. songs - "Daysleeper" and "Imitation of Life."

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NTVTXN

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2 hours ago, oSuJeff97 said:

I like both UP and Reveal OK. I don't listen to the two full albums that often, but they do have two of my favorite late-career R.E.M. songs - "Daysleeper" and "Imitation of Life."

Same. They’re on (in?) my cloud, playlist, apple iTunes/thing or whatever we’re calling it now.  
It’s always a nice surprise when my phone randomly picks a track from those two albums.

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