dtram

I like the song Strange Currencies - that is about it.

I always thought it was ashame that once they decided to make it a single, they shorted the title. The original title, With Love Come Strange Currencies was much cooler imo but I guess not very top 40 friendly. Surprised you dont like Kenneth.

Bot overall. far effin better than I dared imagine 15 albums and 30 years in. Really hope the positive response from fans and critics inspires a tour. Living in Seattle it would be very conceivable to see Eddie Vedder joining them for "It Happened Today".

No doubt, I cant believe they had this in them, as I said before. Dont hold your breath for a tour. Mills basically said it was JMS who didn't want to go out. Seems to Buck and Mills would pretty much tour whenever, but it's Stipes call, which is fair considering how much work it has to be for him.

Like I said before, I'm kind of 50/50 on the whole tour thing. Love seeing them but have seen them so much that I can live with no tour. And lateley, I think they are still a great live band but I feel they have the worst paced sets of any good band I know of. Slow song (2 minute break to change instruments) loud song (2 minute break to change instruments) etc. No flow.

Agree on the "Life's Rich Pageant" reference or parts of "NAIHF". The trouble with "Monster" is that despite its claim it rarely rocks. Absolutely loving "Collapse into Now" now I have listened to it 10 + times. Again no prizes for originality but lots of energy and more hooks than a butcher's shop

Only song I'm having trouble getting is Everyday is Yours To Win and I love the way it sounds, just not connecting. I agree, it really is a hook fest. I'm ready to stop with this hybrid, MP3 leak/stream burn and listen to the real thing. Know of any rips from Australia or Europe where it's already out floating around?

Dude, just buy a record player.

Wish I had thought of that. Seriously, i dont have a spot for it that wouldn't keep it out of harms way of a 3 and 6 year old.

That was my first thought. It sounded like a laid back Monster.

 

R.E.M. Recruits James Franco, Albert Maysles to Helm 'Collapse Into Now' Videos

Really? Interesting, the only song that reminds me at all of Monster is All the Best. To me, one of the biggest problems with monster is that even though they're all loud, they are also pretty much all slow, the only one with a fast tempo is Star 69. All the rockers on CIN are really fast, much more reminicent of LRP.

Yeah it was a great short set this year too...

 

First performance of both Saturn Returns and Everyday is Yours to Win...

 

That is funny with the Trey stuff...as much as I enjoy Phish from time to time their fans are 99% very annoying and do take away from the live expierence.

How was Saturn Return, what was the instrumentation?

I am attending the Tibet House benefit at Carengie Hall with Mr. Stipe performing tonight..I hope he plays something off the new album as I am digging it too!

Have fun. I went in 1999 when REM played. They did e-bow w/patti, PJ's The Long Road witht some dude playing a 20ft horn and At My Most Beautiful with Mills and Philip Glass sharing the same piano. It's gotta be one of the most interesting 3 song sets the band ever played and it kills me there has never been a recording surface. I love Carnegie Hall too.

You'll enjoy this next part of the story given your user name. Trey was playing as well and there was this obnoxious phish fan who wouldnt shut the fuck up yelling Trey, Trey every 5 fucking minutes until he came on. Some one finally responded to him, tray of what, tray of cold cuts? or something like that.

"Up" might have been a classic if they were on good enough terms when it was about to be released to decide on which 2 or 3 tracks to leave off the album. I have read and you'd probably know this for sure but seemingly neither Mills or Buck would relent and allow one or two of their compositions to be axed. I don't know if you'd agree but the song "You're In the Air" is one of the most under-appreciated songs in the R.E.M. canon. The emotion in that song never fails to get me.

Guess I'm gonna have to be disagreable on this, You're in the Air would be one of the 3 tracks I'd have left off Up, To me, it's kind of blah and just slows things down between Sad Professor and Walk Unafraid. The other 2 i'd scratch are Apologist and Diminished. Apologist for me is in the running for the worst song in the catalog, definitely beat his own record for saying I'm Sorry in a song and Diminished is just too slow and drags the record out. What I've noticed is that most people think Up is too long by 3 songs but no one agrees on the 3 that should have been cut. Guess were lucky that we can all make our own running order.

3 more listens into CIN and I still love it. AAAA is really surprising at how good it is, love That Someone is You, sounds like it could've been off of one of those 1980 Tyronnes boots. Tired of listening the shitty stream rip. Ready for the real thing.

Delighted to see that a long-time fan like me feels the same way about "Collapse Into Now". Maybe a little relieved too in case I was gushing too much myself.

 

I think it's really tough to be objective about R.E.M. especially this late into their career. I'd argue that they had such a consistently brilliant run from "Chronic Town" through "New Adventures in Hi-Fi" that they are definitely weighed down by that legacy.

 

As you correctly state it doesn't feel tired or stale. Overall, it's definitely one of their poppiest albums. With the exception of "Blue" there isn't anything remotely challenging for the casual listener. I mean that as an observation and not a criticism. It's the most Bill Berry sounding of the records that don't feature him. Why? Well Bill Rieflin really plays with a Berry-like fluidity and power on the faster/rockier tracks. There's also a succinctness married to melody that is a very definite hallmark of Bill Berry era albums especially their most commercially successful releases.

 

Lastly, I never tire of Michael Stipe's voice. You could argue it isn't what it was but he's definitely more successfully adapted his delivery than someone like Bono. Just a shame they aren't touring. Close your eyes and imagine the lights going down and the band opening with "Discoverer" and "All The Best"......

Got me thinking as i never really thought of rem records by whether they were challenging or not. I would say, by and large rem records aren't challenging at all. Even the funkier ones like monster or up are still, at the core pop records, one had fuzz, the other, synth noises but stripped to their essense, they are still rem. Where they got into trouble is when they lost that governor, maybe BB, maybe a good producer to keep them focused. One record was still great (up) one was pretty damn good (reveal) and one kinda sucked (ats). Now they have 2 in a row that are great. I am actually surprised at the amount of dissing i have been reading lately about accelerate. I thought it was great when it came out and still do. It's a great collection of songs and now that i finally found a vinyl rip on the internets, I'm loving it even more. The compression is to me the only legitimate criticism of the record. While the vinyl is still compressed, it's light years better than the cd.

Gonna listen to CIN again.

Gotta say, I'm pretty surprised they had this one in them. I think, even though I'm a huge fan that I can be pretty objective about them and this is a pretty great record. R.E.M. ceased being cool a long time ago so this record won't likely get the respect or recognition it deserves. At the end of the day, if you liked them back in the day , there is something here for you. It rocks as hard as LRP and Document, it has the acoustic feel of OOT and Automatic and closes with what can only be described as a tone poem with patti smith that is the child of country feedback, belong and live for today (1997 fan club single.). And through all of that, it doesn't feel stale or tired. Yes, you've heard it before, but not quite like this. Really, an amazing collection of hooks and melodies.

I don't feel that their post Bill Berry work has been nearly as disappointing as some do, I actually quite like most of it, but this album, at least on first impression, is of the quality of their best work. How many bands can you say that about after 30 years? I think I mentioned early in the thread that i thought it may be a good time to pack it in. If they keep up this quality, why should they?

Yep, me too. No Keith Moon though unfortunately

 

I guess I can throw in Bowie too although it was the Glass Spider tour so maybe I shouldn't count that one.

I saw the Glass Spider tour too. Holy crap, was that bad. Did catch the Sound & Vision tour which was simple & elegant and featured Adrian Belew on guitar.

No Moonie for me either, at least we got to see the Ox. That solo he was doing on 5:15 in those later years was sick, and i'm not a big solo guy.

Saw Glass Spider too, what the hell was he thinking?

Wilco (w/ Jay Bennett

Yes indeed!

Grateful Dead

The Band - 3 weeks before Richard Manuel hung himself

Brian Wilson Smile tour - yeah he's still around but that tour isn't and doubtful it will ever come back

Bowie - Sound and Vision tour, last tour of the catalog people care about

Warren Zevon - "and if California slides into the ocean, like the mystics and statistics say it will. I predict this motel will be standing, until I pay my bill." So glad I saw this live.

The Kinks - many times. Damn were they fun.

Edit. The Who - with John Entwistle

Nirvana - should have seen them on the In Utero tour and just figured I'd have another chance, big fuck up.

Fleetwood Mac (with Christine McVie) - didn't go to see The Dance tour because they were basically doing the The Dance reunion concert, note for note and all of the same between song banter and I hate that whole, glad we're in (your city here) rock 'n roll bullshit. Then Christine McVie left and it doesn't seem the same to me. Stevie's voice is shot, hers was still beautiful. Lindsey came solo a few years back but I was away, really need to see him.

Velvet Underground - Really wish that '93 reunion came to the states, the live record from that tour is fantastic.

I bet someone will ask David about Sunshine Daydream. I get the feeling a lot of projects they had lined up changed once the Rhino deal happened.

Yup. Why isnt that out? I just pulled off Traders Den a month ago and it's pretty f'in good quality, I dont really care if it comes out or not but seems silly not release it.

I think this will be interesting:

 

Grateful Dead and Phish Archivists to Speak at Drexel University

Thanks for the info, I would love to go this, Drexel is 20 minutes from me, but 6pm is tough. Will try though.

I did see this analysis a long while back, but don't worry, I am not going to slam you for posting it again. Like Sir Stewart, it's nice to see some Sopranos talk. I loved that show and nothing has really taken its place for me.

Me either

Thanks guys. I know there would be quality issues but there is stuff I want to have archived; some old REM electronic press kits and old bootleg videos etc. Companies that do this charge like $25 per 2 hour DVD so I could buy that software and be ahead after 3 DVD's. I think I'll investigate a litter further and then probably buy a piece of software. The Roxio looked cool as it came with a usb plug that had the red/white/yellow RCA jacks on the other end. Just plug a vcr in and go, looks simple.

I've found this site to be very useful when it comes to video related questions:

 

After Dawn

AfterDawn (forums)

AfterDawn (guides)

Thanks A-man, I'll check those out.

This seems like the most applicable forum for this question. Looking to start converting old VHS to DVD and wondering if anyone has any experience/suggestions on methods/software etc. Roxio has a software package that looks pretty simple for $60 and wondering if anyone has experince with this, pro or con, or with anything else.

Thanks.

Fuck off.

It's a friendly thread this is

Hope you enjoyed the link.

Wow, that actually looks like a pretty interesting analysis, I hope to give it the time it deserves when I have more time. That is one thing that amazed me about the show. No matter all the evil things Tony did, a part of me always rooted for him. Strange. I miss that show...and the wire.

I think that's a big part about why people, including me, missed this at the time, because you are rooting for him even though he's scum. If this analysis doesn't convince you, nothing will.

I read all of that breakdown a couple of years ago. Good stuff. I fully believe T was whacked.

Yeah, no doubt, that guy does a great job and the fact that he just updated it in december says that a lot of people are still discovering it. I read that link about a year ago but some guy at work sent it to me today and he got me thinking about again so i thought I'd post it since a lot of people i know aren't familiar with it. Don't know why i added the apostrophe, just busy i guess and not thinking. Hopefully a couple people check it out because it is a great read and makes you think about that last episode again.

HBO just had season 4 up on demand and that last episode of that season, Whitecaps, may be my favorite episode of the series.

Might be that you searched for Sopranos with an apostrophe before the 's'.

The link was discussed a tad bit here:

http://forums.viachicago.org/topic/35827-sopranos-final-episode-in-depth-theory/

And the final season was discussed here:

http://forums.viachicago.org/topic/27797-psa-sopranos-on-tonight/

 

Always good to see Sopranos talk.

Guess I did, thanks.

thanks for the link. I will read it.

 

I saw the show back in the day but everytime i see an episode i remember how great it was. I miss that show.

You're welcome, it's a pretty cool analysis. I miss the show too.

FU. I thought some people would find this interesting, sorry to bother you.

Hi all, I searched and didn't see there was thread about this but if I missed it, I apologize. Click the link below to read an amazingly detailed description of the final scene of the Soporano's that comes to the conclusion that Tony died. It's amazing long and amazingly detailed so don't read until you have a half hour or so but if you haven't read this and were a big Soprano's fan, I think you'll enjoy it.

After reading it, I was so pissed at myself for not seeing it at the time. I came to the conclusion that why me and many people didn't realize it is that no matter how much of a scum bag Tony was, you rooted for him and wanted him to make it.

Read and decide for yourself.

http://masterofsopranos.wordpress.com/the-sopranos-definitive-explanation-of-the-end/