| Author | Message | ||
     kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 1588 Registered: 05-2005 |
REM begin recording new album The band start sessions in Canada REM have begun recording their new album in Vancouver. As previously reported, the band have hired Bloc Party and Snow Patrol producer Jacknife Lee to work with them on the follow-up to 2004's 'Around The Sun'. According to fansite murmurs.com, the band plan to spend a few weeks in the Canadian city before heading to Dublin to work on the rest of the record. While in the Irish capital, REM will play five sold-out 'working rehearsal' dates at the Olympia Theatre on June 30 and July 1, 3, 4 and 5. Frontman Michael Stipe said of the shows: "Returning to Dublin for our live rehearsal this summer provides the great start we need for our next albums work. I intend to hit the ground running." Bassist Mike Mills added: "I've seen so many great shows at the Olympia, from The Waterboys to Lou Reed, and am thrilled to play at this wonderful venue, and in front of some of the best fans in the world, too." There is no release date for the record as yet, but it is thought that a late 2007 release is likely. | ||
| Kurt Stephan Member Username: Slothbert Post Number: 1384 Registered: 04-2005 |
As we've mentioned before--if they somehow talk Bill Berry into participating, it might end up being OK. | ||
| Donat Member Username: Donat Post Number: 270 Registered: 11-2004 |
Do REM fans feel cheated without Bill Berry in the same way some Gobs fans do without Lindy being in Gobs Mk2? | ||
| peter ward Member Username: Peter_ward Post Number: 38 Registered: 06-2005 |
Kevin, I was lucky enough to get tickets for the July 3rd show, it is a great venue and expectations are running high because it's REM in that special place (where Bowie and Radiohead have both played intimate shows before)if not on the basis of their recent output. I'm hoping that Buck has been rejuvinated by his recent tours with Robyn Hitchock, though he admitted on the Hitchcock documentary recently that REM work completely differently and I picked up from him that he was frustrated by that. I wouldn't say he's the problem for the recent malaise anyway, like Kurt and Donat above, bring back bill, theyve not made a good record since he left and he must want to trade his pitchforks for drumsticks again at this stage! | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 1589 Registered: 05-2005 |
Peter, yes I totally agree with you and Kurt about Berry. We have had a good few discussions here a while back about how most of us feel REM are washed up, a spent force, creatively devoid of ideas, whatever you want to call it. However, I still live in hope that they will come up with a career resurrecting album. | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 1530 Registered: 05-2005 |
Re the GB's Donat. Although i personally grew up with GB's mk1 and Lindy and Robert V at the thythm section helm, I don't feel cheated at all. Lindy's style of drumming suited the GB's mk1 down to a 'T'. And, I think Glenn did with mk11. If Lindy did come back, it would only have worked if Robertr V cam back too. But, let us face it, things have moved on, OA is a classic album, and BYBO SFRW are great too. I must say, REm don't excite me at all, don't feel interested about seeing them or hearingthem. They really need to call it a day. Berry was such a force, they really did lose it after he departed, save for a few songs. | ||
| Kurt Stephan Member Username: Slothbert Post Number: 1385 Registered: 04-2005 |
Donat, while Lindy was a great drummer and a major contributor to the arrangements (at least on albums 1-5), the situation's a bit different because she didn't contribute to the songwriting of the band the way Berry did. I forget which songs ("Driver 8" may be one of them), but I've read that some R.E.M. songs were pretty much all Bill's, plus he sometimes insisted Stipe rewrite lyrics ("Welcome to the Occupation" is an example of that). So he was a pretty big creative force in the group. R.E.M. has suffered from "three-legged dog" syndrome since he left--they can still function, but something's missing. Maybe kicking Stipe's ass out of lethargy was another role of Berry's, as Stipe's been stone-cold boring the last three albums, and I never thought of him as boring before that. That said, the Go-Betweens were more musically interesting with Lindy then without--she was obviously a huge part of the arrangements in the '80s, witness the much more angular and dynamic rhythms. But basically, the group evolved into a songwriters' band, and those songwriters were RF and GM, end of story. Since "Tallulah," they've had very conventional rhythmic backing (no slight intended to Glenn and Adele). But it works for what they do. | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 614 Registered: 01-2005 |
Kurt, I think "Perfect Circle" is one of Bill's. It's one of my favorite songs by them. I never bought any of of the post-Bill R.E.M. albums, so I can't comment of their worth, except to say that I'm not interested in getting them if Bill's not part of the group. I missed Lindy not being in Gobs Mk2, but I actually missed Amanda more in Mk2 as I really loved her oboe and violin parts and singing as well on Tallulah and 16LL. | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 1955 Registered: 03-2006 |
Maybe Berry's vital role was bullshit detector - perhaps he would've advised them about the debacle that was Around the Sun, "nice try, dudes, but let's just bury that in a deep hole and start over!"... | ||
| fsh Member Username: Fsh Post Number: 104 Registered: 05-2005 |
I remember Berry describing 'Everybody hurts' as a turd of a song that had been around for aeons. I think he said that contrary to the adage, the songs success went to prove that you could polish a turd. I think 'Around the Sun' was very weak (maybe three decent songs) but I really like the Sunshine record with the yellow summery cover which was the last one they partially recorded in Dublin - can't think of the title but it's got 'all the way to Reno' on it. So I wouldn't agree that all their recent records have been turkeys! | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 621 Registered: 08-2006 |
I think you might be right, LK. It's hard to explain the fall-off that happened after he left the band unless he did perform some function in the band besides as one-half of the rhythm section. I think there really are certain people in long-running bands who serve as bullshit detectors, red-flagging crap and keeping the songwriters on their toes. I don't know much about REM besides their music, buut it wouldn't surprise me to hear they lost a lot more in Berry than just a (first-rate) drummer. |