| Author | Message | ||
     Tim Member Username: Timr Post Number: 1 Registered: 06-2007 |
http://hartsonsdog.wordpress.com/2007/05 /26/great-lost-albums-1-the-go-betweens- 16-lovers-lane/ | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 1980 Registered: 03-2006 |
Very nice, Tim. Thanks for sharing that. | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 643 Registered: 01-2005 |
Considering what a piece of junk "Green" was compared to "16LL", I wonder how R.E.M. felt touring behind "Green" and having the G-B's touring behind "16LL" and opening up for (R.E.M.) on their 1989 European and OZ dates? Pretty cheeky I bet! | ||
| Kurt Stephan Member Username: Slothbert Post Number: 1401 Registered: 04-2005 |
I doubt R.E.M. viewed "Green" as a piece of junk at the time! Maybe they do now. But they did sort of make their "16LL" album ("Out of Time") after the overblown "Green" album/tour, so you may be on to something. | ||
| Pat Boland Member Username: Pat_boland Post Number: 27 Registered: 05-2005 |
I've always considered 'Automatic for the People' to be the R.E.M. equivalent to '16 Lovers Lane' with 'Out of Time' being their 'Tallulah', of course. The 'Green World Tour' was quite an event as I recall. 'Green', for the most part, hasn't aged well but at the time it was very well received and a lot of people bought (into) it. Michael Stipe certainly did. A recent glance at 'Tourfilm' confirmed that they weren't as engaging as they seemed at the time. The Go-Betweens' 10 song set was in a different league completely. They opened with a cracking version of 'Quiet Heart' - a bit closer to the JAMC/rehearsal room version that Robert has mentioned but not exactly 'Sidewalkin'' either ... Incidentally, Peter Buck later told Rolling Stone that the RDS/Dublin gig was the high point of the entire tour for R.E.M. In other words, I caught them on an on-night and The Go-Betweens still upstaged them. | ||
| Tim Member Username: Timr Post Number: 2 Registered: 06-2007 |
REM are the most overrated band of all time IMHO, certainly not worthy of sharing a stage with the mighty 'Tweens. I was living in Paris at the time of this tour, and a mate of mine (a massive REM obsessive who had never heard the GBs) went & said the GBs completely stole the show. While I'm here, is there any unreleased material in the GBs vaults? Before Grant died there was talk of the next album being a stunner, did any of the songs make it onto tape? | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 646 Registered: 01-2005 |
I just couldn't get into "Green" at all right from the start when I bought it the day it was released, and R.E.M. was my favorite band from 1983-1987! What happened was I discovered The Pixies and Throwing Muses a few months earlier as well as finally buying my first Wire album, "A Bell is a Cup". "Green" just blew major chunks comapred to "Document", "Surfer Rosa", "House Tornado" and "A Bell." Not to mention I got my hands on a pricey import of the Throwing Muses eponymus debut on 4AD. I had never heard anything like the TM's song 'I Hate My Way' before. Wew! Then I was blown away by "16LL" as well as Til Tuesday's overlooked gem "Everything's Different Now" and the introspective "Idlewild by EBTG. "Green" got a half a dozen plays or so and was then relegated to cd shelf away from my regular rotation pile. | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 646 Registered: 08-2006 |
This thread inspired me to pull out "Green," which disappointed me mightily when it came out, especially on the heels of "Document," which is still my fav REM. In retrospect, "Green" sounds pretty good. Not great, but certainly not the massive letdown I remembered. If they made an album like it today, I'd be delighted. | ||
| Kurt Stephan Member Username: Slothbert Post Number: 1403 Registered: 04-2005 |
My experience was like Rob's...I was sorely disappointed by "Green" when it came out, but in retrospect it's improved because it's so much better than the last three albums--and some might say the last five. A few songs that I didn't like before suddenly more sense to me over time, like "World Leader Pretend" and "The Wrong Child." In fact, I like all of side one, even if "Stand" is overplayed and a bit obnoxious. But side two is mostly quite poor, even when I'm in a more generous mood toward the album. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 1484 Registered: 05-2005 |
I was a bit dissaponted with Green when it came out but I still liked it a lot, and they were incredible when I saw them on that tour. I was not truly disappointed with an R.E.M. album until whatever one came out after Bill Berry left. Some of you have laughed here before, but I like Monster. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 1488 Registered: 05-2005 |
The double disc version of Lovers Lane is going for $15 in HMV, Pitt St, Sydney at the moment. | ||
| Jeff Whiteaker Member Username: Jeff_whiteaker Post Number: 573 Registered: 10-2004 |
I remember not minding Green so much when it came out, but I was also acutely aware that it seemed vastly inferior to Chronic Town, Murmur, and Reckoning. Green happens to be where I draw the line for REM. I don't like any of their music post-Green. But I could also live a decent life without anything past Fables. I would love to have seen the Go-Betweens open for REM on the Green tour. Although, even if the Go-Betweens were routinely upstaging REM, it's difficult for me to imagine how well the Go-Betweens' music would come across in the large venues that they were playing. | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 650 Registered: 01-2005 |
Jeff, while I ignored Green, I did listen to Out Of Time for a number of months. Regarding AFTP, I think the closing two numbers "Nightswiming" and "Find The River" are sweetly sublime and among my favorite R.E.M. songs of all time. I tried to like Monster, but it didn't register with me. | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 1569 Registered: 05-2005 |
I was a bit bored with Green when it came out. I was looking for something to make me think, woo yeah! Like Document did. I like Document. However years later, I don't mind it. It sits nicely with me, I feel really comfortable with it. I also have nice memories of that time too... I remember when my friends The Blue Aeroplanes were getting ready for 'take off' with them on the UK leg of the green tour, there was a real rush of excitement about he plkace, so Green at that time brings back those fond memories too. As a comment on jeff's msg re GoBees coming across in large arena's, I know The BA's handled it really well, at that time, they were built for the arena's, the arena's could barely hold them all on stage at one time!! I should imagine the GB's were urned down a wee bit, which is what usually happens to supports at large events. So, I reckon you had the subtlety in place, which would put the songs across to the listener like in a small vbenue, and I dare say a keen eye was bestowed upon them, considering the typical REM audience would probably be quite attracted to such a group as the GB's. | ||
| Catherine Vaughan Member Username: Catherine Post Number: 30 Registered: 05-2005 |
I loved Green, when it was first released, with the exception of Pop Song 89. I still love about 70% of the album, but I'd live a happy life if I never heard the rest. Their last decent album IMHO, was Out of Time, (With the exception of that abomination which was Sh*&y H@&$y P£@&*e). Since then, if they'd picked the best tracks from the last five studio albums, they'd be hard pushed to come up with two decent ones. Someone should lock them into the back of a van, and send them on tour in that. Maybe then they'd remember how to make good music. | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 651 Registered: 01-2005 |
Catherine, I think Peter Buck is remembering thanks to being a member Of Robyn Hitchcock & The Venus 3. They really need Bill back, as demonstrated by the energy they had with him at their RARHOF induction ceremony. | ||
| joe Member Username: Dogmansuede Post Number: 213 Registered: 07-2006 |
i quite like green....orange crush remains a stomper and untitled closes the album beautifully. in spite of all this, it didn't measure up to anything that preceded it...which is probably why it's often remembered being a lot worse than it was. i never got into much beyond that...aftp still leaves me pretty unaffected. more often than not i simply skip to nightswimming and play the album "out".... padraig - are any of the other deluxe editions on sale in pitt st at the moment? | ||
| frank bascombe Member Username: Frankb Post Number: 93 Registered: 01-2007 |
Not played Green in years i was an REM obsessive and probably didn't want to admit it wasn't up to the mark. Again like Michael love Night Swimming and Find the River,actually like a few tracks of there later but there are always better things to listen too | ||
| Tim Member Username: Timr Post Number: 3 Registered: 06-2007 |
I always found REM quite cold & unemotional, as if the music was some sort of art-school project rather than the creative outpouring of the soul or whatever. There were many vastly superior bands around at the time - the GBs, Triffids, Wire, countless UK indie bands - who didn't get a fraction of the media attention REM did. Stipe's annoying "I am weird" act has got them a long way. | ||
| Matthias Member Username: Matthias Post Number: 225 Registered: 05-2005 |
I am GREEN with envy to know that the Go-Betweens opened for R.E.M. at other places. In the Motor City, we got stuck with the Indigo Girls. Imagine to acoustic chicks playing in an arena (Joe Louis). It was a highlight though to hear Michael Stipe come out and sing along on Kid Fears. He's got a good duet vocal on that one. I was a fan of Green and still like a number of songs on there. I like You are everything, World leader to name a few. Wrong child breaks my heart every time. The concert turned me off though. And the band's sense of humor bugged me when they came out with the screen that says Hello __________ (place your city here.) Perhaps if they were actually engaging on stage it would have been funnier. But Stipe's awkwardness always made for an uncomfortable show for this audience member. The only track I like on Monster was the one about Kurt, "Stars drip down like butter..." was it Let Me In? To me, Monster just took the band further down the road of detachment to the listeners. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 1491 Registered: 05-2005 |
Jeff, I was living in Boston when I saw that tour so it was Throwing Muses supporting them there. They were great, but they weren't The Go-Betweens! Joe, no, just Lovers Lane. I'm sure the HMV on Burke St will have it too. Lots of copies in Sydney. | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 1647 Registered: 05-2005 |
Green was the last semi decent album in my opinion, Document had its moments but if pushed I would go for Green (just). To be honest, Fables was the last great REM album which is shocking considering it was the 3rd album they made. I saw REM on the Green tour and it was pretty great, although the cynic in me might hate it now which says more about me than them. The Blue Aeroplanes were great as Spence says, but even though I dont really care for 16LL I wish I had saw the GO-Bs on that leg of the tour, the memories of the fantastic Tallulah gigs were still fairly fresh. I have always thought REM were a band out of time, in the way that they took off when pop stars really became major tabloid celebrities and this was the worst thing that could have happened to Stipe. If they had started in 76 rather than 81 I reckon we would have got 5 or 6 great albums instead of just 3. Hypothetical really I suppose . | ||
| John B. Member Username: John_b Post Number: 113 Registered: 10-2006 |
Green was great at the time, but the Go-Bees stole the show in Dusseldorf as well. A mainly Dutch crowd (the Germans were not yet familiar with either group at the time) and the only concert I have been to where the support act had to return for encores. | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 671 Registered: 01-2005 |
Padraig, Seeing the Muses would have been a very close second to the G-B's for me in 1989, as I was a huge Muses fan back then. |