auctioneer69 Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 That's interesting to think about, but pretty much impossible to rank. I'll take a stab at a top 10: 1. Murmur2. Reckoning3. Being There4. Out of Time5. Summerteeth6. Fales of Reconstruction7. Green8. Automatic for the People9. Up10. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot Maybe, it's because I wasn't born in the country that reduces the theatre-spectacle of sports into interminable statistics but does anyone else think the idea of trying to rank albums this way ridiculous? For godsake this is art. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
myboyblue Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 Great thread!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
The High Heat Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 R.E.M. vs. Wilco Geek Fight! Geek Fight! But the winner must take on Kimbo at Summerslam! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
cryptique Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 Maybe, it's because I wasn't born in the country that reduces the theatre-spectacle of sports into interminable statistics but does anyone else think the idea of trying to rank albums this way ridiculous? For godsake this is art.There are plenty of other threads on this board that you could be reading. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
hardwood floor Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 For godsake this is art. why did i picture frasier crane when i read that? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mpolak21 Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 Yankee is probably my favorite album either band put out, but R.E.M has a few more great albums (everything they put out on IRS is absolutely killer). --Mike Quote Link to post Share on other sites
auctioneer69 Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 why did i picture frasier crane when i read that? Point taken: i'll take that as a compliment. I mean Frasier was always a hit with the ladies, successful at work and never neurotic:) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
pillowy star Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 Well, having been a massive REM fan until discovering Wilco (through REM I might add), this is a thread just after my gusto. Summerteeth to me is the best album that has ever been released, UP is close second. So far so good. Everything REM has released since UP was close to or beyond a huge disappointment (but who'd blame them, no matter what they might still release, nothing will be able to top the tightness, the atmosphere and the lyrics of UP anyway); who would have thought that after listening to ATS and especially Accelerate , I would rate REVEAL as brilliant (I now indeed do). Anything Wilco has released since REM released UP was a gazillion miles better than everything post-UP released by REM. Most especially ST, YHF, AGIB and SBS (still not sure about WTA but we're getting there). Quote Link to post Share on other sites
wilconut Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 I'm not sure how I feel about this comparison. I love REM. Love. But I'm not sure you can compare Wilco and REM. REM carved out a sound in the early 80's, a revolutionary sound that helped forge indie and college rock, and they kept pushing that sound, albeit with some varying degrees of style or influence, until really busted through in the early 1990's. Wilco though doesn't really have a sound. Sure you can call them alt-country pioneers. Sure you can call them baroque-pop kings. Americana infused noise, Kraut rock, Dad rock, whatever. Point being you know an REM song when you hear one. They do a few things and they do a few things very well, better than most bands. Wilco just has such a greater reach creatively. I always feel like they're moving forward, that Jeff Tweedy is always taking us in a new musical direction. I'm not sure the same could be said of Michael Stipe, save for maybe Accelerate. Anyway, long story short I think comparing these two bands is just too hard, and in thinking about it I don't know you can compare Wilco to any band currently working today. Thoughts? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Jules Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 Maybe, it's because I wasn't born in the country that reduces the theatre-spectacle of sports into interminable statistics What does this even mean? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sir Stewart Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 What does this even mean? Haha, now that you've shown a spotlight on it, it clearly makes no sense. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SeattleC Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 I've had the chance to see Peter Buck play live several times a year with his other projects (Minus 5 and the Venus 3 with Robyn Hitchcock). Always in small venues. Those experiences really biased my view of Accelerate when it came out, since it's more of a Peter Buck guitar fest with some Michael Stipe vocal layering (and some Robyn H influences, I suspect). I like it alot, but I won't even try ranking it with Wilco's last three. I have alot of respect for Peter Buck based on my limited interactions with him; he treats his fans well and seems to be a real gem of a person, musician, and musicologist. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ghost of Electricity Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 REM was one of the first bands that started opening things up musically for me, expanding the ole' horizons far beyond people i wouldn't dare mention on this board but for whom i still have a juvenile soft spot for. But when I heard REM, the world was a bigger place. This was everything up to and including Document. Then came Green. Then the chronology gets blurry for me because it was, um, well, college. And more importantly I started losing interest. I don't think I've even heard anything after somewhere around Automatic For the People. Reading this thread seems to confirm that i haven't really missed anything. Or have I? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
remphish1 Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 I think you missed alot. REM's later albums although not as good ad the IRS stuff is still miles beyond other bands IMHO! They really started to expierement from 1994-2008. Each album was something different with them. Give New Adventures a listen and UP (Quie the transition form one album to another). Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SeattleC Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 Reading this thread seems to confirm that i haven't really missed anything. Or have I? Yes, Peter Buck's great guitars and the playing of them. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
auctioneer69 Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 What does this even mean? Well..there's a tendency here to reduce sport to a never-ending stream of statistics (whether it be NFL, basketball and especially baseball). At times, I think this detracts from the fun/beauty/pleasure of just watching a game which often comes down to one or two key moments which are full of drama. (Hence the theater analogy). One could make a similar point about the enjoyment of music or other art forms when the subject of lists come up. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
barbkm Posted July 11, 2009 Share Posted July 11, 2009 It was a sad, sad day when I realized that I like anything Wilco more then anything REM. I've loved REM since 84, and felt like they were part of my growing up. But, I just don't think Michael Stipe's lyrics come close to Jeff's. I am on the REM minority cos I Love Reveal and Up and New Adventures in Hi-Fi. Around the Sun did suck, but I think it was the production cos those songs live kick ass. And in 50 years when they look back at REM's catelog, they will say the Leaving New York was one of their best songs. For me, it's just go real emotion. Accelerate kicks ass. Great for the gym,. Horse to Water, LOVE IT. Also, So, Central Rain is still my favorie song of all time. And who said the REM's other members do not contribute as much as Stipe.Need I remind you of a few things -- Mike Mills' gorgeous harmonies, the band almot broke up whe Bill Berry left, and Peter Buck's Rickemnbacker? Berry, Buck, and Mills wronte all the music -- I firmly believe that we'd all me listeing to robots if Peter Buck did not pick up the Rickenback and bring back guitart music in the early 80s. Funny thing is I was just thing the other day that for years, my two favorites were REM and Robyn Hitchcock, and now that's transitioning to Wilco and Andrew Bird. Life changes and goes on. And for the recond, Peter Buck could still get lucky with me. See him lately with Robyn Hitchcock? He is all that. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Moss Posted July 11, 2009 Share Posted July 11, 2009 And who said the REM's other members do not contribute as much as Stipe. Somebody said that? I have never heard that. That's just silly. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mpolak21 Posted July 11, 2009 Share Posted July 11, 2009 Everyone should at least illegally download the new deluxe edition of Reckoning that came out this week. --Mike Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mpolak21 Posted July 11, 2009 Share Posted July 11, 2009 It seems MANY on this board are big-time and knowledgeable fans of Wilco and R.E.M. Also, it seems most concur that both bands most recent ouputs are their weakest. Both bands have such AMAZING albums in their past that, when they release material that falls short of their lofty back catalog, we can't help but feel the albums are mediocre at best. How would you rank the 2 bands' last 3 records? I'd say: 1. A Ghost is Born (this, for me, is the EASY choice for #1)2. Reveal (Easy #2 choice, for me)3. Wilco (The Album) (I'm STILL not sure if I like it better than Sky Blue Sky...but lyrically it's better I think)4. Sky Blue Sky5. Around the Sun (This album has a handful of standouts, but an equal # of bad songs)6. Accelerate (To me, it was good the first 2 listens. Then it just sounded like a once-inspired band trying way too hard to sound inspired.) I was thinking about this today, and while it's hard to tell without the benefit of knowing where Wilco goes next I think quality wise SBS and WTA are closer to Green and Out of Time than the last three R.E.M. records. Green was the first R.E.M. record for me at least that didn't really work from start to finish, and Out of Time like WTA had a couple of killer moments (Losing My Religion, Near Wild Heaven) and some missteps (Radio Song, Shiny Happy People). Green and Out of Time certainly aren't bad albums, but their I.R.S albums and Automatic For The People are much better in my opinion in the same way Being There through AGIB is better than the rest of the Wilco catalog. R.E.M's decline has been a bit easier for me take than Wilco's, probably because by the time I was old enough of to get into R.E.M. it was about 98/99 and I already had a sense of their career narrative, and I knew for instance that Murmur was going to be better than Monster. I don't think their new albums are quite been as bad as people seem to think, but it's certainly been awhile since they've made an album that's stayed in my CD player for more than a few days. --Mike Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Moss Posted July 11, 2009 Share Posted July 11, 2009 I have definitely learned I need to check out "Reveal". Seems to be popular. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Calexico Posted July 11, 2009 Share Posted July 11, 2009 All Wilco albums are better than any REM album. How patently fucking WRONG. Any R.E.M. album from Murmur to New Adventures completely overshadows anything Wilco have released. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Moss Posted July 11, 2009 Share Posted July 11, 2009 How patently fucking WRONG. Any R.E.M. album from Murmur to New Adventures completely overshadows anything Wilco have released. I would say Chronic Town through Reckoning competes with the best Wilco stuff but that's about it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
cryptique Posted July 11, 2009 Share Posted July 11, 2009 I would say Chronic Town through Reckoning competes with the best Wilco stuff but that's about it.I would extend that through Lifes Rich Pageant but no further. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mpolak21 Posted July 11, 2009 Share Posted July 11, 2009 All Wilco albums are better than any REM album. What!?! How could your opinion be so completely different from mine? This statement is the complete opposite what I believe. Therefore you must be completely and totally wrong. . Any R.E.M. album from Murmur to New Adventures completely overshadows anything Wilco have released. I think this is also patently fucking wrong though. I mean if you want to add a since 2004 to the end your sentence and pretend Monster didn't happen, I could get behind it. I think Chronic Town, Murmur, Reckoning, Fables, Life's Rich Pageant, Document, and Automatic all sit alongside the best Wilco stuff. Muzzle of Bees is probably my favorite song by either band, though Losing My Religion and Driver 8 are unbelievably great. R.E.M. has the better guitarist, Buck. Wilco has the better drummer, though Berry contributed a lot to the songwriting. Tweedy and Stipe both write phenomenal lyrics when they're on. At the end of the day they're two of the greatest American bands of the last 25 years, maybe that auctioneer guy had the right idea. --Mike Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.