REM or U2?

[jakobnicholas]

If these 2 revered bands were only judged on their mediocre-to-crappy last 3 records, who's better?

 

 

REM:

Reveal

Around the Sun

Accelerate

 

U2:

Pop

All That You Can't Leave Behind

How To Dismantle an Atomic Bond

 

 

 

 

Personally, I'd give the edge (no pun intended) to U2.

 

I'd rank them:

 

Pop (I like this one)

Reveal (I like it in a pleasant, pretty kind of way)

How To Dismantle an Atomic Bond (contains some really great songs and holds together decently)

All That You Can't Leave Behind (hard to say many great things about this one. "Kite" is a cool song.)

Accelerate (I like that they cranked it up a few notches. Buck's guitar sounds nice. That's about it.)

Around the Sun (a couple shining REM moments. That's it.)

[remphish1]

As a fan of both bands I don't get all the criticism of both the bands. All 6 of the albums you listed have many many great songs. POP by U2 is probably my 2nd favorite album by them. All That You Can't Leave Behind has great songs (Peace on Earth, When I Look at the World, Walk On), Atomic Bomb is a little weak but still I spin it every once in a while. REM meanwhile the last three albums I still enjoy and listen to . Reveal has some classics ( Imitation, Rain, I've Been High, Beat a Drum) and Accelerate is an amazing album. I listen to that quite oftent. So I would still give the edge to REM here in response to your question. For me the only U2 Album that really stinks is Zooropa. It still has one of my all time favorite U2 songs though Stay so I can't completley disregard it. In My mind though every REM album has at least a few redeeming qualities. Considering their length of their career I would say it is pretty impressive.

 

 

Here is how I rank the albums on a scale of 1 to 10 (The Best)

U2 Pop-9.5

U2 All That You Can't-7.5

U2 Atomic- 6

 

REM Reveal -7.5

REM Around the Sun-7.5

REM Accelerate-9

 

Sorry for my ramble.

[Sir Stewart]

I vote for U2 because, among many other reasons, REM stopped existing for me a long time ago.

[Three dollars and 63 cents]

I vote for U2 because, among many other reasons, REM stopped existing for me a long time ago.

 

That pretty much captures how I've felt about REM for the last eight or nine years. I lost interest in them when Bill Berry left the band. The last one of their albums I bought was Up, and I didn't like it very much.

 

ATYCLB is U2's worst album, in my opinion. I loved Pop, though (I think it features some of Bono's best and most personal songwriting on songs like Gone, Mofo, and Wake Up Dead Man), and HTDAAB won me back after I stopped listening to them for awhile. I'm hopeful about the new album. I certainly wouldn't call U2 my favorite band anymore, but I think they've got at least one great album left in them.

[Sir Stewart]

I think Atomic Bomb is my least favorite U2 album. I have a soft spot for Leave Behind because of events going on in my life when it came out. Is there a better way to judge an album?

[dondoboy]

U2 get my vote.

[Duck-Billed Catechist]

As a fan of both bands I don't get all the criticism of both the bands. All 6 of the albums you listed have many many great songs. POP by U2 is probably my 2nd favorite album by them. All That You Can't Leave Behind has great songs (Peace on Earth, When I Look at the World, Walk On), Atomic Bomb is a little weak but still I spin it every once in a while. REM meanwhile the last three albums I still enjoy and listen to . Reveal has some classics ( Imitation, Rain, I've Been High, Beat a Drum) and Accelerate is an amazing album. I listen to that quite oftent. So I would still give the edge to REM here in response to your question. For me the only U2 Album that really stinks is Zooropa. It still has one of my all time favorite U2 songs though Stay so I can't completley disregard it. In My mind though every REM album has at least a few redeeming qualities. Considering their length of their career I would say it is pretty impressive.

 

Sorry for my ramble.

I like Pop. All That You Can't Leave Behind has some good songs, but is kind of cheesy. HTDAAB is embarassing, imo. A lot of the songs seem disjointed, Bono's lyrics are often not very lyrical (don't really follow much of a meter at times, etc). A Man and A Woman is really one of the worst songs they ever put out. The production is so dated--it sounds like a reject from the second half of War (which is vastly inferior to the first half, imo).

[Sir Stewart]

A Man And A Woman is probably the only U2 song I can't listen to.

[you ever seen a ghost?]

without hearing any of the six records, i'd go with R.E.M., because they used to be really good.

 

-justin

[Three dollars and 63 cents]

I listened to HTDAAB a lot when it came out, but it's not an album I've been revisiting very much. There are a few songs on it I like, but there are also some lyrics that really make me cringe. I actually like A Man and a Woman, but Miracle Drug is pretty awful ("freedom has a scent like the top of a newborn baby's head?" WTF, Bono?). I worry that Bono is getting too cheesy and sentimental as a songwriter. I'm not quite sure what changed between Pop and ATYCLB, but his lyrics started taking a turn for the worse then.

 

It's nice being able to talk about U2 critically without getting attacked. There's a pretty big group over on the U2 board who believe Bono is a saint and can do no wrong, and it's impossible to have a critical discussion about the band without someone freaking out.

[ponch1028]

I think both are 2 for 3 with their latest output.

 

I like both Pop and ATYCLB a lot.

I think Reveal is the best of all 6 albums.

 

I think Atomic Bomb and Around the Sun are quite possibly the worst albums for each group, IMO.

 

I think Up, Reveal are underrated and Accelerate is a solid album. I with R.E.M. would go back and make a sparse, quiet album in the vein of Automatic and Out of Time.

[hardwood floor]

REM was once the greatest band in the world.

 

Now they're the worst band in the world. (except for coldplay)

 

So U2's last three suck less I guess

[jcroach]

A Man And A Woman is probably the only U2 song I can't listen to.

 

I'm a big U2 fan and I agree with you there. I'd also add in "Wild Honey" and b-side "Big Girls are Best."

 

As far as the original question, I don't have an opinion. I haven't heard any of those REM albums and it's a shame because I used to really like them.

[John Smith]

Without getting into a long drawn out list of reasons I'll say U2's last three are head and shoulders above the last three from REM. Though REM's last has their quality on a slight uptick.

[jakobnicholas]

I think both bands have had generally weak lyrics of late.

 

Many are ripping Bono's lyrics for being sappy and cheesy. I'l grant some of that....though, to me, songs like When I Look At the World, Miragle Drug, Sometimes You Can't Make it on Your Own and Yahweh are examples of Bono nicely expressing his thoughts, even if a tad on the syrupy side.

 

Stipe's lyrics after UP (I LOVE his lyrics on this record...."pounce pony" excluded), just seem WAY forced. Reveal was OK, but Around the Sun and Accelerate have moments that make me pull my hair out, saying, "WTF?!".

 

Some samples:

 

Electron Blue:

 

"So bide your time

You'll feel the climb

Your high it builds like a lightning storm

It sings like pearls

You know that girl

And no one is any the wiser

So as if on cue.....

Electron Blue"

 

 

High Speed Train:

 

"I jump on a high speed train

I'll never look back again

I flail like the antelope

Who jumped from the building"

 

 

Wanderlust:

 

"I had to grab a suitcase

I had to change my clothes

I had to run the shower hot

until the water froze"

 

Horse to Water:

 

"You're only as big as your battles.

Rattle my cage with your shadow.

I'm a bantamweight with a mouth full of feathers,

Don't you know that what comes around goes around?

 

Don't darken my doorstep again,

You're mixing up living in chin-chin,

You're mixing up lose with win-win,

You lead a horse to water and you watch him drown.

 

You stumble on glass top table,

TV's chewing shock-gone cable

Pump me up a beanstalk fable

And I'll call this entertainment

'cause Humpty's falling down."

[remphish1]

REM was once the greatest and in the world.

 

Now they're the worst band in the world. (except for coldplay)

 

So U2's last three suck less I guess

 

Wow what has REM done to you? Seems a little personal.

 

Though I can't say I don't know the feeling. I used to love Aerosmith but I lost it after that song Pink came out.

 

Anyway just wanted to see why your opinion changed so much.

[Hoodoo Man]

If I may deposit my $.02 regarding lyrics. As I have gotten older, my sympathy for waning lyrical talent has grown. I truly believe that as one ages, his or her raw emotions change dramatically. Instead of being angry at the world and all of its injustices, you're angry at your kid's baseball coach for only allowing your kid to bat once in the past 3 games. Instead of looking forward to a day when countries' borders fall and the world becomes a giant commune, you just look forward to getting home from work and getting a big, gummy smile from your 4-month old. I just think writing sappier lyrics as a songwriter ages is natural and to be expected. Therefore, personal lyrics about losing one's father or seeing a courageous person with a debilitating condition reach me just like lyrics about yearning for an end to a religious war.

[Sir Stewart]

If I may deposit my $.02 regarding lyrics. As I have gotten older, my sympathy for waning lyrical talent has grown. I truly believe that as one ages, his or her raw emotions change dramatically. Instead of being angry at the world and all of its injustices, you're angry at your kid's baseball coach for only allowing your kid to bat once in the past 3 games. Instead of looking forward to a day when countries' borders fall and the world becomes a giant commune, you just look forward to getting home from work and getting a big, gummy smile from your 4-month old. I just think writing sappier lyrics as a songwriter ages is natural and to be expected. Therefore, personal lyrics about losing one's father or seeing a courageous person with a debilitating condition reach me just like lyrics about yearning for an end to a religious war.

Totally agree. Nicely put.

[Duck-Billed Catechist]

If I may deposit my $.02 regarding lyrics. As I have gotten older, my sympathy for waning lyrical talent has grown. I truly believe that as one ages, his or her raw emotions change dramatically. Instead of being angry at the world and all of its injustices, you're angry at your kid's baseball coach for only allowing your kid to bat once in the past 3 games. Instead of looking forward to a day when countries' borders fall and the world becomes a giant commune, you just look forward to getting home from work and getting a big, gummy smile from your 4-month old. I just think writing sappier lyrics as a songwriter ages is natural and to be expected. Therefore, personal lyrics about losing one's father or seeing a courageous person with a debilitating condition reach me just like lyrics about yearning for an end to a religious war.

I'm not sure that explains Bono's lyrical shift, though. He has always written about big ideas and personal stuff--but his lyrics have taken a turn for the clumsy and literal.

[Hoodoo Man]

I'm not sure that explains Bono's lyrical shift, though. He has always written about big ideas and personal stuff--but his lyrics have taken a turn for the clumsy and literal.

 

Yeah, it may not explain his shift as much as it explains my patience for his shift. Still, I think maybe he's lost a little of his passion and that may have an effect on his abilities. Or maybe he's just running out of ideas. .

[Sir Stewart]

I'm not sure that explains Bono's lyrical shift, though. He has always written about big ideas and personal stuff--but his lyrics have taken a turn for the clumsy and literal.

I don't think so. I don't like the song Miracle Drug, but I do love the 'newborn baby's head' line.

[EL the Famous]

I think Atomic Bomb is my least favorite U2 album. I have a soft spot for Leave Behind because of events going on in my life when it came out. Is there a better way to judge an album?

 

brothers from another mother. same for me. i'll throw in POP is full of misunderstood genius and some of edge's best guitar work. period.

 

i really have only liked a few song here and there from REM since automatic...the recent album i have listened to front and back quite a few times and like it.

[scribex6]

I disagree with the premise as well. I'm still a fan of both bands. I think Accelerate is a great album and enjoyed most of Reveal. I'd say Around the Sun was the only one of R.E.M.'s recent releases I found subpar. As for U2, I thought Pop had some great stuff on there (I love "Please" and "Gone") although not all of it works. With their last two albums, they did less experimenting and just concentrated on putting together a good collection of songs.

[froggie]

R.E.M sucks less, IMO

[Calexico]

Let's see, which way will I vote?